Who here has actually been to Syria?

[acrashb]

This thread is getting waayyy off topic

Only because you pulled it there.

Getting back to visiting syria, a lot of the scenario development activity from CMx1 involved getting vintage maps - with Syria, were do we get maps? I tried maps.google.com, nothing - the satellite views did not go past about 1" to 2000', which is good enough for terrain but not buildings.

[Mord]

Originally posted by ozi_digger:

</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Mord:

Kinda like when we bombed Germany and killed all those friendly civilians that didn't give two ****s for Nazi or the Third Reich and just wanted to live their lives?

Mord, I get the bit about civilians getting killed accidently in every war, but I'd never try and justify 100,000's of [German] civilians getting killed on the grounds of their nation's prevalent political beliefs. Thats as bad as Nazism itself. Try understanding the nature of total war and the limitations of bomber technology and you're probably on the right track.

This thread is getting waayyy off topic. </font>

[Muletears]

A couple of snaps taken from top of Krak Des Chevalier showing terraced hillsides (a CMSF terrain type?) plus a pic of the one souvenir from the trip I still treasure.

http://home.clara.net/headcount/Syria05.html

[Ivan Drago]

Muletears,

I've been meaning to travel more lately, and the Middle East is a fascinating destination. Lots of history dating back to the birth of civilization as we know it.

How safe is it to travel to, say Syria, before the 2007 invasion?

Seriously though, are tourists now advised to choose other destination? Is there an abundance of kidnapping for ransom ala parts of South America?

Your pics are tempting me to look into alternatives for Europian travel in a few months.

Mord,

Relax big guy! I know a certain masseuse who does out calls - Pierre is just what you need - we can't have you go on television with all those stress lines on your forehead and bags under your eyes!

[nijis]

Travel to Syria should be very safe. It's a lovely place, and Damascus has some really excellent restaurants set in the houses of the old city.

That being said, I would strongly advise against any photography of possible scenario venues. Trying to explain the distinction between preemptive reconnaissance for a game set modeling a US invasion, and reconnaissance for the actual invasion, might be tricky, and authoritarian nationalist regimes live for espionage trials.

[Londoner]

Originally posted by Ivan Drago:

Mord,

Relax big guy! I know a certain masseuse who does out calls - Pierre is just what you need - we can't have you go on television with all those stress lines on your forehead and bags under your eyes!

LOL!! Can I have a ciesta in those bags please??

[wbs]

I was up at the Syrian Border in the summer of 1983. We were getting an official tour of the Golan Heights from an Israeli Colonel. At the border, there was an Israeli guardpost (which was a shack with a couple of soldiers stationed there), and then about 200 yards ahead was a UN checkpoint, right on the border itself, and then 200 yards beyond that was the Syrian guardpost. There were about 14 of us in our group, and while we were clustered around the Israeli shack, the Syrians stepped out of theirs to get a better look (out of curiosity) at what was going on (or to get a better look at the two very hot babes who were part of our delegation )

About a week later we were in Cairo, Egypt (airport only) while we changed planes (and passports) to go to Jordan for a meeting with King Hussein.

It was fun, but I wouldn't want to live there. Too much sunshine. I might die of excessive sunburn, being a redhead.

[JonS]

Originally posted by Affentitten:

I have been to Egypt, including El Alamein.

What were your impressions?

[Affentitten]

I was in El Alamein for the 50th anniversary of the battle. It wasn’t planned that way, I just happened to be passing through Marsa Matruh and suddenly noticed all these podgy old Brits in berets and blazers. They wanted to have a few drinks when they found I was an Aussie, but I never felt comfortable about basking in someone else’s glory.

I like the Med coast of Egypt. You don’t get so many tourists there, though in Egypt, that’s a relative statement. Alexandria would have to be one of my favourite cities in the Middle East, though it’s very busy in the summer.

As for El Alamein itself, well, as you would know, there aint a whole lot there to remark upon. I didn’t get a chance to visit any of the cemeteries, and to be honest, I wasn’t really much of a grog back then.

I was on my way out to Siwa to conduct a bit of as LRDG raid over the Libyan border. Siwa is great because like many places in western Egypt, you can combine WW2 with Ancient history. Plus the Sahara there really looks like the movie version of the Sahara: big rolling sand dunes plus fabulous little oases with crystal clear ponds surrounded by date palms.

[Mord]

Originally posted by Ivan Drago:

Mord,

Relax big guy! I know a certain masseuse who does out calls - Pierre is just what you need - we can't have you go on television with all those stress lines on your forehead and bags under your eyes!

I hope he does enemas I need a flushing...all this game related stress has me cramped up and bloated...he can stick it right in my ear...high colonic for my head...

Mord.

[Affentitten]

Originally posted by acrashb:

Getting back to visiting syria, a lot of the scenario development activity from CMx1 involved getting vintage maps - with Syria, were do we get maps?

Try Michelin. As a one-time playground of France, you'd probably find there are some pretty good maps out there.

[JonS]

google earth ...