Zenobia was a half -Greek, half-Arab queen who became the ruler of Palmyra in 267 and the ruins of the palace are here. The city was torched and the rest fell to an earthquake in 1089. Most of the ruins are free to visit and we were able to avoid the entrances with the vendors so as not to be pestered to buy scarves and such. There were a few signs to tell you about the temples so we didn't need a guide.
We were not sure if these tents were for Gypsies or Bedouins.There is a huge area of ruins in to visit here and tourism is what keeps the town going. There has been a drop in the number of tourists so the local vendors are pretty desperate to make money and when ever you are out and about they are urging you to buy, have a look, taste their dates, or ride the camel and horses, buy jewellery, and buy carpets.
There are nicely decorated tourist offices in Syria but they don't have any helpful information. They have one map of the country routes and nothing else. The staff are usually chatting or drinking tea with their mates and don't work like other offices around the world.
We liked the Towers of Yemliko. The towers were used to store the dead and then they were sealed with a plaster slab on which was a relief of the deceased. They sat outside the city walls on the hills surrounding the site.
At night the Roman arches and pillars were lit and quite a sight. It was pretty windy and freezing cold in Palmyra and it felt like the wind was coming off the snow. We expected nice hot desert weather but had to drag the long-johns and thermals from the bottom of our packs once again.
The locals love to ride up and down on their motorbikes. The only people walking are the tourists. The motorbikes are covered in frilled upholstery cloth and they decorate them with signs and stickers.
This camel head was hanging on a hook outside a butcher shop, the rest of it was inside. It was for sale for 300 Syrian Pounds ($40 NZ).
We had planned on a few days' stay here but decided to head for the 'big smoke' after two nights. We caught a bus out and John had to sit in the front with the men and I had to cram in the back with the vomiting children, and women for the hot 2 and a half hour trip to Damascus.
