Retrospective blog: Maalula, Deir Marmusa and Bosra

Ok so I haven’t done this before but I wanted to put in a little note on a couple of places that I visited as day trips from Damascus, not on this trip but in 2007 when I first came to Syria. Firstly, there is Maalula, a picturesque village north of Damascus with blue and yellow houses set against a steep cliff. The village is home to one of the last communities in the world to speak Aramaic and the Christian character of the town is immediately obvious with crosses everywhere and a couple of convents, monasteries and churches.

Not far from Maalula is the stunning Deir Marmusa monastery. This 6th century monastery is hidden from most angles, and even when seen straight on is easy to miss. It is 17km from the nearest town and the only way of getting up to it (as of now) is to climb the steep steps for about 20 minutes (tough going in the sun). The monastery was abandoned in the 1830s and only reopened after Father Paolo, an Italian Jesuit, undertook to have it renovated in the 1980s. It is home to some beautiful frescoes from the 11th to 13th centuries and the monastery is both mixed sex and even mixed denomination with Syrian Orthodox Christians and Syrians Catholics both represented. An overnight stay at the monastery was one of the highlights of my trip to Syria in 2007.

About an hour and a half south of Damascus is the stunning black basalt Roman theatre of Bosra. The amphitheatre is in a fantastic state of repair having been covered in sand for centuries. With so few tourists around you will often get on of the best sites in the country almost completely to yourself. There are a few other ruins around the village that are worth visiting and seeing people going about their daily business between these beautiful basalt remains really brings them to life – the children playing football up against an ancient church wall, an old woman resting her shopping on an old mill stone. Bosra is a very easy and worthwhile day trip from Damascus that won’t disappoint.

- David

Damascus again

Back to Damascus again. This time I did a bit more sightseeing, taking in two of the most compelling sights of this ancient city – Azem Palace and the incredible Umayyad mosque. Azem Palace is a beautiful complex of buildings in the centre of the old city. Built between 1749 and 1752 as a residence for the Damascene governor, As’ad Pasha al-Azem and it remained in the famiy until the early 20th century when it was sold to the French when it became an institute of Archaeology and Islamic Art. This palace exemplifies all that is wonderful about architecture in Damascus with beautiful buildings, luxuriously decorated rooms and stunning courtyards containing a pool and a fountain.

The only building that is more impressive in Damascus is the Umayyad mosque. Second only to the mosques of Mecca and Medina in terms of importance, this mosque is Syria’s most important religious building and it is a true masterpiece. Built by over 1000 stonemasons and artisans it comprises a courtyard, a mausoleum, a prayer halls, minarets shrines and some exquisite mosaics. The cost to the Syrian state to build the mosque was 7 years worth of taxes from the whole country. That puts all the fuss about stimulus packages around the world into context!

Tomorrow I will head onto Beirut (Lebanon), a city that has a very violent and conflicted recent history but is apparently making quite a comeback. I can’t wait to see it for myself.

- David

Exploring the desert

We set off at 9pm after a delicious breakfast - I had been craving an omelette for days! Over very nice driver, Sahleh drove us back along the road to Deir ez Zur for a while before turning off and driving through a couple of Bedouin towns where all the males except the very young wore the tell-tale checkered headscarves (think Yassar Arafat) and loose fitting robes, whereas the women’s heads were all covered by headscarves. We drove out through the moonlike desert until we suddenly saw appear ahead the spectacular sight of the East Wall Palace (Qasr Hirl Sharqi).

Literally in the middle of nowhere this 8th century Umayyad palace once held a strategic position on trading routes to Mesopotamia and was inhabited up until the 14th century. The enormous walls have been partially restored and there are some beautiful arches standing inside the main entrance. The whole complex and its once lush gardens used to be supplied by an underground spring about 30km away. The Bedu caretaker opened the main gates for us and after we had looked around and the only two other tourists who had made it this far into the land of nowhere had also left we dropped him off at a village nearby as he seemed not to be expecting anyone else.

Then we drove off-road through the desert surrounded by low barren peaks until we arrived at a small Bedouin village. Sahleh went to speak to his aunt (who he hadn’t seen for 15 years) and she invited us in for tea and served us a lunch of fried aubergine, goats cheese, chips, bread and goats milk. It was all very tasty. We chatted about history and politics and found Sahleh to be willing to discuss Syrian politics a lot more than anyone else I had met, perhaps given the fact we were really out in the middle of nowhere. When it was time to leave we asked Sahleh should we leave a tip and he said “No. For a Bedouin this would be an insult to their hospitality”.

We drove back to Palmyra and the last part of the drive was the most beautiful with some sharply defined peaks and a dried up lake at its foot. An ideal place to set up a Bedouin tent for a night in the desert, something I had been thinking about for our groups. We drove back to Palmyra, said goodbye to Sahleh and met with another Bedouin, Fuaz who brought us out to his families Bedouin tent in the desert near Palmyra and we spent the night Bedouin-style on very comfortable mattresses under warm blankets, and awoke to the sound of camels (about 50 of them), sheep and donkeys pottering around just outside our tent. Fuaz dropped us back to town and myself and London David said goodbye as he was going to Hama and I got on the bus back to Damascus. I have a couple of days worth of errands and meetings here before I will head into Lebanon. Next stop: Beirut.

- David

Palmyra - Syria's jewel

Yesterday we spent exploring the ruins of Palmyra. The ruins are set stunningly in desert that hasn’t seen rain for six years yet it is flanked on one side by a lush date palm oasis and overlooked by a majestic mountain-top castle and the whole surrounding area is populated by the incredibly hospitable Bedouin people. The ruins date primarily from the 2nd century AD (though the site itself is believed to go back at least to the 2nd millennium BC) and cover about 50 hectares. Despite the fact that it has been extensively excavated for some time new finds are regularly made. The town was created as a staging post for caravans travelling between the Mediterranean, Mesopotamia and Arabia as well as on the Silk Road between China, India and Europe.

The city reached its peak around 267-271 AD under Queen Zenobia who was thought to be descended from Cleopatra and said to equal her beauty and surpass her in valour and chastity! As Palmyra’s queen she oversaw the conquering of Syria, Palestine and part of Egypt and declared independence from Rome. After initially defeating the Romans, Palmyra fell and Zenobia was captured and paraded in Rome in gold chains. She was later released however and married a Roman senator. Palmyra however never recovered and went into terminal decline.

We got up early to beat the crowds. Wandering around the stunning city’s remains just after dawn is truly breath-taking. It’s easy to see why it is Syria’s star tourist attraction. From the wonderfully picturesque colonnaded avenue with its ornate monumental arch and the incredible Bel temple (dedicated to the highest Palmyran god, Bel, the Zeus of their world) we wandered through the beautiful remains of temples, bath houses, banqueting halls, public meeting spaces, tombs, towers and finally the hilltop castle. There is plenty to explore and by evening we were tired but amazed at the beauty and history of this special place (we did admittedly take a siesta in the middle of the day!). We tucked into a hearty Bedouin dinner of rice, meat and yoghurt named Mansaf, followed by a couple of nightcaps in one of the small cafes where we unwound and played cards for a couple of hours. A very nice day!

- David

Hitching to Palmyra

As yesterday was Tuesday and most places of interest were going to be closed we decided to hitch from Deir ez Zur to Palymyra (about 220km). Our taxi driver dropped us off at the edge of town at the start of the road to Palmyra. He then invited us to his house for tea. We declined as we had started a bit later than planned but thanked him for his kind offer and he gave us a wide toothy smile and touched his chest in that gentle gesture that people here do to essentially mean “at your service”. The first couple of vehicles that stopped couldn’t get their head around the idea of hitching and kept pointing us towards the bus station from where buses left every half hour. That was of course our back up option but I was sure given people’s nature here we wouldn’t have to wait long. After about five minutes a young bridge technician stopped and offered to bring us the first 20km as he was driving out to a site. He apologised as he let us off for not being able to take us further and gave us his mobile number in case we were back in Deir ez Zur and needed any help.

We waited in the blazing sun for about 15 minutes and one driver stopped and said he would take us but for an outrageous price. As he pulled away, Hamad, a goods driver from Damascus pulled up and we told him where we were going and he told us to put our bags in the back and we joined him the cockpit. It was a really nice drive through lovely flat desert scenery with large birds of prey and herds of camels with their Bedouin minders punctuating the journey. Hamad spoke a little English but excellent French and had been to Luxembourg where his uncle lived. After about 2 hours he dropped us on the edge of Palmyra as he was driving on to Damascus, explaining it was a problem for large vehicles to go into the town. He too seemed apologetic and refused any money. We got a taxi the last few kilometres to town and went out for some dinner, unable to resist spaghetti though I am looking forward to some Bedouin and local specialities.

- Dave

Deir ez Zur and the Euphrates valley

So I left Aleppo on the train and headed East into Deir ez Zur, a dusty town on the Euphrates. The town itself is not a pretty one but the Euphrates gives it some character and as its off the tourist trail there is a genuine warmth from people there. The first day myself and David from London decided to visit some of the sites further along the Euphrates on the way to the Iraqi border. The drive is through beautiful sparse desert coloured with lush green along the rivers edges. We stopped for a short while at Qala’at ar-Rabha, a large abandoned and crumbling castle sitting on top of a big mound looking out over a town in the distance. Then we drove down to Dura Europa, an extensive Roman fortress city with a setting on a cliff that overlooks the flash of green that is the Euphrates flood plain some 90m below. Founded around 280BC the city was known for its religious tolerance with a synagogue, church as well as Greek, Roman and Mesopotamian temples existing side by side. The city thrived up until it was captured by the Persians around 256 from when it started to fall into the decline.

From there we drove further south to the site of Mari, just 10km from the Iraqi border. Mari’s roots go back much further – about 5000 years. The most famous of Syria’s ancient leaders, Zimri-Lim set up his city here and controlled the main trade routes between Syria and Mesopotamia. The site is undoubtedly of huge historical importance. Unfortunately however most of the items found on site that are over interest are on display in the museums of Damascus and Aleppo. The site continues to be excavated, and the men doing the work seemed quite surprised to see us and kept asking us to take their picture, without necessarily wanting to see the result, something that happened frequently in Deir ez Zur as well.

Yesterday we explored Deir ez Zur, wandering the markets and exploring the Euphrates area and the spectacular suspension bridge. The town was very friendly, and several shop keepers and market stall owners offered us apples, bananas and olives but refused to accept any money. In the afternoon I had arranged for a boat to take us out and explore the Euphrates and the two islands for about an hour. The day was quite misty which added a certain mystique to the trip, and while not spectacular it was nice to float on the river, away from the bustle of the town. I thought it would be a nice way to see the sun go down, maybe arranging for some tea to be served on the boat for when we take our groups out. Next stop Palmyra, Syria’s most famous attraction.

- David

Aleppo

I arrived in Aleppo, Syria’s second city a couple of days ago. The town vies with Damascus as the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world – for about 8000 years! It is a busy merchant city and its markets are some of the liveliest and most colourful in the Middle East. I spent my first day wandering through the enormous maze of the famous souk. The exhilaration of the constant bustle in the market is infectious and it can be hard to even see the beauty of some of the old houses as you are avoiding bumping into people, donkeys or carts. It’s best to take it slow.

After a couple of hours in the market I headed up to the citadel. The citadel sits on top of a large mound of earth and looks down over the whole city. It is one citadel that really looks the part and withstood many an attack. Originally built in the 3rd century much of what survives today dates from the Mamluk rule from the mid 13th century until the early 16th Century. Inside I found several mosques, a palace and towers giving great views across the stone-coloured city. The fort had many traps too, and once had a moat and many an invader met their end when they came to Aleppo.

In the evening I had a delicious dinner of baba ganoush (an aubergine, tahini and lemon paste) with spiced chicken, yoghurt and pitta bread with Angie, a girl from London and shared a couple of imported beers (the local variety won’t win too many awards).

Today I visited the Christian area where people are less conservatively dressed and the markets are a little bit more upmarket. In a short row you can find a Greek Orthodox church, a Syrian Catholic Church and an Armenian Orthodox Cathedral giving an idea of the variety of Christians that are still living in Aleppo. After visiting many hotels in the area operating out of beautiful old houses I had some lunch and did some photo editing before heading out to see the Grand Mosque.

The mosque is a beautiful structure and a hub of activity. It is not only a place of worship but the court is also a meeting place, a playground for the children and the halls inside also provide a place for people to just relax and there were many people inside just snoozing. Later I met up with another Dave, an English guy I met yesterday and we went out for dinner and a few beers. Tomorrow I will head out East to Deir ez-Zur, a town on the Euphrates.

- David

St. Simeon's and the Dead Cities

Yesterday I was woken up by a phone call from Waheed at six minutes past eight. I had slept through my alarm clock and was late for my 8am meeting with my driver. I quickly showered and got dressed and soon we were on our way to St. Simeon’s Basilica. St. Simeon was born in the late 4th century and joined a monastery at an early age. Finding life monastery not austere enough he decided instead to go and live in a cave. Word of his piousness spread and people came to seek his blessing.



Simeon however was not keen on visitors so he erected a 3m-high pillar and perched himself on top. Over the years as his intolerance of people grew so too did the pillars on which he perched with the final pillar supposed to be 18m high. Simeon preached from his pillar but refused to speak to women, including even his mother. Pilgrims flocked from as far away as France and Britain to see this strange man. When he died he was said to be the most famous man in the world and a basilica was built in his honour. The remains of the basilica and several pilgrim lodges are in excellent condition and the views of the surrounding plains are spectacular.

From the basilica we drove south to the famous dead cities of al Bara and Serjilla. Al Bara is the largest of the dead cities and was once a true city. The remains of two pyramid tombs and that of five churches as well as a plethora of houses are largely overgrown and flanked by olive groves. Clambering around the ruins is truly special, not least because I had them completely to myself.




Serjilla is spookier insofar as the buildings are in excellent condition and do not look like ruins. The ground here is not so fertile so there is almost no vegetation so that the buildings also look tended to. You might easily imagine that someone will step out of one of the buildings on some errand. Set in a moor in a sparse valley the site is remarkable and some of the buildings, particularly the tavern and the hammam (or bath house) are very beautiful.

- David

Hama

So today was finally a day to see Hama, the city I have spent the last few nights but not yet had a chance to explore. As I mentioned previously the town is famous for its ancient waterwheels (or Nurias). There are several of these throughout the city at various points on the river and some of them are immense. They were used for irrigation and they sound their age, creaking and groaning as they turn eternally. The museum had some interesting mosaics and an impressive black basalt lion, and the Azem Palace, though less impressive than the one in Damascus was also worth a visit as is the Grand Mosque. I had an excellent dinner by the 4 Nurias in the East of the city in one of the city’s most popular restaurants. Tomorrow I will head down to the Lattakia on the Mediterranean coast, supposedly Syria’s most liberal and Western-looking spot.

- David

Beehive Homes, Qala'at Ja'abar and Lake Assad

Yesterday we (a nice Dutch couple - Kees and Klementine :-) - and myself) started off early as we had a long day of driving ahead of us. The fist stop was the village of Sarouj where we found strange beehive-shaped mud houses, found only here and in the far flung West African country of Mali. The structures are over a hundred years old and perfectly adapted to the climate. The temperature inside does not change regardless of the summer heat or the cold of winter nights. After tea and some special Eid biscuits from our generous hosts inside a nicely decorated mud hut we were on our way again. The next stop was Qasr Ibn Wardan, a beautiful sandstone palace deep in the desert on a road that leads nowhere else. The beautiful sparse lunar-like terrain made a spectacular backdrop for this intriguing 6th Century structure and Bedouin shepherds roamed the surrounding area with their flocks. The caretaker, Mohammed, showed us around with enthusiasm and despite not speaking any English was keen to teach us all he knew with sometimes comical gestures and charades. He clearly doesn’t see too many tourists.

Driving North again we stopped at Resafe, an abandoned Byzantine city in the middle of nowhere whose size alone cannot fail to impress. The site was built from the 3^rd to 5^th Century and the stone that makes up the walls and the inner constructions is a crystallised gypsum and it positively sparkles in the sun. The city walls are almost completely intact and measure almost 2km in circumference. Inside are the remains of several churches, notably the St. Sergius Basilica. The Northern gate is also particularly ornate with impressive columns and arches. A sunhat was a must here as the site is all uncovered and the sun was beating down.

Next we drove north to the banks of the beautiful azure-coloured Lake Assad, the lake a result of damning the Euphrates back in the 60s and 70s. The lake stretches for 60km and contrasts spectacularly with the desert that surrounds it. Sitting high above the lake on a peak surrounded by the lakes waters is the citadel known as Qala’at Ja’abar. This impressive Mesopotamian fort pre-dates the lake, and in fact pre-dates the arrival of Islam. We wandered around the fort for a while, taking in the stunning views of the lake below before stopping in the restaurant where they served us an ice-cold can of whiskey when we had asked for beer. I had never seen a can of whisky before but there were others drinking it around us! That was a lot of whiskey. After some fresh fish from the lake served with salad and hummus we started the long drive back to Hama. We spent the evening chatting and drinking beer in a pleasant garden restaurant in front of some of the famous water wheels. - David

Krak des Chevaliers and Apamea

So I arrived into my hotel in Hama just before lunch to discover that a tour to Krak des Chevaliers and Apamea, two places on my planned itinerary was leaving in five minutes so I got my stuff together and got in a taxi with an English guy and a Japanese couple, as well as our driver and sped back the way I had just come! As we neared Krak des Chevaliers we could make out the enormous castle sitting on a distant peak. The immensity of the castle described by Paul Thorough as the “epitome of the dream castle of jousts” became clearer as we approached. We had almost two hours to explore the castle which was just barely enough. The current structure dates mostly from the mid 12th century and is in a remarkable state given the passage of time and the battles it has witnessed. From vaults to stables, towers to chapels and bath houses the castle is a delight to explore and it would have been easy to spend twice as long but Apamea beckoned.

Driving North through the sparse countryside we arrived at Apamea before dusk and saw this spectacular 3rd Century sight in the long light of evening. Set on a wild high grassy plain this abandoned trading post was once famed for its horses and was home to over 30,000 mares, 3,000 stallions and about 500 war elephants, the tanks of its Golden Age around 200AD. The most interesting section is the main highway flanked on both sides by enormous pillars of grey granite that stretches for about 2 kilometres. The site also boasts the remains of an enormous amphitheatre as well as a monumental fountain and a mosaic museum. We wandered leisurely about the site until the sun set over the ruins. Were it not for Palmyra this would be the premier tourist site of Syria but as it is few people visit this site which is a real shame as it is really worth the effort.

- David

Seidnaya and Homs

Yesterday I got the bus North of Damascus to Seidnaya, the site of the Greek Orthodox Covent of our Lady which hosts a portrait of Our Lady purportedly painted by St. Luke and which was considered second in importance to Jerusalem during the time of the Crusades. The convent sits majestically above the town perched on a rocky peak and its imposing façade looks more like a fort than a place of worship. As I arrived in the chapel a christening was taking place. A large ornate basin was placed in front of the altar and after some prayers and candle-lighting the unsuspecting baby was ducked head first (and everything else following) into the water. She was not too impressed with the surprise!

The views from the roof of the convent over the town were spectacular, and some of the mosaics inside were very impressive. I didn’t see any Muslim visitors but giving that it’s the holiest time of the year for Muslims they probably thought it more appropriate to visit their own holy sites.

Today I caught the bus to Homs, a small town 2 hours North of Damascus. After an excellent lunch I met up with a couple of German travellers and we explored the town. First stop was the impressive Khaled Ibn Al-Walid Mosque, named after the warrior who after first fighting against Mohammed joined forces with him and fought on behalf of Islam. He is attributed with conquering Syria for Islam and is said to have never lost a battle despite fighting more than a hundred, and in fact his war strategy is still studied today. After that we wandered through the sleepy markets (Eid is not over until Thursday) and the Christian area, where we visited a church that allegedly holds one of the Virgin Mary’s ornate belts. Given the number of claims by religious sites to hold garments of biblical characters, many appear to have had pretty enormous wardrobes! Tomorrow I will head a little further North to the town of Hama, famed for its ancient water wheels.

- David

Returning to Damscus

It’s nice to be back in Syria. I spent three weeks here in 2007 and fell in love with the place. The streets of Damascus remain unchanged, unsurprisingly for the world’s oldest city. The old town’s narrow streets invite you to wander, to lose yourself in their charms and as it’s now the last few days of Ramadan the streets during the day are quiet and peaceful whereas as soon as iftar, the breaking of fast, comes the streets suddenly take on a whole new life and the markets bustle and heave until very late into the night. People smile when they see a foreigner and the word “welcome” breaks spontaneously from their lips.

My meetings here went well and my trip is beginning to take shape with plenty of new ideas and possibilities.

Today is Eid, the end of Ramadan and kids swarm the streets having been given a few pounds and they are making sure they get the best out of them. The mood in the city is jovial and pretty much everything closes down now for a about three days. Of course the Christian areas will go on much as before.

Tomorrow I will visit one of the holiest sites for Christians in the Middle East and one where strangely Muslims also come to pray.

- Dave