"From Hind?" a young girl quizzed me on a train to Latakia. The rather amused query greeted me everywhere in Syria, a surprising identification as the name once used to refer to India has passed out of parlance.
The greeting was ubiquitous, welcoming me in the bylanes of Aleppo, in the shadows of the ancient walls of the Old City in Damascus and the ruins of Palmyra.
Surprising, since there was not one glimpse of anyone remotely Indian as I criss-crossed the country.
The little girl drew a bindi on her forehead, joined her palms and shook her neck like a dancer from southern India — an attempt to make me feel at home in the absence of any form of verbal communication!
Ancient ties die hard and the hospitality and amused looks at the sight of a salwar kurta on the streets filled with chic western and Middle Eastern dresses made me feel, on the
contrary, more comfortable than self-conscious.
Old city
Syria barely promotes itself as a travel destination, so we expected little excitement. In fact, the battered taxi from the Aleppo airport and the dusty road to the city centre under
the blazing sun were enough to dampen our spirits.
But the cobblestone pathways and the labyrinthine lanes hiding quaint shops, carrying on an ancient trading tradition, brought to life Aleppo's reputation as one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities of the world with a uniquely urban flair. And that was enough to cheer us.
Dar Zamoraya, for a night, was rather expensive but was worth it all.
We checked into an old house that had been transformed into a boutique hotel. With intricately inlaid mosaic and ornate designs glowing under the night lamps, the house seemed to transport us back to another time.
The next day, a walk down the city in an attempt to find Aleppo's landmark, an ancient citadel, revealed a city trying to adapt to the times.
It's a close-knit community and in the older parts of Aleppo, as in the Old City of Damascus, one cannot make out where one house begins and the other ends — except by the unique door knobs that help tell the difference.
Hezbollah seems to enjoy overwhelming support in Aleppo. Each door in every lane, in the old quarters, was stamped with the political organisation's logo.
The yellow and green flag fluttered from every corner and Hassan Nasrallah waved at passers-by from the back of cars and window shops, standing beside a smiling Syrian President Bashar Al Assad.
Our walk back from the citadel proved to be an adventurous one — we got lost in the dark alleyways of the enormous khans (or markets) of Souk Bab Antakya, Khan Al Jumruk, the largest of Aleppo's khans.
Off to Latakia
The seaside town of Latakia was more relaxed and unexpectedly open too, with no sign of scarves or veils on the beach outside the town. But then Syria seems more relaxed and liberal than we had thought it to be.
Latakia's religion was predominantly Alawi during the Ottoman Era till the First World War. But the city itself houses significant numbers of Sunni and Christian inhabitants.
As a matter of fact, France governed the city for a brief period before it was integrated with Syria after the 1943 elections.
The clean, aquamarine fringed beaches of what has been a busy port since the Roman times is Latakia's chief attraction. The cool breeze in the summer heat under a canopy of clear blue, with the waters of the Mediterranean lapping at your feet can be a bewitching experience.
The town can be a base for tours to Qalat Al Saladin, a castle that can compare with Krak des Chevaliers in architectural splendour, though much less celebrated.
The ruins of Ugarit, where some of the earliest alphabetic writings were found, are just 16km to the north. The city is also well connected by rail to other parts of the country.
In fact, the train journey from Aleppo to the town turned out to be a fast and comfortable one through limestone gorges and olive groves.
It is difficult to gauge the political climate of Syria if one were to be there only for a short while, but the first question I fielded from a girl in third grade and her friend was whether I knew Bashar!
Realising that we knew their president's name and his father's too, they broke out into smiles and quizzed us with questions for the next one hour as we travelled across the valley.
But the train to Damascus from Latakia was slow, low-lit and with no provision for food for the ten-hour journey. The only let-up was that the tickets were quite cheap — the
Latakia-Damascus first class ride cost SP90 (Dh6).
Travelling to Damascus at night by train did not allow us to enjoy the charms of a city reputed to be one of the richest in ancient days, with the shimmering hill Qassyoum towering in the background.
The roads leading to the city centre were far from romantic — pollution and traffic forced a harsh comeback to reality. The backpackers' hotel was expensive and cramped.
But its easy access to old quarters such as Souk Saroujah, besides the Old City itself, which is rarely patronised by tourists, was a redeeming feature.
With barely a day and a half at our disposal, a walking tour of the Old City was easily the main attraction that Damascus offered. The streets exude a certain quaintness and there's so much to see that one can gallivant all day long.
We entered the Old City from Souk Al Hamidiyya and later from Bab Al Jabiye. The shop-lined lane of Souk Al Hamidiyya, filled with shoppers at any time of the day, leads straight to an old Roman temple gateway, unless one gets distracted by the fine ice-cream shops and bakeries on the way.
A fantastic place to take a break from the walk was An Nafoura café, near a church, down the lane from Omayyad Mosque. Bustling with visitors and residents at all times of day, it once had a high seat for a story teller who spun tales of yore to patrons.
History may be violent but turns benign through the looking glass of time. And Palmyra was no different. Romans, Christians, Phoenicians, Arabs and Turks — all have left their mark on the now ruined, yet enchanting city.
Religions and cultures seamlessly fit into new ones with the change of guard in this once important stopover on the Silk Route.
Niche of its own
The pagan Temple of Bel had served as a church and, later, as a mosque before going into ruins. Some of the old houses inside the temple complex that Saladin later turned into a fort in the 12th century still stand and have been transformed into guest houses for archaeologists.
The barren hills surrounding the ruins were apparently once covered with dense vegetation but each succeeding conqueror hunted game and felled trees to cater to the growing population.
According to our guide, Hassan, the last gazelle hunted in the hills was in the mid-1970s while what is now the Syrian Desert, was once a grazing ground for gazelles!
Though Syria does not often feature in the itineraries of culture aficionados, beach bums or travel bugs, it certainly deserves a niche of its own before it gets caught in a political quagmire. And this, besides the US rhetoric describing the country as a rogue state.
From the UAE
Syrian Airlines flies on Friday to Aleppo from Dubai.
Syrian Airlines flies on Monday to Aleppo from Abu Dhabi.
How much
Dubai fare: from Dh750 exclusive of tax.
Abu Dhabi fare: from Dh700 exclusive of tax.
Where to stay
Aleppo
Dar Zamoraya or Beit Wakil, both boutique hotels, or the Baron's, one of the oldest in the city and famous for putting up T.E. Lawrence!
Damascus
Al Majed Hotel is one of the best budget hotels. There are numerous options from the top end hotels such as Cham Palace Hotel to backpackers' hotels. Or Beit Al Mamlouka in the Old City.
Latakia
Le Meridian or Cote d'Azur de Cham Resort.
Palmyra
Cham Palace, a five-star with $200 (Dh735) a room, or Villa Palmyra, with $60 (Dh220) a room.
What to do
In Aleppo, see the Citadel or just walk around the old neighbourhoods.
In Damascus, there is the local museum but if pressed for time, explore the Old City for a wonderful experience.
Visit the ruins of the Temple of Bel or enjoy the sunset from Saladin's castle built on a hill top with a bird's eye view of the Roman Colonnade in Palmyra.
Flight information courtesy: Al Tayer Travel Agency
