A New Direction for Damascus
Trip Start
Nov 03, 2008
1
16
24
Trip End
Jan 10, 2009
Damascus,
Syria
Sunday, December 14, 2008
I am ever glad I let my friend Izzat talk me into spending a couple days in Damascus. When I met him in the taxi from Beirut, I was planning on stopping in Damascus just long enough to switch cabs and head to Jordan but he convinced me to let him show me around the old city.
I was expecting Damascus to be a crazy overpopulated and loud city like Aleppo but it was nothing like Aleppo. Damascus is the capital of Syria and is the place to go when visiting the country. The current Syrian president has been opening Syria up to foreign investors and they have been pouring money into the city, in fact just down from my hotel is a brand new Four Seasons Hotel.
Damascus also has the honour of being the center of the Arab world for the year
Local girls
. Each year a different Arab city plays host to a number of cultural events throughout the year. It is due to take place in Jerusalem next year but the Israeli government may not allow it, if that is the case other cities in the Middle East will take a month each. In preparation for the year, Damascus got a major facelift and many of the sidewalks got refurbished. Syria is going through some major transformations and new government policies are being put in place to clean up the country after years of deterioration under Communist rule.Izzat took me for a tour of the old city as he promised and I loved it. From the narrow streets in the residential areas all you can see are tall walls and plain doors but behind many of the doors are magnificent courtyards and old houses that have been transformed into hotels and restaurants. The crowning glory of the old city is the Great Mosque that houses a magnificent shrine said to be where the head of John the Baptist is laid to rest.
The Middle East is so steeped in religious history it is mind boggling - many buildings date back thousands of years; in fact Damascus is one of the oldest cities in the world. Back in Kamloops if a building is still standing after a hundred years we call it a heritage building and get public funds to restore it. Canada is as new as the Middle East is old.
Take Care
Teresa
