Middle East Trip - Part 2 (Syria)

25/11/2009 (cont)

Reached Syria after changing taxis for 3 times! (after the old white Merc... we had to change to another cab... a Damascus City cab... apparently the old Merc cannot enter Damascus City... huh.. macam2!). Anyway, Damascus was freezing cold!! And our hotel - Ghazal Hotel is so cozy... I like!! :) It's located near the town... all can be accessed in walking distance.... very, very convenient! :)

Hubby later made appointment to meet his 'Coach Surfing' Syrian buddy, Mr. Wael and his beautiful wife, Lujain and 2 adorable daughters – Sim and Laion. What a beautiful family!! They were kind enough to meet up with us… and later treat us dinner - Syrian food at one of the famous local restaurant :)

The lovely Syrian couple - Wael and Lujain :) It was so nice meeting them :) Wael is a pilot for Syrian Airline and Lujain is a dentist.

Lujain and her kids - Laion (the smallest) and Sim (in pink)

Our family with Wael, Lujain and their adorable kids :) The kids exploring the Jabri House restaurant with Uncle Wael. The traditional Syrian coffee.... hmm... got some herbs and spices in it... not like an ordinary Malaysian coffee :) It tasted funny to my tongue :P This coffee is definately stronger!! Lots of similarities between Lebanese food and Syrian food. Again.. I like the salad.. :)

26/11/09

Exploring the beautiful city of Damascus! Wow… Damascus is really, really an intriguing city! I fall in love with this city… seriously!!! Would LOVEEEEE to come here again and again!!! The Umayyad Mosque is so beautiful!! We did our prayers a few times here (including Eid Adha prayer). Converted from a Byzantine cathedral, this revered mosque was built in AD 705. It was so peaceful in the mosque…. The mosque has a splendid large courtyard with fountain.... superb mosaics, richly decorated columns and glistening brass!! Very, very beautiful!!

The kids watching the pigeons outside the Umayyad Mosque

Some pictures of the splendid courtyard at the Great Mosque of the Umayyad...

Subhanallah.... cantik kan??

Mommy and kids loving the Ummayad Mosque!!

And some pictures taken inside the Ummayad Mosque...

Kat belakang tu Makam Nabi Yahya

Located at a small garden adjoining the north wall of the mosque is the tomb of the Great Saladin @ Salah al Din. Salah al Din became a legend in the Islamic history for his role in clearing the crusaders from Jerusalem. His capture of Jerusalem, and the Muslim triumph that followed, gave him a remarkable place in the pages of history.

Inside this building is the tomb of the Great Saladin @ Salah al Din

A few meters away from the south of the mosque, there's Azem Palace, the luxurious residence built in the mid-1700s by one of the Ottoman governors of Damascus, a member of the powerful Azem family....

One family pic at Azem Palace, Damascus

Izzaty feeling like an 'Azem' princess :-)

More family pic at Azem Palace..

Beautiful tiles, beautiful architecture... beautiful Azem Palace! :)

We also visited Sayidda Ruqaya Mosque which is dedicated to the daughter of the Saidina Hussein, cucu of Saidina Ali and also cicit of our beloved prophet Mohamad saw. Inside the mosque, there's a tomb of Sayidda Ruqaya. The mosque is very unique in architecture and interior decoration! I was quite stunt when I first entered the mosque...

Silasiah keluarga Sayidda Ruqaya... - cicit Nabi Muhammad s.a.w

The Sayidda Ruqaya Mosque entrance... I think the design has some Iranian / Persian influences

The ceiling was decorated with countless small mirrors... wow!

The tomb of Sayidda Ruqaya. Can you see something on top of the tomb?? The Syiah people throw dolls up there!! I dunno why... probably because arwah Sayidda Ruqaya passed away at the very young age... (wallahualam!). My kids were curious and asked "Apasal ada dolls atas tu mama??" Err... dunno wht to say.. so I just explained to them the difference between Syiah and Suni... and told them not to do what those Syiah people were doing.

Then there’s Souk al Hamidiye. It is the most famous Bazaar Street of the old city of Damascus. It runs 500 meters from east to west and ends at a Roman archway before the Umayyad mosque. So again… it was very convenient! Lepas shopping.. can perform our solat at the Umayyad mosque :) I simply LOVEEEE this place :)

At the Souk al Hamidiye entrance near the Ummayad Mosque. This was one day before the Eid Adha celebration... so we could see lots of people coming here to shop for the Eid celebration... sangat2 meriah :)

Another entrance of the Souk

Menyopping bag kulit unta... for my mom and MIL :)

Rempah ratus dijual di Souk :)

Penjual teh / tea maker at the Souk.

Your visit to this Souk is not complete, if you do not visit and taste the famous Bakdash Ice-cream!! :) Even King Abdullah, the current King of Jordan came here to taste this delicious ice-cream :)

The Bakdash Ice-Cream outlet :)

A staff preparing Bakdash Ice-cream...

THE traditionally made Bakdash ice-cream :) Yummy!

Tidak mahu ketinggalan... Was there! Done that! Tasted the delicious ice-cream! :)

Wandering around Damascus Old City was very, very interesting. We were fascinated with everything that we saw! :)

Tea break at Al-Nofra tea shop! Unfortunately no food sold here.... kami pulak lapaq! Terpaksa makan biskut and chocalate yang bawak bekal dari Malaysia aje... huhu.

Later baru jumpa kedai jual Kebab.... delicious!!! And quite cheap!! I LOVE! :)

Guess what is so special about this pic???? Hehe... tu kereta Kelisa, Perodua!!! In Damascus City!! Bangga giler lah suamiku itu... sebagai seorang pekerja setia Perodua!! lol! We also saw Perodua cars in Lebanon... cool! :) This lovely Syrian girl ajak kami bergambar.... so nice of her! :)

While we were browsing around at the Souk looking for some souvenirs for friends and relatives… (we really have no idea what to buy at that time! So many interesting thing sold at the Souk.. jadi tak tentu arah pulak!! Hehe!)… 2 girls suddenly approached us and one of them asked “Dari mana??” Ehh… someone just spoke in Malay to us!! Huarghh… agak terkejut.. but so excited!! :) I automatically I answered her “Dari Malaysia! Adik dari Malaysia ke??” “Kami dari Singapore”… Ohhh! Such nice girls! Hazimah and Madihah. We were so lucky to meet them… coz they volunteered to help us around to shop for souvenirs! :) And on top of that… they helped us to bargain with the price…. their Arab are very fluent :) They are studying here…. Hazimah studies Arabic whilst Madihah is studying syariah… wow!! *tabik spring!*. Madihah was fasting on that day.. so after bersopping… we went for Maghrib prayer at the Umayyad Mosque and later we belanja them dinner to thank them for their kindness :)

Our new friends - Hazimah (in black) and Madihah (in red)... very, very nice ladies :)

Hazimah and Madihah helping us bersopping :)

Dinner after our Maghrib prayer at another famous restaurant.. (can't remember the name of the restaurant.. sorry!)

Sambung lagi shopping after dinner... :)

The whole day kami jalan2 area Souk and Old City of Damascus…. So tired… but so seronok! :)

27/11/09

Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Adha!! First time ever, kami sekeluarga beraya over-the-sea!! Well... not really my first time of course.. since I studied abroad during my U years… but first time after saya berkeluarga! We woke up very early to go for the Eid prayer at Umayyad Mosque. We thought it would be crowded… but surprisingly.. it was not. We met lots of Malaysian at the mosque. There were a few men wearing the same colour of baju melayu (atau se species dengannya.. hehe!) at the mosque… and I thought ni macam kumpulan nasyid aje! And guess what.. I was right!! Apparently they were the Rabbani Nasyid team… they were doing shows at the Middle East…. Oh wow! Kat Mesia pun tak jumpa… kat Syria pulak boleh jumpa ya! Subhanallah.. it is a small world after all :)

Suasana pagi raya di Masjid Ummayad, Damascus :)

Khutbah raya... in Arabic of course... Ana lak afham!! huhu...

Suasana selepas solat raya.... leaving the mosque... after solat raya...

Right after the Eid prayer.. we left Syria for Jordan…. tapi singgah a few places dulu on the way to Jordan. Our taxi to Jordan was arranged by our hotel. When we checked out.. we heard quite a commotions at the reception area... and my hubby asked "Is there a problem??" “No problem, Sir. Don't worry, your taxi is here.”. The hotel receptionist convinced us… hmm…. Lain macam aje bunyi!?? Hmph!!

So we left Damascus with the taxi driver. On the way to Jordan, we stopped at Nawa and Bosra.

Lena tidur dlm teksi on the way to Nawa and Bosra

Nawa is a very small town. We visited the tomb of Imam Nabawi here… masa sampai kat kampung tu… rasa macam celebraty sangat!! The minute we walked out of the taxi… dah kena serbu like a celebraty! Huhu… kelakar pun ada :D And the local kids love the camera! They asked hubby to take their pics! :)

See what I mean.... the kids berebut nak ambil gambar!! :) Izzaty with her new found friends :) Hubby with his 'fan club' ... lol! Makam Imam Nabawi..

Bosra is located about 137km from damascus.The main attraction in Bosra are its 2nd century Roman and Arab ruins. We visited the famous well-preserved gigantic Roman theater... such a magnificent place!

15,000 seats Roman Theater - Ancient City of Bosra, Syria - UNESCO World Heritage List Eeuuu... seram tenguk Izzat going up and down the theater steps!!

Oh no no! Yours truly refused to panjat tinggi2! :D

Anak & Ayah posing maut! :)

Ancient City of Bosra, Syria..

We also located the church where once seorang padri at the church told the prophet Nabi Muhammad(s.a.w)’s uncle that one day his nephew will be an important person (which is so true!! Subhanallah!).

Tak masuk pun gereja tu... tenguk dari jauh aje.... tak masuk pun... our taxi driver nak cepat!! Sungguh kurang sopan la taxi driver ni... :P

And last but not least we visited the first mosque in Syria. Tersangatlah daif nya mosque tu… I thought hubby would sedekah sedikit duit to the mosque… unfortunately.. sebab rushing sangat (ni driver ni punya pasal lah!) hubby terlupa pulak!!! We felt so bad after that.... should have taken the opportunity to kutip pahala kan?? *sigh* :( Tak de rezeki la tu...

Inside the oldest mosque in Syria...

It was fun watching the locals celebrating the Eid along the way… cam meriah sangat! But our driver was such in a hurry… spoil sket our mood :P

Then when we reached Amman… kena lagi tukar teksi… (konon teksi dia tak leh masuk Amman??) We (and our belongings) we transported to another cab (Ye ke cab? Cam private car aje!) and the new driver charged us 10JD to go to our hotel (which was about 5mins drive ajer from where we started!) We thought that was so darn expensive!! We suspected the Syria taxi driver and this Jordan driver dah berpakat nak ‘pau’ we all… tapi nak buat camana… we (and our belongings) were already in the car! *sigh!*. Later we found out from another local taxi driver that the cost should only be 2JD!! Cissss..... confirmed kena pau!!! :P

Anyway, our hotel in Amman is Palace Hotel - again a budget hotel. Tapi okay lah.. very cozy :) Eh... terpanjang pulak entry kali ni.... hahaha! Hmm... ni baru Syria... tau... will update more on our trip to Jordan pulak..

To be continued in Part 3 (Jordan)... :)