The main Syrian highway running north from Damascus through Homs and Aleppo to Turkey |
Lots of overhead signs on the Syrian roads have been hit by oversized vehicles |
Monumental tile wall just outside Damascus |
"Assad Evermore" |
Exit from the Damascus-Homs-Aleppo highway for the Damasus-Baghdad highway and Palmyra |
Palmyra 213 km |
Damascus-Baghdad Highway |
Damascus-Baghdad Highway heading east into the Syrian Desert |
Syrian Desert |
Rest area on the Damascus - Baghdad highway |
Rest area mosque, Syria |
Junction where the road to Palmyra splits from the road to Iraq |
165 km to the Syrian border post at Attanf (Al-Tanf) |
The road to Palmyra is well maintained and well marked, so a driver/guide is unnecessary |
...but if you do have to ask a local for directions, ask for "Tadmor" |
Baghdad straight ahead |
Desert workshop with the mechanic's phone number spray painted on the side |
Syrian desert |
Syrian desert enroute to Palmyra |
The road through the Syrian desert from Damascus to Palmyra |
Road through the Syrian desert |
I refrained from photographing the military airfields and tanks |
A herd of sheep in the desert, Syria |
Sheep in the middle of nowhere, Syria |
Bagdad Cafe 66 |
This Bagdad Cafe was the first of 3 between Damascus and Palmyra |
Bagdad Cafe 66, Syria |
Baghdad Cafe, a popular break between Damascus and Palmyra |
Bagdad Cafe 66 |
Bagdad Cafe 66 |
Syrian "Beehive House" at the Bagdad Cafe 66 |
Syrian "Beehive House" at the Bagdad Cafe 66 |
Bedouin tent (supposedly you can spend the night) Bagdad Cafe 66 |
Syrian "Beehive House" at the Bagdad Cafe 66 |
Syrian "Beehive House" at the Bagdad Cafe 66 |
A short distance down the road from Bagdad Cafe 66 is another Bagdad Cafe |
This Bagdad Cafe pulled in 3 busloads of Turkish tourists |
Bagdad Cafe (number 2) |
Looks a bit like Texas... |
Beehive House at Bagdad Cafe number 2 |
My rental car, a bit on the expensive side ($80/day unlimited mileage, full insurance) |
The license plate of my Syrian rental car |
Syrian beehive house |
Syrian beehive house |
Sign still using the French spelling, Palmyre |
Another major junction on the way to Palmyra, crossing the Homs-Al Tinef raod |
Bagdad Cafe number 3 |
Syrian Traffic Police, for help dial 115 |
Giant billboard approaching Palmyra |
Ahlan bikum fi Tadmor |
The first sighting of the main ruins at Palmyra |
The oasis of Palmyra |
Mosque in the new town, Tadmor |
Sign for Palmyra's city center and ancient city |
In case you came in from Homs, and not Damascus... |