As we arrived very early in the morning, the first thing
we did was to go out for lunch.
This is a kind of bread rolls with different things in
them, which were made just outside
the small restaurant after we'd ordered.
In Spring 2001 I went to Syria. It was a good vacation as I got to see both old and new aspects of the country. And the food was very good too.
As we arrived very early in the morning, the first thing
we did was to go out for lunch.
This is a kind of bread rolls with different things in
them, which were made just outside
the small restaurant after we'd ordered.
Then we walked around a bit to get a feel for the city.
The traffic when crossing streets needs looking out for.
Interestingly, a lot of streets are one way.
Here we're visiting the Ommayad Mosque.
As you can see, if you're a woman and a tourist, you get to
borrow appropriate clothing. The building within the building
in the right photo contains John the Baptist's head.
It's a very large and impressive mosque.
We were showed around the old part of the city by
a local guide.
He told us about Damascus
itself and other things like
Ali
while we were walking around.
The city really has an impressive history.
One thing I was fascinated by was the nearly 2000 years old church
which had its main floor one level down from street level. When
it was built, that was the street level.
We of course also
visited the
large souk.
Some photos from Damascus showing what much, but not all, of it
looks like, and an evening
prayer call.
One thing I liked was that near the small souk which mainly catered to
tourists was that a military museum nearby (there's one outside the
city too) stored their aircraft outdoors, so one could see them
even while the museum itself was closed.
One day we made a day trip south to Bosra.
Along the way we stopped at a few places.
The photo here shows part of a family's farming, they also
grow things in the open. This family only spends a few months
at this place, living in tents, per year, the rest of the time
they live far away, but this is the farm land they own.
Nearby, a bedouin family had put up their tent.
Bosra is most famous for its Roman ruins
and the Roman era theater which is still standing
and where you can
meet classes
of schoolchildren.
It seats 15000 (so clearly Bosra was an important place) and
is still used.
And some of the ruins are also still used, so on one side you
can see the old Roman pillars and street paving, right next
to it you can see TV antennas and laundry hanging out to dry.
(Like in this photo, but the antenna doesn't show against
the sky.)
Here we're standing in what's left of the church where
the monk Buheira, who told Mohammed he was going to
start a new religion, was active.
Maalula is mostly known for the saint Tekla who lived here
shortly after the founding of christianity.
There's a gap, or canyon, through the mountain where she is
said to have escaped fleeing from her father's troops
(he was not christian).
On one mountain side there is now a
a church
and a monastery.
After walking through the gap, one finds oneself
on sort of a plateau over the village. Very clear air
that high up.
Crac de Chevaliers is a crusader fortress on a hilltop.
We had lunch in a restaurant just outside, with a village
on a nearby hilltop in the view.
Very much worth visiting, with lots to see.
After Damascus, Homs was the second place we stayed at.
The first evening we were invited home to our tour leader's parents
for dinner.
Some
sounds of the city.
Homs of course also has a souk, where we
walked around
and listened to the
sellers advertising their wares.
There's an amazing variety of things being sold. Sometimes the
quantities are surprising too, for example you can't buy less
than 0.5 kg of a spice, which isn't all that practical if
you're a tourist.
Going from Homs to Palmyra for a day trip it's very noticable how the climate and landscape changes, from fertile to semi desert to desert, sometimes over a very small distance.
Right in almost the middle of nowhere, but of course next to the
road, some bedouins had put up their tent.
The men in the family were away working, operating tractors
or some similar kind of machines, and the boys were away
at school in a nearby town.
Nowadays they all move around using motor vehicles and
it's a TV antenna you see.
During a stop at a large village.
Palmyra is situated at an oasis and is most famous
for its Roman era ruins.
The site is really extensive, so it takes quite a while
walking around the area.
Not everything is exactly genuine. If you think Tetrapylon (the four
groups of four pillars) is well preserved, it's because only
one pillar is original, the others are made of concrete. But in
most places, what's left there gives a good impression on how at
least parts of the city must have been. Unfortunately there's not
much left of some kinds of houses I think.
Hama is most famous for its water wheels, called nori, which
work by using the water's movement to lift some of it up
to an aqueduct for distribution further on.
Nowadays, there's only about 15 nories left, and while the
operate, the water they lift isn't used (the aqueducts are only
standing next to the nories).
When I approached the first one, I thought it was a pity that someone was making a noise so we couldn't hear it. I soon realised that it was the nori itself which made the sound.
Apamea is another site of an old Roman city which is very much
worth visiting.
We had a great opportunity to stay in a village called Tin El Sabir,
where tourists normally don't come.
This is a village on the way there.
And this is the place we stopped for a picnic lunch on the way.
Other people were there too and they joined in for some song
and music after eating.
It turned out our host also happened to be a rather famous singer
and entertainer.
The weather the first night was pretty rainy and cold, but
the second day it was quite nice.
We stayed with a family and had breakfast lunch and dinner with them. Being guest, we were sort of in demand in the village, as everyone wanted to invite us. It also happened to be Easter.
At one of the houses there were some song and music.
Everyone there really made us feel welcome.
Returning to Damascus, we took the way past Tartus, giving some
of us the opportunity to get wet in the Mediterranean.
Photos from some of
my
other travels -
>Syria in 2001<