The “City of Jasmin” (in arabic: مدينة الياسمين).

A boy playing with pigeons in front of the Umayyad Mosque

According to historians, the name Dimashq is mentioned as early as 2000 BEFORE Christ, but there are signs that the place was inhabited as early as 9000 BC. That could well explain why Mark Twain said “No recorded event has occurred in the world but Damascus was in existence to receive news of it … There was always a Damascus.”

These are cliché words but anyone who has been there can only but feel the age of Damascus. It literally feels ancient – much more than most European cities, or Jerusalem for that sake. Of there are other place in the world with old building, but there is definitely something about these houses that makes one feel like he’s living in the middle ages… It is really fantastic. Maybe it also has something to do with the fact that there are no tourist hordes wandering about the tiny beautiful streets (the way they do in Jerusalem, but I’ll come to that in a later post, inch’allah). Or maybe it is also the proper gentlemen/shop-owners in the souq that speak French and address ladies by a formal Mademoiselle… Quite different than the image of angry Arabs we usually get from the western mainstream media!

Just the place we stayed, Hotel Al Rabie (الربيع), is a 600 years old building, with a magnificent courtiard with tiles on the walls and a fountain that makes a nice background sound when reading a Naguib Mahfouz (نجيب محفوظ) book.

And of course there is the magnificent Umayyad Mosque… supposedly one of the most beautiful in the world!

The Umayyad Mosque

But Damascus is also the capital of Syria, one of the most oppressive state in the world, with a Soviet style crumbling administration; and the greyness of the new city did not fail to remind me of this fact. The best example was the huge square building that was built in the 50s – or rather that was never finished. So there is this enormous block of concrete right in the middle of the city center, next to the beautiful old city.

A Soviet style unfinished building...

It has been almost three weeks since Sabrina and I arrived in the Middle East. We have traveled through Syria and Jordan, and tomorrow we should reach the Holy Land for a Holy Week. As I am sitting in the lobby of Palace Hotel in Amman, listening to Telephone (a French 80s band), I thought I should write an entry in the blog of mine.

The Middle East. Since my first experience with travelling in a Muslim country – Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and later Malaysia – I had been looking forward to finally come in this region, where Islam was born.

However, to tell the truth I was slightly anxious. However culture relativistic, informed and open-minded I try to be, the mainstream media has somehow formatted my perceptions; and deep inside I feared Arabs.

Paradoxically, however, I have never felt that safe (apart maybe from China). In the beginning it seemed kind of strange to being shouted at every five seconds; especially when people are not insulting you but are saying “Welcome to Jordan” with a beaming smile on their faces! People are absolutely amazing! Three weeks in the region have only reinforced this feeling.

In addition, ancient-ruins-like Syria is a gem! There are fantastic sites to explore, with the privilege to be almost alone! Indeed, since the great Bush administration has brilliantly added Syria to the list of the fabled “Axis of Evil”, the tourist industry has plummeted. So while it’s sad for the local tourist industry, it is fantastic for those – like me – who despise the sight of tour buses.