April 16, 1967 -- Aleppo Syria, the afternoon

"The Aleppo Bazaar is the greatest. The bazaar is said to take up 6 square miles. Fantastic local color with animals such as donkeys and dogs in abundance. Men & Women dressed colorfuly - many of the women wearing quantities of gold representing the wealth of the family. Machines humming and working in the narrow confines of the covered shops and passageways. Light filters through the haze of smoke and dust providing a glimpse of times long gone in our sanitized American life. Here I purchased a small quantity of supposedly 24karat Gold Sovereign coins, forged replicas of the British Sovereign coin - I intend to smuggle these to India and sell them at a profit.

Tomorrow Syria celebrates its independence from the French. We have tickets to the parade.

Our impressions of Syria are good. The people we've met on the street and in shops are friendly and open, although it is best not to mention being American or anything about America. Our hotel has about 8 rooms, our room has three beds for the two of us at 2 pounds ($.50) a night. The room is swept and tidied each day. The toilet down the hall is the usual clean but smelly Turkish type (hole in the floor with two footprints)."

Much of the bazaar in Istanbul had been made pretty and tourist friendly, not so Aleppo. I loved the feel of authenticity of the place.