Once out in Palmyra we ran into a couple of Irish girls we'd met back in Hamas at the cheap hotel frequented by backpackers. One was the victim of petty theft on the minibus ride out there, the only instance of Syrian theft I've heard of. As they were going to the police station, I figured I'd tag along, since one has so few opportunities for benign encounters with the Syrian police. The local police station uses a hand-cranked telecomm system out of the 1940's, and has holding cells that make "Midnight Express" look like a "Love Boat" episode. Trust me, you do not want to get in trouble in remote corners of Syria. Windowless filthy pits with solid steel doors, where you could be locked away and forgotten. Scary stuff.
While they finished filing a report, the rest of us headed for the ruins on the edge of town. Palmyra is just amazing — larger than Ephesus in scale, and far more bizarre in setting. Like Nemrut Dagi, it doesn't fit any obvious category. Some of the architecture looks generally Greek. A hilltop castle of medieval Islamic design overlooks the site. And some things, like the square funerary towers, defy categorization. It's definitely a place to spend a day or two wandering; just bring plenty of water, a floppy hat, and sunglasses. We watched sunset and nightfall from the hilltop castle, then hiked down to town for dinner and the Irish girls' description of a thoroughly unpleasant interrogation of their minibus driver and his assistant, brought back to Palmyra in a special car with the regional commandante of police. The girls were asked if they had any suspicion that either man was somehow involved in the theft of one of their wallets. All knew that "yes" meant the scary holding cell followed by far worse, and the two locals were literally shaking with fear. The girls said it was horrible to realize that to say anything was like pulling a trigger, and they said nothing.
After more days without sentencing others to terrible fates, we headed south-west to Damascus. [....]
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