The desert and Damascus

The afternoon before I left Hama, I wandered by the river. Boys were jumping from a low bridge and from the norias into the murky waters. A boy told me that that's what they do during the summer. Because it's so hot. I noted that he was still dry, and he said he didn't swim. In the small park by the clock tower, a small handicraft fair was in progress. I squeezed in through the entrance and wandered the stalls. One man making desert scenes out of sand poured into bottles commanded a small audience. Families picnicked on the lawn just beyond. One walkway sold flowers. In a stone oven, people made the large flat bread I had seen children carrying around in most of the towns. An old woman rolled out the dough, another woman stuck them to the inside of the oven with a pillow, then pulled them out when they were done. A man sold them hot out of the oven. The entire process took minutes. I ordered one and soon had a hot loaf cooling on my fingers. It was delicious.

Leaving Hama was difficult. I had grown attached to the relaxing town, but the road called and soon I was off to Homs. The road to Palmyra proved difficult, however. Twenty kilometers outside of Homs one of the left rear tires blew out. I had thought a box of tools had fallen in one of the luggage compartments. The bus driver continued driving until a halumpf halumpf halumpf sound came from the rear. He stopped and looked at the tire, then drove off to the next service station. It seemed to prove the last one until Palmyra.

With the tire fixed we were off into the desert. Ninety-six kilometers from Palmyra the spare tire blew. The driver drove more carefully until it too started halumpfing. The driver and conductor got out and cut away the rubber from the tire, and we slowly limped along to the desert city.

Palymra proved immense. After checking into my hotel and eating a falafel, I walked out into the mid-day sun, thinking there would be fewer tourists then. I was right, but with good reason. It was hot and dry and dusty. I wandered the ruins and then returned to the hotel to rest up until the evening.

Unfortunately, the town exhibits the negative effects of mass tourism. The only reason to head out into the desert is to see the ruins, and as a result, the locals seem to see everyone as a dollar sign. Drivers try to sell tours to the Arab Castle overlooking the ruins or to the funeral towers some kilometers distant. In the end, tired of everyone asking, I turned them all down. As the sun set I walked into the Temple of Bel and then back around to ruins to photograph them during the golden hour. As the sun sank behind the surroundings hills, I watched it from the center of the city, sitting on the platform supporting the tetrapylons.

I am now in Damascus, having taken the first bus out of Palmyra. Once we were underway, the conductor put on a film that seemed the Arabic Shaft although the hero seemed to be on the wrong side of the law. The conductor drew all the curtains for the duration of the film. Once the hero and his accomplice had been shot by the police in front of his girlfriend, the curtains were drawn aside to reveal the desert we had been driving through for the past two hours.

Once in the city, I took a taxi to my hotel. The receptionist asked my name and I asked hers in return. "Iman," she said. "Do you know what it means?" I told her no, and she said, "It means 'faith.' Nice, no?" I had to agree.

Driving into the new parts of the city, I was amazed at how it has stretched up into the mountains, as buildings rise up from the plains stacked one on top of another. The old city boasts an immense souk as you enter from the west side. The three story high covered arcade stretches from one end to the great Umayyid mosque. Inside the mosque, the walls are decorated with inlaid gold designs. The effect is strikingly beautiful. I spent the afternoon idly wandering around the streets of the city, ducking into mosques and palaces before stopping at the Albal Gallery cafe for an ice cream.

I'm spending three nights in this city. Tomorrow I'm making a day trip to Bosra to see the ruins of a Roman ampitheatre, and then the day after I plan to rest. Sit in cafes and enjoy a Turkish bath. And then, onto Amman. Posted by eku at May 9, 2004 10:15 AM