Blogs from South, Syria, Middle East - page 4

On the road to Damascus, and later to Jordan. I read the words ‘On the road to Damascus’ in a church yesterday in the Christian quarter of Damascus. It’s one of those sorts of famous lines isn’t it? Like ‘It’s Wednesday, it must be Cairo’. We spent two days in Damascus. Our accommodations’ were located outside the old city, about 20 minutes walk to the main souq, and another 20 minutes into the Christian quarter if you wanted an alcoholic beverage. I spent most of yesterday in or around that quarter exploring churches, not bars, so by the time we went back for our Last Supper tour meal, I think I’d walked a million miles. To the point today where my feet are quite sore. Still, what better ways to get an appetite and then work ... read more

Pierwszy dzien w Syrii. Damaszek - Adamaszek. I jakos nie moge sie zachwycic. Miasto jest zapyziale, malo zieleni i malo malownicze. Choc moze jestem tu za krotko, by odkryc jego uroki. A najbardziej malownicze sa te najbardziej zapyziale jego fragmenty. Choc z drugiej strony, ludzie mieszkaja tu od tysiecy lat, wiec cos w tym miescie musi byc, co ich przyciaga i trzyma. Boje sie, ze wszystko bede porownywac do Iranu. Nocny przejazd z lotniska szeroka pusta ulica, gdzie po bokach swieca sie tylko neonowo udekorowane minarety. Poranna ulica, kobiety urbane na czarno, ale nie wszystkie. No i my nie musimy byc od stop do glow zasloniete. Zwiedzamy meczet Umayyad - podobno trzecie najbardziej na sweicie swiete miejsce islamu, zaraz po Mekce i Medynie. Miejsce kultu znajdowalo sie na tym miejscu juz w 9 wieku przed nasza ... read more

Abu Ahmad es un soplador de vidrio que tiene su taller cerca del Bab Sharki en Damasco Abu Ahmad camcidir, onun atöliyesi Samda, Bar Sarkinin yakinlarinda, yer aliyor. Abou Ahmad is a Glass blower who has his workshop near Bab Sharki in Damascus... read more

Damascus steel is the stuff of legends: metal plates with lightly different carbon content welded together, folded many times and forged into swords that gave the crusaders a very nasty suprise. Flexible, light and sharp; it was the like the carbon fiber equivalent of steel in those days. If you're in Damascus and want to take home a unique souvenir, seek out the good stuff. The souks are littered with 'very old blade sir' knives made not in Damascus hundreds of years ago, but last winter in India. While the metal of the blades does show an effect not unlike proper Damascus steel, it is clear to see that it is not the same. Try to sharpen one of these puppies properly, and it's likely to fall to pieces as the metal layers peel away under ... read more

Damascus! At last! I took the mountain and rural roads through al Ghab to get to Hama and on to Damascus, a route I highly recommend (goint to Latakia and onto the highway is faster, but the mountains are great). Found my hotel without too much trouble, hauled my bike into the hall of the hotel and went out into the city a straight away. It takes some getting used to after the relaxed pace of Aleppo, and the friends I made there. Damascus is larger and more anonymous, I feel it has also changed since I was last here. So far I've been looking around a bit for old cameras (don't bother, anything of interest I found I could buy on eBay for a fraction of the asing price in Damascus), real Damascus steel (more ... read more