Syria aka: Suriyah

More than 5000 year old civilization and the city looks very old. The country looks rundown almost, but did not feel uncomfortable there for some reason. I visited the old part of Damascus; I have been to “Hammam” that was dated back nearly 900 years. I also visited the house where they shot the popular Syrian TV serial “Babb Elhara”.

almost every summer

I lived in Damascus, Syria for two and a half years between the ages of two and four and a half. I don’t remember much about the realities of living there; rather I remember the heat, the dust, the market, the park, the market, the people, the atmosphere. It sparked my love for the Middle East and Arabic culture. I would recommend this amazing place to any traveller who is willing to go somewhere a bit different, a bit off the beaten track.

damascus is the oldest city in the world, there are 3 floors undergrounds, there is not much news about it, but when you enter bab toma you go in a tunnel at left side you can see the first floor down, also in soq alhamadya there is a small tunnel what goes underground, you can walk almost down the hole alhamadya, alse there is in sayd naya the oldest church in the world it on the top of the mountain.

My three weeks in Syria were magical. If you love history you’ll be in heaven seeing the spot on the Mediterranean from which Phoenician ships set sail, the birthplace of the alphabet, battlefields Egyptian chariots swept through, Queen Zenobia’s Palymyra, Diocletian’s camp, streets and gates St. Paul knew, the Omayyad Mosque, storybook crusader castles, Saladin’s Damascus and the markets of Aleppo, St.Simeon’s pillar…. this entire country is soaked in history.

In Syria most people live in the Euphrates River valley and along the coastal plain, a fertile strip between the coastal mountains and the desert. Overall population density is about 258 per square mile (99/km²). Education is free and compulsory from ages 6 to 11. Schooling consists of 6 years of primary education followed by a 3-year general or vocational training period and a 3-year academic or vocational program. The second 3-year period of academic training is required for university admission. Total enrolment at post-secondary schools is over 150,000. The literacy rate of Syrians aged 15 and older is 89% for males and 64% for females.        

Damascus, a city that has been inhabited as early as 3,000 BC, is known to be one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. It came under Muslim rule in AD 636. Immediately thereafter, the city’s power and prestige reached its peak, and it became the capital of the Umayyad Empire, which extended from Spain to the borders of Central Asia from AD 661 to AD 750. Syria acted as cultural hub that took in influences from many sources and sent them out to other parts of the empire and Damascus achieved a glory unrivalled among cities of the eighth century. The Umayyads were overthrown by the Abbasid dynasty in AD 750, and the seat of the Abbasid caliphate was established at Baghdad, Iraq.        

Cheap! Cheap! Cheap! We spent 5 days living the high life in Aleppo. 5 star restaurant meals for $7-8 usd. Great hotels for $70 usd a night. Of course you could go even cheaper. Breakfast for under $1 usd, etc. Aleppo is fascinating, as is Crac des Chevaliers. We preferred Aleppo to Damascus and had no troubles traveling the country. Probably not wise for women traveling alone. Whether man or women, dress conservatively and learn a couple of Arabic phrases.

I didn’t enjoy the stay there non orgnize, and people is not freindly enough

Krak des Chevalier is unbelievable! I paid the owner of the restaurant on the adjacent hilltop a few bucks to sleep on the roof that restaurant. Throughout the night I kept looking over and staring at this amazing castle.