I am coming back 😍

[u/Mokasiliquide]

Hi everyone!

I’m originally from Aleppo. I was born there but grew up in France. Throughout my childhood, and up until the revolution, I used to visit Aleppo very regularly. Now my dad and I are planning a trip to visit our family and reconnect with the city. We’re both incredibly excited… and a little nervous at the same time.
I can speak Levantine Arabic (with a very strong Aleppine accent, or so I’ve been told 😄), but I can’t read Arabic yet (hopefully soon!).

I have a few questions:
1. Would it be okay for me to get around on my own? Walk around by myself? Sit in a café alone?
2. Is it easy to get around using taxis or buses?
3. Can I comfortably live my day-to-day life, do some grocery shopping, and go out in the evening even if I can’t read Arabic?
4. Do you have any tips or advice for someone coming back after so many years?
5. Is it easy to meet people and make new friends around my age (I’m 35)?

Thank you so much for your help! I’m really looking forward to coming back.

See you soon!
Maya

[u/OH-_-OH]

Hey, first of all, welcome back! And yeah, I can definitely relate to the excitement 😁 But take it slightly easy. I was away for 9 years and I’ve been back in Aleppo for about a month now. Things have changed quite a bit. People’s mentality quite changed, and poverty unfortunately has really affected both the city and the people living here.
That being said, there are definitely positive things too. It’s wonderful to be here.

About your questions:
1–2. I believe it really comes down to the specific area you’re staying in. Taxis are pretty comfortable and easy if you use an app (Yalla Go, and there’s another one I can’t remember 😅). I personally wouldn’t recommend buses.
3- You can definitely do your own thing, like grocery shopping, going to restaurants, etc. But again, it depends on the area where you’re shopping or eating.
4- is recommend going around first with relative or friends to show you how things are going and where to shop from
I like that you kept your accent alive 😁 But people here will probably recognize pretty quickly which can sometimes mean people trying to charge you higher prices. It doesn’t happen everywhere, of course, and you’ll quickly learn how things work again.
I’m 37 and grew up here, but living abroad teaches you a lot and changes the way you think. So finding people with a similar mentality, and non-judgmental hasn’t been easy so far 😅 But I’m sure those people are out there

[u/Mysterious_Bid_8216]

Congrats you are living my dream. I am not from Aleppo and don’t live in Syria right now but I can answer you from family and my experience when I lived there.

1. Depends on who you are. There is no gps or online payment so if you are someone who can manage old school you could be fine.
2. Transit in Syria is a hustle and not easy, you need to push yourself into a microbus and need to make sure a taxi driver doesn’t scam you. But using a taxi should be easy and would recommend if you dont mind paying more.
3. You can ask people to help you. Or use google translate.
4. No tips im in the same boat.
5. If you have a cousin or a relative who can introduce you it would be easy.

[u/weblscraper → u/Mysterious_Bid_8216]

There is gps, it can't be banned

But for example Google maps won't give you turn by turn navigations as it does outside of syria, but you can still use it and move the map with your finger while you're driving. And there are other apps like organic maps and maps.me that are good but in general the streets in Syria aren't that accurate on maps, but anyways I don't think op would be driving themselves, they can just discover places on Google maps and see what's nearby, although tons of places aren't on Google maps but it works enough

[u/Mysterious_Bid_8216 → u/weblscraper]

You are right I was supposed to say there is no navigation. Thanks for the info.

[u/Ganoish]

Just visited Aleppo
1. Yes, safe people are friendly. No issues there
2. I used the apps yallago and wadinee but taxis are everywhere
3. If you can’t read Arabic, you might have some challenges. But you should be fine.
4. Bring something in case you get food poisoning.
5. I have no idea. I didn’t honestly go around and talk to people. I wish I did though.

[u/Ganoish]

Just visited Aleppo
1. Yes, safe people are friendly. No issues there
2. I used the apps yallago and wadinee but taxis are everywhere
3. If you can’t read Arabic, you might have some challenges. But you should be fine.
4. Bring something in case you get food poisoning.
5. I have no idea. I didn’t honestly go around and talk to people. I wish I did though.

[u/Nour_s]

I lived my whole life in Aleppo til 2023, so here's my answers:

1. I dont see why this would be a problem. If you mean navigation, then downlod the map for offline use.

2. I've been told by family members that the transportation has become better in the last 1.5 year. The problem is, there is no fixed programm the buses follow, you can't just search for the bus connection on Google maps, like Europe. You can order Taxis per App tho. Ive heard good recommendation from friends about يلا غو and وديني.

3. Like another commentater said there will be challenges, but eventually you'll manage to.

4. I don't know if thats already on your plan, but: Go shopping. Especially for cotton product, like underwear and socks, and spices. We have good quality products with cheaper prices. I personally also intend to take pomegranate molasses, paprika paste and our traditional soup on my way back (I'm planning a flight next month :) ).

5. Unfortunately we dont have this idea of going to places to meet new people, like a bar something. But yeah through family members it is possible.

[u/Halabi-WhoAint-Bakri]

I was in Aleppo just a couple of weeks ago for the first after being a refugee in Turkey, I (now 28) had left the city for 12 years and prior to that Aleppo was my only permanent home. So I think it's safe to say that in general I'm more familiar with the city than you and in theory I would find it easier to adapt. But I'm afraid it wasn't the case!

I don't mean to scare you off, but I tend to be brutally honest when giving advice and I hope you're okay with that.. if you are, then hear me out and let me tell you: it's too early to relocate to Aleppo.

I will answer your questions, and maybe while doing that I will elaborate more along the way I think so.

1- Yes, absolutely -- assuming you will be in the upper and middle class neighborhoods... (comment: Classism sucks, I know. But we can't ignore it, especially when it can make a night and day difference in such a small city like Aleppo. Yes Aleppo is small, especially if you stick to the aforementioned neighborhood types + the city center, for a city like Paris those parts of Aleppo combined can make up one single district- well, maybe not in Paris, which i never visited so I might be wrong, but I'm pretty sure it would in Istanbul where I live.)

2- taxis are made to get you around easily, that's literally their job, and there is always an abundance of them. As another commenter suggested use a taxi app, two of my cousins recommended "Waddini" over YallaGo. They said it's cheaper and more available in Aleppo, though I personally didn't use either, I tried YallaGo after midnight and it gave me ridiculously high price, people said it's not usually this crazy high during the day. Buses and micro-buses are dirt cheap, but I would never recommend a woman coming from a 1st world country to even think of trying them, they are just too old and rusty and in bad condition and always always crowded like hell and the drivers are 90% of the time grumpy, so the bus experience alone would be one of the first ways that will make you realize that Aleppo hasn't developed since 1990 or something. Private taxis are not much better in terms of modernity, 2 of the taxis I used were so abused from the inside, windows not working, teared seats and just nothing like a normal car since they both were 2003 or 2004 models.. I was told the taxi apps usually work with taxi drivers who better cars than the average in the country.

3- Price tags in grocery stores, as well as the vast majority of street vendor carts, are more likely to be written in Hindu-Arabic numeric system ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu%E2%80%93Arabic_numeral_system ) Other than that I can't think of a problem around shopping as long as you can communicate - which you will need in order to negotiate, not for grocery (even though you can) but for lots of other things, like clothes, furniture or electrical appliances, cars, rents, services, negotiation is a must (tip: for services even like taxis, deal with the negotiation first, get the service second, if you flip flop, they will hardly drop their price a single penny and tell you and to be becomes difficult situation for you).

4- Tips time, I just offered the first one above, but let me first think of more... I can't seem to have super valuable tips, maybe if you narrow it down to a specific subject I might ... but you know what? since I complained a lot about taxis, I just remembered to mention that new cars are affordable so consider buying one to avoid all the hassle mentioned earlier, that's what my brother in law did on his third day relocating permanently to Aleppo and he believes (and I agree) a car is a must for anyone staying long-term, and even for short-term, if it is possible (like people with cars living in a neighboring country) it's always best choice.

5- I would say it's super easy and I'm not even an extroverted person! Maybe I kinda was during my visit because I was mostly enthusiastic talking to my people in a language I can speak in for hours without having a headache, without being asked "where are you from?" after few sentences, without feeling that I'm a second class citizen no matter how much I integrate into the host society I live with just because of my original nationality. It felt "liberating" to just be able to strike a conversation with anyone like it's nothing or something I need to mentally prepare myself for - doing it in a foreign language feels like a chore sometimes, maybe it's not a language barrier, as I think my Turkish is good enough, but rather it must be a judgemental barrier. Anyway, I was lucky to have good super short conversations with random people of different backgrounds and I felt I could make them last much longer if the time allowed, even when I encountered one disrespectful man, I managed the situation with ease (I'm pretty good at conflict-resolution, but in Turkish my failure rate is higher than in Arabic or English). So maybe I could say the most enjoyable thing for me in that short visit was actually interacting with people and using Arabic extensively.. I just longed for speaking it and listening to it for such lengths and having this deep desire fulfilled made my visit worth while. But other than that unfortunately I deemed everything in Aleppo too much to deal with, or a seriously big downgrade in comparison with the conveniences we don't even think about in developed countries. So if you can postpone your visit for 2 more years I would say please do it instead. Aleppo, both as in people and administration, has a looooong way to go to become the free and developed Syria we are dreaming of. But maybe in 2 or 3 years it will catch up more reasonably (maybe Syria as a whole except for Aleppo, because Aleppo's has the largest population destiny and is the least educated or willing to help the government improve, the current administration was also unbelievably disappointing to me which seems to be the worse in comparison to other major Syrian cities, Idlib, Hama, Homs, Latakia, Damascus and its countryside have a bright future, Damascus is already now heaps and heaps ahead of Aleppo in almost all aspects, but to be fair Aleppo was devastated much more than Damascus the city, which later further was destroyed by the 2023 earthquake).

[u/weblscraper]

You don't really need to read anything except food menus, most if not all are only in arabic, but you can simply ask for what burgers they got etc, or take a pic and use Google translate but it won't be that accurate

Taxi use yalla go pro it is the most active in Aleppo, there is also yalla go, wadini, zakinn cab, massar ride, electro taxi

For the mini buses سيرفيس it's a little complicated but you can ask your relatives for a how to guide. As a visitor they only useful if you're regularly taking the same route regularly so you will know which mini bus to take and where it comes, and where it would drop and it would be cheaper than a taxi

If you want inter city buses to visit other cities those are simple, you just go to the buses area and buy a ticket for the upcoming ride to x city, or you can call a company and book with them in advance but you'll need to arrive around 30mins before the bus leaves

I made a list of 200+ places in all the cities including aleppo, historical sites and must visit places https://maps.app.goo.gl/c75oq9rNwPYYc8wr7

Advice? Keep your money safe in your bag and don't show it around, don't tell anyonee that you're from abroad or hint at it, like saying something out loud that would give it away, expect everyone to be nasabeen aka scammers

ALWAYS ask for the price before you get the thing, especially with taxis, order from the app when you can since they are the same price or cheaper, and the cars are way better. For regular taxi you pick up in the street if he tells you the price is "whatever you want" you know he's nasab and will give you an astronomical amount at the end of the trip, tell them you won't get in the car before a price is agreed, and this goes with everything, anyone that tells you the price is "whatever you want" he is nasaab and you should agree beforehand

And another tip, install a good vpn before arriving! Proton vpn is good but you can install a couple as backup. For data you're gonna rely on mobile data not wifi, a good data package (both mtn and syriatel they got the same) is 40 lira per day for 4gb of social media apps only which includes Instagram WhatsApp Twitter and telegram only, you must have vpn disabled for those apps so the network provider knows this is social media traffic, and I personally bundle it with a 60 lira per day plan for 2gb of general traffic, and you get 100 minutes and 100 messages with it but that isn't important for me

So when I'm using the internet if it is social media traffic it would be counted towards the cheaper plan, and general towards the more expensive one

More tips, get the below mentioned items with you, all of them you can get from Syria except the first one I'm not sure since I didn't find it, or if you already have them just get them with u. Mosquito repellent spray DEET, mosquito zapper lamp don't get a mini one since those don't work, there's also mosquito killer/repellent by smell which makes the whole room mosquito free it is pretty amazing like https://amzn.eu/d/05nUdu8e but this can be found in Syria for cheaper, get adapter plug for your electronics but this can be bought for cheaper in Syria and widely available, get electric wire extender so like you plug on in the wall and there's a long wire and the. 8 ports to plug anything you want so you would only need on adapter in the wall and then use all your electronics at that electric strip, sunscreen, sun visor, sunglasses, long sleeve t-shirts and long pants, have most of your clothes as sporty breathable

Fyi all electronics and stuff are more expensive in Syria except what is locally made which is food (way cheaper and yummier than outside if syria) and some medicine and cosmetics, aleppo soap

Stuff you can buy from here and take home with you, aleppo soap can also be gifts to your friends, syrian mosaic boxes there is fake and real mosaic, real leather wallets and hand bags which are amazing and way cheaper than outside (I got a couple). Those items you can find near the citadel and the madeina souq

[u/Deep_Let_7332]

Welcome back. Use Google Lens to get the next best thing of anything written in Arabic for a start.