Damascus, Syria

Damascus was the main destination for my trip, though it sort of ended up being a jumping off point to other places. I wanted to visit Damascus because a) I wanted to see the Middle East and b) my very long time friend Tessa has been living there for a while and we hadn't seen each other in a few years. Seemed like the makings of an exotic yet social vacation!

Syria being a somewhat less than a '1st world nation', there was a lot of worry that I wouldn't actually make it into the country. You see, a lot of the information I found concerning entry into Syria said that it was necessary to get a visa at a local Syrian embassy beforehand. This was a problem since South Korea doesn't have a Syrian embassy (though strangely North Korea does). Tessa had also warned that customs officials could be a little whimsical in how helpful they would be for a foreigner. Other sources, however, indicated that I would be able to receive a visa upon arrival.

I was feeling a little concerned upon landing at the airport, but after waiting in a queue for a long time, and having my passport relinquished to an officious looking man in a small, smoky office for some period of time, these matters were taken care of. With the payment of $56 US dollars, the customs officer proceeded to work a little arts and craft magic and glue a big stack of stamps into my passport.

So I took a taxi which seemed like it might fall to pieces any minute into town and finally arrived at the American Community School where Tessa and husband Eric teach. This is what their apartment building looks like. They live on the lowest floor in a very spacious and charming apartment:
Do you see that groovy old car out front of Tessa and Eric's building? This was a definite trend in Damascus: groovy old cars (Busan has mainly only new, Korean made vehicles). I arrived in Damascus mid-week, and Thursday night (think Friday night N. Amrican style - Friday, Saturday is the weekend there) we headed off to Beirut, Lebanon, but a short three hour drive away. Though public buses were available, for a few extra dollars the preferred option is 'service'. This works by heading down to the 'terminal' where drivers shout out the names of destinations in neighbouring countries. When you meet a driver matching your destination, you go sit in his car till it fills up, and then you're on your way. The funny thing about this mode of transport is that it's all big 70s American muscle cars (Dodges, Chevies etc.), usually with bright yellow paint jobs :
This is the car I took to Amman, Jordan, and a 'truck stop' on the way. I bought dates for a snack, but could have bought fresh fruit, stuffed animals, carpets and all sorts of other stuff.

I'll leave Lebanon and Jordan for further installments and get back to Damascus, where one of the biggest attractions was the 'Souk Hamidieh', or Hamidieh Market. At this point I feel it should be mentioned that Damascus lays claim to being the longest continuously inhabited city in the world. When I visited the market, I really got that feeling, though it was surely a mixture of ancient and more recent history. The corridor where I entered was of the latter, as you can see form the aluminum roofing. It is punctuated with tiny little dots which are in fact bullet holes, which if my memory serves correct were created in a joyous response to the end of the French occupation in the first half of the 21st century.
The most antiquitous area was to be found at the end of this corridor, where the remains of Roman arches could be seen (under the pigeons and behind the cars):
Just in front of the Roman remnants was the Umayyad Mosque, one of the oldest and largest mosques in the world. From the mid 7th century to mid 8th century , Damascus was the centre of the Umayyad Caliphate, and the mosque completed in 715, remaining largely untouched until present day.

The market had lots of wares; particularly beautiful was the vast array of carpets. I also really enjoyed the spice markets. Endless containers of all sorts of wonderful, colourful looking things.







































As for the geography of Damascus itself, on one side was a long mountain with housing rising up from the base. The city was always busy with tremendous amounts of traffic.