Great visit to Syria
My husband, Kurt, and I took our third trip to Syria, March 19-23, 2007. It has certainly become one of our favorite places. The friendships we have developed over the years have been wonderful, and we’d love to extend these friendships to those of you interested in visiting such a beautiful place.
This trip was two weeks in Damascus with the exception of five days exploring Palmyra, Aleppo, Hama, Crac des Chevaliers and the Saladin Castle. We arranged it ourselves but on a previous trip used Silk Road Travel & Tourism (Fardoss Street, P.O. Box 12958, Damascus, Syria; phone +963 11 2230500, fax 2231138, www.silkroad-tours.com). They developed an excellent itinerary and had excellent guides.
We enjoyed walking through the streets of the Old City of Damascus and relaxing in the courtyard of the great Umayyad Mosque after admiring its paintings.
On this last trip we stayed for two weeks in the new Beit Al Mamlouka (Damascus; phone 963 11 543 0445, fax 11 541 7248, www. almamlouka.com), a boutique hotel (beit means “house”) in the heart of the Old City. Room rates ran $125-$289. Our reservations were made by e-mail directly through Mrs. May Mamarbachi, and she sent us an invitation letter for the visa.
The Beit Al Mamlouka dates back to the 17th century and belonged to a noble family. The entrance is discreet, facing one of the many narrow alleys of the Old City and across from a public bathhouse, Hammam al-Bakri.
As you enter the Beit, you find yourself in a lovely courtyard with a traditional fountain and beautiful orange and grape trees that lead to a “Syrian-style alcove” with comfortable chairs and lovely pillows where, first, juice or tea is served.
The highlight of the Beit Al Mamlouka is the “Suleiman the Magnificent” main suite with its spacious living room and romantic central fountain. This suite is beautifully decorated with frescoes depicting scenery of the time. May Mamarbachi didn’t spare any detail and she managed to combine quality, comfort and taste to this special room as well as the other seven suites, all appointed with period furniture. The rooms are all identified by names, not numbers, helping us learn more about Syrian history and culture.
The Beit Al Mamlouka serves breakfast only, but it’s a delicious blend of Syrian and Western dishes. There are many fine restaurants nearby for lunch and dinner.
One final note about the Beit Al Mamlouka — between 5 and 7 a.m. one hears a magnificent chorus with birds in the courtyard plus the calls from the mosques and the bells from a variety of neighborhood churches.
My husband and I are very interested in Middle East antiques and we love to visit our favorite store, that of George Dabdoub (e-mail georgedabdoub@gmx.net), near the Azem Palace Museum in Damascus.
The owners are old friends and always welcome us with kind smiles and a wonderful variety of teas. In the Arabic world they say that the first time you drink tea together you are strangers, the second time you become friends, and the third time you are part of the family!
Upon entering the shop, you feel that you have just found an unknown museum. One can find beautiful Baccarat, Bohemia and opaline in every shape and shade; exquisite antique tiles; antique swords, daggers and guns; elegant mother-of-pearl inlaid chairs, tables and chests of drawers; jewelry; the best Persian rugs; brocade textiles, and incredible backgammon boards.
We also enjoy visiting their workshop, where they restore antique furniture coming from all regions of Syria.
Damascus is a blend of many religions, with all the people living together in apparent harmony. It is wonderful to be in a place that is so accepting, especially now with all that’s happening in the world.
We felt incredibly safe during our entire trip to Syria. In fact, for those who’d like to see the country by car, we highly recommend the driver/guide Mr. Belal Khalifeh (phone/fax 963 11 445 3181 or e-mail bikhalifeh@mail.sy). For the dates March 19-23, he charged us $150 per day in his car; we paid for all our and his entrance fees to various sites and museums plus our and his meals, which were reasonable. He did pay for his own (different) hotel accommodations.
Anyone using his services has to, first, set an itinerary and then negotiate the price. Our friends in Damascus referred him to us. A very knowledgeable guide, he speaks in excellent Italian, and his English as a third language suited us just fine.
MARIA MEIER
Boca Raton, FL