Ian had arrived by the time we returned to the meeting point, so we all jumped in a minibus and headed off to meet the Oasis Overland tour truck. The tour had been travelling down from Istanbul with a crew of two and eleven other travellers - Kiwi lads Brad & Mike, Canuck Erin, Aussies Troy & Mary, Hayley & Andrew, Tanzin, Hannah & Scott (Hannah's super-cool old man) and Anthony & his Swedish girlfriend Lena. Guide, Ian, was a Brit and driver, Colin, was Swiss. We spent the next few nights in a camp site, surrounded by a poor but proud ghetto of Iraqi refugees and packs of marauding psychotic killer dogs which were kept at bay by a flimsy fence (and quiet prayer). Mornings and evenings were pierced by eerie but beautiful call to prayer by a local duo of highly competitive and vocally talented muezzins.
 |
| Best Value Falafel Kebab Ever! |
 |
| Mmmmmm |
Each day, we'd set off to explore the Old City of Damascus - The Grand Mosque, the Souk, Bath Houses, food and the ever-diminishing Christian Quarter and the completely Islamised Old Jewish Quarter.
First stop was The Souk. It wasn't as inexpensive or lively as the equivalent in Aleppo but we enjoyed it nonetheless. Of most interest for me was the streaming rays of light piercing the dusty air. They were the result of the presence of bullet holes in the roof of the Souk. The bullet holes were courtesy of the French air force during an uprising in the 20s. And at the other end of the Souk, near the Grand Mosque, Roman columns from the long destroyed Temple of Jupiter still hold the roof in place.
The Grand Mosque was just that - grand. Dress regulations meant that Zoe was required to dress as a Jawa in order to mingle with what I assumed to be a Star Wars convention with enthusiasts dressed as Tusken Raiders, Imperial Guards and Tatooinites. We entered the central courtyard. It was quiet and peaceful. At the far end of the courtyard is the simple Mausoleum of Saladin and a grand mausoleum for someone who was apparently important to Shi'ites. The main prayer hall is in a building which was originally a huge Byzantine cathedral. It itself was built using columns from the Temple of Jupiter. Zoe was accosted by some young Arab girls who treated her with an odd mixture of friendliness, curiosity and borderline rudeness. We think they were giving it out to her about her Jawa outfit.
After the Mosque, we went our separate ways for a Hammam. My experience was nothing special, particularly in comparison to the Sultanamet in Istanbul. Meanwhile, Zoe was ripped off and treated appallingly by the pious religious bigots at Hammam Ammoonah.
 |
| First night with Twiga and friends. Andy B. grilling camel meat on the BBQ. |
 |
| Grand Souk in Damascus |
 |
| Jawa Habidashery |
 |
| A resident of Tatooine |
 |
| Grand Mosque, Damascus |
 |
| Main Prayer Hall, Grand Mosque, Damascus |
 |
| Remains of an Enormous Feast at a Chaldaen Restaurant, Damascus |
The Christian Quarter was, as it is in Beirut and Aleppo, the cleanest, richest, most beautiful neighbourhood. There we visited a chapel built inside the house from which St Paul was allegedly lowered out of a window to escape his Jewish pursuers. That's how old this joint is. Old.
Very little remains of the once vibrant, and economically important, Jewish presence. With the exception of several beautiful Beits which have, no doubt, become the property of Ba'athist apparatchiks. The Jewish Quarter is now devoid of Jewish people. It has been so since anti-Jewish pogroms and ethnic cleansing (pre-dating the creation of modern Israel in 1948) swept the Arab world in the 1930s, 40s & 50s led by Arab National Socialists and about the same time as another group of anti-Semites were hard at work. It is of no coincidence that Mein Kampf is a bestseller in this part of the world and pictures of that latter day anti-Semite extraordiaire, Nasrallah, abound. Arab Nationalists are second only to Nazis when it comes to killing and harassing Jews. The hate is just as intense, they're just not quite as organised and disciplined and have a propensity to run away when the Jews dare lose their temper.
However, there we some signs of hope. Over a few Al-Mazas at a bar in the Christian Quarter, we got talking to some young Syrians. They despised the regime and expressed a desire for the Syrian people to respect their neighbours, as well as the land and history they'd inherited.
With the exception of a few opportunists, a couple of letches and a parasite, we found the Syrian people to be kind and friendly. I don't buy the hyperbole propagated by some tourists and travel books that Syrians are the most welcoming people on earth. Syrian society seems to contain a similar mix of people as do other societies. Yet, while it may sound patronising, I do feel for them. They are kept poor and ignorant by idiotic, suffocating, oppressive, cruel religious and civic leaders. On that final note, whilst books and newspapers were for sale and on display across Syria, we did not see a single person reading one in the week that we were there. They are told what they can and can't read and, we optimistically concluded, they know what they are allowed to read is bollocks.
No comments:
Post a Comment