An old city

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Geo: 33.5, 36.32

Today we spent the day in the city. Damascus is said to be one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. We started our day with another crappy breakfast that we didn't eat and then set off for our city walking tour. We first walked through the Souk El-Hamidiyeh (bazaar). Walked past many shops- although there was no time for shopping now, we had a mosque to visit. But before we could go into the Umayyad Mosque, all the girls had to put on the most ugly gown- it was dreadful! This mosque apparently contains that head of John the Baptist- did look for it, but couldn't see it. We spent the afternoon relaxing.

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Photos

01 Downtown Damascus
Local city street.

02 Taxi's galore
The main street of Damascus that lead us to the bazaar and mosque.

03 Ceiling
The ceiling of the bazaar.

04 Minaret
One of the mosque's minarets.

05 Remains
Remains of the Roman times.

06 'Special clothes room'
Yeah, we did feel pretty special after being in this room!

07 The girls in their special clothes
Only the girls were lucky enough to have to wear special clothes.

08 Mosque
In the mosque's courtyard.

09 Resting
This guy lying down is one of the many people we saw lying around and in the mosque having a rest.

10 Mosque
The courtyard.

11 Arches
Arches covered in mosaics.

12 Courtyard
The mosque courtyard.

13 Ceiling
The mosque ceiling.

14 John the Baptist
In here is where his head is.

15 Inside
Inside the mosque.

16 Inside
Inside the mosque.

17 Mosque
The mosque courtyard.

18 Sweets
A young girl working hard and trying to sell nougat.

19 Bazaar
Between the bazaar and the mosque.

20 Cup of tea?
This man was walking around the bazaar selling tea from this huge kettle- was pretty cool to watch him pour the tea.