Istanbul / Gaziantep / Aleppo / Homs / Damascus / Beirut

Cannot help you with the companions, but I can tell you that the easiest trip I've ever had for meeting people was my trip through the Middle East.

Compared to a place like South America--where many people cross the continent with their significant other, and most can speak some level of Spanish so there's less of that exhaustion of communicating with locals that makes other travelers so appealing. (I don't mean that in a bad way, I prefer talking to locals and just having other travelers as the occasional break).

Language is not a huge difficulty in many of the places you are going, but I found I had to "gesture-speak" frequently in Aleppo and Gaziantep. And even in places where you find lots of English speakers, the level doesn't often allow for unbroken, in-depth conversations, so yes...that relief of meeting travelers does happen.

And for some reason, almost everyone in the Middle East seems to be traveling alone! Generally people were quite open and friendly.

The only place I didn't meet a single person was Gaziantep, which doesn't seem to have any sort of backpacker hangout (but maybe I just wasn't familiar). I stayed in a nice hotel for 15YTL and never saw any other guests. But I liked it there, the town is pleasant and the food is DELICIOUS there. Especially if you like sweets! I don't have the usual experience in Istanbul because I stayed with a Hospitality Club host instead of a hostel, but of course I met him, his girlfriend and a bunch of their friends, plus had met a bunch of people in Goreme who were living in Istanbul and hung out with them. If you do go through Goreme...very easy to meet people there, the town is so tiny.

Speaking of Hospitality Club, I can highly recommend a guy for Beirut if you're interested...I stayed in a hostel but he would pick me up (one time with his girlfriend) to go out for dinner, etc...it was nice to meet a local friend that way! Let me know. I'd be happy to give you the name for the Istanbul host as well...he and his girlfriend looove hitting the bars/meyhanes.

I travelled solo through Syria a while back. The only thing that I have to add to Nauga's comments is that apart from the Aleppo souks, Palmyra or anywhere else obviously a little bit touristy, if someone stops you and wants to chat to you, engage with them. Syria isn't like Morocco or Egypt, where doing so will usually inevitably lead to you being dragged into a shop and given the hard sell. 95% of the time, when a stranger talks to you in Syria (or Lebanon), it's simply because they want to talk to you. Even in the souks, if you do end up chatting with merchants or traders, it's always pretty low-pressure and good-natured.

When I went solo through Syria, I ended up hanging out with locals in cafes and/or back at their houses almost every single day. Syrians/Lebanese are incredibly friendly and hospitable, and just stopping and talking with locals as much as possible is not only incredibly fun and rewarding, but you'll find that your days end up pretty much packed full by default! The Middle East is definitely a very good place to travel solo.

Oh, on a related note, while as a woman traveling alone I don't usually feel this way...the merchants in the Aleppo souk do seem genuinely friendly and not just in it for the sale. I hung out at the souk much longer than I would have expected...people were so nice. And then outside of the main souks but through some of the other shopping areas, like a vegetable market in Damascus and the olive-oil stalls in Aleppo or at one particular shop in the Spice Bazaar in Istanbul...again, very friendly, no sales pressure, just wanting a chat, offering tea, etc. It's great. Damn...I miss it!

Yeah, even the Aleppo souks are pretty fun. I'd usually end up talking to someone for a good five minutes before they tried to get me into their shop! And I ended up sitting in a shop for hours after making it clear that I didn't want to buy anything, just chatting to the owner and drinking endless cups of tea...

It's also interesting what you said about solo travel in the Middle East - it doesn't seem to be so much the case in Damascus any more. I was there last week, and there seem to be tons more tourists there now compared to when I first went; lots of young couples and tour groups. Syria certainly seems to be coming in from the cold, at least as far as tourism is concerned.

Shit. As much as I adore Syria I haven't made actual plans to go back because I have such limited vacation time (and money). But I've been getting hints of what you are saying on other posts, and am beginning to wonder if I should go back sooner rather than later. You were there last week? Was it still hot? I felt that tourism was low when I was in the Middle East because it was summer and rather hot, but that doesn't match what you're saying now...

Well guys & gals, thanks for all the responses. I was beginning to think I was the last solo traveller out there. Naugastyle, never heard of this hospitality club but it sounds good. What's the dealio with it (is there some sort of site ?). Anyhoo, unless it's some covert born again creationist sect then it sounds good to me. Istanbul & Beirut would be two cities I'd love to get a bit of insider introduction to.

Sometimes I feel that way too, which is weird because when you read this site it seems like EVERYONE is traveling alone...but then you get out there and it's not true. Except in the Middle East!

Hospitality Club. There are others, like Couch surfing. There's also Global Freeloaders, but unless I am completely misunderstanding that site, I do not think it's as easy to browse profiles as the other sites.

Nauga: Despite the fact that there were a lot more tourists in Damascus, it hasn't really changed that much - I get the feeling that, like Jordan, it could absorb plenty of visitors without going down the Morocco/Egypt route. And if you do some wandering, you can easily escape the newcomers in any case - it only took a two minute walk south of Bab al-Saghir before strangers were offering me iftar treats. The only major differences are that within the old city walls, people are a little more used to tourists, and that loads of derelict houses are being renovated and put back into use. Straight Street is also undergoing something of a major sprucing up. It's obviously good that more people are visting such a great country, and good for the Damascene economy. I didn't stay outside Damascus this time round, but I'd dare say that tourists are still a pretty rare sight in places like Homs, Tartous, Hama, Lattakia, Deir ez-Zour, etc in any case.

Having said that, I'd encourage you to blow all your money and vacation time and go again soon anyway ;-)

I spent three weeks in Syria and Lebanon, and it was in the 30s every day - truly lovely weather!