Lara Dunston from the Damascus Travel Guide, Lonely Planet World Guide writes. A Top Day In Damascus:
Follow Lara’s footsteps on a typical Damascene day…

The Syrian Arab Republic and our fragile Planet.
Inspiring Achievements
Further readings and publications can be obtained from....

Travel in Syria
In the United Kingdom they have described the country of Syria has wonderful attractions to offer travellers in search of history and fun. The country’s historical past is filled with many invasions and struggles. However, due to this there is an amazing diversity of civilizations that have made Syria exceptionally interesting to travellers. The country is known for its preservation of antiquity, showcased in the many buildings and relics found throughout the country. In addition, the religious affiliations of the natives have brought equally interesting culture to the area. However, as rich as the culture of Syria is, there are endless fun possibilities to find here. The warm climate makes it ideal for water sports, which can be found in many areas of the country. There are also many wonderful festivals held throughout the year that offer an interesting insight into the creativity and customs of the locals.

Source; http://www.puretravel.com/Guide/Asia/Western_Asia/syria

A family holiday to Syria? You cannot be serious
A backpacking trip around Syria with young children may seem daunting but Esther Selsdon and family found a warm welcome in this ancient land. In a stone-vaulted souk in the shadow of the ancient citadel of Aleppo, five-year-old Edie was haggling for a bright red dress. Vigorously, she mimed the words: 'That's obviously a ridiculous price.' The trader smiled and agreed. 'You are', he said, 'welcome in my country.'

Our decision to take a family holiday in a country which is part of George Bush's supposed Axis of Evil had been prompted by a number of neatly colliding interests. We'd read about the ancient ruins of the cradle of western civilization and birthplace of the Old Testament and we were keen to practice our painfully-acquired evening class Arabic on some real, live locals. But what Fergus, seven, and Edie really wanted was a journey on a 'sleepy train'.

While browsing a trainspotters' website one evening, I came across the Toros Express, a weekly rail service from Istanbul to Syria (and formerly the eastern extension of the Orient Express which ran all the way to Baghdad). The 'sleepy train' located, there was no holding us back.

The Toros Express runs every Thursday morning from Haydarpasa station in Istanbul to Aleppo, northern Syria's capital. We bought cheap air tickets to the Turkish capital and thought we'd work out the rest of our two-and-a-half week journey when we got there but, almost immediately, our plans hit a snag. There had been two train crashes in Turkey in the previous few weeks and now the very existence of the Toros Express, let alone its departure station, remained enigmatic. No one could tell us where to board the train.

An optimistic railway employee eventually sent us on a four-hour bus ride to a small town called Eskisehir. There were two stations in this rather grim town, and no one spoke English; but, at last, a taxi driver sped us to a bare concrete platform in the middle of a field and, miraculously, there we saw five clapped-out carriages coupled to a geriatric red engine. Two men sat in shorts, drinking tea.

'Toros Express?' we inquired. ‘Guichet?' Forget tickets, these railwaymen were simply amazed to see potential passengers. They ushered us towards the back of the train where a smiling man beckoned us on. This was Mr Ali, our Syrian guard, and, for the next 31 hours, we were to be not merely the most honoured but the sole occupants of his travelling Syrian hotel while Turkish marble was loaded on and off the rest of the train at various obscure locations.

At every conceivable consumption opportunity, Mr Ali and his large, string-vested assistant brought us salted cheese, olives, pitta bread and watermelon.

The kids ran up and down the deserted corridor, climbing over the wood-panelled couchettes and acting like imperial progeny. As the train crossed from the north-western tip of Turkey to the far south-east through a barren and fearsomely hot landscape, Mr Ali's vegetable bounty knew no bounds. This proved to be merely our first experience of Syrian hospitality which constantly stretched the rules of generosity to embarrassing levels.

On arrival at Aleppo, only seven hours late, we explained to a devastated Mr Ali that we would not be spending the weekend as his house guests. We wanted to visit the citadel of the oldest continuously inhabited city on the planet and he took the news bravely.

The 10th-century citadel's entrance bridge leads over a precipitous moat and, as we crossed into the fortified interior, we wondered who could ever have wanted to storm a city with an average summer temperature of 40C? Constructed mainly by the son of the legendary 12th-century Sunni leader, Saladin, the views of the rooftops, souks, hovels and hills of Aleppo from the top of the citadel were blindingly bright. An ugly concrete stage had been clumsily constructed for civic events in the middle of the ruins and a group of Syrian schoolchildren watched as our two pranced around pretending to be pop stars on the spot where Abraham, allegedly, milked his cow - Aleppo deriving from the Arabic for milk.

In the 13th-century souk below, we tried to buy bread from a stall but the baker would not take our money. 'Take my bread,' he said. 'You are welcome in my country.' A few shops along, we attempted to pay for pistachio halva but were again thwarted. We were very welcome in this country.

Back in the city centre at the Hotel Kamal (£4 a night), the other guests were all engineering students and had never met an English-speaking child. They sat in their underpants, watching a Steve Martin film on satellite TV. They asked us about Tony Blair but really wanted to know whether Celine Dion would release a new record this year. Someone ran out to buy our kids some Mecca Cola - a treat which almost made up for the ubiquitous squat toilets.

We crossed town to visit the Dream Park - Aleppo's first bowling alley and indoor playground, built three years ago. 'Everyone gets along here,' said the manager, who was half-Christian, half-Muslim. 'You can't tell anything from what they're wearing.' Ladies in jellabas smoked nargile water-pipes alongside women in revealing, glittery tops and mini-skirts and, at this extraordinarily eclectic mothers' meeting, everyone helped everyone else's children climb onto the Mr Men rides. We were the only non-Syrians but, aside from a minor sharing incident in the ball pool, there was global peace at Dream Park.

Three hours, three buses, £3, and half a desert away, we arrived at Palmyra - the ruined city of the legendary Queen Zenobia, the Middle East's answer to Boudicca. Here, too, the hotel owners were intrigued to meet real English-speaking children. We all watched a disco dancing competition on TV. 'Twenty years ago,' said the hotel owner's son, 'potential brides used to ask how many cattle you had. Now they only ask if you have satellite TV.' We climbed the citadel and watched the sun set over the bleakest of deserts. When the Romans conquered Palmyra in AD271, they didn't leave much standing but the Palmyran tomb towers still pierced the darkness and Disney couldn't have drawn a more elegant silhouette.

It's so hot outside that the guardian of these tombs only opens them up between 8.30 and 9.00 each morning. Just after dawn, Fergus and Edie scrambled around the patrician tomb towers before diving underground to the middle-class graves. The kids thought that the Temple of Bel (AD32) was even better than Dream Park until they collapsed in a heap, sweating. The one official guide told us that he and his parents had lived in the temple until the French had 'relocated' them in the 1930s. He now makes his living from showing French tourists around the ruins.

Syria's other main tourist attraction, the Krak des Chevaliers, is two hours away. The best preserved crusader castle in the world sits atop a hill and TE Lawrence visited 49 times, inspired by its imposing presence, the magic of the location and, no doubt, its gorgeous and noble inhabitants. Here, the Hospitallers, Christianity's crack brigade, held off Saladin during the Second Crusade in 1188. We climbed in through a breach in the walls and wandered around the stables, a Gothic church and a network of cellars capable of storing five years' worth of food. There were no foreigners, no guides and no lights, and the kids ran squealing along dark corridors, delighted at the chance to play Famous Five.

Outside, we found the nearest cafe and asked the owner if he could recommend a hotel. 'Don't waste your money,' he said simply, 'come to my house. You are welcome in my country.' Without stopping to ask our names, he drove us to a small cement house a few minutes away. A woman in a pink nightie appeared and led us inside. Seconds later, she brought a metal tray laden with bowls of rice and a mysterious yoghurty mixture. It would have been rude not to tuck in.

For the next four hours, we talked, in broken Arabic, about children, Syria and Iraq. 'Syrians and English have always been friends,' said Abdul Rahman and his wife, Sanaa. 'Why does Tony Blair do this? Why is he Baby Bush?' We couldn't reply. Our kids tried to present their kids with a Beano comic but the children wouldn't accept. 'Welcome in our country,' they explained.

As on all regular family holidays, we finished with a dip in the Med. At the Blue Beach outside Lattakia, Syria's leading beach resort, we rented a bike for four people, ate water melon and swam at a pristine beach that cost £3 to visit. Here, secularity is aggressively enforced and a large, red sign informs all sunbathers that anyone who attempts to cover up will have their clothes forcibly removed so as not to embarrass other less modestly dressed guests. A team of security guards stands at either end of the beach ready to whip the clothes off anyone who dares to cover up and we watched as a man whose shoulders had gone rather too red for comfort attempted to put a T-shirt on only to have it zealously removed by the clothes police. Next door, at the free beach, however, women in head-to-toe jellaahs ran into the water fully clothed. They weren't so much swimming as standing in the sea, absorbing water.

Back in our hotel in central Lattakia, Fergus watched the semi-final of the Asia Cup with the residents of our hotel. Disappointingly for the Syrians, Japan beat Bahrain and we commiserated with our new friends. 'Better luck next time. Inshallah,' they said, refilling our plastic beakers with non-alcoholic refreshments. 'You are welcome in our country.'
Source; Selsdon 2004: Syria A family holiday to Syria? You cannot be serious. Retrieved January 31, 2008 from www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2004/sep/19/syria.familyholidays.family?page=all

A Top Day in Damascus
Days start late in Damascus because nights are inevitably long. Mid-morning I'll take a leisurely walk through the labyrinthine alleys of the Old City. I'll drop into beautiful Dahdah Palace or Beit Nizam to take in their breathtaking interiors, before strolling the tranquil courtyards of exquisite Azem Palace, a former Pasha's residence. Around the corner, at Souq al-Bzouriah, I'll inhale the pungent aromas of spices and buy some olive soap and a loofah for the hammam. I'll make my way through bustling Al Hamadiyah Souq to the new town, where I'll wander down Handicrafts Lane, calling into the madrassa to watch the artisans at work.

Next stop is the impressive National Museum for its rich collections of archaeological finds and a stroll around the leafy ancient sculpture garden, a respite on a sweltering summer's day. I'll have a light lunch at Downtown Café on Sharia Al-Amer iz Eddin (which does the best fresh juices in Damascus) before kicking about the nearby streets to admire the architecture - pretty French-style buildings with wrought-iron balconies and elegant Art Deco apartment blocks (many undergoing restoration). If Atassi Gallery has installed a new exhibition, I'll head there for a look, otherwise, late afternoon is when I love to spend time in the courtyard of Umayyad Mosque - the fairy-tale mosaics are best appreciated in the golden light.

Next, I'll wander along Al-Qaimariyeh lane, dropping into Al Nafoorah cafe for a coffee and dramatic performance by Abu Shadi, the last of the Hakawati (storytellers), and the tiny atelier of Palestinian artist Mahmoud Shahin, to listen to him philosophise and watch him paint. Al-Qaimariyeh is at its liveliest in the early evening, when Damascus' youth are out browsing the tiny shops for CDs, t-shirts and jewellery. If I've walked the length and breadth of the city, then a sauna at Hammam Bakri is in order. For dinner we'll head to Al Dar for delicious Syrian food and live jazz, followed by a drinks at Ninar Art Café or Marmar pub for a DJ or live band.

Source; Dunston, A Top Day in Damascus. Retrieved January 31, 2008 from http://www.lonelyplanet.com/worldguide/syria/damascus

The Heart of The Arab People
Syria was an Arab kingdoms long before the Arabs achieved glory with the coming of Islam, and has long been the home of Arab nationalism. Before becoming, under the Umayyad, the capital of the Muslim world Damascus had for fifteen centuries spoken and written a language which had the direct ancestor of Modern Arabic. Today Damascus prides herself, together with Aleppo, on being the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world ….

Such roots give the country stability. Moreover they lend her two important qualities: a certain wisdom in the face of current events - no matter how dramatic, cand a tolerance of minorities and of differing creed. Many Christians of various denominations, full citizens of Syria, can bear witness to the latter.

The visitor from abroad, struck by the wholly Arab context of Syrian life, baffled by its novelty, perhaps at first, is soon entranced both by the evident signs of a rich and deeply rooted culture and by the hospitality, kindliness and friendliness of a people both masters in their own house and masters of them selves as well.

Syria, so much a unity linguistically, historically and politically, is a country of great natural diversity.
This contrast between cultural unity and varied landscape is ideal for tourism. The visitor to Syria can follow an unbroken thread on the human level, in the arts and in folk-lore, while at the same time enjoying a constant change of scene which makes even the longest journey interesting.

Source: Hureau, J 1977, SYRIA TODAY p. 13 editions j.a Paris

The Worlds Oldest City
Damascus has launched empires and defeated invaders. Through out history it has played a more important role in the region than any other city including Jerusalem and Bagdad. In the 1920’s it was the cradle of Arab nationalism. Not only were the best of the Arabic thinkers, writers and journalists located in Damascus; so were the parties and the movements that would later form the heart of the struggle against the colonial powers France and Britain.

And, of course Damascus has long been one of the holy of holies for Islam. But even before Islam, Saul of Tarsus was riding to Damascus - sent by the Jewish rabbis to harras the Christians - when, outside the city, he was blinded by a vision of God, taken to another convert, Ananias, and told: ‘Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight…’ (Acts 9:11). Thus Saul became Paul the Apostle of Christ, and was baptised in the Barada River. Straight Street is to this day a main thoroughfare of the Old City Damascus. Taking the ‘road to Damascus’ has become synonymous with conversion ever since. As for Paul, his conversion so enraged the city authorities that he had to flee, and the Bible records that ‘through a window in the basket was I let down by the wall [of the city], and escaped’ (2 Corinthians 11:33). In the Christian quarter o Damascus today, Saint Paul’s Chapel marks the position where Paul escaped over the city walls.

Modern Damascus is overwhelmingly a reflection of the Arab and Islamic Empires that have dominated The Middle East since the time of the Prophet Muhammad in the 600s. While you can see significant traces of Roams and Byzantine architecture, this is a pre-eminently Muslim and Arab city. Damascus was the first big city to be taken by the Muslim forces that swept North out of Saudi Arabian desert after Muhammad’s death. It quickly became the capital of the Umayyad Islamic empire that spread from India to Spain via North Africa….
We were desperate to see the Umayyad Mosque. Everyone we had spoken to said that, along with Petra in Jordon and the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, this was a must see. Like many other Arabic metropolises, Damascus is divided into a modern and an ancient Islamic Old City. The Old City…

Source: Manning, P 2006 US AND THEM p134 - 135. Random House, Australia

The Syrian Arab Republic and our fragile Planet
The nature of environmental awareness has become heavily defined upon the implementation of the educational forums and programs which have been set in motion under the patronage of President of the Syrian Arab Republic H.E. Dr. Bashar al –Assad. This intellectual current has unyieldingly staged the active and collective participation at a municipal level and more so, has staged integration and collaboration amid recognized Syrian Ministries and established environmental interest groups like the Damascus Friends Association, ASCAD and the International Organizations such as the United Nations. Unanimously, this positive approach has enhanced dialogue and in turn accelerated preventative measures in impeding the already prone environmental transformations in the Middle Eastern region, to name a few;

• waste pollution
• Deforestation
• Increasing soil salination and degradation and its direct negative effect to vegetation and
• Qualitative and quantitative measures in water management
• The control of Carbon emissions.

The following inspiring achievements provide feedback with regard to the environmental awareness approach in the Syrian Arab Republic.

• Government funded programmes at Syrian schools intending to educate school children to enhance environmental awareness titled ‘Environmental lessons for children to be expanded’.
  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/syrianprideclub/message/20629
• Implementation of environmental projects at the Community Level; A report titled ‘First Five SGP Projects in Syria in 2006’. http://sgp.undp.org/index.cfm?module=ActiveWeb&page=WebPage&DocumentID=731
• Text retrieved from The United Nations Environmental Programme UNEP held on the World Environmental Day.
  
  Homs
  “ The Syrian Red Crescent Organization Homs Branch invited photographers from around the world, amateur or professional, to participate in its 2005 World Environment Day Photo Gallery, which was exhibited in the Museum of Azzehrawi Palace on 5-9 June”.
  Text retrieved from a report titled; INSPIRING EXAMPLES by the United Nations Environment Program;
  http://www.unep.org/wed/2008/english/Information_Material/WestAsia.asp
• The Syrian News Agency publishes the following statement with the regard to the increasing environmental awareness in Syria titled; “The Seminar on ’Role of Environmental Media in Fighting Pollution Dangers' stressed responsibility of mass media in raising environmental awareness, calling for specialized information programs in this regard”.
  http://www.sana.sy/eng/29/2008/01/29/158607.htm
• Ministry of Environment in Syria enhances environmental awareness via media titled ; "The Technology of Composting Agricultural Waste for Reuse in the Agricultural Sector" and further the report can be read below;

SYRIA
Local newspapers and magazines covered WED celebrations and published a number of environmental articles to raise public awareness on the significance of the occasion. In addition, the Ministry of Environment Affairs published a special WED issue of "Life & Environment".

The local radio show "The Family" broadcast a special on the environment. Guests on the show included the Director of Religious Guideness of the Ministry of Religious Endowments and the Director of Environmental Education, Awareness and Publicity of the Ministry of Environment Affairs.

The local and satellite TV channels aired a number of special shows on this occasion, including an interview with the Minister of Environment on 5 June on the Syrian Satellite Channel.

The weekly show "Good Morning" aired a special on environmental problems in Syria and the role citizens can play to minimize those problems.

Two symposiums organized by the Ministry of Environment Affairs was aired on both the satellite channel and local channels. The symposiums focused on desertification, biological diversity and Syriaís national environmental strategy.

A number of environmental documentaries were shown on local and satellite channels in both English and Arabic, including an environmental awareness show which aired throughout the first week of June.

The Ministry of Environment Affairs also organized a symposium on "The Technology of Composting Agricultural Waste for Reuse in the Agricultural Sector" in association with AOAD. The Ministry also organized, in collaboration with the Agricultural Engineers Union, a seminar under this year's WED theme "Just Save It".

• Finally more information can be retrieved from The Arab Center for the studies of Arid Zones and Dry lands [ASCAD]. Via the following link; http://www.acsad.org/aboutACSAD.htm.

All in all, this demonstrates the joint environmental friendly approach undertaken in Syria and its Arab neighbours and more so alongside the International Community.

R. Darwich.
BSc [Biological]
Sydney, Australia.