souks and more souks

April was a grueling month at work, but finally all the deadlines have been met.  So I was fortunate last week to have some dear friends visit from Toronto;  it was the perfect time for a break and an adventure.  They arrived last Saturday evening and and less than 12 hours later we were heading north to Syria.

Finally on the road to Damascus!

http://www.doubletongued.org/index.php/dictionary/road_to_damascus_experience/

I cannot claim that I had a revelatory moment or a personal conversion like the apostle Paul on the trip north.   We travelled through Jordan's gritty, dusty industrial heartland of Zarqa, then skirted the edge of the arid Eastern desert - a landscape dotted with black basalt boulders, makeshift bedouin shelters, itinerant farm labourers, camels and goats.  As we approached Damascus on the Syrian side of the border, to the west we saw snow-capped Mount Hermon, wreathed in haze, and a line of distant blue hills contrasting against the dusty yellow landscape.  A lot of information to take in.

But, I can report that Damascus itself was a revelation.  Breathtaking, fascinating, and incredibly warm - both the people and the temperature.  Our local, Damascene cab driver became hopelessly lost after about 3 minutes crossing into the old city through 'Bab Touma' - one of the city's ancient gates.   We realized quickly that the intricate network of alleyways (that predate the automobile by about 3 millenia) would be an adventure in themselves to explore.  No need to plan much more than walking for days in Damascus.

And walk we did. Through the vine-covered streets of the Christian quarter, through the textile souk (where we were nearly lost for days in a complex warren of covered alleys that went for kilometers) and the medieval Bzourriya spice souk and the awe-inspiring 19th century Hamidiyya souk.  And the awning fabric market and the vegetable market and the handicrafts market.  We even went to a bicycle souk out of the old city - really just a turn-of-the-century french-inflected shopping street known as the souk al bicycletiyya lined with bike shops selling imported chinese and indian bikes and locally-made carpeted seat covers and hand-woven paniers.

We walked through the crowded, narrow streets behind the 7th century Ummayad mosque, where Shi'a pilgrims from Iran mixed with visitors from the Gulf and local merchants.  While feeling ancient, the city is also an incredibly vibrant hub of 4 million inhabitants, all of them seemingly trading goods.  How can you not want to buy something in such conditions?  I picked up a couple of beautiful syrian silk scarves and a tribal carpet (jajim) from northern Iran.  I am sure I didn't get a good price on anything.  But I do now know 100% more about traditional weaving than I did before I went. (Which is to say I went from knowing virtually nothing to now having extremely scant knowledge).

It is also true what the guidebooks say: that there is a distinct contrast in the city between the teeming, busy, loud, fascinating public streets and squares and the private sphere.  Off the narrow streets, behind high walls, are quiet, shaded courtyard gardens with orange trees, mosaics, fountains.  We stayed in a lovely hotel that was a converted palace and we took the opportunity to wander through a few more, including the impressive Maktab Anbar.



Now I want to go back, of course.  And to Aleppo in the North - an even older souk inside a walled old city.  And next time,  I will take better shoes.