Arrival in Damascus

I smiled and thanked the immigration officer as he handed my passport back to me. It was just about eight a.m. and, aside from wanting to get some sleep, I was practically ecstatic. I entered the immigration hall at the Jordan-Syria border and found no one on the “Foreigners” line. After hearing too many tales of delays at the border, delays at the security checkpoints, and delays even at the “Departure Tax” window, I obtained my visa beforehand and managed to complete the whole process of entering Syria in under ten minutes. I was on my way to Damascus.

From the border, my driver Ra’ed promised to have me in Damascus in two hours. From the way he was maneuvering the road, I knew it would be less.

And I was right. When I next opened my eyes, I was being offered a cup of Nescafe in Damascus. Ra’ed had stopped for some coffee and to wake me up, and a few minutes later we were parked in front of the Beit Zaman hotel, with a grinning bellhop beside the car ready to show me inside.

The Beit Zaman, like Damascus, is old. But the building feels modern enough that one isn’t deterred from spending a night or two or three, as I did. The main entrance has an automatic door, but there are no elevators. There is a small restaurant and bar within the hotel, but no room service to speak of. All the rooms are air conditioned, nicely decorated with fine linens and equipped with mini-bars, but there is no gift shop, business center or pool. Beit Zaman is the right size hotel, with the right amenities, level of comfort and quiet for a solo traveler looking to relax and explore a city.

Evening in the courtyard of one of the other Damascus hotels, the Beit Al Mamlouka. Photo credit: Jon via Picassa Web Albums

After checking in and taking a short nap, I headed out for a walk around the Old City. The oppressive summer heat was starting to ease and I was hungry. Hungry and had a shopping list. The scent of fresh hibiscus leaves, fresh almonds, coffee and colorful silk scarves surrounded me. As hot as it was under the midday sun, I wanted to keep going. The Old City can be tiring as one navigates the cobblestones, uneven sidewalks and whispers of vendors calling passersby into their shop (which can be either welcoming or downright annoying) but I had the time and was curious to see what this historic area of Damascus had to offer.

First impressions
I have found Damascus to be a pleasant, safe and somewhat welcoming city. Adaptability is a necessity and one must accept certain things when entering new cities and cultures. Internet cafes and wireless Internet is available, but good luck getting to Facebook or a number of other sites. Need a mobile phone? You can easily purchase one, but be ready to be fingerprinted once it’s given to you. Simply put, “those are the rules”. The frank words of a local.

Walking the souk alone, I didn’t feel the level of craziness I felt when at another famous Middle Eastern souk, the Khan-el-Khalili in Cairo. Damascus’s Al Hamidiyeh souk is fairly well-organized, bustling and offers enough variety to keep one interested and coming back to the Old City. From oil paintings, cotton, silk and cashmere scarves, linens, dozens of teas, sweet Arabic ice cream and coffees, I didn’t once tire of walking the mazes of Bab Sharki, Bab Touma, the Christian quarter and beyond.

But one must take care walking the streets.

Cars often follow their own rules

Despite how narrow and tight some of the back streets are, I have found the driving to be a bit hazardous. More so with sidewalks that end suddenly, or have something or the other obstructing the way. Too many times I was stepping between the street and the sidewalks of the Old City. And as Syria garners more press and tourism in the capital increases, serious improvements and changes to the infrastructure should come with it. Despite the heat and mandatory midday power outages, I found crowds everywhere I went. From the Old City to the  “modern” area where I stopped at Cinema City, a relatively new theatre in downtown Damascus, the streets and sidewalks were jammed with tourists, both local and international. And there is construction all over the city as well. Recent housing initiatives by the government are underway and there are new developments popping up in every district of Damascus.

An evening meat feast
Evening arrived and I met with my friend Diego, who has been living in Damascus for about three years now. “Dinner?” Sure. We walked further into the Old City and settled in at Naranj, a two-story restaurant in the Old City that sits across from the Church of the Assumption, a historic and famous church with a cross that is illuminated in light blue every night.  It was still warm out, but we opted for a table on the terrace, overlooking the crowds and shops below. Naranj offers a warm setting and decent service with an extensive and interesting menu. I stopped eating red meat last year but was convinced to try the kebab keraz, a dish of lamb cubes in cherry sauce. It was one of the best meat dishes I have had in the Middle East; the meat perfectly seasoned and not conflicting with the cherry flavor.

After dinner we walked the town a bit, and Diego was gracious enough to give me a tour of the neighborhood and some historic sites. Before we knew it, it was after midnight and I was ready for a good night’s rest.

Ammoonah is the cleanest, most orderly and best hammam I have experienced to date and every traveler to Damascus should try to schedule a visit.

Visit to the Hammam
The next day, I had the entire morning free and it was on the advice of a local hotel manager that I found myself at Hammam Ammoonah. Hammam’s are common in Damascus and I was determined to visit one during my three days in the city. Hammam Ammoonah is unique in that it is a fully restored 12th Century public bath and has been listed as one of the cleanest in Damascus. The road leading to Ammoonah is narrow and tricky; it sits on Baghdad Street behind the Al Dadah Cemetery. Once inside, Omyma, the English-speaking manager of Ammoonah that is all business and very pleasant, greeted me. With her calculator in had, she set up my services in under two minutes. For a little less than 15USD, I was getting two towels, a steam session, scrub, shower and massage. Tea, water and other soft drinks were complimentary and I was welcome to sit with the “ladies” for as long as I wanted. “You will feel new”, Obaida, my masseuse, told me. And she was right. I stepped out of Ammonah and into the Damascus heat feeling calm and refreshed. Even the building itself is interesting—castle-like with arches both inside and out and lots of space where one won’t feel too self-conscious around other (naked) patrons.

Last impressions
In such an old city, I found it more tolerable to remain outside than to stay indoors during the summer. The heat was almost unbearable and being inside old buildings was not agreeing with me. I spent my last afternoon in Damascus walking from neighborhood to neighborhood, making new friends and discovering the many candy shops, falafel stands and juice bars the capital has to offer.  My last find was Besan One, a tiny falafel shop that sits on a quiet street one block away from Hamra Street. The crowd outside told me it was worth stopping by.  The falafel was perfect, and worth the 15-minute wait.

Damascus is a historic, emerging and dynamic capital. Get your visa and go.