July 16, 2001 Damascus (2) |
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Just after
moving inside the mosque, I am astonishing by the proportions and the
brightness of the square (122m * 50m). The wonderful mosaic in front of the
entrance also impresses me. Damascus -
Umayyad Mosque After 2 hours
of a welcome rest under the arches of the mosque, we begin the visit. In the
square, stand (from right to left) the kiosk with a beautiful mosaic dιcor,
the fountain and another kiosk with 8 columns. Umayyad
Mosque: The kiosk Next to the
kiosk under the arches, the wall is fully covered by restored mosaics with
pieces dated to the origins of the mosque in 715. The dιcor is according to
some experts a representation of Paradise. The prayer
room stands on the south side of the mosque. The room inspires me quietness,
children play on the carpets, some Muslims pray, others have a rest or simply
sleep inside this huge room. Umayyad
Mosque: The prayer room The rear part
of the mosque is reserved to women while the space near the minbars is the
one of men. In the middle of the room, there is a space covered with a red
carpet. The location is reserved to the Syrian president when he visits the
mosque. Near this platform, we have a wonderful dome where we can see written
inside 8 names with among them prophet Mohammed and Allah. Umayyad
Mosque: the central dome A little
further stands the tomb of St John the Baptist lighted in green. When you exit
the prayer room and at the right of the kiosk, there is the tomb of Hussein,
son of Ali the brother in law of Prophet Mohammed. The mosque
has three minarets and each of them is unique, among them the Qayt Bay
minaret built in 1488 with a mameluke inspiration. Umayyad
Mosque: the Qayt Bay minaret Around 2 pm, we
decide to resume our visit of the old town but before we have to eat
something, a kebab will be perfect (SP 25) in a typical restaurant. After
this little break we go to the Rouqayaa mosque, which was entirely rebuilt in
1993 with Iranian funds. The tomb of a grand daughter of Prophet Mohammed is
located inside. There are a lot of Iranians doing the pilgrimage to see it.
This mosque is very different from the Umayyad mosque, here everything is
brighter, there are mirrors everywhere and a wonderful air conditioning
system !!! After these
first steps in the old town, we come back to the hotel by following the
Barada river, which circles a side of the old town. It allows us to discover
other aspects of the souk and other categories of merchants. Near the hotel
we decide to go directly to Alitalia office to know where the backpacks of
Narcisse and Lydiane are, but the office is closed and we should come back
tomorrow. Then, we go
to the hotel where I take my bag left in the bedroom of Bertrand and
Jacqueline. I read parts of the tips books written by my predecessors. There
are a lot of useful information on Damascus but also on other places in
Syria. I take some notes for the next days in the country. I am looking
now for a cyber cafι to be connected to the internet and give some news to
the family in France. There is such a place just next to the hotel (100
meters), the tenants are very nice with travelers, they show us how to bypass
the ban of some sites like hotmail, yahoo
The way to do it is simple by using
another site that preserves the anonymity of the connection
(www.silentsurf.com). 1h on internet = SP 100 end of July 2001 but prices are
cheaper with time. A long break
will precede the dinner because after the 2 other French we are very tired by
36 hours without sleeping. Bertrand and Jacqueline wake us up to go to eat
something. We chose one of the addresses in our French Guide books (Guide du
Routard and Neos) for the quality of the meals and their cheap prices. So we
are going to the Al Rabi located in a small street near Merjeh place. We ask
the waiter for typical food and of course his help was welcomed for our first
oriental meal. We taste a lot of appetizers (Mezzehs), some local meals with
chicken, rice or beans (ohra), a glass of water and of course a lot of water.
To pay the bill, I had to change some USD in a shop near the restaurant, the
change rate was acceptable and nearly the same as the official one (49,5
instead of SP 49,7 for a USD at the bank). At 11 pm, we
are heading for the former man railway station, Hedjaz, with a locomotive in
front of the entrance. On the platforms, there are three passenger cars of
the famous Orient Express train that have been transformed into a bar. We
drink a Syrian beer but we wait for tomorrow to smoke our first narguileh. We are back
at the hotel at 1 am, the city seems to never sleep but we have to after a
tough first day in Syria. |
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D10 :
Aleppo San Simeon Aleppo D11 :
Aleppo Qalaat Al Saadin Tartous (1)
(2) D12 :
Tartous Krak des chevaliers Beirut (1) (2) D15 :
Damascus Maaloula Damascus D17 :
Damascus Bosra Damascus D18 :
Damascus Amman Dead Sea Amman |
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Last update : January 2002
Contact : pindavid@hotmail.com