Damascus

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  Damascus, Syria
Monday, November 10, 2008

After having my grilled cheese sandwich with tomatoes took the bus to Damascus. 2.5 hours for 200 Syrian pounds.

As I was getting on the bus, two Arabs were excessively friendly to me. They were speaking to each other in a language that I did not have the slightest clue about and laughing. On the bus, they sat next to me. Asked me to show them my cell phone, which they thought was old. Then, they showed me theirs. The wallpaper was a Russian girl's half-naked picture. He told me that she was "number 1 in Russia". I couldn't help but think that he was a pimp. After that, the guys started asking me about where I was staying, how I was planning to get there from the station and what my phone number was. I began to get frightened and started to think about ways to get rid of them. When we arrived in Damascus, it turned out that I was simply being paronoid. They shook my hand warmly; said goodbye and left

Streets of Damascus

.

I told the taxi driver the name of the hotel that I wanted to go to. He had no idea where it was. So, I showed it to him on the Lonely Planet map. He was either dumb or was acting that way just to charge me some extra minutes. It was frustrating. After asking around extensively, we arrived at the Sultan Hotel that was an author's choice in the Lonely Planet. The room was nothing more than my room in Palmyra, yet they were asking for $30! Plus, they weren't even willing to negotiate the price. As a result, I quickly left Sultan and made my way to this new hostel called Ghazal Hotel. It is very clean and the staff is very helpful. I am staying in a dorm with 2 other people for 550 Syrian pounds, including breakfast.

Finding my way around Damascus has been quite a challenge. I have been using my compass quite often. Went to the Great Umayyad Mosque, built in 705 AD. From the inside, it was obvious that it was initially built as a Byzantine cathedral. The guilded, mosaic-like ornamantations on some of the walls were quite Byzantine too.

Walked through Souq al-Hamiddiya, named after Sultan Abdulhamid II. It was a taller version of the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul

Streets of Damascus 2

. The products and people were exactly the same. Had pistachio covered ice-cream at one of the ice-cream shops inside the Souq. Excellent.

The Tomb of Saladin Eyyubi was a disappointment. And so was the ethnography museum inside Azera Palace, where the Ottoman governor used to live. I decided not to visit anymore etnography museums in the Middle East, because they are very similar to the ones in Turkey.I feel the same way with the mosques. Unless it is something very special, like the Great Umayyad Mosque, I won't go in.

Getting lost in the old city was fun. Gave me the opportunity to observe those parts in greater depth. Had lunch at a Shwarma store. The Shwarma they serve here is something between the Turkish doner and the Mexican fajita.

Strangely, this city reminds me of Istanbul, wiht its wide roads, tall buildings, traffic noise and the old city. However, Damascus is a long way away from becoming as developed as Istanbul. In addition, the population of Damascus is only a third of that of Istanbul, which makes Istanbul's achievement that much valuable.

The Turkish bus company Has has services all the way from Damascus to Istanbul.

I have met 3 backpacers here. The Irish one is 28. He started off in Athens and came down to Damascus in 5 weeks. Plans to move to Australia and work there as a quantity surveyor. The Australian bacpacker who is staying in my dorm room is 23. He has been traveling in the Americas, Europe and the Middle East for almost an entire year. Doesn't miss home at all. The second Australian who doesn't stay at our hostel is a bit too arogant. He has travelled all the way from Southeast Asia to the Middle East in half a year.Used to be a graphic designer for the Australian government. Now, plans to work on the French Alps as a waiter.

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The Great Umayyad Mosque

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