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Days 48-54: Crossing over from Turkey into Syria there one immediately noticeable change - it was our first experience on this trip of a country using arabic rather than roman lettering and so a notch higher on the “degree of difficulty” scale. But, with a quick rip through the Arabic numerals, I was ready to go.

Our place of entry was Aleppo, in Syria’s north, where we walked through Aleppo’s famous covered souks and took a trip to Aleppo’s impressive citadel (above), which enjoyed commanding views over the rest of the city.

But the real highlight of our time in Aleppo was spending time with two fellow travellers from the Netherlands, Mark and Lisa, and Ahmad, a Syrian student we met on the bus when we were crossing the border, who very generously showed us around his city. The five of us had a great meal overlooking Aleppo’s beautiful grand mosque, followed by a nip of arak and sharing one of syria’s ubiquitous nargilehs (while tabacco, apple-flavoured or otherwise, is not our thing, we felt that we could not leave the Middle East without at least trying this local favourite once). It was a great evening out and an expression of the warm welcome that we experienced in Syria.

My 36th birthday will always be memorable because it was the day that we travelled from Aleppo to Hama, taking in some of Syria’s most impressive archeological sites: Saint Simeon’s Basilica at Quraat Samaan, the Dead Cities of Al Bara and Serjilla and the ancient Roman city of Apamea.

Saint Simeon’s Basilica was the highlight of the day. Built on a hilltop with a magnificent view back over the plains, this basilica was built in the 5th century to mark the spot that colourful local identity, holy man and extreme sports afficiondo Saint Simeon decided to sit on a pillar for 18 years. Given that I sometimes find it hard to sit still for 18 minutes, this was a most impressive achievement, which was subsequently recognised by the local authorities with a magnificent church complex - actually four churches which meet around an octagonal courtyard in which Saint Simeon’s column (now eroded through the passage of time and pilgrims’ hands into a rounded boulder) stands. That’s Kate, with the rock, looking her saintly self.

Apamea was a surprise package. Playing a perennial second fiddle to Palmyra, which we visited a couple of days later, Apamea nevertheless had an impressive columnade which stretched for 1.8km and which was well restored in parts. Notable for its sheer desolation, we walked most of the length of the evocative columnade without seeing another visitor until we reached the lonely ticket box at the northern end of the site.

We stayed in Hama, a pretty town which had gone to considerable effort to schmick itself up. Hama’s claim to fame was its water wheels: large, groaning machines which drew water from the river passing through the town to divert to nearby agricultural projects. While technology has no doubt led to improved irrigation methods, the wheels are still working and were quite a sight (and sound) on the other side of the river as we enjoyed a birthday dinner at a restaurant on the opposite bank.

Next day we took a trip to the Crac des Chevalier, one of the world’s most prototypical medieval castles, through and around which we walked for a couple of hours. The castle was impressive and with a bit of imagination (Liam) I could conjure up what it might have looked like in the time of the Crusades. As at Apamea the previous day, the absence of visitors was notable here.

The ancient Roman city of Palmyra was really worth seeing. In a stunning desert setting, we bit the bullet and rose at dawn to walk through the columnade when the light was warm but the day was still cool. After breakfast, we went back to visit the most impressive of the restored monuments, the Temple of Bel and two of the nearby desert tombs.

Palmyra was also overlooked by a citadel with an unmissable sunset views back over the surrounding desert and the ancient city (captured, imperfectly, above).

After Palmyra, we hit the road to Damascus, which was no more Western but clearly more modern than other towns than we visited. Big, vibrant and bustling with activity, we immediately felt good about being there.

Two Damascus highlights stand out. The first was our visit to the grand mosque, just beyond Damascus’ largest covered souk, where we met Khalil, a gentle Syrian man of good humour studying to become an English translator, who told us about the mosque and local customs. If your road leads to Damascus and you’d like to meet up with Khalil, email him.

A second highlight was our trip to what we can only conclude what must have been the most famous ice cream shop in all of Syria and possibly the entire geopolitical region, Bekdach, which was on Damascus’ main souq. I have never seen a consumer frenzy which even approached the massive crush to get into this shop, and then get out of it alive, with treasured soft-serve icecream (vanilla dipped in pistachio nuts) in hand. Whenever we passed, from morning through to evening, it was the same. Here’s Kate pictured looking appropriately triumphant having just acquired the creamy snack of repute.

Damascus also had some great food with Lebanese influences, some great bohemian-influenced cafes packed with young people taking advantage of free wireless access, and shopping opportunities galore.

That was it: our seven days in Syria. Next stop: The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.