Day out in Damascus 12.05.2010

Our hotel is about 30 minutes walk from Old Damascus, and a very interesting and exciting walk it is. Like other travellers here, we have felt very safe, day and night, except when crossing the roads. The system seems to be that you just launch yourself out into a speeding jumble of honking traffic and hope that you reach the other side alive. The only way we have been able to do it so far is to stand beside a local, preferably a group of them, and stay on the non-traffic side of them as they weave their way through moving maze. In particularly frenetic spots there are uniformed people waving batons, but it seems to be optional to take any notice of them.

Alongside the bustling traffic were lush parks with familiar vegetation – Australian eucalypts and bottle brushes, as well as oleanders, bougainvillea and jacarandas.
Dan’s Syrian friends Elias and Hadi had given us some excellent ideas of what to see, and how to find everything, which made our visit very purposeful and easy. The Syrian people are very cheerful, friendly and helpful, would often stop and give us directions if they saw us studying our map or looking lost, and tended to say “Welcome ” for “Hello”.

Al Hamidiyeh Souq is a vast, orderly, magical bazaar, with a central wide, curved street, and many many alley ways leading off to both sides. The high, curved iron vaulting that covers the central street is so old that the sun shines through the many holes like stars.


Shisha hookahs and other sparkly things.
Inside the souq it is pleasantly cool, with a dazzling array of all kinds of goods – gold, silver, shimmering cloth, spices, perfume, leather, mother-of-pearl inlay – a surprise at every turn. I loved the old lady in full habaya selling brightly coloured bras.
The dress code here seems to be far more mixed and varied than in Qatar. Most women wear the full black habaya, or something like a neck-to-ground buttoned overcoat, but you also see pretty girls in jeans with a simple white or coloured headscarf, and occasionally women with bare arms or even a spot of cleavage – but not much. Even though it’s quite warm, we only saw two men in shorts – and they were tourists. Jeans seem to be the norm for men.
To be continued.....