Damascus

First general remark - Syria seems to be more restrictive than Iran, and I cannot open my blog here -Blogspot (without mentionning Facebook of course...) is BANNED. anyway I'm trying to convince internet points' owners to open it for me with proxy.. so I might write this blog with some delay, but I'll try to write at least few comments about the place and upload few pictures from time to time.

After long long plannings, which country/countires will be my next destination, I decided to continue with my beloved Middle East. And this time it will be Syria, Jordan and Lebanon - not necessarily in this order, as I don't have my return ticket yet :-) so the trip will be spontaneous - as I like :-)

Damascus didn't welcome me very warmly in both senses. First of all it's quite cold, not to say very cold. when you go to Middle East, you expect it to be hot, while I'm freezing when I sleep in jumper, in sleeping bag and under two blankets. During the day it's not that bad, but only if it's sunny.. Second thing which - not very pleasant - was the crowd of taxi drivers in front of the airport. they were all shouting and wanted me to go with them. only the price they proposed seemed to be much higher, than the one that Agnieszka paid few hours earlier.. after few minutes I've found an official stand with taxis, with official and negotiable prices. it seemed to be much more reliable, so I paid and I went to the hotel. unfortunately the taxi driver was not that reliable as I used to think - after he drowe me to the hotel, he demanded additional money.. I complained to the owner of the hotel, so they fight a bit.. I'm not sure if I like Syria that much...

On the first day we did a very classical tour, which means Umayyad Mosque, Azem Palace and Christian quartier. Umayyad Mosque is one of Islam's most important buildings and indeed it's absolutely gorgeus! Although we had very modest clothes (long dresses, coats etc.), we were obliged to wear long, shapeless and a bit disgusting coats.. inside we have found out that actually there were quite fewI did like especially, because in the mosque there's a shrine of Hussain - grandson of the Prophet, which means it's a holy place for Shiite (Ali is regarded as a founder of Shiisme), which means plenty of Iranians visiting this place. The courtyard - although made of marble - turned out incredibly clean... after at least half an hour of a walk, me white as snow socks, remained white as snow... :-)

Umayyad Mosque contains another big attraction - Mausoleum of Saladin, although it doesn't look like very impressive. His tomb is in a very small and modest building, and it's very surprising that this big personality's tomb is in such a small a modest place!

Two other Damascus' sights we've seen were Azem Palace and Christian Quartier. Actually I'm quite disappointed with Damascus, it's really pretty city, but I think that after Iran very few things can really impress me. When you go to the kind of legend city, which is one of the oldest World cities you expect really incredible monuments or palaces, and those that you find are nice, but none of them really stunning.

Before I came to Syria I thought it's quite liberal country, and so I was really surprised with women, of which at least 90% wear chadors (although they're not obliged to do so). Some of them even cover completely (sic!! with no hole for the eyes) their faces. I haven't seen in in Iran ever. Another thing that surprises is a huge amount of billboards with president Bashar al-Assad. they're much more numerous than images of Khomeini in Iran!!!!!

On Sunday we went to Maalula - a small village with two not so interesting monasteries. A very interesting thing though was that it's one of the last remaining places where Arameic - the language of the Christ - is still spoken. In Monastery of St Sergius we met a very nice priest who recited 'Pater Noster' in Arameic.

The afternoon we decided to spend in hamam and it was absolutely fantastic decision. a thing that shocked me a bit was attitude of Syrian women towards their sexuality. when you see them on the streets most of them are completely covered and don't look in other people's eyes, as if they wouldn't like to have any contact with another person, while in hamam all this barrier disappears!! I was quite surprised how intimate a visit in hamam is. there were at least 15 completely naked women at all age, who were not ashamed of their (not always pretty) bodies. moreover a massage and body scrubbing implied a very close contact with both - mine and her - bodies, and it was not at all problem for her. Also a quite funny story happened to me in hamam, as some woman decided that I would be a perfect wife for her son and proposed in his name!!! it was not a problem that I'm Christian and I don't speak Arabic. the only fact that counted was that she saw me naked, and apparently she decided I would be a perfect wife for her son.. ;-) I refused, saying that I have a fiance and I even showed her my ring - she didn't want to give up and said she would buy me prettier... :-) I learned later that hamam is a perfect "wives' market".