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ISRAEL AND SYRIA

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS:A TOUR OF THE HOLY LAND

(Tel Aviv, Haifa, Tiberias, Galilee, Nazareth, Jerusalem, Bethlehem & The Dead Sea)

WITH AN OPTIONAL PRE-TOUR EXTENSION TO

SYRIA – THE CRADLE OF CIVILIZATION
(See Israel itinerary)

Customized Private Tour Program Prepared For Ellie Leinaweaver & Focus Travelers      

10 Days / 09 Nights October 19 – 28, 2008

Minimum 15 participants for Israel and 10  for Syria

Holyland program: cost $4,890.00 per person in double from Denver
Syria extension - 10 days / 09 nights cost: $3,128.00 per person in double

MEALS:
• Buffet breakfast and dinner daily throughout the trip in Syria & one lunch

TRANSFERS: AIRPORT / HOTEL /AIRPORT:
• One (1) transfer in Damascus
• All transfers by A/C private coach with driver and English speaking representative

LAND TRANSPORTATION:
• Drive from Damascus to Lattakia (Approx. three and one half hours, 219 miles)
• Drive from Lattakia to Aleppo (Approx. two and one half hours, 116 miles)
• Drive from Aleppo to Palmyra (Approx. three and one half hours, 220 miles)
• Drive from Palmyra to Damascus (Approx. three hours, 157miles)
• Drive from Damascus to Amman (three hours, 187 miles)
• Drive from Amman to Israeli border is one hour.
• From the border to Tel Aviv hotel is one hour
• All land transportation by A/C private coach with driver and English speaking guide or representative

TOURS:
• Seven (7) days of private tours in Syria as per the itinerary
• All entrance fees to the sites as per the program.
• All tours by A/C private coach with drivers and English speaking guide

Note:  The international air cost to Syria is already included in Israel as a main trip

Day 01 OCT 19 SUN DENVER (USA)  / DAMASCUS via Paris
Depart Denver to Paris via Atlanta to connect with Air France flight to Damascus (Syria).    Overnight on board.  D, B

Day 02 OCT 20 MON PARIS / DAMASCUS (In Arabic, Demeshk)
Noon: Arrive Paris (DEGAULLE AIRPORT) where you will connect with Air France flight # 510 departs at 1:20PM to Damascus (Syria). ARRIVE DAMASCUS

Welcome to Modern and ancient Syria known through the ages as “CHAM LAND”.

PM: Afternoon, arrive Damascus International airport where you will be met and transferred to your hotel to spend the next two nights in Damascus at Cham Palace hotel.  Located downtown, in the heart of the city of Damascus, it has 400 luxurious guest rooms, 5 restaurants, among them the only Chinese, Japanese and revolving restaurants in Syria, the lobby bar,  the  luxurious traditional English “Harry’s Bar” on the 11th floor and one sidewalk café. Also, there is bowling, swimming pool, fitness center, gymnasium, sauna, hairdresser, beauty parlor and arcade.

DAMASCUS: is the capital of Syria and one of the oldest cities in the world with the establishment of a human community at least since the 9th millennium before our era. Its history is very long and rich, during which many civilizations took turns invading the city. It was during the first decades of Islam that Damascus had its glorious age. It became the capital of the Umayyad dynasty, which ruled the largest empire known until that time. Another brilliant period was under the rule of Saladin, who defeated the Crusaders, making Damascus the capital of his powerful kingdom. Today, it is a modern city with a definite old-world character and charm, where many influences and traces of these civilizations can be felt and seen.

Eve:  Gather for a “Welcome Dinner” at the Hotel. 

Azem Palace:It was built for Assad Pasha Azem, a governor of Damascus in the 18th century. Extravagantly decorated rooms and alcoves ramble round a garden courtyard, a refuge from the heat and dust of the city. Some of the rooms house exhibits of the Museum of Arts and popular traditions, including good displays of embroidered costumes, glass and furniture.

Hamidieh Bazaar:The old covered Souqs of Damascus have a unique flavor you can savor with eyes closed. As you walk about in the warm darkness of these streets with their fragrant scents, spices, and colorful merchandise spilling out of the shops onto the pavements, you enter the strange world of exotic legend. Most prominent of these are: Souq al-Hamidiyeh, Souq Midhat Pasha, Souq al-Harir & Souq Al-Bzourieh. Lined with clothing and fabric shops and stores selling every sort of craft and souvenir, the souk is usually thronged with locals, soldiers, villagers from outside Damascus and pilgrims seeing the sites. Emerging into the daylight, you enter a newly paved square. Facing you is the western wall of the Great Mosque

The Great Mosque (Umayyad Mosque): Built as a religious temple over 3000 years ago, first Armenian then Roman. In the fourth century when Christianity spread out, it became the John the Baptist Church. Following the
Islamic conquests in 635, Muslims and Christians agreed to partition in between them, performing their rituals side by side. When Al-Walid decided to erect an impressive Mosque he negotiated with the Christian community of Damascus and undertook to construct a new church for them and allot several plots of land for other churches. They agreed.

It took ten years to construct and became a model for hundreds of mosques in the Islamic world.Dinner & overnight. BB, D

Day 04 OCT 22 WED DAMASCUS / LATTAKIA     (In Arabic, Al Lathiqiyeh)
AM: Buffet breakfast. Today you will travel North to your first stop at Ma’alula, a Greek Orthodox village, carved into the mountain, where the Christian community still speak ARAMAIC, the language of Jesus Christ.   St. Sergius Convent, with its small Byzantine Chapel, claims to be the oldest in the Christian world,. Magnificent icons dating back to 300 A.D. adorn the entrance and the altar     Lunch will be provided.

After lunch, continue to visit Crac Des Chevaliers fortress The greatest castle in the world.   It was the headquarters of the kings of Saint John. Originally built in 1031, it was destroyed many times by earthquakes and was last reconstructed in the late 13th century. Standing 2,300 feets above sea level, it commands the strategic valley between Homs and Tripoli.   Never taken by force, it surrendered to the Mameluke ruler Baybars in 1271.

After the tour we will proceed to Lattakia City – Syria’s main seaport on the Mediterranean, 117 miles southwest of Aleppo. Lattakia was one of the five cities built by Saluqos Nikator in the 2nd century BC;  he named it after his mother, Laudetia.  Arrive Lattakia where we spend one night at Cote D’ Azor DeCham Resort” The largest resort located right on the Mediterranean 5 miles from the city center. The hotel has 3000 beds divided between guest rooms, duplexes and triplexes, all equipped with kitchenettes. and 600 meters of private sandy beach, it’s the perfect place for swimming and water sports.

The hotel offers an indoor and outdoor restaurant, a lobby bar, and snack bar at the beach. Other facilities include a full service supermarket, shopping gallery, 2 tennis courts, mini-golf, and a swimming pool.

Dinner & overnight in Lattakia.      BB, L, D

Day 05 OCT 23 THUR LATTAKIA / ALEPPO      (In Arabic, Halab)
AM: After breakfast, we will proceed with our private coach and guide to the city of ALEPPO; it boasts being the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world. It is the place that leaves the deepest impression of Syria: Its ancient history, its role during the Crusades, its prosperity under the Mamelukes and the Ottomans. Aleppo was coveted and fought over by all the early empires before becoming part of the Moslem world.  Today and on our way to Aleppo we are going to stop and visit the following sites:

Ugarit: Located about 9 miles away from Lattakia and it is one of the world’s most ancient cities. Ugarit  had a golden past in administration, education, diplomacy, law, religion and economics between 16 and 13 centuries BC. It is the kingdom that gave humanity the first alphabet in the world. This alphabet is still preserved on a clay tablet at the national Museum in Damascus. The remains of stone walls, gates and towers, and a palace with a complex water system all give a sense of the importance of the place.

Salah Al Din Citadel: Due to the importance of its position, this castle had been exploited before the crusaders.  Nevertheless,  it was described as the most impregnable crusader castle. It stands on a rocky spur whose vertical walls rise above the junction of two fast flowing streams. It was completely isolated from the plateau by a deep ditch dug right through the connection neck of land. The Syrians called it Saladin’s Castle, to commemorate its capture from the crusaders by the Moslem Hers “Salah Al Din”

Today, there is a drawbridge and a road which provide easy access to the foot of this “eagle’s nest”.

The Castle of Sama’an or The Basilica of St. Simeon: It is located about 38 miles northwest of Aleppo, and it was built at the end of the 5th century in  honor of the ascetic Saint Simon Stylites. Built in the shape of an octagon, in its center stood a 53-foot stone column, on which St. Simon stood and preached to the crowds of pilgrims whose numbers grew as his fame spread for 38 years. In the 10th century fortifications were built around the structure; hence it received the name “Castle”.

Lunch on your own

After our tours we arrive at the city of Aleppo where we spend the next two nights at Chahba Cham Palace hotel,  the only five star luxury hotel in Aleppo, dominating Syria’s second largest city. It has 250 well-appointed guest rooms overlooking the hotel’s garden and the city. It also has 3 restaurants, including the “Shehrazad” super club and “La Citadelle” panoramic restaurant. The hotel also has 2 snack bars, art gallery, large outdoor swimming pool, 2 tennis courts, 2 squash courts, fitness center, gymnasium, sauna, hammam, Jacuzzi, hairdresser and beauty parlor.

Dinner & overnight in Aleppo.  BB, D

Aleppo National Museum: contains exhibits from the stone age to modern times. It has a particularly interesting collection of antiquities from some of the most ancient sites in Syria (Mari, Ugarit, Ebla). Some of the objects, in Tell Brak, were excavated by Max Mallowan, the husband of Agatha Christie.

Aleppo Citadel:The biggest, oldest and perhaps the most impressive historical monument in Aleppo, is situated at the center of the city on a hill135 feet high. Its ruins relate many successive civilizations which Aleppo witnessed thousands of years ago. At first, it was a place for worship.  Saluqos Nikator was the first to use it as a defense center in 321B.C. Muslims entered the citadel peacefully and it was reconstructed many times. The present shape dates back to the 13th century A.D. with additional restoration during Al Mameluke period.

Inside the citadel are traces of a Hittite temple, a Byzantine church converted into a mosque. Above all there’s the view over the city, old and new.

Inns or Caravanserai (Khan): They arelocated near the souks because they were frequented by the merchants. They have tastefully decorated facades, high arched entrances, and huge wooden doors reinforced with metal and copper. The most famous are: Khan Al-Gomrok, Khan Al-Wazeer, Khan Al-Saboon, Khan Ashouneh, and Khan An’Hasseen.

The Great Mosque: Aleppo contains about 1000 mosques representing 14 centuries, (Al Jamih Al Kabir) or the Great Mosque is the biggest and one of the finest. It was built in the time of the Omayyad Caliph Suleiman Ibn Abdul Malik. It was designed to the same pattern as the Omayyad Mosque in Damascus, but later alterations have produced a far less impressive building. Its notable features are the beautiful square minaret, its prayer niche (mihrab), and the pulpit made of ebony inlaid with ivory. Lunch on your own

After our wonderful experience, we board our bus and here we come to the romantic city and the heart of the desert Palmyra. About 125 miles southeast of Aleppo, the oasis appears quite suddenly: a grove of date palms, then the ruins – colonnades of honey-colored stones, triumphal arches, temples and strange burial towers. Beyond them is the growing modern town of Tadmor (The ancient Name). After the unfortunate Emperor Valerian was captured by the Persian Sassanids (whose king used him as a footstool), Palmyra’s prince, Odenathus, defeated the Sassanids and extended his rule over the whole of Syria and beyond. Four years later he was assassinated in the city of Homs and succeeded by his widow, the learned and beautiful ZENOBIA, who proclaimed herself queen of all the former Roman lands in Asia and Egypt.

On our way to the hotel we are going to visit Aphamia Ruins stretching over a perimeter of 5 miles. This site, which was one of the most beautiful of the Hellenistic Orient, is dominated by an Arab fortress: Qala’at Mudiq. The main site stretches over 1,5 km from each side of the Great Colonnade. In the center, on the north side, your attention will be attracted by the magnificent twisted columns. This town, which was flourishing from the VIth century BC, was ravaged by terrible earthquakes in 1157 and 1770. Then we proceed to visit Ebla: A bronze age city, which flourished between 2500, and 1600B.C. In 1975 they discovered 17,000 clay tablets written in a previously unknown Semitic language, plus bilingual tablets that help the painstaking process of translation.

The temple of Bel or (Baal):  was supreme among Palmyrene gods – the Romans conveniently identified him with Jupiter – and this temple is the most massive building in the city. Its high wall makes it look like a fortress.  That is because it was converted into one by the Arabs in the 12the century. Grand Colonnade:starting at a triumphal arch, the east-west main street, more than ¾ of a mile long unifies the vast site. Soon after the arch, you will see the massive foundations of the temple of Nebo, a Babylonian deity. The Theatre: On the sameside as the Nebo temple, the restored Theatre is used for performances in the Palmyra festivals. It looks small for such a great city, but that is because only about one-third of seats are left. They were long buried by sand, while the upper levels made a convenient quarry.

Valley Of The Tombs:Scatteredon the hillsidesand along thevalleys near Palmyra, scores of towers, mostly ruined, once contained floor upon floor of stone sarcophagi sealed into niches. Other tombs were built underground – the Three Brothers tomb is especially notable for its original wall paintings. Each burial was marked with sculpted likeness of the individual; most of these are in museums. After our visit to the magnificent sites in Palmyra, we will continue driving to Damascus, and on the way we will have a rest at Baghdad café (in the middle of nowhere)

We will board our bus for another fantastic ride to visit the CITY OF BOSRA.  BOSRA: is a beautiful Roman Amphitheater hidden inside an Arab castle.  Situated about 85 miles south of Damascus, this extremely ancient city is mentioned in the lists of Thotmosis 111 and Akhenaten in the 14th century B.C.

BOSRA is the first Nabatean’s city.  In the second century B.C it bore the name Buhora, but during the Hellenistic period, it was known by the name of Bustra.   Later,  the Romans took an active interest in the city, and at the time of the Emperor Tarajan it was made the capital of the province of Arabia (in 106 BC) and was called Neatrajana Bustra. The city saw its greatest period of  prosperity and expansion,  then, became a cross road on the caravan routes and the official seat and residence of the Imperial Legate. After the decline of the Roman Empire, Bosra played a significant role in the history of early Christianity.

Try singing here and listen to how well your voice carries up and out

Let us get ready for our 6 hours drive to Tel Aviv: First we cross Syrian ~ Jordanian borders – then cross Jordanian – Israeli border at Sheikh Hussein bridge, then Continue to Tel Aviv  (Israel), to start another awesome adventure. Please review Israel itinerary for more details. 

Day 11 OCT 29 WED

ISRAEL ADVENTURE BEGINS

Syria requires an entry visa. In order to obtain an entry visa to Syria, we must have the following information on the reservation form:

For more information, contact Ellie Leinaweaver.