A girls trip to Syria

Camilla has had for the past week visitors from Norway, so we found out we wanted to point our noses to the far east and explore the neighbour country. We left Friday morning each one with their back pack on their back, and we were on our way with our private taxi driver. The trip took a little bit longer time than expected due to the unexpected weather. The past days the sun has been shining, and suddenly the heavy rain came with fog over the mountains. It took around 3 ½ hours to get from Beirut to Damascus, where we were going to spend our time the next three days. We spend around 15 minutes on the boarder to Syria where they asked all kinds of questions. “Where are you going to live, how long are you staying, what are you doing there?” And so on…I got a flash back from the role play On the Run an activity which the Red Cross Youth in Norway has, and I laughed for myself, finding many similarities. To read more about On the Run click on this link: http://www.rodekorsungdom.no/English/Activities/The_Roleplay_On_the_run/

Text: Lunch in restaurant Leila with traditional Syrian food. On the pic from the left: Camilla, Leila, me and Kajsa.

Our plan was very simple, first we were going to find a hotel we could stay, find a restaurant to eat lunch and then explore the medina in the old city. This went smoothly, and we found a three star hotel (after some searching and help by the hostels we passed by), 100 dollars for to nights and for four persons, included breakfast, and this was not bad. Syria is much cheaper than Lebanon, and you can expect a very good dinner for only 3 dollars, you can also shop a lot of Arabic things for a cheaper amount of money than in Lebanon, so I had my shopping list ready already before my departure.

Text: Me in the old city, with the mosque of Umaayad in the background.

Damascus is one of the oldest city in the world, where there continuously has been living inhabitants. Totally there lives around 6 million people in the capital and the desert sand is floating in the wind. It was a different experience to walk in the street of Damascus than in Beirut, Syria is been seen as a more conservative country if you compare it to Lebanon, and it was exciting to see all the contrasts and to see maybe a more representative picture of the middle east.

Text: Me, Camilla and Kajsa inside the mosque of Umaayad , pay special attention to us looking like fishermen from the village.

We took the trip to the mosque of Umaayad, this is said to be the most famous and the biggest mosque of Islam. We were covered with very beautiful uniforms that was going to cover us. Look at the picture next to the text. This mosque is also rumoured with that the head of John the Baptist is lying inside the mosque, but that I did not see, so I have my suspicious mind.

Text: Me with a big coffee can where you can make turkish coffee. In the background you can see some plates that can be used as a table.

We walked in the old city all Saturday, and this day was dedicated for shopping, and not at least to try Syria’s best ice-cream, which has a very good reputation, “we just had to try that!” I came to obtain a very charming Arabic table, which consists of a copper plate with beautiful decorations and with separate wooden legs. It was absolutely beautiful, in addition I bought silk scarf, jewellery, fresh spices and some other small things.

Text: I put a closure with a picture with Kajsa and I eating famous ice cream with vanilla and pistachio nuts. mmmm

All in all it was a very good trip, and it really temps for reiteration, it is still so much more I want to see of Syria, and not at least things to buy! We’ll see if there will come up a new opportunity in a later occation, inshalla.