From the bus station of Aleppo we hired a mircobus to Qala at'Samaan, the famous ruins of the four basilicas built in the Middle Age dedicated to Saint Simeon Stylites. Saint Simeon Stylites was a renowned Christian saint lived in the 4th century. He gained his fame by living and preaching on a small platform on a pillar for over 30 years, whose remains still stood in the middle of the ruins at Qala at'Samaan. The ruin was rather remote, approximately 2 hour of drive north of Aleppo. To me, the ruined archways and columns of the early Medieval basilicas were very photogenic.
We finished our visit at around 11:00. As we walked to the exit, we didn't have a clue of how we can get back to Aleppo. There didn't seem any public transportation in the area, and we were up on a hill at a distance from the highway. At the main parking lot, I decided to test our luck to hitchhike, and of course, since there were six of us it wouldn't be easy. I took a deep breathe and headed towards a big tour bus in which the driver was reading newspaper. I tried to communicate with him in English and luckily he understood my request. He led me to the tour guide and the group of Spanish tourists. They agreed to take us along all at once as they were leaving for Aleppo as well. They were not in a big group, around 15, mainly in their 50s, all looked educated and kind of wealthy. The bus was the most luxurious tour bus we had ever seen, with large comfortable chairs and a banquette seating area at the back where we could sit comfortably. Their bus even dropped by another ancient site along the way, and we were invited to go along with them to visit the sight briefly. On the bus, the group was kind enough to offer us biscuits and snacks. The bus was so comfortable that at the end we all fell asleep. When we get up we had already back at the Citadel of Aleppo.
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