My trip to Syria was the poorest in terms of sightseeing. I had a lot of work to do that I hardly managed to actually go around Damascus and explore the city.

As Syria is adjacent to Jordan, we traveled by car. In less than 3 hours, we were already in Damascus. I was startled at how ancient the buildings in Damascus are! Many buildings had their walls blackened for some reason. Was there ever a giant fire over here??

We reached "Damascus International Hotel" where we will be accommodated, and we were led to our rooms. Aside from work, we went to the local Syrian shops called "Souq Al Hamedieh", which is very well-known to the neighboring Arab countries. The shop consists of a long tunnel, on both sides of which are markets that sell different commodities such as clothes, bags, and even stationery! I bought some accessories for myself, pyjamas and a sports outfit. I don't mind telling you that most of the commodity is not of high quality.

At the end of the tunnel stands proudly the Umayyad Mosque. I looked at this piece of art with fascination as people were entering it either to pray, or just to contemplate this ancient building.

My companion and I, this time another Jordanian girl who was accompanying us on the trip, roamed the city on foot and we went to a very famous ice-cream shop in Damascus called "Bikdash". Two words for this shop: Delicious, and Abundant. The place was extremely crowded, but it was worthy of the trouble.

I noticed one prevailing feature about the streets of Damascus. They are unbelievably crowded that taxis have in fact become a collective means of transportation!

I'm thankful for having the chance to see another lovely place in Damascus. This time it was a restaurant called "Zaman Al Kheer", which means in English "Time of Welfare". That was a fabulous place, with tables distributed among trees, small streams running between the tables that are linked with bridges.

I know now for sure that the widespread belief that Syrian food is tasty is the least that can be said about their food. It's very, very tasty - and cheap as well (compared to prices in Jordan). As the weather was getting cold, the waiters brought us Aba to wear.

When the clock ticked at 11, the entire place turned dark. Lights were turned off abruptly and then we heard sounds of wild animals and huge elephants running in fear. Opposite us we could see what resembles an outrageous volcano, throwing lava out. What a scene! We did not escape though because it was a FAKE volcano built especially for the purpose of amusing the restaurant's visitors, and it sure was such an enjoyable, yet a bit intimating, experience. Then lights were back on and everything was back to normal again.

Before leaving Damascus, we had to buy some Syrian Sweets for our families, also an outstanding trademark of Syria.

(Trip dated: October 10th, 2004)