# My trip to Syria part 1 - initial contact with Damascus



## malek (Nov 16, 2004)

I feel a bit nostalgic, last year in December I went to visit my home country for the first time since coming to Montréal.

I was shocked the moment I entered the "International" Airport of Damascus, I knew right away I was in a different planet.

I thought that my initial shock would pass away, but no, it went from one shock to another.

When I left Syria I was 7 years old, and I remember barely anything from there, while being born in Aleppo (second largest city), I lived all my life in a small town (300k) by the name of Al Qamishly on the border with Turkey and near Iraq.

That city became slowly invaded by poor and restless Kurds.

Everyone was telling me that Damascus was beautiful, modern, etc... well I can tell you that after seeing what Damascus was all about, I was not so thrilled to see the smaller towns and villages.


Oh well, here's the tale in pictures of a spoiled Montrealer in Syria:










First signs of western influence, laughed my ass off
















It is believed there's something like 4000 mosque in Damascus alone... thats alot of highrises 









































THis is the Parlimant of the Syrian Republic... I took the pic without being noticed by the secret service dudes near me in an unmarked white car








A pedestrian only street, you can shop all you want 
















My host, Roudain 








One of the most if not most important shopping streets in Damascus








































The almighty Ministry of Economy and Trade... aka Mafia








...err Club not Clup 
















Steets in eternal old Damascus:
































































In Montreal we call that a ruelle, but its almost ten time smaller... yes people do live here









Notice the black exterior walls, they were white but because of the pollution they became black....
















Satelite dishes paradise.......








Notice the mountain in the background and the dark area at its bottom...








the dark is in reality savage construction done everywhere without any control or restraint... sad, imagine the Mont-Royal like that...








Commie blocks 
























Thats inside a restaurant on top of the mountain, sadly its empty because no one goes out in "winter"








The patio...








Damascus at night from the mountain

















































Day one is over, i will post more in the coming days...


----------



## FREKI (Sep 27, 2005)

The city does look a bit run down in the day shots...

The night shots are really great!


----------



## thecarlost (Nov 6, 2005)

Interesting pictures!


----------



## Whose Homepage (Oct 3, 2002)

Fascinating, malek. Thanks a whole lot!


----------



## Puto (Jan 4, 2004)

Nice pics man!!  thanks for share..


----------



## malek (Nov 16, 2004)

Mr_Denmark said:


> The city does look a bit run down in the day shots...
> 
> The night shots are really great!


wait till you see the town I used to live in................. :runaway:


----------



## Nick in Atlanta (Nov 5, 2003)

Very interesting pics! Damascus has some nice looking areas and some run-down ones.


----------



## juan_en_el_valle (May 10, 2005)

Wooooo interesting place!


----------



## seattlehawk (Nov 18, 2005)

malek said:


> wait till you see the town I used to live in................. :runaway:


Is this all of Damuscus or did you only show us the bad parts?


----------



## malek (Nov 16, 2004)

oh no, i'm not done, that was day 1, i stayed 4 weeks 

more pics to come


----------



## skylover (Feb 7, 2004)

Great pics. Waiting for more.


----------



## Tiaren (Jan 29, 2006)

I'm a bit shocked/disappointed right now...
That's what the grand, ancient and once so beautiful Damascus looks like today?


----------



## earth intruder (Apr 4, 2006)

I thought Damascus looks "more historical"


----------



## tiger (Aug 21, 2004)

Tiaren said:


> I'm a bit shocked/disappointed right now...
> That's what the grand, ancient and once so beautiful Damascus looks like today?


Maybe this part is the worst.Wait for more pics.


----------



## Zimcompany (Jul 30, 2007)

Modern a bit like europe


----------



## malek (Nov 16, 2004)

Tiaren said:


> I'm a bit shocked/disappointed right now...
> That's what the grand, ancient and once so beautiful Damascus looks like today?


sadly yes, Damascus is a sprawling overcrowded (for its infrastructure) capital city.

Its inhabitants do not care about its historical past and/or lack the resources to do so.

I was really sad.


I don't think i will post more of this series because of the lack of time... but you can find the rest here: http://malek.edmm.ca


----------



## ZOHAR (Jul 16, 2005)

malek, interesting pics!
thanx for sharing!


----------



## malek (Nov 16, 2004)

ZOHAR said:


> malek, interesting pics!
> thanx for sharing!


my wish is to go back there in a few years and take more, most of the time i was so fascinated (shocked) that I forgot about taking pics:lol:

I was born in Syria and still have numerous family in there!


----------



## ZOHAR (Jul 16, 2005)

^^:lol:
please post more


----------



## Quall (Feb 15, 2006)

Nice shots.


----------

