Damascus

Damascus or 'Sham to locals, is far better than I'd imagined.
I spent most of the day in the Old city, contained within what was a Roman wall but re-built many times. It has a Citadel, which is closed to the public. I wasn't too disappointed! I had come armed with a hand-drawn map, pin-pointing the best carpet shops and coffee-houses, so found the Souk-al-Hamidiyya - a covered market selling absolutely everything. Full of atmosphere and really busy! A stark contrast from the eerily quiet Aleppo yesterday. Narrow passageways or doorways opened up into huge courtyards. Very Alice in Wonderland. Completely different to 'outside' where the roads are busy, dusty and noisy.

I visited the Umayyad Mosque, but not before visiting the 'putting on special clothes' room first. I was covered from head to nearly toe as I spent some time wandering around the courtyard and peeking into the prayer rooms. What I expected to be a quiet place of reflection was a place for families to picnic, with children running about and an elderly lady in her chador, shouting (and I mean shouting!) into her mobile phone! Great for people watching, just flippin' hot in the 'special clothes'. I followed some other non-muslims into this room where prayers had just ended and this man was happy to have his photo taken.

The problem I find with visiting all of the wonderful places and seeing so many wonderful things to buy, is the small problem of getting them home, so I settled for a couple of pendants, rather than carpets, lampshades and a whole heap of other things that I could have spent my Syrian pounds on. I think I could have had myself a Syrian husband too. Mucho attention from one particular guy who kept finding me amongst the crowds. I think it was love at first sight for him. Bless! (S'alright dad, you don't need to get your kilt out!)

Back to Jordan tomorrow - to avoid an Arab Summit that's hitting town. Not quite sure how I'm getting there yet but will consider my options in the morning....

Thanks for yesterday's comments and suggestions, which I've only just seen. It's a great city and I'm also a fan. Will blog more pics in the week.