Blogspot is blocked in Syria so my girlfriend is posting this for me

It's official, I'm now in my 14th country of this trip: Syria. The border cross was surprisingly fast and easy for a crossing that on paper is supposed to be impossible and I am now sitting happily in a cafe in Damascus. Traveling around Turkey, Lebanon, and now Syria during Ramadan has been both a blessing and a curse. On one hand it has been a wonderfully eye opening experience to be in Muslim countries during their holy month. I'm sure I have learned much more about their cultures as a result of this and certainly have a new found respect for them. Fasting is not an easy feat and it shows a very impressive dedication to their faith. It has also had some very interesting side effects however, for example, I also wind up fasting for far larger parts of the day than I would ordinarily. Because so many people are fasting a good deal of the shops, especially food stalls, are closed, and this makes it quite hard to find food during the day. While this is a little easier on my budget, my body, having gotten used to eating big meals after biking large distances, is protesting to the stark change in diet. It also has the effect of turning what are supposed to be very busy Souqs into almost ghost towns during the day so part of me feels like I'm missing out on an experience. Still, I'm sure it is offset by the privilege of getting to observe all of the Ramadan festivities.

Yesterday I was in Baalbeck, Lebanon and for those of you who were like me prior to this trip, Baalbeck is home to huge set of Roman ruins, arguably the most important in the Middle East. Now I've never been to Athens or really seen other Roman or Greek temples so I don't have anything else to compare with but the ruins were incredible. The two major areas are the Temple of Jupiter and the Temple of Baachus. The Temple of Jupiter is over 90m long and its 6 remaining columns, reaching 22.9m high with a girth of 2.2m, are the largest in the world. Archeologists are still not entirely sure how they moved them into position. The Temple of Baachus was completed around 150AD and is extremely well preserved. It is referred to as the smaller of the two temples but in actuality it is larger than the Parthenon in Athens. The sheer scope of the temple is mind blowing and it is hard to believe that it sits as intact as it still is today. Clearly this is an indication of how well it was built almost two thousand years ago. Another more peculiar site in Baalbeck is a huge stone that is located in what once was the city's dump. Measuring 21.5m by 4m by 4.5m, it is the world's largest cut stone and was rescued from the sands of time by a retired army Sargent who cleaned up the area and convinced the government to make it a historical site.

That's all I have for now, tomorrow begins the full scale exploration of all that Damascus has to offer!