Everyone is going to Syria.

The Hürriyet newspaper today published a story in the travel section called 'From Antakya to Syria with a Backpack'. Apparently, three girlfriends decided to goto Syria (Aleppo [Halep] and Damascus [Şam]) with nothing but 15 Kilo backpacks and a copy of a Lonely Planet guide. In Aleppo, they stayed in a hotel that had 24-hour hot water for $6/night. In this section of the world, the discount hotels can sometimes have only squat toilets, which I am not a fan of, not worth the risk to save a few dollars. I stayed in a western style hotel called the Pullman Al-Shahba, very nice and conveniently located.