Bullseye’s Blog

After leaving Damascus, we headed for the two biggest sites in Syria – the ancient ruined city of Palmyra and the crusader castle Crac De Chevalier.

The area of Syria around Damascus is less arid than you might imagine, it isn’t a real desert environment at all – loads shrubs and trees (although plenty hot). On the other hand Palmyra is a true oasis in the desert – driving away from Damascus we soon left greenery behind in favor of vast, expanding sandy wasteland, only eventually broken by the palm forest that gives Palmyra it’s name. On the way to Palmyra we had a quick reminder that although Syria is relatively stable, we aren’t but a half-day drive from somewhere much more dangerous.

Arriving in Palmyra, we had the afternoon to wander around the ruins in the scorching sun. It’s hard to imagine that at one time this place would have been a bustling city providing a stopping point for silk-route caravans weary from the heat of the desert. While they don’t inspire the same awe as the city of Petra, Palmyra is relatively intact – especially the main road which is lined with rows and rows of columns.

After leaving Palmyra, we spent the night bush camping in the desert, enjoying a night away from the sounds and lights of the city. In the morning we headed onto the road again to visit the massive crusader castle of Crac De Chevalier. Arriving at the castle you’d as much think you were on mainland Europe as in Syria – the farther north we go the greener this country becomes (although the heat doesn’t seem to abate at all). The castle itself is an amazing site, unlike castles in Europe, there aren’t too many tourists, and health & safety concerns haven’t prevailed – leaving plenty of interesting dark and ruined passages to explore on your own.

Looking out over the landscape surrounding the castle, it’s easy to see why the spot was chosen, as it is virtually impenetrable due to steep hills on all but one side. We spent the afternoon wandering the ruins, before driving the truck just a few kilometers to a local football pitch where we spent the night. Sometimes in the Middle East it seems as you are the attraction instead of the country – and this was one of those occasions. After we stopped and started cooking, flocks of children and other locals surrounded the truck, looking on curiously as we went about preparing dinner. The people here are incredibly kind, asking us all kinds of questions, showing us the town, and letting us into their homes.

After spending the night near the castle, we’ve driven today to Aleppo, the other major city in Syria besides Damascus. I spent some time wandering around earlier, and the markets here have much the same feel as those in Damascus – and theres still plenty of tasty street food. Tomorrow we’ll head to the Turkish border, and that will signal nearly the end of my trip with Hot Rock. We’ll reach Adana on the 26th, and on the 27th I’ll catch a night bus to Ankara where my flight back to London leaves on the 28th.

It’s been an interesting and strange experience overall. Most people I know at home react in surprise that I took such a long vacation – but on Hot Rock five weeks is almost no time at all when many of my new friends have spent months on board (some since South Africa). I’m definitely better (and a bit tanner) for the experience, and I hope that I’ll have the chance to come back to Hot Rock in the future for more than a holiday. That’s about all I’ll be writing in this blog on my Hot Rock trip (though I’ll still write occasionally about other traveling and such) – so I’ll talk to everybody when I’m back and settled in in London.

Cheers,
Paul

Links to Albums for Syria:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2389913&l=bca87&id=1928719

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2392150&l=00ce4&id=1928719

Well, today is my eighth and final day in the Damascus area as tomorrow we will be moving on to Palmyra. Of the three Middle Eastern countries I’ve visited on this trip, Syria is without a doubt the best. The people here are friendly and welcoming, there is no hassle to speak of (even for the girls), and everything is quite cheap.

Half of my time here I’ve spent wandering around the old part of Damascus, which is an amazing section of the city filled with winding souq’s housing an incredible variety of shops and eateries. You can (and I did) spend a whole day just wandering from one food cart to the next sampling the cheap and delicious cuisine – an experience that only really sets you back about US $10. With the food and shops out of the way, another must-do is a trip to a Hammam (bath). Me and some of the guys headed here for an afternoon of relaxation, complete with a wash, sauna, scrub-down, massage and an hour sat drying off and drinking tea. Today should be another relaxing day, wandering the rest of the old city – seeing the famous mosque (supposedly second only to the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, which I recall was quite spectacular), and of course filling myself with some more food.

The Umayyad Mosque

Damascus Souk

The other four days I’ve indulged in the newly developed Syrian sport climbing – which to be honest isn’t really anything special. The largest and only crag I’ve visited is Monte Rosa, which consists of several dozen bolted single pitch routes on sharp limestone. The grading here is very modest, to the point where anything French 6a or above is a real struggle for me even on a top-rope. The climbing mainly consists of 15-20m routes that ascend razor sharp limestone with mainly tiny crimps for holds (a combination that has lead to quite a few cuts and scrapes). I spent 2 days working through leading many of the grade 5 climbs, and another 2 days top-roping some of the more difficult ones. Overall an interesting crag, but in no way more exciting than taking a couple hour drive from London down to sport climb in Portland (certainly nothing compared to Wadi Rum!).

Climbing in Monte Rosa

I don’t have an SD card reader at the moment, so I’ll post Damascus photos along with ones of the ancient city at Palmyra when I get a chance. Only another 6 days left on the trip!

After leaving Petra behind, we headed towards Amman, the capital of Jordan. In terms of sights, there really is nothing to do in Amman – but it is one of the few cities in the Middle East where half-decent nightlife can be found. Having not had a proper night out for my birthday, and it being Duncan’s (truck owner) last night, we decided to go out to (of all places) an Irish bar – quite a good night of drinking and dancing, and my first Guinness in quite a while (I really do miss a cold pint).

A reasonable night, but not to be compared to the bizarre experience we had the night before our drive day to the Syrian border. Some of the group had met up with some local (but not Jordanian) girls while they were drunkenly running a 10k marathon in womens clothes and climbing gear the day before (that is another story entirely) – and for our last night in Amman we figured we’d meet up with them at a bar not too far from our hostel. Lots of games of pool, beers and shots later we met a Middle Eastern guy about our age (not Jordanian either) who invited us back to his house after the bar closed. Never ones to refuse an invitation, we all hopped in a couple cars and drove to residential Amman where we quickly realized that this guy was, to put it lightly, very well-to-do. After refusing any money, he bought loads of take-away kebabs and booze and we hung out in his posh basement until about 7am when we had to go back and get on the truck to leave Amman.

Crossing into Syria was less exciting than you might imagine – being a group, the others had no issues securing visas and after we jumped through all the right bureaucratic hoops we were let into Syria without any trouble.

Just a quick update with a few climbing photos from Wadi Rum, the full gallery is available here

This was quite easily the biggest single pitch climb I’ve done - this first picture is me in green and Duncan in red belaying me up (after the belay point it gets overhung and Dunc had run out of gear – the crack was massively sustained climbing).

There was some good layback bits …

And some good jamming bits as well …

One of the most interesting historical sites I will visit on this trip – Petra is an ancient Nabatean city near Wadi Mousa, Jordan that is exceedingly well preserved and has made it into popular culture via Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

After a fun, whiskey-filled birtyday drive from Wadi Rum to Wadi Mousa, we settled down for the night into our “hotel” – and today got up early to go visit Petra.  the ruins are hard to describe in words, but emerging from the narrow canyon to see the Treasury is truly amazing.

he rest of the city sprawls out over a great distance, making Petra a full day (or multi-day) experience, depending on your pace.  From the treasury, you can walk along the Street of Facades – dotted with tombs and temples – as well as an amphitheater that would have held nearly 7000 people.

After this, you walk down until you reach the Street of ollonades, a column-lined street that would have been lined with freestanding buildings, although today only two temples remain.

Finally you can make your way up the lengthy staircase to the Monastery – perched atop a hill, over time it would have served as a tomb, temple and even church.

Overall, Petra was an amazing site to take in – although my advice is to visit it in the morning before the crowds.  tomorrow I’m having an easy day before we move on to Amman and then the Dead Sea.  I’ve had a chance to finally get a lot of my pictures uploaded – here are the links for the various albums:

Petra – http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2382688&l=68891&id=1928719

Wadi Rum / Aqaba – http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2382683&l=faa5b&id=1928719

Cairo – http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2382078&l=98461&id=1928719

I should hopefully eventually get some more Wadi Rum pictures, several of the other climbers have taken some good action shots – so I will post those when I can retrieve them.

During my stay in Wadi Rum I kept a little log of the climbs I did and my comments about them – they were easily the best outdoor climbs I’ve done in my very short climbing career, and Wadi Rum is a place so chock-full of routes that I think you could spend years there and never run out of places to go.

Goldfinger (3/4/5+/5) – A fantastic first outing to get used to the sandstone of Rum.  First pitch is an easy scramble that could be done without ropes if desired.  Second pitch is a quick traverse (10m?) to the start of the real climbing.  Pitch 3 is a wonderful sustained crack climb, and the route ends with varied climbing on the final pitch.

Walk Like An Egyptian & The Mummy (3 pitches of 5 and final pitch is 6b) – Three interesting chimney pitches, the last of which is a narrowing chimney crack that has a few challenging moves.  The fourth pitch is a beautiful, completely vertical crack line with great jamming and laybacking opportunities.  From the last pitch, the abseil bolts are reachable only by a dodgy traverse – best to bring some tat and ab off a boulder.

The Nose (6a+) – Brilliant sport climb on a massive granite slab.  Bolts are dodgy at best, but the top is easy accessible and has large boulders to set up a top rope.  Balancey climb with lots of high stepping moves and crimpy hand holds.

The Joker (6b) – Another sport climb on the same granite slab as The Nose.  Mainly easy climbing up to the crux, where the slab goes blank and some smear & pray moves are required.

Merlin’s Wand (5+/6a/6a+/5+/5) – Often labelled “The Super Crack of Rum”, this is a route not to be missed.  Following a massive crack line up the cliff face for 5 lengthy pitches, it offers varied crack climbing.  The first 3 pitches present a series of interesting and challenging overhang situations, while the final 2 pitches offer easier climbing (mostly bridging around the crack) but the height and exposed nature provide an exciting airy feeling.

Mumkin (5+/5/5+/5) – The beginning pitches of the longer I.B.M. route.  Interesting climbing and awkward situations as you ascend a curving crack line.

Although Wadi Rum is traditionally known as a trad haven, there was also a lot of bouldering to be had.  I spent some time in Barrah Canyon wandering around with the bouldering mats and we put up a lot of fun problems.

WADI RUM PHOTOS – (http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2382683&l=faa5b&id=1928719)

I’ve now spent a week in the desert of Wadi Rum. What an amazingly beautiful place – the rocks rise out of the sand in an impressive style, offering climbing unrivalled anywhere in the world.

We’ve been staying at the Bedouin Rest House just below Jebel Rum for the past 9 days, and it has been a fantastic experience. The Bedouin hospitality is truly unrivalled, and is a welcome break from the vicious negotiating required in Egypt. We spent 4 days at the Rest House in Jebel Rum, 3 days in Barrah Canyon, a desert locale 90 minutes drive (in 4×4’s) from the Rest House, and another 2 days in at the Rest House.

Upon our return from Barrah Canyon, the Bedoins who drove us invited all of us for a dinner at their home, which was an interesting experience. The Bedouin spared to expense as the offered us a delicious feast of chicken, rice and tea – and completed the affair with some games. For them, it was an opportunity to socialize with outsiders and practice their English, and for us a much sought after chance to interact with the locals. Overall the Bedouin are much kinder than the Egyptians, going out of their way to accomodate us.

Beyond the amazing hospitality provided by the Bedouins, the climbing has been amazing. I will post a full climbing diary as soon as I am able, but I’ve gotten in quite a few multi-pitch routes on Jebel Rum and in Barrah Canyon. Most routes seem to follow obvious crack lines, which provide very interesting situations – especially Merlin’s Wand, the classic of Wadi Rum – which I had the opportunity to second in Barrah Canyon.

Pictures are tough to retrieve from the other climbers – and the internet here is very slow … I hope to post the pictures I have when I have the time.

Should be spending the next few days in Petra and Amman, so should get pictures up within the next week … hope everybody at home is doing well!