Syria

This is the phrase that I heard over and over again on almost any streets in every town in Syria. 'Welcome' is also the answer to most questions especially when my knowledge in arabic language is only 'shew shew' (very little).

To most westerners, Syria is not always high up on their travel destination list. However, to those considering coming to the middle east, Syria is not only a hidden gem with ancient ruins that rivals those in Athens and Rome, but also people that is tremendously friendly and ready to led a helping hand to anyone. A single woman backpacking through middle east may seem daunting to most people, but in Syria, it is almost certain that when one need help, it is literally everywhere.

I took a shared taxi to cross the border from Amman to the outskirt of Damascus, a city that claimed to have the longest inhabited city in the world. Like any other cities, tourists are target of overcharging. My taxi driver drove his car into the narrowest alley inside the famous 'Old City' only to find my hostel closed. He then took me to Al Haramine, another budget hotel on a street under construction with a 2-feet sidewalk and 3m dirt hole in the middle. It takes skill to carefully balanced myself with my heavy backpack to get into this otherwise lovely hotel. The high pressure hot water showers are the best I have taken for the past two months.

The next day, a local friend of another friend of mine took me to Maloula and Sednaya, two Christian towns less than an hour away from Damascus. We visited a few churches including Monastry of Theka who escaped from her Roman father's disapprovement of her Christianity belief. Supposedly the story goes like this: the mountain opened up for her to bypass and the wheat fields at the exit grew miraculously fast to led her father's soldier believe that she had passed for months and stopped the chase. The siq for her escape now is the proof to Christians nowaday.

At night, I visited the huge Umayaad Mosque inside the old city and let myself soaked in the atmosphere of the famous souq Hamadeyi, a street with thousands of stores, in other word, the ancient solution of shopping mall.

We took a bus from Sweida and rented a car to drive to Bosra, a huge ancient city built with local black basalt stone, located more than an hour south of Damascus. The Roman theatre here is perhap one of the largest in the world and definitely very impressive due to its sheer size and dark color.

I took a bus from Damascus to Homs and visited the Kraz de Chevaliers, the most complete Crusader's castle in the world. Located on top of a mountain and around surrounding villages, it had almost 2000 soldiers and hundreds of horses in its glory time around 1200.

After a short stop, I jumped into a packed minibus for a freezing journey to Palymra, a city where queen Zenobia had made famous during the Roman period. Tower tombs, oasis and magnicent Roman architecture with eastern influence is not the only attraction. Most syrian bedouins also resides here in the eastern desert and provide great hospitality.

Another bus took me from Palmyra to Hama, a relaxing city with norias (waterwheels) and artist galleries inside the small old city alleys. A father with his baby chatted with me while I did my sketch of the waterwheels after sunset.

On route from Hama, I visited yet another ancient city called Apamea (Afamia) and Cities of Dead. Although I was honestly a bit 'ruined out' at this point, the history and architecture never failed to impress. My friendly taxi driver, Jihad, let me drive his taxi through the Bedouin villages. The stare from Bedouin women and children from the villages almost made me uneasy at times, I must represent all 'Asians' to them.

My last stop in Syria is Aleppo, the second largest city. The main attraction here is the citadel in the city center. With an impressive entrance and settings inside like a maze, locals and tourists climbed through walls to get the best views for the city. A group of boys followed me for a while before getting up the courage to ask for photos. I gladly accepted the opportunity. Another local merchant showed me an old insane asylum and soap factory in the old city before inviting me for tea. Just one of the many encounters and invitations from people in the country of the Silk Road, one with a modern soul formed by millions of anicent history.