Riding our car down the ancient streets of Palmyra with lots of smiling faces in sight. It’s hard to choose just one moment among the millions. This trip was literally and figuratively a wild ride for me. I have tons of thoughts on my time there, but I will start with the first question everyone has: What was it like to travel to Damascus?
It’s been like climbing an empty crusader castle to watch sunset over the Mediterranean. Damascus is a truly beautiful, historical and magical place. A place where some of the oldest civilization in the world thrived throughout the centuries. As such this land is incredibly rich in distinct ancient sites and a living museum with loads of places of interest.
The Syrian capital, also known as the city of Jasmine is encircled by 5 kms of a strong defensive wall. A large proportion of these walls remains surprisingly quiet well preserved till date. As we entered the old city from one of the seven different gates, we are thrilled to enter a maze of narrow streets and alleys
Faize e Hakimi is easily one of the best Hotels in Damascus and I felt extremely lucky to be able to score a stay here
After settling into our rooms, our guide for the week came to meet and take us on the walking tour of the city, He was kind, knowledgeable and so enthusiastic. It was lovely to get a feel for the city and I was struck by how incredibly normal life appeared to be in the central part of Damascus. We saw wedding processions, university students eating falafel and kids playing in the street. This was certainly a far cry from the Syria that I had spent years seeing in the news. I really loved the architecture, the colors and even the street art (Another thing I did not expect to see here)
In the early afternoon and after the end of the prayer that takes place at 6pm, along with the locals we enjoyed gathering and listening to the stories narrated by “Al Hakawati” (aka The Story Teller). In fact this a well-known tradition in Damascus! One of the most famous cafes in which story tellers still tell their stories is Al-Nawfara Café which is next to the great Umayyad Mosque, which was going to be our next exciting stop
Umayyad Mosque is exceptionally beautiful. The History of this mosque is a long and incredibly vibrant one. It is thought that the first structure built on this site dates back around 3000 years – literally back to the Iron Age! One feature of this mosque that kept me in awe over the tiled mosaics – Because of how unbelievably old these mosaics are. They look much more like fabric. This fabric - esque effect is Uber obvious in this next photograph.
(Drools)
(Into the serene)
After a little while we left the mosque and we went for a walk to a nearby souq. It was amazing! The spices in the next photograph tasted out of this world
We also found this incredible section of the souq that I really wish I could remember the name of – How insane is this architecture!?
For those of you that are art lovers, the art seen of Damascus will not dis appoint you. The old city alone is full of art galleries where you can admire (and buy) exquisite pieces of art from local artists, we were extremely lucky to be granted access to the gallery and home of the famous Syrian artist Mr. Mustafa Ali. From the moment we set foot in Mr. Mustafa Ali’s 500 year old courtyard, we were blown away by the house’s ambience and artistic atmosphere. The place was full of sculptures in a variety of materials from wood to bronze. Entering the different rooms of the house, we could take a sneak peak in to the artist’s personal life as well as his working space. Definitely, a memory to be treasured!
How can you visit Damascus at the moment? Let me start by mentioning that despite the 12 year armed conflict, Damascus itself was the less-hit city in the whole of Syria. Only the outskirts were destroyed an area that remains off limits to tourists. The places you will be visiting, both in the old city and new part of Damascus, remain intact with minimum to no signs of it. All shops, souqs and restaurants are open while the streets are bustling with life.
With all that being said, Damascus is city where you can safely roam around on your own. However, if you would like to be accompanied by a local guide, then you can simply book a day (or multi day) tour with a local agency. Just one look at the content and happy faces of our little beings will convince you to discover the delightful Damascus.