From the bus to the capital we saw snow on the hills just outside Damascus and knew we needed to keep our warm clothes handy!
There seem to be more yellow taxis than private cars in the city and they all seem to have more than one horn. They don't like stopping at lights or crossings either. We felt like we were back in Vietnam where you have to step out into the traffic and let it weave around you. It is always easier if you tag behind a local though. It is preparing us for Cairo.
We had to negotiate a price for a ride in a shared taxi (called servees) to the city centre where we were dropped not far from the hotel we read about in our guide book. We had no reservations and had to negotiate a 4 day stay with the manager in a small but popular place for backpackers. The hotel is clean and conveniently located near the old city and bazaars. In the centre of the hotel is a covered courtyard and at night they put on the heating and turned on the fans to blow the hot air down from the high ceiling so it was quite pleasant.
There are many tourists in the hotel from France and Air France inflight magazines lying about the place. Unfortunately, they keep to themselves and seem only to be interested in others who speak French.
We have walked through all the bazaars (souqs) in the old city and followed the signs for the handicraft markets and historical sites. We wondered if there was a map to go with the signs but when we asked at the tourist office they only had the one map we have found every where else in the country and nothing else.
The president features a lot on posters, in hotel foyers, on taxi windows (wearing sunglasses), in shops, on mosque walls and flags. When you ask about him the locals say they love him and he does a good job.
Internet access has been very poor here in Syria. We still cannot load photos and the service is erratic.
We had a few hours at the National Museum but it was quite frustrating as there are cases with labels and no exhibits and exhibits with no labels. There are signs in Arabic and French and hardly any in English. The numbers on the exhibits don't match the explanations or the numbers on the explanation are not on the exhibits! Some of the areas say no photos and in others the guards are pressing you to take photos. A lot of the areas are not well lit so they are a strain to view and there is no floor plan to tell you where things are or what there is to see. Nevertheless we found some interesting things.
The most well known mosque here is the Umayyad Mosque. We had to go to the 'clothes changing place' and I had to put on a hooded grey gown and we had to pay to enter. It was quite busy and there were religious leaders talking to groups of worshipers in small clusters around the mosque.
The sign at the entrance told us not to leave our shoes unattended so we had to carry them with us.
The sign at the entrance told us not to leave our shoes unattended so we had to carry them with us.
In the streets are men selling green almonds, they look like a skinny hairy long baby peaches, and this guy had a particularly well presented trolley. It had plastic flowers and a glass jar with live goldfish in it.
There are very few women working in public places; I think we saw one loading a bucket at a building site and a couple in a bus office. Only one place we have stayed had women cleaners. This well decorated shop sells perfume and we have only ever seen men purchasing it.
We found the Azem Palace at the end of a lot of narrow winding lanes. It was built in 1779 by the governor of Damascus. It was built so he would have a refuge from the busy city and have a place to relax after all the difficult decisions he needed to make. It had fountains and an internal courtyard just for the women and children. Another area was built just for the men, from which they were unable to see the women or governor's family members.
Damascus is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world and has been occupied by Egyptians, Assyrians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Umayyads, Mongols, Turks and French and they have all left something behind for the city.
Frequently throughout the day the electricity failed and the shop keepers in the bazaar had their generators roaring. This stall holder was selling brocade
and this man in traditional dress, some kind of drink.
LATER
After visiting Lebanon we returned to Syria in order to go on to Jordan. During our one night stay we met Frederick, Joachim and Annette who come from Konigswinter, Germany.
They were very surprised that we knew where they lived and that we had visited their small town when we had Christmas with our friend Gerti. We look forward to when they visit us in New Zealand one day.
