i've just landed in syria
a country i never thought i would have
the opportunity to visit
a country that has been devastated by a
civil war
for more than 10 years
towards the end of 2021 syria again
decided to start issuing tourist visas
with only a handful of people choosing
to apply
and to visit this often forgotten nation
i'm here by myself
alone tourist
and i've just left the airport and
joined my guide and driver
as we make our way
to the city of aleppo
i really don't know what to expect from
this visit to syria
i'm nervous i'm excited
at this stage i'm not even sure what i'm
allowed to film
nervously pointing my phone out the
window
as we pass mile after mile of highway
lined with buildings destroyed by almost
a decade of fighting and conflict
as we drive along the highway i see
signs pointing to the cities of homs
hama and aleppo
names i was used to hearing on the nine
o'clock news
where you would see shocking images of
devastating crisis
images that would haunt you night after
night
cities i never thought i would have the
opportunity to visit
and yet here i was in a car speeding
towards the ancient city of aleppo
i'm here as a tourist an observer
hoping to see what life is like in syria
today and to meet the syrian people
none of the videos in this series from
syria are meant as a political
commentary
but instead a look at my own personal
experiences
as a solo female traveler in syria at
the end of 2020
one thing i can't help but notice is the
billboards and signs that line the
highway
all of them showing the face of bashar
al-assad the controversial leader of
syria for over two decades
i can't help but notice the devastation
as we get closer to aleppo
entire apartment blocks littered with
bullet holes
buildings that once had four walls
now with just one
a city that looks like a demolition site
my heart beats faster as we approach the
city and i'd be lying if i didn't
repeatedly question what i was doing
there
but as we approached the citadel i could
see the pride on my driver and my
guide's face
this was the city they loved a city they
adored
they were excited to tell me as much as
possible about aleppo
home to the world's oldest citadel and
the world's longest covered historic
market
two places they were excited to show off
to me while much of this city has been
destroyed something that's hard to hide
while exploring this beautiful city
i do want to focus this video and all
the videos in this series about the
wonderful people i met and their stories
of hope and resilience
and the beauty to be found in aleppo
a city adored by so many
[Music]
so guys we've just arrived here at the
ancient citadel here in aleppo this is
our very first stop in aleppo we haven't
really seen much of the city yet we've
just driven through it but this is going
to be our first stop and this is the
main entrance here you can see behind me
to the ancient citadel of aleppo
[Music]
so my guide have been telling my guide
has been telling me some interesting
facts so far about aleppo castle we're
at aleppo citadel and he's just told me
that this is the oldest
and the largest castle in the entire
world so there's so many facts already
that i'm learning that i did not know
about but as i was walking up the steps
you see here see here behind me i was
like damn this castle is so big i never
realized i didn't even know there was a
castle here and so now that he told me
that it's the biggest and the oldest i'm
in shock like he's saying damascus is
the oldest capital city in the world but
aleppo is actually the oldest city
in the world like the the oldest city is
something i never knew so we've just
gotten inside the main area of the
castle now there was three massive gates
to get inside but the first one is this
massive gate walk a little bit in
there's a second gate walk a bit in the
third gate so i can see why this castle
was never conquered because it's
literally impossible to get into and
this is the only side of the castle that
there's gates on there's no other
entrances
you guys can start to see the extent of
this castle in citadel now
just how far back it goes
like all the way over there
the whole way around
and there's still more to go up here
oh we've just gotten inside the main
area of the castle now
it's huge inside
this is the mosque inside of the castle
and it's about
one thousand one thousand one hundred
years old
it is you know almost perfect condition
like it's hard to believe this
is one thousand one hundred years old
you can see the theater inside of the
old citadel and it is incredible
look at this
all of this is inside of this castle so
i can see now where they say this is the
largest castle in the world because
goes on forever
[Music]
so it's pretty clear why they built
their castle here on the hill
you really can see the entire city
[Music]
so this was the throne room inside of
the castle
and it's incredible how much detail you
can still see
like the different colors the black and
white
which was a big indicator of the
architecture around that time
and even all the carvings
it's beautiful
so guys we just finished with our little
tour of the citadel and now we've come
to this little cafe called cafe citadel
and as you can see there's amazing views
of the castle behind us i'm just going
to sit down here have some chai have
some cappuccino and relax for a few
minutes
do
[Music]
so guys we are nearing the end of our
first day here in aleppo um just out on
the streets going for a little walk
pretty hungry so i'm gonna find a place
that sells falafel but i've already seen
lots of other different types of food so
i might not get falafel i might get one
of those small little pizza bread things
that seem very popular here in syria
maybe a few other snacks we'll see what
i can find here on the streets of aleppo
well guys i am on a mission to find
falafel i heard the falafel here in that
was pretty good so far i've just found a
small little pizza bread things and uh
french fries kebabs stuff like that but
i'm hoping i can find some delicious
falafel
apparently this one has been recommended
and there's quite a few people here
which means it's pretty probably pretty
good i've just ordered apple sandwich
and the guy who's giving me a few pieces
of falafel to try for free we definitely
came to the right falafel place because
the guy just gave me a few pieces of
falafels for free and he said they will
also be featured in the syria lonely
planet so you know it's a good place if
there is a
if they're featured in a travel
guidebook
there's a clean and immensely popular
falafel place across the cinemas ontario
albaron it's takeaway only
and it's from lonely planet
wow
so cool
so this is the place if you are looking
for it it's very close to aleppo palace
hotel
okay guys so my massive falafel sandwich
has just arrived it's absolutely huge
that's about a dollar pretty cheap
oh it's kimchi
it's like a massive bowl of kimchi like
you would see in korean
it's a super cool concept guys so they
give you your falafel and then they give
you this on the table so you can eat it
with a chili or you can eat it with some
spicy fermented cabbage like kimchi
you can see on the table over there
people were sitting there and then you
just pick at the chili's you pick out
the kimchi
[Music]
and you sort of
make your own sandwich
right next to where we're staying
there's this i love aleppo sign
one of these like a tourist photo spots
so you can see the shisha pipes here on
the square so obviously people come here
in the evenings sit around
smoking hookah
there's a man here selling corn like
corn on the cob
and this guy's selling like balloons and
snacks
candies
we're just checking out one of the main
squares here in aleppo and it seems like
it really comes to life kind of after
sunset or in the evening uh there's
people like selling popcorn there's a
guy selling candies there's another guy
over there selling corn and lots of
different kind of snacks there's also
people with all these shisha pipes so it
looks like you can actually sit here at
nighttime with your friends sit around
the square smoking trisha and just seems
like quite a popular place here in the
center of aleppo see here's another one
of the food carts this is like one on
three wheels pretty cool i think they're
doing
is it apples no
so it's pomegranate so this guy is
probably making pomegranate juice oh
yeah yeah pomegranate yeah
this is our hotel it's called the aleppo
palace hotel
right here in the center of aleppo
and it's quite a new building
i'm going to end this vlog right here my
very first day in syria but be sure to
come back in a few days as i explore
more of ancient aleppo including the
covered markets the historic bahrain
hotel
and meet some syrian locals who are
hopeful for the future of aleppo