Syria's government just

[Music]

collapsed I'm heading there right now

for the first time since I was banned

for shooting a video series that the old

regime did not like since my last trip

Everything Has Changed on December 8th

2024 opposition forces took over the

Syrian capital of Damascus forcing out

their dictator Bashar Assad whose family

ruled for over 50 years this marks a

historic turning point in the Civil War

that's killed nearly 1 million people

since 2011 the success U of this

Rebellion has given syrians a new sense

of freedom but the future remains

uncertain the war has created the

largest Refugee crisis in modern history

displacing more than half of Syria's

total population to make things worse

food prices are soaring Medical Care is

hard to access and electricity goes out

daily and get this gr and the power just

went out with no functioning government

borders that were once locked down are

now wide open massive rallies fill the

streets and buildings with official

records have been burned to ashes

literally in one night they burned all

the documents yes they want to hide the

evidence over the next 4 days I'm

attempting to visit Syria's most

dangerous cities that have been off

limits for decades I've never seen

anything like that in my life I'm also

going to try to get access inside the

country's deadliest prison where all the

inmates just escaped so what do the

local people think about the fall of

Assad's regime and what are their hopes

for the Next Generation after visiting

every country in the world this is the

craziest trick trip of my

life my Journey Begins in Beirut Lebanon

one of my favorite cities on Earth and I

really enjoyed being back welcome but

sadly I'm sick like a dog from food

poisoning that I picked up a few days

ago in

India on the short drive to the Syrian

border my driver and I crossed through

multiple checkpoints to exit Lebanon

we're in no man's land between Lebanon

and Syria but on the Syrian side with

the government and shambles they have an

inter new system so there's kind of a

loophole to get into Syria they stamp a

paper not the passport here's my actual

entry what if I lose the paper then

there's no proof that I entered Syria it

is surreal to cross this border

especially since I never thought I'd

step foot here again I love Syria this

country has a fascinating history some

of the world's most hospitable people

the more you take pictures the more we

love you and honestly the best cuisine

in the Middle East but right away things

feel different I am walking past

checkpoints that have literally just

been demolished the moment you go into

Syria you have all these abandoned

buildings here that used to be

checkpoints completely gutted imagine

military standing here with weapons like

recently like 6 weeks ago this is the

old Syria flag which they've destroyed

the walls and now the new flag is over

there it is a totally different Syria

and I'm ready for this one it's going to

be one hell of a trip how are you doing

good to see you back thank you thank you

this is a and he will be my local guide

for the next 4 days I freaks out because

there's no signal here and I was like

how was It's Going On the Border I was

banned from Syria like until two months

ago yes but when the new government now

they don't care because all of the

issues is related to Assad regime I'm

not going to get kidnapped no if I do

you need to bail me out of prison yeah a

tells me that we can try to sneak inside

the famous Seda prison where all the

inmates escaped after Assad fled to

Russia but first I want to hear his take

on how people are feeling now that their

corrupt leader is gone they don't care

that I'm filming no do they want me to

film yes because they want to expose

Assad crimes you know okay when I came

here last time it was completely

opposite now was very relaxing we even

can fly a drone next to a checkpoint on

a military base crazy dude there a new

Syria people are happy because for them

Assad is the worst thing to Syria yeah

ever who is in power now his name is Abu

Muhammad Al jol people like him he's

nice he's acting nice with people but

for me personally I support democracy

but I think we don't have this right now

but it's better than Assad of course

anything is better than Assad anything

before we head to the prison we have to

check out Damascus as the Beating Heart

of Syria's economy and culture I'm dying

to see how much has changed since my

last visit so crazy to be back here man

I remember everything all of this area

was closed by check points and Military

because Asad lives close from here you

cannot walk here freely

[Music]

they like to use the horn in

[Music]

Syria it's so cool to be back here in

Damascus and just remember standing in

this exact spot through all the wars and

everything the old city is really intact

yeah like it hasn't been destroyed a and

I met in 2019 yes hi my name is a and we

going to tell you a different story

about Syria and then my friend Rowan who

runs young Pioneer tours who actually

set up this trip he told me about a and

now we're here I didn't imagine again

yeah small world bro really small

world everywhere in Damascus is bustling

with activity in street life so

everywhere on the streets of Damascus

now you can find people exchanging money

where before it was illegal but now they

really want dollars and you can exchange

anywhere like here thank you thank you

very

much I got all this money here but it

has Assad's face on it right here auu is

telling me that the money is going to be

changed they will remove zeros like

turkey and they will remove the Assad

voto what a crazy time to visit a

country where everything is

changing all over Syria you find bullet

holes in Assad's face so crazy to see

this happening these are photos of

people missing in SAA prison look at

this so sad as we make our way to the

prison the outskirts of Damascus tell an

ugly Story one of Civil War and terrible

suffering the physical line between the

beautiful city center and the desolate

Rubble is Razor thin you see now here it

looks nice compare it with after that

line wa look at those buildings under

Assad syrians endured Mass executions

chemical attacks on civilians and the

deliberate bombing of hospitals and

schools it literally feels like another

planet out here every building around me

is destroyed completely destroyed gone

gutted this is used to be a kitchen a

lady in the evening cooking here kids

playing here and now it's all gone jeez

dud it's not clean yet from mines from

mines mines or the rockets that didn't

explode bro what how how am I going to

know if I step on a mine I Walk Through

This Way many times thought you were

going to say be careful about glass or

something not about rockets that haven't

exploded

do you remember when all these like

attack yes Before the War I used to come

here with my brother no words can

describe the feeling of standing here

right now I'm looking at all this

destruction I mean now I've traveled to

Ukraine and Mogadishu Somalia and Libya

you see a little bit of Destruction but

not like this I it's hard to

swallow soldiers used to be here and

moving through those tunnels let's go in

the tunnel

wow dude keeps going farther and farther

it gets narrow and narrow it's freaky

here wait so people could live down here

I think this is for electricity yeah so

people did live down here this is kind

of freaky yeah it's like a city under a

city yeah but it's so quiet and still in

here it's uh difficult to

breathe this is so not safe there's

glass everywhere

this is the last checkpoint of Assad

regime Army on that time can go inside

of it yeah yeah it's empty wa man so

wild then you can peep outside from here

is this like one of the worst

destruction in all of Syria yes this

area calls zobar in the whole country

this is like yes jobar Dara hes this is

the most can you imagine Assad forces

here and the oppositions in the

tunnels the Ian Civil War started in

2011 as protest against Assad's regime

inspired by the Arab Spring which was a

wave of uprisings across the Middle East

demanding democracy and an end to

corruption but after the brutal

government Crackdown it spiraled into a

fullscale war involving Rebels and other

militias the free Syrian Army was the

first major Rebel group supported by

turkey but over time it dissolved and

lost influence now a militant group

called HTS which is short for hayat

Tahir al-sham and was once part of

al-Qaeda controls the majority of Syria

and has a large base in idb a city in

Northwestern Syria where I'm hoping to

visit later meanwhile Isis or the

Islamic State took over Syria and Iraq

enforcing Extreme Rule through mass

killings they were eventually defeated

but a few members still linger in the

desert of Syria finally we have the

Syrian Democratic forces who are mostly

led by the Kurds a stateless ethnic

group in the Northeast they received us

support to fight Isis but now turkey

sees them as a major threat Russia and

Iran have backed Assad's government

while the opposition has been supported

by by Gulf States like Qatar it is

devastating that kids and families have

been caught in the crossfire of these

shifting power dynamics but nowhere

explains this new stage of the conflict

better than the human slaughter house

I'm about to enter just arrived at one

of the world's deadliest prisons called

sedia here over 150,000 people have been

killed inside of that

gate let's get into the prison hello

hello

hello holy we've just entered the

prison

if I contacted you like 3 months ago

yeah and I said hey bro let's go to Saia

prison what would you say you are crazy

that's impossible I never imagined

myself coming here because no one expect

that Assad Rim move whole that fast they

got all these tanks from Russia can feel

like they're Russian

cars so Eerie to be the only one here

this is so bizarre we've just entered

the prison and this is insane so this is

a normal seal a normal they keep here up

to 100% only in this space what are

there bodies in here no no only clothes

are you sure because when everyone left

they only left with their clothes they

only have light from here so imagine

yourself sitting here and that's the

only light you can see

damn this is how it used to be yeah only

this small

window

wow three

locks and there is 100 people

inside

god wow this is so scary man only one

small tolet for 100 people yeah that's a

toilet it

yeah what is that Sugar oh no launder

launder this is the prison

clothes it's smell very bad and you can

find the water bags and everywhere

because of the bugs I can't describe the

feeling of being in here it's just so

recent like all their clothes are just

literally here on the floor they just

like got up and left that's it every

single cell here at 100 people yes and

in the end there is the showers people

died in here yes often yes because

during the war more than

150,000 people were killed in Seda

prison and it was full of people so when

they want to bring more people they need

to terminate some of the prisoners who

were the prisoners here were they like

drug dealers rapists like criminals no

no not criminals the majority of the

prisoners here they took them because of

their political opinions against the

government so they were just normal

people yeah most of them are educated

cold water and it's freezing in here

there's no heating actually it's quite

cold in Syria in the winter like right

now they used to torture people with the

wheels like they put the prisoner inside

and they hit

it this is the red section it's full of

seals like this one so it's the same

design and underground there's the

single seals the worst part I don't

think I've ever seen a place like this

man I've been to all kind of abandoned

buildings but not a prison that just

emptied it's so cold in here like God my

whole body is freezing this is the

single seal

section

careful this is the worst part but I

heard they put like 10 people inside 10

people yeah because they don't have

space holy what the that's the

bathroom there's like the people who've

been here they write like Memories so

you see the lines it's the days wow look

at that those spider webs yeah that's a

spider web yeah holy

[Music]

damn this is so scary all the single

cells are right next to each other I

can't believe I'm in this prison right

now I've heard all about

it bro smells like death in here here

literally I think I got to get the out

of here this place freaks me out so I

can't believe that everybody was just

Freed at once when the news hit that

Assad left like everyone just at night

yeah uh the prison Keepers they run away

they escaped so people from the village

which is next to the prison they came

here and they free all of the prisoners

wow so many syrians were coming here and

like digging underneath look for a

Secret Sales because they are desperate

and they want to know anything about

their relatives and families and also

here they found some clothes belongs to

women's so also they keep women's in

this pris what does it say how hard is

to live without hope I have no words

what it feels like walking around this

place it is a dark scary place I can't

imagine being stuck here for being

innocent they even have small seals like

this you will stay here you cannot St

stand up oh this is the space you have

look at all these

clothes oh they smell terrible oh man

they're like wet and cold

clothes walking through this prison and

thinking about how many people died here

makes me sick it's hard to believe these

horrific conditions and the fact that

all prisoners escaped just a few weeks

ago but there is a glimmer of hope

because back in Damascus I stumbl upon a

rally of people celebrating the fall of

the old regime

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

the idea of establishing a new country

with a new government is really exciting

it doesn't happen often in today's day

and age it's happening right now in

Syria and I'm here for it Damascus is

the world's oldest continuously

inhabited City and is a cultural and

historical treasure once a key Hub on

the Silk Road it has been shaped by

countless civilizations like the Romans

Ottoman and French for centuries Muslim

Christians and Jews coexisted here

making it a true spiritual Crossroads

the city is famous for its ancient

mosques and bustling markets and I can't

wait to soak in the atmosphere that I

remember so well walking in the

beautiful old streets here in The Old

City look at this food everywhere man

unfortunately I have one of the worst

Food poisonings of my life right now so

I'm not able to enjoy any of the food

here but it's some of my favorite

cuisine in the world but I got to just

kind of take a look and keep walking

today is Friday so everyone goes to hang

out man I'm so happy to be here this is

amazing what a place super Lively I just

came from beay before this and I got to

admit there's way more action going on

here in theas in Beirut it's really cool

you can see the kids gearing up in new

Syrian flag scarfs and beanies with the

new flag it's really really changing

guys it is insane to witness

[Music]

this I was here 6 years ago right here I

remember this tree food vendor and I

took a bite of the schwarma right here

and this EXA

spot very good entering the amazing umad

mosque oh man what a place last time I

was here this whole Courtyard was off

limits you couldn't go in the middle so

I actually snuck up to the top of that

minet and I hiked all the way to there I

have the most epic GoPro selfie shot

overlooking Damascus from there I'm on

the top of Damascus right now it's the

fourth holiest mos in Islam it used to

be an aramic Temple then a Roman then a

church before that a synagogue then it's

become a church then half Church half

mask then they turn it to a full mask

and they keep that minate from the time

of the church so if you look to the

minates it's all different I can't

really put into words how special this

place is it is amazing you just feel

like you're walking through history when

you're here it's insane this is how you

know Syria has changed we're going to

drone from the middle of the

[Music]

mosque it's a little bit emotional for

me right now now because I honestly

thought I was never going to come back

to Syria and see all the beauty here but

here I am back again and enjoying it

honestly more than I've ever enjoyed it

Eng

English are you happy these days in

Syria yes he's

happy he don't need to do the mandatory

military service anymore that's why he's

happy why else are you happy

because prices are going down now life

is

[Laughter]

easier are you happy in Syria yeah very

happy in

America he said God Bless America how do

you feel about life now in

Syria and she feels safe now for her

country

she suffered during the war because of

the fighting and now she feel like

that's the end of this nightmare that's

why she's happy thanks for sharing how

about you how do you feel she's super

happy thank you we are now entering

inside the

mosque immediately when I walked in here

the prayer came on it's so cool to

revisit a place after extended period of

time and just realize how how much

you've changed and how your perspectives

on the world are different but the

building looks exactly the

same the call to prayer is one of the

most beautiful sounds on planet Earth

and it's a great way to end the night

after diving into some heavy topics

tomorrow I'll be ready for another big

day of exploration because this time

we're going to road trip outside of

[Music]

Damascus after a good night's rest we're

on our way North to a city called ID

which was once controlled by ISIS and

completely completely off limits for

anyone to visit nowadays idb is a

stronghold of HTS the new militia in

power people in this city have faced

Relentless bombings sieges and extreme

hardship so I have to admit I'm feeling

as nervous as I am excited on the way

out of Damascus we passed by a wildl

looking building that looks like it was

set on fire just yesterday what was this

Building Department of Immigration this

is where we get visas from so literally

in one night they burned all the

documents yes because they want to hide

the evidence I've been banned from Syria

and all the evidence of that was in this

building yes so now nobody knows the

details exactly but there was a paper in

here that says that was the whole system

is here I feel bad because now they need

to make more efforts but also because we

need some evidence to prove what exactly

was the security forces agencies doing

in here it's a little bit intimidating

that these guys are walking around with

huge guns like who are they they're good

guys right uh yes now uh their name is

Ministry of internal defense just then

auu mentions a pill Factory where

Assad's government used to manufacture

illegal drugs and I know we have to

check it out the drug that they would

make in here is similar to like speed or

Aderall and they would make it in the

millions in this exact Warehouse which

is now empty our final stop leaving

Damascus might be the craziest place

I've ever stepped foot in the abandoned

Iranian Embassy and we're about to just

barge in who dude for decades Iran was

one of Assad's biggest supporters

providing weapons funding and even

fighters to keep his regime in power but

the moment Assad fled to Moscow all the

Persians left Syria with him and their

Embassy was left in the dust with no

security

guards

wow look at all these Iranian Flags holy

there's pictures of the leader like

all over the

place dude this dude just came out of

the wall what the there a random dude

that came with us he's like searching

around for

stuff I feel like there's still cameras

in here that Iran's like watching me or

something I do want to go back to Iran

someday I love you Iran D look at the

cat whoa this is a library in here dude

look at this all these books behind this

bookshelf there's a secret

door dude this is a secret room I wonder

what they did in this this room what

happened in here I'm in a secret room in

the Iranian Embassy in Syria I've been

to Iran three times I love the country

it's one my favorites in the world and I

just can't believe I'm stepping on all

these artifacts books CDs you want to

get out of here I'm not scared I'm

scared dude how are you not scared we

won't come back here every

day holy crap this is a control room

this is hard

driv some hard

drives damn that's wait who is that aad

andad the father oh and the Iranian bu

there's probably some value in this room

when Iranians drink tea they put this

rock candy inside of it of course I find

this on the ground I'm looking for

zafron the spices zaffron everything's

already been looted

asahan I love this city this is the

front door or how do we exit no we can't

get out here there's like important

documents everywhere like what kind of

business was done in

here forget the saffron bro let's go I

need my life so are people like happy

about everyone's happy right yes

everyone is happy optimistic because

during aad time everyone felt like the

future is bad for sure 90% or like 100%

100% even the the people who used to

support Assad is it going to be a good

thing in the end or a bad thing I'm not

sure yet it's not uh clear yet if you

replace Assad with the demon itself it's

better than Assad he's the worst thing

ever to so anything is better than aide

yes and it's a big challenge because in

such a country like Syria we need

democracy it's very diverse country and

as I understand like still the Border

areas of Syria near the Turkish border

near the Iraq border they're still kind

of dangerous yes we're currently driving

through holes which is known as the most

destroyed City in Syria it's incredibly

sad

the rebuilding every single house is

covered in bullet holes as we're pulling

up to a sketchy checkpoint I'm feeling

nervous to get out of the car because we

don't know who is who they're actually

nice can I see your gun homie gave me

his gun just now holy this is

crazy byebye byebye that was insane that

car and all their weapons and as it

turns out these guys were just curious

and it's clear they want to show that

Syria is changing we are still on our

way to ID but I'm noticing a lot of

tents out my window and decide to pull

over to see what's going on so we're

somewhere near the town of Hama in

between Damascus and ID and we found a

community of gypsies yes you can see

their tents here they're just really

like off the side of the

road English no

[Applause]

Arab oh

[Music]

hium

hello so we are walking through the

community here and everywhere we go all

the kids

follow which is actually kind of cool

they have their own Community this is a

shop they got

shisha this is awesome there's a dude

chilling smoking shisha in the corner

it's crazy their faces like a lot of

them are like white with blonde features

like green eyes blue eyes bro they have

a lot of kids like each family like this

guy he have five kids and one wife some

men's have like two three wives Syria

has gone through a crazy Liberation in

the last few weeks how does it make you

feel he don't like aad

family we used to suffer through his Ru

time and we don't have ideas and we

serve in the Army but they don't give

syan ideas what do you think the future

holds for

Syria saying good things about the

president he been sent by God he's good

he said they promised them that they

will get syan IDs now like their rights

as Citizens what do you think about this

experience this is my first time being

here actually it looks nice but I met

like gypsies in in the city they do some

businesses and I know they have their

own language is it offensive to call

them gypsies

oh he said it's difference gypsies are

different than turkman they are Turman

this section is turkman that section is

gypsies so it's different place are they

Muslim yes yes Muslims there are about a

100,000 turkman Nomads in Syria a group

that has been here for nearly a thousand

years these guys were originally herders

and traitor moving with the seasons but

over time many settled in Northern and

Central Syria today their way of life

has been shaped by history conflict and

modernization some still live as no ads

like the community I'm with right now

while others have been forced to settle

in cities or even leave the country due

to War I truly can't believe my luck for

bumping into them the very kind man has

invited us into his tent

here whoa I think they're excited to see

us can you ask her how long do you stay

in each location

he said they stayed like one month two

months then they moved to alipo or

Damascus

depends oh they said they work also as

Farmers for example in the olive season

they go to Alo in which ways did you

suffer during the Assad

[Music]

regim they didn't have any political

freedom on that time on Assad time but

now they do they used to be afraid of

talking about politics or asking for

their rights

now we can talk and the situation is

better we don't have any problems now

that you're able to talk tell tell me

what's on your

mind he wants education for the kids

what are the common jobs here is it

farming

only they work everything wherever they

get a chance they work what things are

the most important to your

community family is important but for

them they are like very humble people so

they just want to

survive this is crazy like we're being

just swarmed by

people the discipline here is wild like

they have no manners they don't

understand like it's all in good good

faith it's interesting that they settle

like on the side of the freeway like

they don't want more privacy like Inland

these are the kids that are begging in

the cities but when you but when you're

in their community

it's different it's weird I never

imagined myself coming here but is their

language like pure Turkish or it's a

dialect we are exist in here we live

here they don't hurt anyone they have

humble life they are happy the chief the

chief yeah we we just saw your community

so we wanted to stop and say hi

he said you are most welcome

than how many kids do you have 11 11

kids man why is it so important for you

to have

kids to bring blessing he said now we

will have more kids because the

situation is getting better how do you

feel about the current situation in

Syria they are very happy and they feel

safe

now he said during a sad time used to

have like very bad situation but now

they feel optimistic about the new

government I'm very happy for

you what do you want the whole world to

know about your

community every good

thing the new government he hope that

they will make them more happy and they

want to spread peace and happiness

around the

world all right we're being ordered to

sit down have some

CH cheers

bro that is extremely sweet yeah I think

it's like 90% sugar and 10% water

apparently they have birds in here we're

going to check it out so why do you have

Birds I'm it's a hobby he bought

them yes do you know what kind of bird

it is lot of booze he said booze but I

don't know what type are they Syrian yes

Syrian yeah how many kids do you have

uh two kids two kid right here he's

really cute where do they give birth to

the babies in the hospital in Damascus

wow this is the small kid 15 days old

wow my God that's so beautiful wow the

wife looks really

young he's 24 years old same age his

wife how many kids do you want to

have he said the minimum average is like

5 10 he likes the kids all right getting

to the car is going to be really

difficult how we going to do this this

is the most difficult part how to escape

now escaping is going to be uh quite the

challenge here thank you thank

you thank

you wow that was crazy experience dude

[Music]

wa they want money they want money I

don't I don't

be

careful oh oh my God are you crazy let's

move let's move let's move I want them

to move are you

crazy why I want them to move man dude

they're literally riding on the

car those kids were so cute and chaotic

but their innocence warms my heart I

can't help but feel sorry for all the

trauma they've been through with the

nomads in the rearview mirror we are now

approaching idle and believe me when I

say this is one of the most intense

places in the world bro there's

TS after 5 long hours of driving we are

here welcome to idlib and this is so

significant because I remember on my

last trip to Syria they were like you

cannot go near ID it's a no-o zone so

let's go to ID let's check it out there

are checkpoints like all around us but a

you says that we're safe I still feel a

little bit kind of sketchy to be here as

that youve just told me this is the most

conservative area of Syria if you saw

the sign on the right it says the terms

and conditions for clothing and how it

should looks like am I dress okay yeah

but for females yeah yeah for

[Music]

sure avoid mentioning Americans let's

say Canadian Canadian okay I'm

Canadian careful when you cross the

street in Syria these guys drive like

crazy oh my God it's almost as bad as

Iran what does it say behind you it says

Syria for all syrians and the date of

the fall of Assad regime and even the

timing and this white flag HTS flag

which is the new government basically

and it looks like the Taliban flag what

does it say on the flag there is no God

instead of Allah and Prophet Muhammad is

the Prophet The galine Rush that I get

from being in a place that I know has

been like forbidden for anyone to visit

syrians and tourist

it really gets me going time to explore

idb as I mentioned idlib is controlled

by HTS a former Al-Qaeda affiliate that

now rules Syria with an iron fist they

claim to have distanced themselves from

Jihad or engaging in violent extremism

but their strict interpretation of

Islamic law tells an interesting story

bro what is going on this is chaotic as

hell this is absolutely insane like

everyone's just running around that kid

looks like he's 10 years old driving a

motorcycle is it always chaotic

here do you think that most people in

Syria are scared to come here now yes

they think idlib could be dangerous it's

so conservative different than Damascus

it almost feels like a different country

yeah yeah and there is like Foreigner

Fighters everywhere are you nervous uh

kind of to be

honest yeah me

too I'm not afraid but I need to be

careful are you worried that people are

going to ask us questions like what are

you doing here I'm worried because like

for example being in a fight here is not

like in the masus but who's going to

fight you like if we hit someone with

the car for example everyone have guns

totally different energy on these

streets like everyone's intimidating a

lot of people have guns they all have

big beards and no mustache like the Isis

look I just popped into a gun shop cuz

there's so many here and I was curious

and I asked the price of a Glock and it

was $180

they're just like throwing the weapons

around like no one's business and he was

like do you want it might be the

cheapest guns in the world only an idly

Syria can you do that do you think

everybody here has guns on them I think

so and they have like the military dress

we're coming up to the main Square here

it's actually beautiful little palm

trees there's a little clock and guess

what my SIM card don't work here really

so we don't have Internet why doesn't it

work because they use Turkish networks

here everything is Turkish yeah what do

they use Turkish L yes why do they use

Turkish L because they are closed and

supported by turkey and so many of the

products they have here made in Turkey

so they just used Turkish L yeah you

think I'm the only tourist here right

now of course but not the only Foreigner

because there's so much Fighters here so

many foreign Fighters but who brought

them here who sponsored them uh they

went since the Revolution start 2011 did

you ever think you would visit uh ID in

your life never

because I didn't expect that Assad will

fall right but so even for you right now

you're like looking around everywhere

you're like trying to understand what's

going on yes and the products they have

here looks different than the one in

Damascus we are pretty close to the

Turkish border like 2 hours by car maybe

yeah I haven't seen any pictures of

Assad here yeah but even during his

regime there was no pictures of him of

course no during the regime time it was

but uh since 2011 they remove all of the

Vos of Assad so they were against him

here yes since the beginning it was the

opposition yeah every store is like a

military store yeah I would say this is

not the most touristy friendly place

I've ever been it's very very intense

here bro everybody's in military because

everyone join HTS they don't have any

job opportunities in here it's a small

City look at this guy like dude what the

hell that's insane they're just walking

around with huge weapons everyone is

armed here a has taken me to a famous

sweets shop here because apparently

they're known for their sweets in it

it's really busy in here everyone's

pushing

around you can check how they made it

take the coffee thank

you I love how you're just thrown in it

you're just here like right in the

middle of it right in front of

everything di di

time to give it a

try whoa really crunchy on the Outside

Inside there's cheese milk cream there's

walnuts pistachios M this is amazing

what a moment what a moment here in

idlib what's your name Muhammad nice to

meet you nice to meet you where you from

I'm from Martin ran near edia and

there's a lot of military guys walking

around with weapons uh no matter it

makes you feel comfortable yeah those

people are syrians as well they are from

us and uh they freed us from the region

how do you feel about the current

situation in Syria with the new regime

we hope the new regime will be well for

the syrians the most important things as

a Syrian they will not be everything

forever as other the syrians knows about

the old regime amazing yeah won't be

forever after everything I've seen in

idle it's hard to imagine things getting

more intense but now we're heading to

Aleppo one Syria largest city and

economic heart and now a symbol of

Devastation the battle for control

between Assad's forces and the rebels

left so much of aleppo's Old City in

Ruins destroying historic sus and

mosques then in 2023 a 7.8 earthquake

struck killing thousands and damaging

the iconic Aleppo Citadel the world's

oldest castle dating back to the third

millennium BC the last time I was in

Syria I was lucky enough to climb to the

top of the Citadel which was

unbelievable but hearing bombs going off

in the distance nearly gave me a heart

attack we're on top of the Aleppo

Citadel and every 2 minutes we can hear

a bomb go off it's

like now I want to see how people in

Aleppo are rebuilding their lives so

good to be back here this is one of my

favorite places in all the Middle East

straight into the hustle and bustle

right now I'm on a mission to get my

haircut it's long and itchy I forgot how

amazing the Street Markets are here you

can buy anything oh my God can I try an

olive oh I love Olive the back alleys of

Aleppo damn what is under

there damn this is not the Aleppo that

most people come to see we are in some

like grimy vegetable market that's

really dirty with dilapitated buildings

everywhere but it's really freaking

awesome we have found a barber here I'm

going to get my haircut in this exact

spot I don't want it to be too short in

America it's number three but I don't

know if it's the same here this is a

little bit

dirty this is kind of ridiculous

hi I literally have no clue how short

he's cutting it pretty aggressive good

good very good very cool one of the most

bizarre haircut experiences I've ever

had I literally can't see anything in a

mirror so I'm putting my full trust in

this guy this is the $1 haircut in

Aleppo Syria how does it look bro does

it you have to fully surrender to the

guy cutting your hair and hope that he's

doing a good job you know I've had

haircuts all over the world but this has

to be one of the coolest places

I've drawn a bit of a crowd here I also

think he's making it too short but what

EVs those scissors are getting awfully

close I mean he he completely up like

it's way too short here and then there's

a long

beard does not look

good bro if this guy cuts me my life is

over I'm telling you oh my God the razor

blade Sharp

something about the knife is uh way

scarier than the scissors very good

perfect thank you thank you very much

all right we got to pay him no no no

brother how much is normal no no come on

just take it thank you thank you very

much byebye well that was the most

ridiculous haircut I've ever

had there a lot of people with missing

limbs dude yeah why because of the war

because so many people were involved all

my favorite cities in Turkey are

gaziantep and yeah they're all like on

the border of Syria so this this region

is really my favorite region in the

world my opinion is the best cuisine in

Syria is here behind me is considered

the best falafel in the world and

Falafel is one of my favorite foods

finally my food poisoning is curing and

this is the first meal I'm going to eat

really in 3 days it's a really cool

system you pay outside the cashier is

just in the street you get your ticket

and then you go up to the counter and

get the Falafel this is a kitchen where

they make all the fresh Falafel and

bread from scratch this is a Jacuzzi of

Falafel this is a massive schwarma huge

shuk M spices on that fresh hot chicken

schwarma super this could be the most

beautiful kitchen I've ever been

in the best F in the

world yes these guys work so hard they

don't take a second to

breathe

yeah how's that first bite of the

ffo oh my God that is really good

extremely crunchy tasty got the

pomegranate on top of it that's easily

the best bite of Falafel I've ever had

wow we need to fill up our car with

gasoline and the situation now in Syria

is there's gas in big bottles everywhere

it is all black market gasoline it's

crazy during the Assad regime this was

impossible and now there's gasoline

everywhere so there are now tens of

thousands of gas stations in Syria

they're like Mini Shops with all these

little entrepreneurs that are just

selling gas on the black market so

during the Assad regime you couldn't do

this no we could do this but it's it was

illegal so they they do it like they

hide oh so now it's all over the streets

yeah and it's cheaper uh no the

difference is you can fill the car now

from the gas station but this is a

libanese Octan 95 but is it it's cheaper

now than before yes much cheaper so

where do they get together from they

Smiggle from Lebanon you know when it's

full because it starts blasting out on

the ground you pay them in dollars

or he's checking if it's fake it's a

real 50 bucks if fill love the tank

during ass time it used to cost 80 90

why is it so much cheaper now uh because

they smuggle it they smuggle it also on

that time but now because it's available

everywhere also in the gas station

there's no limitation so you can fill

the car and Bay in dollars during a that

time we used to get like 25 lit each 12

days and now you can pay in US dollars

but before you couldn't yes why didn't

they accept dollars before uh because it

was forbidden because Assad wants to

control the exchange rate by make it

forbidden so if you come to Sera bring

US dollars they need

itan it's been a long day of driving we

are now arriving in Hama to crash for

the night good driving bro this is an

insane hotel lobby it is

Crazy Beautiful in here so well hello

cutie pie I'm the you going to take my

bag for me hey thank you very unexpected

to be in a random small City in Syria

and get this gr and the power just went

out there's a restaurant here with no

power I guess that's one of the

realities of being in Syria frequent

power outages damn oh and it's back

on all right I'm going to hit the hay I

am exhausted and ready for an amazing

day day tomorrow good

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night so I'm here in Hama and I'm going

to show you how smart the ancient

civilizations were here in Syria so

here's the river which is a water source

and they built this huge wooden wheel

which would collect water from the river

bring it up over the bridge and into the

farms and into the community so they

would get access to water that is so

freaking cool Syria is the cradle of

civilization this is ancient Mesopotamia

this is like the most fertile lands is

it where settlements started I just

think it's so cool today's destination

is pal an ancient city with some of the

best preserved Roman ruins on Earth you

can see it on the map smack dab in the

center of Syria and once a major stop on

the Silk Road but until recently the

city was completely off limits for

reasons you're about to find out we are

cruising on the road to Pala it is

pretty empty out here it's just desert

last time I tried to go to Pal we were

actually on the road and my driver got a

call that there was a suicide bomber

like somewhere halfway at one of the

checkpoints so we had to turn around and

go back looks like this time we're going

to be looking pretty good to get there

even though there are many checkpoints

different situation and there's no

permit now you can just freely just

go we are driving in the middle of

nowhere in the desert in the center of

Syria and there's a freaking tank what

is that this is for the driver I think

of the tank yeah how how recent do you

think this

like two weeks 3 weeks ago you think so

is this a Russian tank I think so yeah I

feel like there could be explosives in

there be careful man seriously are these

Rockets yeah yeah it's fully loaded it's

fully loaded look at these Rockets is

that what causes all the destruction on

the buildings like kosha yes called

katosha oh from here this is how they

shoot they bre maybe this one you want

to try

no holy crap dude

dude I'm now taking over the wheel IU's

been driving so well for so long but

time for the American to drive in Syria

y y habbi I'm a good driver don't

worry I never thought I'd be driving in

Syria this is cool it adds another uh

layer of Adventure to handle the car

rolling up to a checkpoint right now

behind the wheel there's like 10

soldiers right here and they all have

massive guns

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go

go yeah I don't know what he said that's

why I think move you know what she means

she yeah Prince he called me a prince

that's good so why did he call me Sheikh

uh because he's religious so they call

each other sh because they it's like you

going to a higher position aftering

turns behind the wheel we finally arrive

in pal and the anticipation gives me

goosebumps so Isis controlled all of

this city yes they were they were

controlling the checkpoints they were in

the city and they destroyed The

Monuments those monuments have been here

for like 2,000 years I just imagine like

15 years ago how many tourists were here

now I'm the only one used to be like

Greece on that time full of people even

at night pretty

destroyed sad very sad man oh all right

about 40 checkpoints later we have

arrived in Palm and sadly a lot of the

Cities destroyed I mean there was a

beautiful mosque here it's like desolate

I mean there's a few people walking

around but all the buildings are

literally destroyed it looks like a

freaking Apocalypse movie there's like

one or two shops here gu selling

gasoline and over here it's completely

destroyed look at there like a kitchen

right there that's about to fall through

the cracks so sad it it's it's like give

you a pit in stomach when you see this

what is it like to live in pal what

about before The Liberation electricity

was on the entire time in balira because

it's like a military base now after The

Liberation they still have the

electricity and water and more people

are coming back to restore their houses

now there's around like 10,000 people in

palir and before the war it used to be

uh more than 100,000 before 2012 tell me

about what pal used to feel

like before the the war they used to

count on tourism it used to be full of

tourists they want to rebuild it and

everyone come back to their house now we

are heading to the ancient ruins where

towering Roman columns have stood for

more than 2,000 years but during the

Civil War Isis took control of the area

and used the site for public executions

bombing the most important temples in

the process I wasn't able to come to Pal

on my last trip so so now I'm determined

to see what remains dang

dude I feel

free firing guns behind us dude scream

at the top of your lungs it feels

good Syria is amazing palir was an

ancient city that became part of the

Roman Empire and all the impressive

ruins are located right here in the

center part of Syria and it's huge the

there's actually references of palir

that are mentioned in the bible believe

it or not some dating as far back as the

second millennium BC that's how ancient

this place is however in the first

century BC was when people settled here

during the ancient Silk Road and the

Romans took it over and they built all

these incredible structures that you see

left here right now behind me is the

Bell Temple which was the main side here

in Pala and it was completely destroyed

by ISIS what does this have to do with

anything

why does this have to make them upset

this beautiful beautiful history how did

you react when it was destroyed the

first time I visited Palmira is after it

destroyed because before the War I was

15 years old so I would be able to came

here but it was so sad your entire adult

life has been War yeah we are entering

the amphitheater here

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wow dude yeah this is incredibly

preserved serves wow in 2016 Isis made

this damage in the Ampitheater also on

the arch of Victory it used to be to

look really nice before

that wow I'm getting like a Out of Body

Experience standing here right now just

imagine what kind of activity happened

right here in this Amphitheater give me

the Goosebumps this is the Roman

Amphitheater which is incredibly intact

except for some parts that were

destroyed over there but the steps and

the way that it feels guys I've been to

so many Roman ruined sites around the

world this has to be the best maybe it's

because I'm in Syria of all places

knowing the history that's happened here

the recent history the journey to

actually reach this spot going through

40 checkpoints and knowing like all the

tension going on with this country the

fact that I actually made it here you

know I always wonder when I go to an

epic place like this that's so

historical like what was it like when

the people were building these temples

these pillars these columns like what

were they eating what were the markets

like what were the relationships like

what did people do for fun did they even

make money did they need money to live

like all these questions I have when I

stand Here incredibly

epic we entering the castle area which

have been occupied by Russian soldiers

for 10 years and now all the Russians

have left like this place has been off

limits right yeah I never been here and

but there's so many tanks going I don't

know if we should be here bro this is

this is covered in tanks holy we

need to leave it's just cool to see

tanks like forget about war forget about

everything like the actual experience of

being here and being able to have access

to things like this is so cool doesn't

matter what country it's very cool that

they allow us to go everywhere if we did

something like this during Assad regime

time that's the end like You' be put in

sah prison or what yeah something like

this this is insane

what is going on holy dude I am

freaked out yeah what yeah here's the

entrance how old is this Castle it's

from the 13th century from the Muki

period so it's an Islamic castle and

there is a Dodge surrounded the castle

it's called Mani Castle so we don't know

what's going to happen with this Castle

whether HTS is going to take it over to

be their own like compound or if they're

going to open it to tourism or if

they're just going to close it

permanently I hope they will open it for

tourism look at this bridge to get there

is that safe dude look at that drop

though like if that if you drop through

that you're not going to survive that

fall I don't know

man that cannot be safe let's do it man

this is so scary like

you I don't know don't look down dude I

don't know

man I I don't know if I can if I can go

over this bridge man look at

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this I I just realized For the First

Time The Incredible view of pal down

there as much as I want to go inside I I

have to just say no like dude there's

noing way man this is the sketchiest

bridge I've ever seen so as I understand

I'm like the very first tourist to be

here standing right here did you ever

think you'd be standing right here never

ever no I'm so happy it's cool that you

are a Syrian and you're finally able to

explore your own country yeah that's

awesome man good stuffff since this was

a Russian base and all the Russians

recently cleared out I can actually walk

through the checkpoint to see if

anything interesting was left

behind damn there's like

clothes

jackets a

hat it's freaky to be in here right

now it's lots of cigarettes oh my God

what is

this getting a little Rowdy in here with

these pictures with the Russian base

behind us we're back on the road still

wrapping our heads around how fast

things have changed in Syria it looks

like I'm driving straight to a fire the

is that I don't know should we drive

through it or what if the other cars are

driving through it it's not clear but

there is a huge fire in front of us bro

the bus is on fire

holy yeah because you see how how the

fire is coming from

here Jesus careful careful I see it I

see I see

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it holy sh there's a freaking bus

on fire on the highway in middle of

Syria the burning bus behind me feels

like a symbol of everything I've seen in

Syria destruction chaos and lives turned

upside down over the years 10 tens of

millions have been displaced entire

cities have been reduced to rubble and

regular civilians have been caught in

the middle of a brutal war with Assad's

regime finally gone the concentration of

power is constantly shifting and no one

knows what comes next but one thing is

certain the people here have hope a kind

of hope that refuses to die no matter

what they've survived I have a soft spot

in my heart for the proud people of

Syria and I know that their story isn't

over it is only just started

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