Blogs from South, Syria, Middle East - page 18

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Middle East » Syria » South » Damascus April 11th 2006

Geo: 33.5, 36.32Today 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.... read more
02 Taxi's galore
03 Ceiling
04 Minaret

Middle East » Syria » South » Damascus February 23rd 2006

It's been a while since our last posting and those of you who know me well have probably gussed the reason why. Yes, for the first time KP gets to surf the net whilst I make a contribution to "our" travel blog. Hence the delay. Although Amman seemed like a fairly nice place our brief stay there was notable for only one reason really - it snowed very heavily! Not exactly what you expect in the middle east. The shared taxi (with Amy and Duncan, the couple we met on the ferry crossing from Egypt) to Damascus took 3 hours, and having obtained our visas in London beforehand, clearing immigration was problem free. James, an Aussie we met in Petra, was not so lucky however and was detained at President Assad's pleasure for an hour so ... read more
Are your teeth aching yet?
Never too old for a good story

Middle East » Syria » South » Damascus January 18th 2006

Damascus is the oldest inhabited capital city in the world, at least according to the Syrian Tourist Office. They also claim that Syria (well at least ‘geographical Syria’ - i.e. including Palestine, Israel, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan and large parts of Turkey) is the origin of all culture, agriculture, language, civilisation, writing, and just about everything else, so I’m not sure how true this really is. Aleppo also claims to be the oldest inhabited city in the world - again a contentious claim, and there is apparently a fair bit of rivalry between the 2 cities over which is the oldest. I was also told there is a similar competition over which is the craziest, but Aleppo wins hands down on this one. Whilst there are parts of central Damascus around the old city that are pretty ... read more
Palmyra
The Bekaa Valley, Lebanon
Arabian Oryx, Talila reserve

Middle East » Syria » South » Damascus January 28th 2005

I really wanted to use the string "Back in the SAR" as a subject, but it didn't work out. Syria is a very cheap and friendly country. Don't let people (or your government) tell you otherwise. It's also one of the safest countries I've been to so far, way safer than Turkey and about the same as Iran. I haven't seen or heard of any crimes (petty or otherwise) during my 1-month stay here. Surprisingly, there isn't much of a police presence either. DO check out Tartus, it's pretty cool. Also the people in Deir Ez-Zur are pretty hospitable and friendly (more so than some of the major cities). Always ask the price of something (especially food) before you buy/eat it, otherwise you run the risk of being screwed over (yes, even in Syria). Damascus is ... read more
Fuul
Kids around a fire
Ummayad Mosque

Middle East » Syria » South » Damascus January 25th 2005

Ever thrilled to be back in Syria, I spent my first couple days wandering through the old city and the various souqs and talking to the many people who all want to know where I'm from and whether or not I'm a muslim. I'm beginning to get worried that I'll miss the attention once I go somewhere not-quite-so-friendly. One set of people I met in the fruit-and-vegetable souq sat me down and spoke for hours, asking what I thought about George W. Bush, and explaining how superior Islam is to other religions. One of them described Cat Stevens' conversion, but apparently didn't know who Cat Stevens is, and referred to him only as "Yusuf". Another (a 16 year old kid) took me back to his house and recited portions of the Qu'ran to me, stopping every ... read more
Almond Trees in the Snow
Mar Musa
The View from the Top

Middle East » Syria » South » Damascus November 12th 2004

Naturally, we couldn’t wait to get as close to the HQ of the axis of evil as possible. It’s not like North Korea or Iran were in the cards for us! Damascus was much smaller than either Cairo or Istanbul, and did not have the same level of energy permeating from its city core. Good thing to, the road is only wide enough for one car at many places, and one way signs or not followed. See pic. We made it to the street called straight, the downtown mosque (watch your shoes, one pair ended up walking off on their own). The (old) Royal Palace was way cool, tucked in a back ally and understated one outside but very elegant from the courtyard. We stayed at some kind of Catholic boarding house on the outskirts of ... read more
Outside of Mosque
(OLD) Royal Palace
(OLD) Royal Palace

Middle East » Syria » South » Damascus July 8th 2004




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