Syria Report
9 day guided group tour in Syria, 18-27 May 2024.
Tour company: Golden Teams Syria, run by Fadi Assi.
goldenteamsy.comIn conjunction with
nomadmania.coma website and organisation for avid travellers, founded by Harry Mitsidis.
This trip through fascinating Syria was a 7-day adventure with a two-day add on to the Golan Heights and ancient Palmyra at the end .
The 'motly crew' of 12 foreign travellers included:
Enthusiastic Harry, Nomad mania founder and travel extraordenaire, exuberant Michael and his constantly laughing whife, Angie from Tennessee, smooth-talking Lee and deep-voiced Steve from New Jersey, intelligent Max from Austria, quiet Christof, Sweeden, young Matei from romania (living in Belgium), 'shaking-leg' Austin from Alabama, kind Pete and radio-man Palle from Denmark, bouncy Claire from Scotland/Canada, former police officer and quiet man Sean from England, and me, Tony the blind traveller and commedian!
We were expertly guided, informed, deliciously fed and, ocasionally, coaxed into enjoying Syria's many wunderous sights and places, by fantastic, knowledgeable ola and kind, caring and smiling Touleen, supported by the master of it all, Fadi Assi, our friendly smiling Syrian giant, who created all the magic!
Visas were organised in advanced, and all that was needed was a copy of the passport page and some basic info to be sent to Syrian officials: full name, age, occupation, email, place of birth, nationality, education, etc. Visa was paid at the Lebanon-Syrian border.
Request to enter Syria and acquire a visa with support from a local sponsor/tour company was submitted several weeks before entry. Fadi's company organised this and everything went smoothly. (At present, Syria can only be visited with a guide/sponsor).
The 7-day main trip cost USD $1080, with the 2 day-2 night add-on trips an extra USD$370.
The main trip included all transport in Syria, transfer from Beirut to Damascus return, all soft drimks, several bottles of water per day, accommodation in 3-4 * hotels, entry tickets to all sights and guides.
Extras: snacks during the day, souvenirs, tips for guides. Flights to Beirut, Lebanon were not included.
On the morning of 18th May, the group met at the Regis Hotel in central Beirut, boarded a large coach and the adventure began. I'd met Michael, Angie, Pete, Christov the night before: Palle I new from a previous encounter.
As the coach rumbled through Beirut's busy streets, people got to know one another. Some 2 or so hours later, the Lebanon-Syrian border was reached. Exiting Lebanon was easy enough, passports checked, exit stamps given, US Dollars changed to Syrian Pounds – lots and lots of Syrian Pounds!
(USD$1 = approximately 15,000 Cyrian Pounds: May 2024)!
a ten-minute drive brought us to the Syrian side and the long wait ensued! We joined one cue, only to be shunted into another line. Passport was eventually given, payment of USD$150 in my case, was handed over. I was taken to yet another line to get my Syrian Entry stamp. When asked my occupation, I replied “unemployed”. But this was no problem. Entry stamp was granted, passport was handed back and we all rejoined the coach for the hour or so long drive to Damascus, Syria's ancient capital and largest city.
Upon arrival in Damascus 'old town', we were met by the smiling face and warm voice of Harry who welcomed us, grabbed my hand and exclaimed, “a special person”!
I briefly met Ola, our main guide, Before Harry took my arm and, with pack on my back, dragged me along the rough, uneven street to our nearby opulent hotel, the Al Pasha !
I quickly discovered that Syria is a country of steps, big ones, and lots of them!! I also discovered in that short, fast walk that Damascus' old town has narrow streets with uncompromising pavements and roads. Vehicles and obsticles, such as bollards , trees, lampposts and steps, up and down, are everywhere! Cars, trucks, motorbikes drive and park where they like, giving no thought to padestrians. If one is blind and using a long white cane, like me, Damascus is a challenge. If one is in a wheelchair, Damascus, in deed, Syria, is a nightmare and an extreme struggle!
The one compensation to disabled people travelling in Syria, is that the local people are kind, generous and desire to help at every turn.
Upon arrival at the Al Pasha , a cool, spacious building, with high ceilings and interesting carved doors, rooms were found, check-incompleted, the itinerary discussed, and then off we went. First was lunch, followed by a guided tour of old Damascus. When I say lunch, I mean a feast!
By now I'd gained the mames of most of my travel companions and was beginning to distinguish individual voices, not an easy task for someone who is 80% deaf in both ears without my hearing aids. Some voices were easy. Harry I'd met before in Athens, Greece and his slightly Greek/slightly English squeek was easy enough to recognise. michael's positive tone and Angie's distinctive laugh was also becoming fermilliar, but the others: still a little hard to completely recognise. Ola, who introduced herself to me immediately and who I came to know early-on was easy to identify by voice, her happy, sing-song Asian accent was distinctive , even to my deaf ears.
However, back to lunch. A feast. A long table in a large restaurant. Roughly a 10 or so minute walk from the hotel. Food everywhere, many small dishes on the table surrounding me. My fellow travel mates chatting away, doing their best to describe what was in front of me. Pita bread was offered, salad was mentioned, to which, I promptly declined, establishing a joke that would last throughout, “tony would you like salad?” my reply was always, “No!” I was offered Hummus , the Middle Eastern dip/spread made from cooked mashed chickpeas and other ingrediants, which I like and other small dishes. Some cold meat I think, cheese and other dips, some sweet, others spicy. Six or seven dishes before the meat arrived. Chicken I think it was and very tasty.
Throughout the trip I tasted kibbeh, a dish made of spiced lean ground meat and bulgur wheat, dolma, dishes of grape or other leaves stuffed with rice, vegetables and/or meat, and garlic, ful, a type of bean stew. I also ate Several kinds of cheese including fried melted cheese sticks, beef, lamb and chicken kebab. Eggplant, zucchini stuffed with rice, chips (french-fries) at every meal, bbq chicken and much more. There were less dessert options; mainly fresh fruit and, occasionally, ice cream – most delicious!
After a huge lunch, we explored 'old damascus. I was introduced to Touleen, a local lady with thin arms, soft skin and long hair. She was my guide and helped me throughout most of the trip around Syria. She was lovely, attentative and grew in confidence the longer we spent together. She would put my hand on handrails when ascending/descending steps, describe scenery to me when I asked and repeated all the information I failed to hear. She was very patient with me and I think she had fun guiding me around and explaining some of her country's culture to me. I learned a lot from her, both about the life and culture of Syria and also about myself, how to be a better, kinder person.
Ola showed us around, giving historical info on the various sights, like notable St. Ananias Church. A cave-like structure with a long history and a local legend. I enjoyed the cool enterior and heard the echo whilst stroking the large, rough rock-like stones. This is how I 'see' a building, My body is able to identify the space of my surroundings, hear the echo, feel the rough or bumpy or smooth ground under my feet. The floor of this church felt smooth with some bumps and several indentations. Touching the walls and climbing up the large steps gave me an impression of the churches texture, size and scale. Strolling around the huge, iconic Umayyad Mosque in bare feet, was another nice experience. Whilst the hard stone/marble and wooden floors anoyed my soles, walking on the soft carpets was delightful. The mosque, considered one of the oldest and largest in the world, is huge from the inside alone. The marble of the two shrines to Husayn ibn Ali(grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad), was cold and smooth to my touch. The group and I wanderd along busy Al-Moustakim Street, inspecting various ancient souks, including the gold souk, etc. Whilst many in the group peard in shop windows, admired the stone architecture with there colourful decoration and symbols, or shopped for souvenirs and gifts, I touch several old wooden doors, felt the carved decoration and absorbed the sounds and smells of 'old Damascus'. Burning incense, spices, hurbs, womens perfume, both strong and light. Strong, flavoured coffee from all directions, chocolate from another cafe, a bakery wofting out sweet pastery on one street and countless other smells- a cohesion of delights and abhorrents, simultaniously, combined with the ubiquitous stench of car fuims!
It being a saturday afternoon, the streets were busy with local shoppers, coffee goers and alike. Pushing and shubbing was the norm, but not too agressively. Charming Syrian men and women dressed in various colours, some women covered, others not, waved and smiled at us. I assumed that women in Syria covered their boddies, but Touleen explained only when entering a mosque. She said some women covered their hair, others did not. Some women wore make-up and jewellery, others less so. Despite the recent conflict and the destruction, people seemed happy and friendly. They were certainly friendly and welcoming to us foreigners.
You know a group tour is going to be memorable when first stop of the second day is a local sweet factory! It was an hour or so from Damascus on the way to ancient Bosra, our main destination. An hour was spent at this delightful and interesting sweet factory. A demonstration of traditional sweet making was presented. Basically a string-like kind of dough, very thin, is slowly rolled together into a sausage-like shape and cut into smaller peaces. I believe, but maybe mistaken, almonds or pistashio nuts are added and then it is put into an extremely hot oven for ten minutes or so. After this, the heated doughy item is removed from the oven and rose water and sugar are added. This is left to cool for twenty-four ours before being cut into small blocks and eaten or sold. They tasted slightly of nuts and were a little chewy, but delicious.
After that we continued to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of ancient Bosra, with its, now, quiet empty streets. Bosra, once a thribing town, is independent of the Syrian government and permission was needed to visit. The quiet surroundings, broken only by our footfalls and my tapping cane, gave an erie sense to the atmosphere. Our first real inclimation that Syria had recently experienced a war and its aftermath was still present. We had lunch on a rooftop restaurant, sitting on traditional blankets and cushans and relaxed. A lady in traditional dress, described to me by one of the group, began to make dough and cook it on a gas fire. The dough was eventually turned into a kind of flat thin pie with cheese and/or meat inside. They were large and delicious. Then it was time to visit the Roman Theatre with its large stage, many stone seats and its covered portico-style upper gallery . A long rough tunnel or passageway descended from the road into the amphitheatre. I felt the rocky stone walls and detected rough stone and gravel under my feet. This theatre, said by Harry to be a remarkable example of Roman architecture that was protected by large layers of sand was, in his opinion, one of the finest of its style and architecture. This ancient theatre somehow managed to produce a perfect echo across its enormous auditorium. I clearly heard the echo of our voices before being spell-bound by the piercing high-piched hornting sound of a sad operatic song by one of Fadi's female staff, an extremely expert opera singer. It sliced through my soul and, seemingly, made time stand still. Very moving. Other group members said they felt a similar emotion to me later. I could feel the vast space of the theatre in front of me. Feeling the broken smooth stone was wonderful. I noticed a spiral patern on one of the broken blocks.
Each day of the trip was like this. We'd visit an interesting place in the morning and a historical sight in the afternoon or vice versa. Time on the coach was spent participating in one of Harry's funny and odd quizzes! Jokes were cracked, odd sights and objects, like pink beatle cars, that Harry liked photographing were spotted and analysed! It past the time. We also undertook some 'Dark' tourism, photographing destroyed buildings from the 2011-present Civil War/conflict ( Called the Crisis by Syrians). A frajile ceasefire since 6 March 2020, with sporadic clashes.I think some of the group found this a little surreal. A lot of destruction was noticed in Aleppo, although some was also caused by the 2023 earthquake. Like others, I also took photos of the devistation, not really understanding what I was exactly photographing!
On the second night in Damascus, we had our Karioki night, an activity I usually avoid! But on this evening, my fun side came to the fore, and I sang and dance to several songs I knew most of the words too! They all loved it and thought I was a star! It was fun, but we mostly had the place to ourselves, which made a difference. Participating in karioki on another ocasion was less of a success.
Big cities like Aleppo, Hama and Hombs were visited, but also small, quiet villages where the locals were delighted to see us.
There were so many unique moments for me, like being gifted a free bracelet by a nun in one of Maaloula's historical monasteries. The nun refused payment and said she'd pray for me. When she noticed I was deaf as well as blind, apparently, she just shuck her head and prayed more! Near the end of the trip, we were hosted by another local family in a lovely village and I danced with the father of the family. He danced with his grandson on his shoulders, which was hilarious. As we were leaving, the little three-year-old boy apparently, asked to have a photo with “Tony.”
For me, visiting the mountainous village of Raba was the highlight of the trip. Set in a long, narrow valley, its steep streets and cool windy climate made me feel alive. But the people: amazing. They couldn't stop stairing at us, astonished to see foreigners. They were so friendly and welcoming. They showed us the village, their churches; two Greek orthodox, an ancient stone one and a larger newer building. Also the Greek Catholic church, which was spacious. I was allowed to touch a 200 year old bible in one of these wonderful churches, a rare treat. The locals cerenaded us back up the steeply sloped main street – one guy played a trumpet, whilst another guy bangged a make-shift drum from a plastic water bottle. We clapped, walked and bounced our way back to the town's only hotel, specially opened for us, as it was still out of season. Then we were all treated to another huge feast of food as the local music continued. What a special, magical moment.
I enjoyed the huge Krak de Chevaliers Castle and Oleppo's fascinating historic Citadel, but the highlights for me was meeting the local people in the villages and being given the warmest hospitality. It's the warmth, generosity and kindness of the Syrian people that I met, that wee all encountered, alongside the plentyful, delicious food, is what I take from my amazing time in Syria.
I will definitely return to Syria.
