Damascus

Well I've spent nearly two weeks in Damascus. Much more time than I was planning to but it has been really nice to kick back relax for a few days and not have to worry about repacking my back pack and heading off to new place. So what have been up to in Damascus? Answer: not that much. Drinking fantastic fruit juices, eating shawermas, dining in great restaurants, smoking nargiles (the water pipes), and wandering the souq but not really buying anything.

OK well I have actually done a few things other than just being a lazy git. On our second night here, we went to see a story teller who sits in a coffee shop and talks away for an hour or so each evening to a rapt crowd. The story is in Arabic so I didn't understand a word he was saying but it's still a great spectacle. He has a sword which he brandishes around every now then and whacks down on the table much to everyone's delight.

We also made a trip out to Quneitra, which is an abandoned town just on the edge of Golan Heights. The Golan Heights were seized from Syria by Israel during the six day war in 1967. They made a partial withdrawal from the area and most of it is now a demilitarised zone administered by the UN. Before heading off to Quneitra we first visited the October War Panorama in Damascus, which gives a rather skewed version of the 1973 war with Israel. We watched a short film about the war in Arabic with English subtitles. It refers to Israelis as Zionists and is basically an anti-Israeli propaganda film. Upstairs is the war Panorama - a huge painting depicting the battle around Quneitra. The Syrians are all depicted as big strong soldiers, the Israelis look small, weak and weasel-eyed. As we watched the panorama a loudspeaker was describing the scene in Arabic so we couldn't understand but I have a fairly good idea they didn't have anything good to say about Israel. The sad thing about it is that there were a group of young school children there at same as us basically being taught to hate Israel. Now I know the Arab world has good reason to hate Israel and I don't particularly sympathise with the Israelis, but it was very depressing to these school kids here and it's very difficult to see the problems of the Middle East being resolved anytime soon, when a new generation is being taught to hate.

So anyway after the panorama we headed up to Quneitra itself. On arrival we were given a guide (member of the secret police) to show us around. Most of the place is rubble, what buildings remain were completely gutted by the Israelis before they withdrew. Anything that could conceivably be of use was taken including the windows frames. So only the concrete shells of the buildings remain. I thought the town was no longer populated, although we were told there are five people still living here, and the place has been pretty left as it was to serve as some kind of memorial. It's a really eerie place to walk around, I've never really been anywhere quite like it. All in all it was fairly sombre experience.

On a slightly lighter note we also took a day trip to Bosra to visit - you've guessed it - yet more ruins. Bosra is home to Roman Amphitheatre. It's actually really well preserved and one the largest amphitheatres that isn't built into the side of a hill. Interestingly enough at a later date a castle was built around the theatre. It was pretty cool to see the theatre contained inside the castle. There are also more ruins outside of the castle of the old city. These are scattered amongst the new buildings of the modern town of Bosra. Bosra made a nice day trip out of Damascus.

Other than that we've just been hanging out in Damascus. We caught up with Rachel, whom we met on our way to Aleppo. So we've spent a bit of time with her and met some her UN work colleagues. They've have some Iraqi friends - there are a lot of Iraqi refugees in Damascus - and they put a contemporary dance display. I've not seen any contemporary dance before and wasn't really sure what to expect, but it was very good and very moving considering the circumstances they have come from.

On the topic of Iraqis, we met a guy called Amar who is from Baghdad. He has seen people killed and lost five of his friends since the war in Iraq began. He is educated as lawyer but now can't find any sort of work in Damascus. Meeting someone like this really does put a human face to the consequences of a completely pointless war.

Well sorry if a few parts of this entry haven't been so cheery, but I would to stress that I've a great time in Damascus and I'm really quite sad to leave for Jordan. The good news we have to come back to pick up our Indian visas so we'll probably be back here for Christmas. Looking forward to that and catching up with our friends we've made here. But for now Jordan beckons...