Alive and well in (horrors!) Syria

The short report - due to the fact that I've been travelling all day on an empty stomach and I'm tired ...

I'm at my hotel in Aleppo. Everything's great and getting here was an adventure!
Mainly due to my having one passport to exit Turkey and another to enter Syria - I had to buy a Turkish visa in my British passport and get stamped in and out again cos Syria couldn't cope with me not having a Turkish exit visa.
I won't try the two-passport- trick again, haha.
But I got dropped right to the door of my hotel and, on the way from Sanliurfa, (two buses then two private cars) scored (free) a coca cola, a cay, a coffee, a quarter-orange, a chocolate bar and a couple of cigarettes - as well as loads of smiles and friendly faces. People in this part of the world are so kind.
For some funny reason, as soon as we started entering Aleppo I felt I'd come 'home'. I have no idea why I should feel like this, but it's a nice feeling.
Ahmet the manager at my hotel (Al Gawaher) is very friendly, speaks excellent and idiomatic English, and has arranged with his English girlfriend to take me out tomorrow morning. He even offered to lend me money for tonight, but I have a reasonbable stash of Syrain money from last time round so didn't need to take him up on his offer.
He said internet is fine here. However, I'm finding the connection slow tonight. It may be better tomorrow.

I never understand the overly cute practice of carrying two passports. What is the point? It seems to be mainly Brits who do so. For security reasons, I think owning one passport only should be mandatory.

It's because I normally travel on my New Zealand passport (the whole world loves us!) and use my British one for getting in and out of England.
But because I needed to renew my NZ one I got my visa in my British one instead. Never done that before - and I certainly won't do it again!

I couldn't agree more regarding your assessment of the Syrian people. I spent 6 weeks in the country last Jan/Feb and regularly encountered locals on the street who, upon spying my Roots hoodie, would turn and wish me a welcome to their country. Damascus was great, i.e. the souq and Umayyad, for simple people-watching, plus the crusader castles and Roman ruins dotted around the country. However, if you have visited previously, you already know all this. In fact, I would rank Syria as one of the highlights of my travels! A Syrian-born friend here at home asked me recently if I would return and I responded 'absolutely'; however, I have to wait until my passport is renewed (a pesky stamp from my side-trip into Jerusalem).

I was a guest at the Al-Gawaher only a few months ago. Had a great stay. Syria was quiet then.

We are presently riding around the world on our motorcycles and presently in Egypt. We need to ride to Turkey from Jordan and worried about situation in Syria. We are wary of press reports and western propaganda and would like to know what the situation is really like and whether we can ride through Syria.

All the best,

Rupert & Fanny
www.bigbiketrip.net

The one issue you don't address, but is likely the most difficult is obtaining visas.

Depending upon the passport you hold that could be very problematic.

Good luck.

Rupert, what I would suggest is following the bus through. There will be checkpoints, but not many (except on Fridays - don't travel then.) But by following the bus you'll take the safest route past Homs and Hamma, where most of the problems are at present.
Possibly do the same for the Damascus - Jordan road too - that, or follow a share-taxi.