This is taken along the long Souq on the way to where we had one of the most wonderful lunches at one of Rami's favourite restuarants and probably one of the finest in Syria. The photo is taken in the direction of the Christian Quarter and the Eastern Gate.

This is a photo inside the main Souq looking down towardes the Roman columns shown in a previous photo. The white patches in the roof were caused by French aircraft in the 1920's when they fired on the area during independence riots.

This is the picture just after entering the Souq.

This is the same spot that was crowded with people in one of the earlier posts. The Roman ruins mark one of the entrances to the Souq. The Mosque is behind me and not shown in the photo.

This is some of the backstreets leading up to the Mosque and the main Souq (Market).

Another view of the coffee shop where we stopped during the morning with Rami.

One of the great coffee houses where Rami took us before we went to the Mosque. Rami went to Uni with one of my colleagues Megan. He took us around Damascus for the day and showed us a side of the place we probably would not have discovered for ourselves.

Inside the main hall at the mosque. The women in black are mainly Iranian Shiites whereas most of Syria is Sunni (about 80% with the remainder mainly Christian). The green building you can see in the background is said to contain the head of John the Baptist. The columns you can see are Roman.

One of the beautiful facsades inside the walls of the mosque at Damascus.

Inside the walls of the mosque at Damascus.

Martine and Rami at the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus. The Mosque was built 705AD on the site of the former Roman Temple of Jupiter - you can see a number of Roman columns inside along with what the locals say is the last resting place of the head of John the Baptist - to Muslims the prophet Yahyā.

This the front of the great Mosque in Damascus the day we arrived. There was a major parade going on as you can see from the photo.

This is the entrance to one of the oldest churches still standing (built 325 AD) and it is in Syria and they still use it.

This may not look like much but inside inside is a church built in 325AD one of the earliest in the world. Unfortunately you can't take pictures inside although I did manage to sneak one of the original entrance - see the next picture.

This picture is of the village of Maalula in Syria. At this place and three others people still speak and services are given in Aramaic, the langauge of Christ.

Some of the Roman pillars at Jerash.

A Roman doorway at Jerash.

A photo of the Roman theatre at Jerash (Jordan).

Another pic of the ruins at Jerash.

Here is another one of the gates at Jerash (Jordan).

Martine with one of the Charioteers.

The demonstration of the tortoise (or turtle - I can't quite remember). The commands given to the troops were in latin and the insignias on the shields etc related to a specific unit established at a specific point in time in Rome by Julius Caeser.

Chariot racing. Apart from the buildings in the background you and the lack of real blood you could have been at a Roman event.

Let the games begin.

The view straight out the Hippodrome at Jerash.

The Hippodrome at Jerash (Jordan). We were lucky enough to watch an event here, including a Roman army display, a gladatorial contest and a Chariot Race. While it was not quite Ben Hur it was very impressive and worth the trip to Jerash which given the excellent accomodation was very pleasant.

Hadrian's gate. This is at Jerash just the other side of the street from our hotel. Built around 130AD to honour the visit of the Roman emperor Hadrian - the same guy that built Hadrian's wall in the UK. That's me in the photo.

The tracks you can see are of a bird that checked things out at the camp during the night. Clearly not big enough to do any damage. The nearest sleeping point was mine.

I slept out under the stars in the desert. Hjelke and Sandro did as well. Both Sandro and I used the two blankets and were warm. Martine slept in the Bedouin tent. This photo was taken early the following morning.

Sunset from a hill overlooking the Bedioun camp where we stayed at Wadi Rum.

The picture taken near the start of the trip at Wadi Rum.

This is a photo taken from one enormous sandhill that I ran up (well most of the way) with two other guys from the trip - Sandro (another Aussie) and Hylke (from Holland). The jeeps you see at the Bottom is where we ran up from.

Another of the tombs.

This photo was taken looking out of the same tomb shown in the previous photo.

One of the tombs at Petra.

This is inside one of the city at Petra. Unfortunately the same earthquakes that created the canyon in which the Treasury building was built also has taken a toll on the freestanding buildings.

One of the buildings on the way down from the Monastry.

Front on shot of the Monastry at Petra

The Monastrey. Well worth the walk.

This is another view on the way up to the Monastry.

Martine beside one of the camels that we road a short distance. We made up for it on the walk to the Treasury.

This the view out of the Treasury building at Petra.

This was what the lazy people use to get the distance along the canyon to the Treasury building that figured in an earlier post. We caught it back one time part of the way. Those horses get a real workout.

Another photo of the Amman on the walk into town.

This is a picture of Amman (Jordan) which while quite cool is a little pedestrian compared to what we have seen. This is the day that we landed after checking into own hotel and is on the short walk into town.