When I decided to travel to Syria the first thing everyone said was of course: ‘are you crazy!?’. An understandable reaction but it didn’t change my mind. I realized that for me it was safe to visit Syria and their outstanding tourist attractions were on my bucketlist for a very long time. For many years this country was topping the bucketlist of many travelers and no wonder because there are so many amazing things to do and places to visit in Syria. But when the Syrian war in 2011 started, everything changed...

It still felt a bit strange walking up to a brand new luxurious car with a Syrian number plate in the heart of Beirut. Just a few moments before I met Mohammed, a tall and very friendly old man, patiently waiting for me in the lobby of my hotel. His smile was captivating. ‘I am your driver for your Syria trip this week’, he introduced himself with while he offered to take my small backpack. At that moment I started to realize… my trip to Syria

had just started.