Day Out in Damascus - Part 1

Last weekend I was feeling bored sitting in my room. Just thought for a couple of hours and decided to hit the road. Normally I used to plan my visits but this time I just decided to have a day out. I have called my Cab Guy Mr. Osama (Dont Worry...He has no resemblance to his notorious name sake neither any relation) and asked him to take me somewhere. He suggested that we should go to two nearby places around 50 kms from Damascus called Sadnaya and Malula. He said that they are important christian piligrims and every westerner who comes to Syria normally rushes to this place. I sat in the cab wondering what to expect but have confidently ushered Mr. Osama...Yella...(Lets go).

Out joureny via the highway of Damscus took about 30 minutes or so to reach Sadnaya. The climate was pleasantly warm and I have enjoyed the drive all the way. Mr. Osama stopped his vehicle (A big black Hyundai truck) opposite to a church located a top of a hill overlooking the city of Sadnaya. I thought by the location of it to be a fort but later on came to know that it is a church. . He said that this is the biggest and supposed to be a oldest church in that area.. I left him outside and walked my way up to the arched stairs arranged in a criss cross fashion. I have found a couple of potraits of Jesus and other biblical episodes inside. I was almost lost as the place was very hapazard having small lanes and by lanes, stairs leading to every direction. I started following a local lady who climbed the stairs ahead of me. Finally I have reached a small chamber with a curious notice saying " Leave your foot wear outside because you are going to enter holly earth"... I understood that they meant it is a holy place. Probably literal translation did the mistake. I removed my shoes and went inside to the chamber. There was a small Passage which led me to a inner chamber which is very dark. I could see some people praying near an idol and some altar with lot of wax candles. All the wall is covered with lot of small articles may be donations by worshippers. There was a nun dressed in black who was overlooking the whole place. I just stood there for some time and then came out. I did not know the real significance of the place and Mr. Osama was also not really aware of the importance. I could not ask any person too as I could not find any one speaking English there. The place looked important and by the sheer size of people who were coming in for praying understood that it should be of some importance. Took some photographs hesitatingly and started to move on.

Our next stop was a place called "Malula". Mr. Osama stopped his vehicle just near the foot of a hill. Actually it is the begining of a small passage between two hills. A marked sign said " WELCOME TO MALULA". Mr,. Osama suggested that I should walk myself in this passage and take pictures if felt like. he would meet on the other side of the passage near a bridge. I walked down the passage. it was a small irregular curvy passage of about 10 to 12 feet between the two hills. I took a couple of snaps. Neither the hills nor the passage was very impressive. I noticed a small flow of water passing along the passage. However, i could see a lot of tourists on the way mostly in groups. I just walked my way in the passage which took about 10 minutes or so. I was glad that I could locate Mr.Osama on the bridge waiting for me. I went up and sat. Mr. Osama explained that this passage was created by GOD himself to give WAY to Mariam (Mother of Jesus). To escape the Romans threats she flee from Rome and have come this way. She was Pregnant at that time and could not take the burden of climibing the hill so GOD made her a way. Impressed with the story I started looking around taking a second curious look at the passage. A few minutes drive led us to another church called " CONVENT Sts. SERGE et BACCIIUS"

.............Contd... in part II

Yellam Kat schuyam....Lets go chewing kat.....Yemeni Style

I had a chance to meet a guy from Yemen who has started travelling along with me in the company provided bus. After a few pleasant introductions and a few glances in the work place I started conversing with him. Luckily, the guy speaks fairly good english,,,,,Excellent in comparison to his arab counterparts I should say.

My friend and I were waiting for the bus to come and started a friendly conversation with our new yemeni acquantince. We were asking the guy about some interesting things in Yemen. He said and I quote " The most favourite time pass of most people in Yemen is 'KAT CHEWING". We wondered if we got it right at the first time and asked him again. He said that it is kat chewing which is their favourite time pass. For a moment we looked at him puzzled and our new friend also looked puzzled amazed at the thought that these guys from India do not know anything about KAT CHEWING. Which part of the world these people come from ??

Later on, he has given a brief description about it. The "Kat" is some sort of a herb leaf of sort..more similar to our "paan". It is chewed like a bubble gum for about 3 to 4 hours. This kat chewing is done in an organised way and they have specialised cafes like thing for this kat chewing. They have some socially organised functions for this kat chewing. There are numerous varities and flavours of kat. I wondered if all this is true and just googled with the key word " Chewing in Yeman" and vola... found loads of information about this custom. There are online debates, private and public sponsored researches which are going on about his.

I thought if at all I happen to visit Yemen by any chance I should make it a point to drop at one of these kat chewing cafes. Do watch out for them in case you are in Yemen anytime.

Extracts from an Appeal "FOR SYRIA'

A couple of days before while I was shopping for Vegetables in a local market in Mezzeh,Damascus my eyes got the attention of a small typed paper which was struck on a wall in the market titled " FOR SYRIA". The only reason why I bothered to read it was because it was both in Arabic and English. After reading the first few lines, I could not resist myself from not reading the complete thing and even showing it to my friend.

I got very impressed by it a lot, more because it was written by a 11 year old named Lisa Yazjy. I am not sure, but assuming that the name is of a girl. Lisa Questions the reader and I quote " Do you like Syria to be clean and green ? ' . Do you want people from far off places to come and enjoy its nature ? and then asserts ....If No, please get out of Syria. If yes...then please do not throw papers and keep the city clean." It further talks about a few other dos and donts on public place regarding waste papers etc.

I wondered how thoughtful the young kid would have been who took the pain of writing such a wonderful thing and sticking it in places for public like me to read. I admired that young girl who had the guts to keep her thoughts into practice in a proactive way rather than cribbing. I personally was always against throwing garbage or papers on the road but never did much about it other than gentle reminder to my close pals once in a while Never, it had occured to me to make an appeal like this and post it.....May be I would have influenced a lot many people...who knows.

Lets forget the if's and buts of the story for the moment. I take this opportunity to carry out the appeal started by young Lisa and request you all not to throw papers or garbage on the streets....They are to be put in their right place....the dustbins....as Lisa says it.....

TRAVEL IN DAMASCUS

Yellow Coloured Taxis are one of the prominent features of the Damascus Roads which no traveller or visitor cant miss noticing. There are too many of them passing by, no matter which ever road you are in and at what ever time. So far, it is close to 3 weeks now in the city and I have always managed to catch one even at about 12 or 1 in the night. Travelling in one of these cabs is quite safe as I did not face any problems till now. However, One has to take care that he knows the exact address of the place he intends to go or better get it written down in a slip in Arabic so that it is easy to communicate.

There are electronic meters in every taxi but rarely one uses them. Most of the time we have to bargain. I have now made a thumb rule that whenever I go in a taxi normally I would bargain for about 60 to 70% of the price he has asked for. I always managed to make him accept that. Still somehow I feel I am paying more but we cannot avoid certain things when you are new My knowledge of arabic numbers both written and spoken are being of great help to me. I am now managing quite well with the taxi guys even strike a conversation with some of them with very few arabic words I know. They are all very good and try their best to help in case you are looking for a specific place.

The other most and more economical way of travelling in Damascus is in the 5 rupee cabs. I have not yet explored these cab services completely but have managed to spot too many of them going everywhere. They are white vans plying fron one area to another. You can just hail for one and can get into it and go along. We have to pay only 5 lira. The problem is you should be well aware of the place where you want to go. Normally the co-passengers are very helpful and would normally direct you to the correct direction provided you can make them understand in Arabic or if they understand English, which is normally quite rare. I have not yet ventured much in these cabs right now. I was also made to underatand that there are various coloured onee like red, green yellow etc which ply in specific areas. I would venture out on these very soon if not anything I can get down at the place where I got in as they normally go in circling the whole town.

Somehow, there arent many public transport vehicles like buses. I wonder why ? I could see lot of bus shelters on all the main streets "with two chairs".... But havent any bus stoping there. May be they are scare or have specific times. Have to find out !!!!

IN SEARCH OF ACCOMODATION

Today, I have started looking for a good Accomodation for myself. I am presently staying in a suburb locality of Damascus called Dummar. The locality is quite good and posh but is quite far from the office. I wanted to cut down on the travel time. I presently go in a cab to another area called Mezzeh to catch up the office bus. I have ventured out today in search of an accomodation in Mezzeh.

I have found out a real estate agent yesterday and have taken his appointment for today. I have luckily managed to convey my need for an apartment with whatever little arabic I know and with some broken english words and signs. The agent has taken me to a couple of places. I havent liked one but two others were quite good enough but little out of my budget.

Not knowing the local language was a very big handicap for me. Luckily a couple who were showing me their place today managed to get some girl on phone who could speak English, quite well I should say. Through her I have managed to understand the terms and conditions. I like the house though as the decor and the condition is good saving one problem that it is in the third floor and has no lift. May be it is a good way to exercise. If at all I decide to take it. I realised that it would be better if I can take up my local friend who would know Arabic to speak about all other matters before really making any decision. I dont know if I could bargain to reduce the rent a little. Today it struck that if only I could know a little bit Arabic it would have been much better. I have seen the real estate agents and his colleagues speaking among themselves in Arabic. I do not really know what were they speaking among themselves. Something about me...Not sure.

However, the overall experience was very good to me as both the house owners and the real estate agents were really nice and very helpful to me. They were trying their best to make me understand about their house, facilities offered, rent, terms and conditions etc. I have also tried my best to exchange a few curtosies like Marhaba (Hello) and Shukran (Thank You) and Ma Salame ( Take Care). I realised that the few broken words of Arabic which I spoke made them really close and happy. I have resolved that I should learn a little bit more of the local language fast.

IN SEARCH OF ICE

On the Morning of the First Day of New Year 2007, Me and my friend RK got up lazily at about 8.15 AM or so. We decided to go to place called "BLUDAN'. My friend had gathered from a localite that it is a very beautiful mountain place with ICE. Honestly, I was skeptical about the whole thing but have decided to give it a try as I could not think of anything better at that moment. I called up my Cab Guy, Osama (No link whatsoever to his namesake the infamous guy) to arrange a cab for both of us to go there. After a little bargain, he has agreed for a price of Rs. 1000 SP for a round trip.

We sat in a Bus Shelter, opposite to my friends hotel waiting for the cab. The bus shelters are a kind of cute but funnily there are just two chairs in every one of them. Only two people normally wait for a bus in Damascus ? No Clue. We spent the time chatting and taking some pictures of us. The time was 9.45 AM and my cab has arrived. With a Lot of anticipation we have started our Journey. The journey was quite good but not that much of traffic. There was fog everywhere. We wondered what to expect. It took about 45 minutes ride for us to have first glimpses of ice on the pavements and on tree tops. After that the terrain changed dramatically and we have started looking at snow covered mountains. Another 10 minutes of ride landed us admist snow....You dont believe it was complete snow. Luckily the weather was bright and sunny. Our warm clothes were sufficient and we have enjoyed little walks on snow here and there. we had the chance to click some good snaps of us.

No words could explain the simple beauty of this place. It was amazing and I was pleasantly surprised. I wasnt prepared for the sight. Mountains covered with thick layers of snow. We had enjoyed an hour admist ice covered roads and cliffs. I thought, its an irony of life that, there might be many such small mountains on the foot hills of Himalayas,Not to forget the Great Peaks themselves, but while I was in India, never had time or opportunity to visit them. However in this strange land, I had all the time, thanks to unexpected new year holidays of about an week.

An hour was not enoguh is what we both friends echoed to each other. We have deicded that we should plan a longer visit in this place may be a night halt to enjoy the place. I always feel time is not enough at all when you are admist such a beautiful place.