Day Seven Syria Aleppo

Picture 1: The Baron Hotel Photo Wayne (Not loading at the moment)


Picture 2: Boy Number 2 on the patio waiting for customers


Picture 3: The courtyard of the Umayyad Mosque Photo Wayne


Picture 4: Butcher in the souks Camel meat (head and neck) Photo Wayne


Picture 5: G strings ready for sale in the souks

Picture 6: View of Aleppo from the Citadel


Months before the trip, Wayne and I read about a hotel in Aleppo called the Baron Hotel. It was once a grand hotel in the twenties and thirties, where guests stayed for weeks at a time after arriving on the Orient Express, Aleppo being the final stop.
Agatha Christie began writing Murder On The Orient Express in one of the suites and T E Lawrence as in ..of Arabia, popped in a few times and they keep one of his bills just to prove it.
The Baron Hotel hasn't really kept up with the times and looks a bit shabby though it’s possible to imagine its grand past.
We had booked in for one night. The hotel staff were desperate to sell currency or provide postcards, though seemed to be trying undercut each other behind each other’s back. It was like being in a movie.
When we arrived we asked if we could cash a travellers cheque. The man on duty offers us all sorts of currency, dollars, Turkish Lira, pounds..he has it all
A great moment was when we asked the lady (about 60) on duty about where we could cash some travellers’ cheques, she whispered and winked when talking about everything, as if we were being told highly confidential matter. “Go straight up the street (wink) about three blocks (wink) Syrian Bank branch number 3 is there, they will cash the cheques. When you see boy number 2.. tell him you are going to bank..Go straight up the street (wink and shake of my arm)
Boy number 2 was about 60 years old too. Maybe they were children working here back in the heyday of the hotel when the guests used to shoot grouse from the balcony.
We get to the bank, where there’s a motorbike parked inside. They would change my twenty pound note as there was a 2 mm rip in it.
Wayne needed some particular ID and ran back to hotel (being careful not to talk to boy number 2)
Wayne returns to find that they won’t cash cheques at branch number 3 on Saturday after 11.30 (???), though if we go branch number 2 we should be able to get it done.
“Oh…Where is branch number 2?”
“Go down this street second left at the clock tower. You’ll see it..it’s next to branch number 1”
We eventually stumbled accidentally on a branh which helped us out. It also had a motorcycle in the reception area.
While waiting in the first branch, a boy of about 14 handed over thpousand and thousands of American dollars as if he did it every day
And Wayne saw a guy walk out with a garbage bag size sack full of Syrian pounds.
Some weird goings on.
Being on the border with Turkey, I guess has its goings ons as we were to find out the next day.
Rest of time in Aleppo was filled with intrigue. Had some time in Souks or market, visited the mosque and spent a bit of time in the Citadel with a great view over the city. Met some great people who worked in shops and cafes and Wayne had an interesting Hamam experience. Also met some very funny shop keepers in a scarf souk. When checking out the fabric, the owner said, "David Jones prices at Target prices". The owner had clocked we were Australian and had himself had lived in Australia for some time. He and his nephew were very funny and welcoming and invited us to meet up later. I was still quite ill and declined, though Wayne met up for a short time.
The Great Mosque (Umayyad Mosque) had a great family atmosphere in the courtyard with children running around and junping on a pile of carpets; not staid or stuffy at all.