After spending 3 great days in Damascus was it time to travel to north Syria and to Aleppo which was before the Syrian Civil war the largest city in Syria. But to get to Aleppo did I have to drive along the world´s most dangerous road, the Salamiyah – Ithriya – Khanasser Road, notorious for being attacked by Daesh (ISIS) and Al Qaeda, and getting shut down for days.
And yes Daesh (ISIS) attacked the road the same day I travel it as well, less than 1hour after I passed by it.
Salamiyah – Ithriya – Khanasser Road
An old burned-out bus, you pass a lot of old destroyed vehicles on this road, even two tanks, military trucks, and a few oil tankers.
The road between the two biggest cities in Syria used to take only 5 hours to drive, however, these days it will take you between 7 to 9 hours.It´s now really easy to visit Syria, click here to read about travel guide about how to get the visa in less 48hours.
Watch this 3min long video that I filmed with my GoPro during my trip to Syria.
Mostly because of the detour you have to take along Salamiyah – Ithriya – Khanasser road (The highway is off-limits since it goes through deep Al Qaeda land), and there a few compulsory military checkpoints with friendly soldiers who do papers checks. This rarely takes more than a minute or two. UPDATE, the M5 highway to Aleppo reopened early 2020.
Getting close to Aleppo now.
Local kids posing for a photo when having a fast drink stop.
When you finally reach Aleppo, you will go through the broken parts of East Aleppo, the places where some of the most fierce battles in the war happened.
There are three sides to every story: yours, theirs, and the truth somewhere in the middle.
But it doesn’t take long before you notice that only a small part of Aleppo is destroyed, as soon as you reach central Aleppo, the city is bustling with life, just like Damascus. So too are the shops, restaurants, supermarkets, and parks filled with people.
Yes, There´s a lot of destruction in Aleppo, especially the historical old part of town with the Souq (market) and surrounding areas are mostly destroyed, but rebuilding has already started.
But there’s far less destruction in Aleppo than what the media has been telling us, only about 20% of Aleppo is destroyed or damaged. The city centre is mostly unharmed.
The university is open together with 913! schools, the local trains are running and there are seven public transportation routes around the city.
Aleppo Trains station, there’s a local train running, the station opened in 1912! On the 25th of January 2017, train services resumed in Aleppo for the first time in four years.
The I Love Aleppo sign is a popular selfie spot for locals, notice the rebuilding of the hotel in the background.
As a foreigner in Aleppo, you may think that big parts of the city were off-limits? Not at all! I was granted full access to inside the Aleppo Citadel, to walk around the old Souq, visit the devastating remains of the historic Umayyad Mosque, and to visit East Aleppo. I was in the Citadel before CNN, BBC, etc.
I was even allowed to visit a school that Desh (ISIS) and Al Qaeda used as headquarters.
Not what you expect to see in Aleppo? An American Sports car and a palm tree-lined boulevard. You do see a few American sports cars around the streets of Aleppo.
Rebuilding is happening all over Aleppo.
The streets of Aleppo.
I was never told that I could not visit an area, or even told that I wasn’t allowed to take photos!
Before the war in the Old City of Aleppo is one of the highlights of every trip to Syria, it was even added to the UNESCO world heritage list all the way back in 1986!
The Aleppo Citadel from the eastern side. There are tons of photos from the Citadel further down on this post.
Me leaving the Citadel, I’m probably the most obvious looking tourist in all of Syria. Notice that the restaurant on the far right side of the photo is open again!
From the UNESCO website:
Located at the crossroads of several trade routes from the 2nd millennium B.C., Aleppo was ruled successively by the Hittites, Assyrians, Arabs, Mongols, Mamelukes and Ottomans. The 13th-century citadel, 12th-century Great Mosque and various 17th-century madrasas, palaces, caravanserais and hammams all form part of the city’s cohesive.
It´s heartbreaking to walk around the Old City of Aleppo and see all the destruction that happens here. But where´there´s sorrow, there´s hope.
A few shopkeepers in the old Souq are working every day and night to rebuild (in the original style) and reopen their shops and there are stonemasons working at the entrance of Aleppo Citadel, the jewel of the Middle East.
The Remains of The Old Souq.
From Inside the Souq, most if it looks like this part.
But luckily so are some parts of the Souq almost untouched.
Father and son cleaning out the damage to their shop in the old Souq.
Some shops are almost rebuilt, notice that it’s rebuilt in the original style.
I like exploring!
But when exploring, you have to be careful, here there is left behind hell canon bombs from the terrorists.
Umayyad Mosque, The Great Mosque Of Aleppo.
The Umayyad Mosque was the largest and oldest mosque in Aleppo, it dated back to year 715 and was one of the most beautiful mosques in the world especially because its minaret was considered to be a national treasure, but unfortunately, it was blown up in on 24 April 2013 by Al Nusra (Al Queada).
The whole mosque is now planned to be rebuilt and restored to its former glory.
The entrance to the Grand Mosque, the Minerat used to stand on the right side
The broken entrance
The courtyard, the Minaret used to be at the back left corner.
There´s less damage inside then I feared.
From the courtyard.
Aleppo Citadel after the war.
The Aleppo Citadel a UNESCO world heritage site was a proud treasure for the whole of the Middle East before the war. It is considered to be one of the oldest and largest castles in the world. Usage of the Citadel hill dates back at least to the middle of the 3rd millennium BC.
It has been used by and survived through many of the greatest civilizations in history, from the Greeks, Romans, Mongolians to the Ottomans and it´s still standing now after the war.
It´s badly dammed inside but restoration has already started. And it shouldn’t take many years before its back to its former glory and open once again to hoards of tourists.
I was granted full access to inside the citadel.
Aleppo Citadel from the western side.
School kids are back visiting the Citadel, Girls choose themselves if they want to cover their hair or not in Syria.
School kids are back visiting the Citadel.
The inscription over the Entrance gate is undamaged.
The lion statue at the entrance is undamaged.
Undamaged.
walkway trough the citadel
The walkway up to the mosque
The place where some of the oldest excavation has taken place.
The mosque inside is not damaged too badly.
The view from the top of the Minaret to the mosque.
Daily Life In Aleppo Ala 2017.
The daily life in Aleppo these days is very normal once again after the government regained control over the city. While walking around central Aleppo will you wonder if there ever was a war happening here.
Locals on the streets.
Fancy some sexy underwear?
Couples are out shopping and enjoying a shisha in public, young girls are dancing in the parks.
Young girls playing in the park
“No freedom,” the media tells us.
During Syria´s national football time, everyone gathers to watch it. I watched the football game between Syria and Australia at a public watching inside a basketball court.
Syrians’ love football
When Syria scores
Beautiful girls love football too.
The central park in Aleppo
Clean and green
Locals enjoying pizza and beer.
Christian Churches are open.
East Aleppo after the war.
The most destruction is located in this area, but even here have rebuilding begun, and we all remember reading about the last school that got bombed? It looks like a normal school, to walk down to the basement and see ISIS flags.
Streets of the Eastern part of town, people caring building material back home.
An old man blowing a kiss in east Aleppo
That´s how a school looks like after it got hit by an airstrike.
But the school was used by ISIS as a headquarters.
So do you still think Aleppo is a city in ruins? I have some hundred more photos from my visit to the city, and I will be posting more photos in the near future. I will also include the photos from the children’s school that was used by Daesh (Isis) and Al Queada as headquarters in a general post about my visit to Syria soon.
After 3 eyeopening days in Aleppo was it time to head back down to central Syria and Homs.
Read about my trip to Krak des Chevaliers & The Valley Of Christians by clicking this link.
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In October 2017 I did visit, Aleppo once the biggest city in Syria as a tourist. #Syria #aleppo #middleast #UNESCO #travel #traveltips
John Smith says
Syria is a country exhausted by the war! I am happy to read your blog! It is scary to look at these ruined houses and at the same time children walking on the street! Thanks for sharing!
Robert Young says
I loved your reporting on Damascus.
Is it possible to study Arabic there?
Christian L. says
Should soon be possible agian.