Visiting Palmyra

Visiting Palmyra today means meeting the modern inhabitants of the city, being present as the Bedouin populations move with the seasons and put up their khaima, the traditional tent, wherever it is convenient. It means finding on restaurants’ tables the traditional mezze and the delicious memsaf, a lamb dish cooked in yogurt and served with rice. You will often be able to partake in this delicious meal under a khaima, or at least the tourist version of it, the floor covered with carpets and benches disposed around low tables.