The Bagdad Cafe is in the middle of the Syrian desert on the way to Palmyra. A pleasant pause on the long drive, with a friendly welcome, hot sweet tea, Arabic coffee, a shisha and as many cheap souvenirs as you'd care to buy - Mahmoud will be happy to take your money. A cheerful, welcoming guy and a born salesman, he whispered to me that he'd added a touch of hash to my shisha - no extra charge. I think he was kidding. About the hash, not the freebie.
See the Cafe from space on Google Maps - the buildings in the middle.
A sprawl of Roman ruins built on an oasis and overlooked by the 13th century Fakhr-al-Din al-Maani Castle. It attained prominence in the 3rd century BC when it became one of the main routes of east-west trade being halfway between the Mediterranean coast and the Euphrates River, connecting the Roman world with Mesopotamia.
Of significant architectural value the site was over-run by Islamic State scumbags who proceeded to demolish the Tetrapylon, Temple of Bel, and Temple of Baalshamin. They executed Syrian soldiers in the amphitheatre and displayed the mutilated remains of the octagenarian curator labeling him an apostate, director of idolatry and participant in infidel academic gatherings. There are times when the f-bomb + the c-bomb are appropriate . This is one.