Backpackers from across the globe make the pilgrimage to a cafe in the Syrian desert, but why? There's only one way to find out. Plus more cult cafes
Driving past a road sign marked "Iraq 172 kilometres", I suddenly felt extremely far from home. Having left the central Syrian town of Palmyra and its amazing ruins way behind, I was on a bus through the desert heading towards the capital, Damascus, with nothing but sand in every direction.
I had no idea that we were skirting so close to the country I'd only seen before on the news.
Located on the main road between Palmyra (around 80km away) and Damascus (150km), the Bagdad Cafe takes its name from the 1987 film by Percy Adlon. The film was set in California's Mojave desert but the real-life cafe is near the turn-off for the road that leads to the Iraq border, and pretty much the final spot of civilisation before you get there.
This was the last place I'd expect to find a famous backpackers' inn, yet here lies a ramshackle collection of stone buildings that has become a magnet for international travellers over the past decade.
Inside, the walls were plastered with photos of countless visitors from all over the globe.
"We've had people from Holland, France and America, as well as British guests," said the owner, Mahmoud, while showing me to a table surrounded by sumptuous cushions. "We've had our president, the Chinese prime minister and a bunch of German politicians call in for lunch."
The menu consists of just one dish: omelette and sheep's cheese served with flatbread, and though it's all tasty, organic and accompanied by coffee strong enough to run your car on, the real reason backpackers flock here is because, as far as travellers' outposts go, this place is the real deal. It is isolated and exposed against a backdrop of sandstone mountains and has a never-know-who-you-might-meet kind of feel to it.
Unlike Syria's other, better-known attractions, there isn't anything to see here, specifically; the cafe's appeal lies more in the authentic atmosphere – one where you instantly feel like a family friend rather than a transient random punter.
Initially, the Bagdad Cafe served as a resting post for bleary-eyed truckers in need of caffeine while crossing the desert en route to Iraq. But as tourism to Syria grew, the backpackers started arriving, word spread and it gained cult status.
While you won't find it in many guidebooks, the internet is littered with blogs, photos and forums from people who've stayed – many of them commenting on Mahmoud's enthusiasm for introducing guests to his family.
Mahmoud and his family are bedouin, so although they now have a home in the desert town of Al-Nabk (100km away), once they were semi-nomadic, often sleeping out in traditional tents for weeks at a time. They used to camp here while grazing their sheep on the surrounding scrubland. As the only form of civilisation for miles around, the camp naturally attracted passersby, prompting Mahmoud to build a permanent settlement in 1995.
In recent years, the family has opened two more cafes (Bagdad Cafe 55 and 66) just along the road, but Mahmoud's was the original – as he was keen to point out: "Make sure people know I was here first!"
Power comes from a diesel generator, which I could hear chugging away in the background, as I sat outside soaking up the view of a clear night sky.
Mahmoud sat with me, eager to find out about life in London, talk me through his wedding photos and show me texts from an Italian guest who'd recently stayed.
"I love it when people stay in touch," he said, tapping my number into his mobile. "I will send you a text and if you reply, then I know you are my friend."
Besides eating, you can also spend the night here, in one of two traditional mud huts built behind the cafe. Shortly after I arrived, the setting sun stained the sky pink and darkness descended like a blanket.
Later that evening, stretched out among the cushions on the floor of my one-room hut, I fell asleep to the sporadic swish from the occasional passing car, and the braying of feral donkeys in the desert.
• Half-board accommodation at the Bagdad Cafe can be booked with Imaginative Traveller from £45 per person, or email Mahmoud on bagdadcafesyr@yahoo.com.
Imaginative Traveller (0845 077 8802, imaginative-traveller.com) offers an eight-night Syrian Highlights tour, which takes in Palmyra, Aleppo and Damascus, from £720pp, including accommodation, some meals, coach transport and tour leader, but not flights from Britain.
BMI (08450 778803; flybmi.com) flies direct from Heathrow to Damascus from £324 rtn inc taxes (or via Heathrow from Aberdeen, Belfast, Edinburgh, Glasgow or Manchester).