Damascus to Palmyra

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...