In 2008 I travelled to the Middle East with an Intrepid trip that went overland through Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Turkey. The Middle East was not an area I had been to at all but had been on my list for some time. In particular Syria – a place of the crusades, layers of civilization, amazing markets and of course food.
We travelled from Cairo up to Sinai, Sharm el-Sheikh – a beautiful spot on the Red Sea, by ferry across to Jordan – passing Saudi Arabia – to Wadi Rum, Wadi Musa and Petra, and then into Syria, before passing through the northern border of Syria into Turkey travelling to Cappadocia and finishing in the beautiful city of Istanbul.
Syria was somewhere I had always wanted to visit. Somewhere exotic and slightly mysterious, having the influence from French colonisers. At the time it had been named by George W Bush as part of the ‘axis of evil’ as insurgency through Syria was beginning to start on the border with Iraq.
The border areas between these countries were already heavily managed and you had to change cars or buses at each border. Our introduction arriving into Damascus was the tour group piling into the back of tuck – attracting a lot of friendly attention from other cars waving to us and cheering as we waveed back and cheered to them. My overwhelming memory of Syria was of an exceptionally warm, generous and welcoming people. People constantly asked us ‘why are you here?’ asking with such surprise as to why as tourists we would want to see their country. When I said ‘ because I have always wanted to’ they just said ‘oh yes, yes fantastic’. This was then followed by ‘are you French’ and the answer of ‘No I’m Australian’ was followed by even more exclamations of how even more fantastic this was.
Everywhere you went – and I mean everywhere – you were offered dried dates. Now I’m now a dried date fan, but you simply coudn’t say no and had to accept the date and eat and enjoy it. You can’t say no when someone is telling you oh you tried the dates in Damascus, well the dates here in Palmyra are far better than those…and so on.
In Damascus we went to the amazing souq (markets) al-Hamidiyeh. The main undercover part is this huge curved iron roof that is speckled with bullet holes – a legacy of fighting with the French – which lets streams of sunlight in. The shops gave you a little glimpse into the unseen part of Syrian life with a fairly large number selling a very revealing and interesting array of women’s underwear. You can never make any assumptions about people.
There was the amazing, famous ice-cream shop – featured in guidebooks and on my list of must-dos – a delicious creamy ice-cream covered in pistachios. Everywhere you wandered there were little alley ways with a cafés selling lemon juice with fresh mint, blue and green mosaics and nuts. Back to the food – those brilliant nut shops. You took a brown paper bag and filled it with what ever variety you wanted – from plain, to covered in a salty or sweet shell, corn kernels covered in chili powder, and again the nut sellers saying try this, take this for free. Within the souq is the spectacular Great Umayyed Mosque.
One of the most amazing experiences of Damascus was visiting the Sayyidah Zaynab Mosque, which is said to house the remains of the Prophet Muhammad’s granddaughter. Before entering all women were required to wear a very fetching grey hooded cloak, which covered your body. The area of the shrine is covered in mirrors and is almost overwhelming. Entering the mosque we could hear chanting and thumping. Upon entering, on one side were women crying over the shrine and throwing dolls and other toys on the shrine of the granddaughter and on the other men chanting an thumping their chests in unison – united as one in grief and worship. It was a truly unforgettable experience.
Palmyra really can’t be described in words. Layers of civilization and remainders of a great city. The huge Roman colonnades, the tombs thousands of years old. What I also loved about our visit is that we stayed in the small town just outside of the site. Most tourists travelled in by bus and then went and stayed at the large chain hotel not near the town. Again walking around there was the hospitality of the people – more offers of dates – and the hotel where we stayed who weren’t quite used to non-Syrian tourists but put up with us none-the-less.
Crac de Chevaliers is a magnificent Crusader castle on the top of a mountain looking out over the snow peaked mountains of Lebanon. It is not far from the city of Homs in Syria. You can walk in and around the various parts of the castle, little paths leading to tunnels. As with the souq in Damascus and Palmyra, the realisation you are walking on the same path of Crusaders, Romans and other civilisations and these sites are still here and have survived, it is fairly overwhelming. We stayed at a little family run hotel looking out over the beautiful mountains, not far from the site. Dinner was at a restaurant again not far from the site – our guide had prepared us for the amazing spread that awaited us and it was bountiful!
The last stop in Syria was Aleppo. Beautiful Aleppo. We arrived in the city and walked with our packs to the outside walls of the main souq – which is actually made up of many connected souqs – being told this is where we are staying. Not quite knowing what to expect we walk through the iron doors in the walled surrounded the souq and walk along the cobble stoned paths. We come to what would have been a private home many of which have been turned into small hotels. Again we walk through the doors into a beautiful courtyard with rooms looking out of the yard. Lanterns hang from the walls and roof – gorgeous.
While in Aleppo we explored the souqs, visiting the Great Mosque, a travellers stop made of back and white marble as Aleppo was a stop on the Silk Road trade routes, and going to what had become a scarf shop famous for it’s very flirtatious shop assistants – including the owner who was from Melbourne, Australia. Our guide had warned us telling us they were notorious and had no shame and she was right. They were completely outrageous to all the females in the group, but beneath the bravado was the fun and warmth of Syria.
On our last day I had one of one of those simple meals you never forget. We had a long day of travel into Turkey and our guide said to go out and forage in the markets to have lunch before we leave and snacks for the trip. I went out into the souq finding a place that made fresh bread with toasted halomi with chilli, coriander and leman and the owner chatting with me about his brother from Sydney. The chocolate baklava being made fresh in front of you. Of course I had to get the bag of delicious nuts with, as always, a few things thrown in for free by the owner so I could try them. I bought one of my most treasured items that day in the souq – an inexpensive metal tea pot with flowers engraved on it. It stoll sits on a shelf in my house and reminds me every day of Syria and particularly Aleppo.
On our bus out of Syria we were accompanied in the front seat by a very well dressed man wearing shiny shows who didn’t seem to be a traveller. Our guide told us on each trip out they were accompanied by a similarly attired man and the outstanding feature was the shiny shoes. We were being accompanied most likely by the Syrian version of the secret service just to make sure we left and headed straight to the border. When we got to the border and changed buses to travel into to Turkey, the man with the shiny shoes was nowhere to be seen.
Syria had such an impact on me and the war which began not long after I went there, is something I find so devastating and heartbreaking. I feel like crying every time I think of it – and while I wrote this. A beautiful country with such incredible sites of major historical significance, simply delicious food and most of all the warm and welcoming people who were so astounded yet elated we were visiting their country. To see the wonder of the Aleppo souq now destroyed and the city of Aleppo in ruins is an utter tragedy, and the destruction of Palmyra an untold loss to the world.
I think of the man offering me dates in Palmyra, the family running the restaurant near Crac de Chevaliers, the man selling the delicious bread and cheese in Aleppo and of course the flirtatious scarf salesmen. I hope they got out safely and went to Melbourne or Sydney. But for the others I can almost still see there faces and wonder what happened to them. Were they some of the thousands of people in camps across the world or are they even still alive? And still the fighting goes on and the people suffer even more, if that is even at all possible.
It is hard to describe in words as I have said to have experienced the warmth of a country and it’s wonder to then see it’s utter destruction and suffering of its people and the lack of empathy that is then shown towards those who have had to flee. With these situations we are all condemned.
