Sunrise and Sunset in Damascus during our trip
3 April 2009: 6:20 am - 6:57 pm
5 May 2009: 5:43 am - 7:20 pm
Average weather conditions for Aleppo, Damascus, Amman and Jeddah (similar to Aqaba) for the months of March, April, May and June
Weather for ALEPPO, Syria
MARCH Average sunlight hours: 7
Average temperature range (c): 4 to 18
Record temperature range (c): -7 to 31
Relative humidity (am/pm): - / -
Average precipitation (mm): 38
Wet days (more than 0.25 mm): 7
Negligible discomfort from heat and humidity
APRIL Average sunlight hours: 8
Average temperature range (c): 9 to 24
Record temperature range (c): -2 to 34
Relative humidity (am/pm): - / -
Average precipitation (mm): 28
Wet days (more than 0.25 mm): 4
Negligible discomfort from heat and humidity
MAY Average sunlight hours: 11
Average temperature range (c): 13 to 29
Record temperature range (c): 0 to 41
Relative humidity (am/pm): - / -
Average precipitation (mm): 8
Wet days (more than 0.25 mm): 2
Negligible discomfort from heat and humidity
JUNE Average sunlight hours: 13
Average temperature range (c): 17 to 34
Record temperature range (c): 9 to 47
Relative humidity (am/pm): - / -
Average precipitation (mm): 3
Wet days (more than 0.25 mm): 0.4
Negligible discomfort from heat and humidity
Weather for DAMASCUS, Syria
MARCH Average sunlight hours: 7
Average temperature range (c): 6 to 18
Record temperature range (c): -2 to 28
Relative humidity (am/pm): 62/42
Average precipitation (mm): 8
Wet days (more than 0.25 mm): 2
Negligible discomfort from heat and humidity
APRIL Average sunlight hours: 9
Average temperature range (c): 9 to 24
Record temperature range (c): -1 to 35
Relative humidity (am/pm): 50/35
Average precipitation (mm): 13
Wet days (more than 0.25 mm): 3
Negligible discomfort from heat and humidity
MAY Average sunlight hours: 10
Average temperature range (c): 13 to 29
Record temperature range (c): 7 to 38
Relative humidity (am/pm): 44/26
Average precipitation (mm): 3
Wet days (more than 0.25 mm): 1
Moderate discomfort from heat and humidity
JUNE Average sunlight hours: 12
Average temperature range (c): 16 to 33
Record temperature range (c): 9 to 39
Relative humidity (am/pm): 45/22
Average precipitation (mm): 0
Wet days (more than 0.25 mm): 0.1
Medium discomfort from heat and humidity
Weather for AMMAN, Jordan
MARCH Average sunlight hours: 8
Average temperature range (c): 6 to 16
Record temperature range (c): -3 to 32
Relative humidity (am/pm): 57/44
Average precipitation (mm): 31
Wet days (more than 0.25 mm): 4
Negligible discomfort from heat and humidity
APRIL Average sunlight hours: 10
Average temperature range (c): 9 to 23
Record temperature range (c): 1 to 39
Relative humidity (am/pm): 53/34
Average precipitation (mm): 15
Wet days (more than 0.25 mm): 3
Negligible discomfort from heat and humidity
MAY Average sunlight hours: 11
Average temperature range (c): 14 to 28
Record temperature range (c): 5 to 41
Relative humidity (am/pm): 39/28
Average precipitation (mm): 5
Wet days (more than 0.25 mm): 0.8
Moderate discomfort from heat and humidity
JUNE Average sunlight hours: 13
Average temperature range (c): 16 to 31
Record temperature range (c): 8 to 43
Relative humidity (am/pm): 40/28
Average precipitation (mm): 0
Wet days (more than 0.25 mm): 0
Medium discomfort from heat and humidity
Weather for JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (a little hotter than AQABA, Jordan)
MARCH Average sunlight hours: -
Average temperature range (c): 19 to 29
Record temperature range (c): 13 to 38
Relative humidity (am/pm): 52/52
Average precipitation (mm): 0
Wet days (more than 0.25 mm): 0.3
Medium discomfort from heat and humidity
APRIL Average sunlight hours: -
Average temperature range (c): 21 to 33
Record temperature range (c): 12 to 40
Relative humidity (am/pm): 50/35
Average precipitation (mm): 0
Wet days (more than 0.25 mm): 0.5
High discomfort from heat and humidity
MAY Average sunlight hours: -
Average temperature range (c): 23 to 35
Record temperature range (c): 13 to 42
Relative humidity (am/pm): 51/55
Average precipitation (mm): 0
Wet days (more than 0.25 mm): 0
Extreme discomfort from heat and humidity
JUNE Average sunlight hours: -
Average temperature range (c): 24 to 36
Record temperature range (c): 19 to 47
Relative humidity (am/pm): 56/55
Average precipitation (mm): 0
Wet days (more than 0.25 mm): 0
Extreme discomfort from heat and humidity
Museums in Syria are usually open from Wednesday to Monday. Tuesday is a down day.
Tourism in Syria and Jordan – Websites
XE Universal Currency Converter:
http://www.xe.com/ucc/
WTG – World Travel Guide
http://www.worldtravelguide.net/
Government of Canada Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade "Essential Information for Canadians Abroad"
http://www.voyage.gc.ca/consular_home-en.asp
Government of Canada country profile for SYRIA
http://www.voyage.gc.ca/dest/ctry/country-en.asp?country=283000
Government of Canada country profile for JORDAN
http://www.voyage.gc.ca/dest/ctry/country-en.asp?country=144000
Link to "Her Own Way: A Woman's Guide to Safe and Successful Travel" a Government of Canada publication
http://www.voyage.gc.ca/main/pubs/her_own_way-en.asp
Trip Advisor
http://www.tripadvisor.com/
Toronto Airport Guide (yyz)
http://www.worldairportguide.com/airport/430/airport_guide/North-America/Toronto-Pearson-International-Airport.html
Website for Toronto Pearson International Airport
http://www.gtaa.com/en/home/
London Heathrow Airport Guide
http://www.heathrowairport.com/
Embassy of the Syrian Arab Republic in Canada
http://www.syriatourism.org/index.php
Visa for Syria
http://www.syrianembassy.ca/ConsularSection.htm#Visa%20Requirements
Syria – Ministry of Tourism Website
http://www.syriatourism.org/index.php
Welcome to Old Damascus
http://www.oldamascus.com/home.htm
Opera Syria web page:
http://www.opera-syria.org/en/index.asp
"What's On Syria" on-line magazine - up to June 2008
http://www.whatsonsyria.com/magazine/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1
"What's On Syria" on-line magazine - from July 2008 (requires free registration)
http://www.whatsonsyria.com/beta/index.php
WHTour web site - 360 degree crystal clear photos of 100s of world heritage sites!
SIMPLY AMAZING - requires free registration to use properly (including downloads)
Introduction: WHAT ?
WHERE ?
Please jump to the planisphere to check out available sites. Please sign up to get notified when new locations are added.
http://www.world-heritage-tour.org/introduction.html
World Heritage Site - SYRIA - Damascus
http://www.worldheritagesite.org/sites/damascus.html
World Heritage Site - SYRIA - Aleppo
http://www.worldheritagesite.org/sites/aleppo.html
World Heritage Site - SYRIA - Bosra
http://www.worldheritagesite.org/sites/bosra.html
World Heritage Site - SYRIA - Palmyra
http://www.worldheritagesite.org/sites/palmyra.html
World Heritage Site - SYRIA - Crac des Chevaliers
http://www.worldheritagesite.org/sites/crac.html
World Heritage Site - JORDAN - Petra
http://www.worldheritagesite.org/sites/petra.html
World Heritage Site - JORDAN - Quseir Amra
http://www.worldheritagesite.org/sites/quseiramra.html
World Heritage Site - JORDAN - Um er-Rasas
http://www.worldheritagesite.org/sites/umerrasas.html
Académie Syrienne de la Gastronomie - Syrian Food
http://www.gastrosyr.com/eng/index.htm
Jordan at a Glance – Jordan Tourism Board North America
http://na.visitjordan.com/
Ruth’s Jordan – the country and the people of Jordan
http://www.jordanjubilee.com/index.htm
Embassy of the Hashemite kingdom of Jordan - Ottawa
http://www.embassyofjordan.ca/
A prime tourist web page for Jordan:
http://www.tourism.jo/Home/index.htm
Good website for the Kingdom of Jordan and its historical sites:
http://www.palguide.com/jordan/general_information.htm
Current News from Syria and Jordan – Websites
Al-Jazeera in English
http://english.aljazeera.net/
Jordan Times newspaper
http://www.jordantimes.com
Syria-News.com
http://www.syria-news.com/viewarchive.php?mypage=50
Travel warnings re. Syria and Jordan – Websites
Health information for Travellers to Syria and Jordan – Websites
Prevent travellers diarrhea - Dukoral
http://www.travellersdiarrhea.com/Home/Home.html
http://chealth.canoe.ca/drug_info_details.asp?brand_name_id=1819&rot=4&article_rating=1
Positive article about Syria in the Telegraph newspaper, U.K. dated 10 April 2008. Following the article are reader comments
Axis of adventure: Syria
Peter Hughes is overwhelmed by the sites – and the hospitality shown to him – in Syria, a country he had expected to find difficult.
Peter Hughes
Damascus has had a corner in conversions for 2,000 years, since Saul of Tarsus saw the light and metamorphosed into St Paul the Apostle. I too underwent a transformation on the road to Damascus, not Pauline exactly, but definitely opinion-changing. My revelation was Syria.
I had gone to Syria because I thought it would be difficult. It’s a country of which the West is suspicious, to say the least, and whose borders prickle with petty obstructions. I doubt if I would have obtained a visa had I admitted to being a journalist, certainly not so readily; and no one with an Israeli stamp in his passport will get farther than a Heathrow check-in desk.
It was a country of which I was not just ignorant but mildly apprehensive. But then for most of us, our vision of Arabia is the version we have been fed, not an Arabia we have ever seen for ourselves.
Perhaps this was a case where travel could bypass politics, and contact between countries made people to people could make just the tiniest contribution to international harmony. God knows, it was worth a try.
First impressions were not too promising. Syria is, of course, a dictatorship, something of which you are continually reminded by the ubiquitous, clichéd posters of the president, Bashar al-Assad. Except that in Bashar’s case he comes over not so much as glorious leader as employee of the month.
He has troubled eyebrows, maybe because there are almost as many, much wilier portraits on display of his authoritarian father who died eight years ago. The only time my guide Mahmud’s smile faltered was when I suggested that the president always looked worried.
There is also a mild feeling of being, if not on the front line, somewhere near it. Drive out of Damascus and there are road signs to Baghdad and Beirut; the war memorials have 20th century-missiles as their emblems and in the desert a squadron of tanks was on manoeuvre. On my second day in Damascus a leader of Hezbollah was killed in the city by a car bomb.
But these were the politics I had gone there to sidestep. Strip away the system and the headlines and what you find is a relaxed and welcoming people, whose innate hospitality moved me more than once, and a country whose mixture of the spontaneous and the set piece makes it hugely fulfilling for travellers.
The old cities of Damascus and Aleppo are both World Heritage sites – the country has five – and so are themselves set pieces, but I remember them as much for my unplanned experiences.
Old Damascus is a confusion of houses from the 18th century and before. They bend confidentially over a tangle of tiny streets running in dark gullies beneath overhanging rooms. Buildings are propped up with wooden poles angled like brackets. Window frames are dislocated and there are large holes in the plaster. But there are also pockets of restoration. Enough for there to be a restriction on how many old buildings can be turned into new restaurants.
This is the longest continuously inhabited spot on earth, a fact that lends it an unexpectedly soothing sense of maturity. If you have a history that has been rolling for 6,000 years, you are unlikely to find much to impress you in news that rolls for 24 hours.
The index of Damascus’s occupants includes half the alphabet of marauding tribes, zealous sects and ruthless empires that have scavenged in the Middle East – from Assyrians and Chaldeans, through Persians, Greeks, Nabateans, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs and Crusaders to the Mamelukes, Ottomans and French.
The city has an A-list of historical celebrities: Nebuchadnezzar, Alexander the Great, Hadrian, Saladin, Tamerlane and Lawrence of Arabia as well as St Paul.
The Great Umayyad Mosque occupies a site sacred for 3,000 years. Hadad, the Levantine rain god, was worshipped here, so, by the Romans, was Jupiter. Ruins of his temple survive. The Byzantines built a Christian cathedral to enshrine John the Baptist’s head.
His tomb stands now in the middle of the mosque’s prayer hall. Before the mosque was completed in 715, the church was shared by Christians and Muslims; it is still held that one of the minarets will be the conduit for Jesus’s descent on His return to earth.
I attended Friday mid-morning prayers. Past the sign for the “Putting on Special Clothes Room”, where foreign females are required to don full-length robes, I crossed the one-and-a-half acre marble courtyard to enter the hall. It had the air of a very large, five-star hotel foyer made even larger by the absence of furniture.
Beneath the high eau de nil ceiling and a glittering line of chandeliers, men sat around on the luxurious red carpet, propped against pillars, chatting or reading. Some snoozed. Children played with electronic games. They and the women were confined to their own bit of carpet. Shoes were strewn along the walls and piled against the colossal square columns under the dome.
Yesterday the Hezbollah leader had been assassinated. I wondered if it would figure in the imam’s sermon. Instead, he spoke about the importance of love. Yes, he had taken his text from events of the previous day: it had been St Valentine’s Day.
Never once was I made to feel uncomfortable about the West’s policy in Iraq or anywhere else. Other misgivings were eroded, too. You don’t get pestered in the streets. You can eat well, if without much variety, on very fresh, Lebanese-style mezes, salads and grills. Most restaurants serve alcohol. At one lunchtime six locals polished off a bottle of J&B scotch.
There are some hotels of real character. I especially liked the Talisman in Damascus, despite its being painted a ferocious ruby red. Built around two courtyards of a former house in the old Jewish quarter, it has spacious bedrooms, antique furniture puddled with mother of pearl inlay, and oodles of intricate Arab style without the usual Arab clutter.
As for Syria’s monuments, they are magnificent. If they were better known they would be leaping on to those “wonders to see before you die” lists.
Palmyra, 150 miles from Damascus, is the skeleton of the great desert city the Romans built. A staging post for caravans bringing silk, spices and slaves from the east, it has a grand, colonnaded, dorsal street that was left unpaved for the sake of the camels. The desert is still spiny with its beige columns and strange towers containing tombs.
Apamea, nearer the coast, may not share the sandy spectacle of Palmyra, but it is four times the size. At Apamea more than 400 pillars of silvery stone lining its mile-long Grand Colonnade have been restored. Antony and Cleopatra once walked in their shade. Today men on motorcycles zoom around the ruins flogging fake antiques.
Then there is Krac des Chevaliers, a mighty Crusaders’ castle as formidable, and almost as intact, as it was in the 12th century. Its massive fortification defines the word stronghold. It mesmerised TE Lawrence.
The so-called Dead Cities, centres of huge wealth from olive oil in the Byzantine age, reach their apotheosis in the 5th century basilica of St Simeon. Constructed on the spot where, on and off for 36 years, the saint sought solitude standing on top of a 55-foot pillar, it was for centuries the largest and most important church in the world.
Those were the set pieces. The spontaneity came from the people. In a hammam, in one of the thrilling and glimmering tunnels of the Damascus souk, itself as big as a village, I was the only Westerner. But I was ushered patiently through the ritual of sauna, steam room, scrub and massage by my fellow bathers.
I was invited to a ceremony of condolence for the family of a man who had died the day before. In a long, brightly lit room with purple curtains, a cross between a ballroom and chapel of rest, male relatives of the deceased stood in line to receive the mourners.
They too were men. The sight of so many men in dark suits ritually embracing was a bit like a scene from The Godfather. Tomorrow a similar event would be held for women.
We were given small cups of strong coffee and glasses of hot lemon water and sat for a respectful few minutes on chairs in facing rows on either side of the room. At the far end a muezzin intermittently intoned verses from the Koran through an amplifier with the echo turned up.
On the way to Palmyra, in the desert subfusc, stripped of everything but shadow and shape, Abu Ahmed, a Bedouin shepherd, made tea for me in his tent. Prolonged drought was making a hard life even tougher. I asked how he managed in winter’s icy nights. “It would be warmer with two wives,” he quipped. He refused to accept anything for the tea.
Syria was a revelation.
Essentials
Peter Hughes travelled with Steppes Travel (01285 880980, www.steppestravel.co.uk). Ten days’ b&b for two sharing costs from £1,745 per person. That includes economy-class flights, private transfers and transport, services of a private English-speaking guide, entrance fees and Syrian visas.
Recommended guidebook: Syria & Lebanon (Lonely Planet, £13.99).
Twenty-five comments
1. Syrian food is great! Don't miss the fabled sweets, streetside specialties, and local foood! Your stomach will be happy! Again, food over there is delicious!
2. I traveled to Syria numerous times. Me, being a tourist, and an explorer, just loved it! On the other hand, if you are a politically-motivated and bigotic person "tourist" then maybe you shouldn't consider going to syria. Maybe the images of the president offend you. Likewise, to truly enjoy Syria, you have to get on the streets. Syria is the best country to experience true Arab culture. Do not expect to see Arab culture, and immerse yourself with their hospitality, in Dubai. Jordan? Too touristy and tourist-minded. If you stroll through the old city, you will disocver bustling, aromatic, and noisy ancient bazaars, each one specializing in unique products. Amid the quaint alleyways, and souks, you will find the ruins of the Miskiyeh, and the great Ommayyad Mosque. The Ommayyad Mosque should not be missed, with its mosaic, marble courtyards, lavish interioir and the Tomb of John the Baptist. Nearby are many different historical sites, shrines, old libraries, hospitals "bimaristan", and schools "madrassa." Recently there has been many newly rennovated restaurants and hotels in the stle of traditioanl Damascene houses. If you want an interesting bazaar, or souk, visit my favorite, the Bzouriyeh, with is the Confectionaries, Spices, Perfumes/Colognes, and Nuts Bazaar. Sample traditional syrian candies,whiif, smell, and purchase exotic spices, taste various types of nuts roasted in different traditional homemade ways, buy cologne or perfume, qib-qabs, and see the Azem Palace, located in the Bzouriyeh. Visit the many coffee houses in Damascus -they are famous and a wonderful experience. See the other sites, and stroll through modern Damascus. You will be amazed! The hospitality of the Syrians is shocking. they are friendly, outgoing, and very helpful. Interact with them as much as possible, my suggestion. During Ramadan, Damascus is rejuvenated, fluttering with lights, colorful banners, and decorations. Nightlife and lights are Damascus's treasure. Shop, walk, eat at 1:00am in Syria, with no risks on your safety! During the night, Damascus and other Syrian cities are lit up, and fresh again! Don't worry about safety...you are safe anywhere in Syria. Palmyra, Aleppo, Homs, Lattakia, Bosra, Syria has many places and sites to see and experience. I have toured most of them, and can assure you, do not miss seeing them! Syria has so many historical and cultural sites to show you. Also, try going to one of the many churches in Damascus, or other cities. Pick a type ( syrian Orthodox, Syrian Catholic, Armenian Orthodox, Roman Catholic, etc.)and see their grandeur. Many are historical and famous, such as St. Ananias's Chapel, St. Paul's Church, Church of the Virgin Mary, or John the Baptist Church. Christians and Muslims coexist in this tolerant and secular country. During Christmas, it will be as much lit up and decorated as it will be for Eid. Syria is definetly one of the best countries in the Middle East. Be sure to visit it, I am definitely going to visit it again! I had a lovely time there, each visit i will remember and cherish forever.
3. Thank you Mr. Peter for your positive comments about Syria. I'm Syrian and I truly believe that people who haven't seen what Syria is truly about, then people they don't know anything about "Arabia". Everyone who reads this please put in mind visiting Syria one day.
4. Just to add to the above, I drove through Syria wth my wife over a decade ago (on an overland trip from Saudi to UK)and the people were lovely, dignified and friendly.
If you stay in Aleppo (Halep) there is (was)a beautiful old Hotel, Baron's, which has been visited over the years by the likes of TE Lawrence, Agatha Christie, etc. I couldn't recommend the country more highly. It was definitely one of the highlights of the trip.
5. I am from syria and i would like to thank Mr Peter for his positive opinion, please any one wanna visit syria contact me on this mail sam_alyousef@hotmail.com and i would gladly help and guid here ( of course for free lol i just want u people to see real syria)
6. I was 25 when I first went to Syria and lived in Damascus for seven months. When I look back at that time in my life I have nothing but warm and treasured memories of the that constant blue sky and the serene deserts that I visited with some lovely people. Syria ? one of the best countries in the Middle East, and not bursting with tourists like Jordan and Egypt!.
7. I worked in Syria for two years and visited some of the best sites in the world.The restaurants in Aleppo were excellent and I was shown around the Citadel by the wonderful curator many times.Most Syrians are happy with the secular state and live and love more than any other country in the ME.
8. I'm glad your article will inspire others to visit this fasinating country. I went 3 years ago and found it a truly friendly and safe place (i felt safer there than the UK city I live in). On the road to Palymyra we stopped to talk to a bedoiun who asked if he could take our picture when it was time to go! The Simeon church was a profoundly peaceful place. Watch out for the dunking donuts in no mans land between Lebanon and Syria!
9. I too loved Syria. The people are wonderful, its cities resonate with spirituality and beauty and the desert is breathtaking. My fondest memory is of Palmyra by night - when it is gently floodlit. A trip to Syria could never disappoint.
10. Peter, your article (and the many positive comments I have read here) have finally given me the impetus I needed and I am now planning to visit Syria next month. I'd very much appreciate any tips, especially any for a solo traveller on a budget. I'm unlikely to be able to afford the Talisman!
11. My wife and I visited Syria in our sailing boat in 2006 and I have been lecturing yacht clubs on how to do it ever since. Our experiences were just like this article - lovely friendly people, amazing sights to see. Undoubtedly a dubious regime, but at least it has given internal peace and stability, without the discrimination and inter-faith strife which has plagued it's neighbours. We would go back with pleasure. Those that haven't been there, cannot comment with any authority.
12. Syria is an amazing country and worth visiting if you can. I have visited a number of times on business and the Syrian people are just wonderful, the women the most beautiful I have ever seen. The place has so much history it is just amazing.
Comments about politics or dictatorship? Get a life... You think the UK isnt a dictatorship? Its just as corrupt as Syria!!! But at least I felt safe walking the streets in Damascus!!!
13. I would sincerely like to take "NC" and "Chloe" on a tour around Syria. I lived there for 10 months and speak the language fluently. Out of all the places I've travelled to in the Middle East, I would return to Syria before any others for all the reasons stated in the (positive) comments below. If you have never even visited Syria, Chloe and "NC", save your preconceptions and weather-beaten statements about Middle Eastern dictatorships for a column in the Daily Mail. The country has its problems, and ridding it of its regime will take years of patience, cultural reconciliation and co-operative dialogue, which will not come about by perpetual negativity from Western observers, spoon-fed by the media's paranoia.
14. I've traveled to many countries in Europe, the Middle East, and East Asia, and Syria was by far my favorite of all those countries. Yes the sites are great, but really I think any experience in travel to a foreign country is influenced by the people you encounter. Syrians are very friendly in general, and it is just the common and basic interactions you have with them while you travel that makes the whole trip worthwhile. Sure, it would be great if they were a democracy, but just look at the country to the east of Syria and you realize the folly of Western imposed government.
15. Being from Syria, I like this article, but history is being destroyed by corruption, people are sufferring from poverty, bearucracy, dictorship, no freedom. So pls help us to get rid of this regime and this govering Assad family for almost 38 years now.
16. Looks like Chloe and NC are trolling NEO cons. There is a huge difference betweens ones government and the normal everyday people. The same could be said for the USA, in which I live. Inching closer to dictatorship everyday. I look forward to visiting Syria and Iran.
17. I would also love to visit Syria - fascinating history, sites and landscapes. Pity about the regime - just take a look at the havoc they have been causing in Lebanon for so many years.
18. I too agree that Syria is one of the most wonderful countries I have ever travelled around, yes there may be troubles but the people are so kind and giving. I have travelled to several countires and Syria was by far the best country I have visited. Sitting in old Damascus drinking tea and smoking sheesha. I dont think life could ever be that good. i will definitely be going back to stay longer than the month i spent there.
19. Good to know you weren't worried by the fact Syria has been ruled under a state of emergency since 1963, has no press freedom, restricts the right of free association, has a corrupt police force, discriminates against its minorities... try googling "Syria" and "human rights", stop being a fool.
20. I visited in 1994, the people of Syria are the 'best' I've ever met.
21. Your journey very much mirrored my own, The landscapes stark but impressive features are indeed matched by the hospitality of the locals. trip of a lifetime.
22. I lived in Damascus & Aleppo during 1998-2000 and it was a wonderful experience - Syrians say every cultured person has two homelands - their own and Syria.
23. Syria is the one of the most amazing countries in the ME.
24. How to whitewash a fascist dictatorship - I'm sure visitors to Nazi Germany in the 30's thought it was a lovely country too. How naive can you get?
25. Lovely article, thank you for giving such a level-headed acount.
A second article from the Telegraph by Peter Hughes dated 10 April 2008
Don’t pack your prejudices
Tourism should go where the politicians don’t, writes Peter Hughes.
What is the point of travel? This is a question that, in an age of increasing concern about climate change and damaging emissions, is becoming ever more pressing.
As leisure travellers we all have our holiday motivations: relaxation, a change of scene, sunshine, activity, inactivity... fill in the blanks for yourself. But to those traditional reasons add some more earnest ones: self-improvement, cultural curiosity, adventure, politics. Politics? If ever there was something to leave at home... Hear me out. This is politics with a very small “p”, and for some people it just might help validate their air travel.
You may have missed it, but Middle Eastern leaders held an Arab summit conference in Damascus last month. Tourism was the last thing on their minds. This was the usual meeting of saved faces, entrenched positions, communiqués and spin. It did nothing to mollify our wary view of Arab nations, let alone demystify our nervous impressions of Islam. Those are areas where most of us have to rely on what others witness.
The same goes for any country of which our opinions are formed from received wisdom or perhaps prejudice. It need not be so.
The Arab lands, and all the other countries about which we hear a lot but know little - Burma, Iran, Libya, Russia, Pakistan - are open to us as tourists. Our freedom to travel and to learn first-hand is right up there in the catalogue of liberties along with freedom of assembly and expression.
But tourism as a tool to foster international understanding is little used. This is a pity: politics create stereotypes, travel dismantles them. There is a logic to this in the way travel and tourism have evolved.
Thirty-five years ago, when I began travel writing, holidays were devoted almost solely to self-indulgence. Resorts were built with little regard for the places on which they were landed. Perversely, they were made to replicate the countries from which the holidaymakers came, not those to which they had travelled.
Tourism was cultural colonialism. The British went to Spain to sink pints of Red Barrel in reproduction pubs; the Germans brought their own bierkellers. The damage to environments and cultures these places wreaked was eventually recognised. The excesses of developers were reined in; tapas took over from “tea like mother made”.
By the 1990s, sustainability was the watchword. The landscape, wildlife and customs of holiday lands came to be respected rather than repressed, preserved, not extracted.
For conservationists, ecotourism became the buzz, until people woke up to the fact that too much ecotourism was just as destructive as too much tourism of any other stripe - often more so.
Now the mantra is “responsible” tourism. Typically it means tourism that protects the environment; respects local cultures; benefits local communities; conserves natural resources; and causes minimum pollution. To those five precepts I would add a sixth: tourism that encourages international understanding.
The travel industry is very good at showing us cities and finding us beaches; at introducing us to monuments and music, taking us up mountains and down rivers. But it has not yet applied itself to arranging for us to meet people. There is room for a new tour operators’ specialisation.
Tourism should go where the politicians don’t. It is one of the powerful arguments for tourists to visit Burma, that travellers from the free world should be encouraged to express solidarity with the Burmese by going there and, on their return, spread awareness of the country’s predicament.
Tourism for understanding, tourism for peace - call it what you will - is not a gesture of politics but of humanity. If anything, it is a bypass of politics; it is a contact between countries made people to people, prizing both what they have in common and their differences.
It requires a purging of prejudice. It means having as open a mind about our own countries, attitudes and behaviour as about the way of life and beliefs of the countries we visit. It is people’s diplomacy.
I wanted to put these ideas to the test and chose to go to the Middle East, the most unstable patch of the planet and among the least understood. I wanted more. I wanted to travel in a Muslim country and to have an experience I could bring home to share with the noisy crowd in my local halal butcher’s and with my dignified Muslim newsagent.
As the account of my travels in Syria testifies, I did indeed have that experience. And more.
Reader Comments:
1. delicious
2. Ifind your line of thought somewhat NAIVE to say the least. As Aung San Suu Kyi said: 'why don't your read the many human rights reports that are out there?' instead of staying in governmental-run guesthouses in Burma, where the money goes directly into the pockets of the genereals (who then buy arms off China). Saying this, I do NOT support the Burma travel boycott entirely, but instead I believe that it is super-important HOW people travel, and what they know. Unfortunatetly, political knowledge often does not run very deep... Does the average tourist really try and stay with the locals?? Are they aware of where their money goes?? And, most importantly, do they actually care? What do people KNOW about the country that they visit before they travel? And what are the real motivations, is it the altruistic hero who wants to do good (for a day or so), or is it because they want to travel to an 'exotic' destination that hasn't been 'done' by other tourists yet (so that you can come back home and brag about it)? I do not believe in isolating a country, AT ALL, but I believe in SMART ENGAGEMENT, emphasis is on smart. So next time you're off to some remote, and perhaps politically debatable corner of the earth, please inform yourself about potential avenues of 'responsible' tourism!! And be aware where your money goes for god sake
3. I don't agree with Rupert's comments - it's the local people who benefit most from the tourism in these countries, not the governments. In Libya, where many people are forced to take 2 jobs due to the changes to the working day's structure, people are increasingly opting into opportunities opened up by tourism to augment their income and improve their prospects. The local people will tell you that Libya is changing due to the influx of visitors, that it needs to, and that this will effect a groundswell in the country that will benefit society as whole.
4. My best friend had a beautiful blonde Swedish girlfriend who visited Syria. She said everyone was "so nice" I'm sure.
5. Beautifully written. A sound basis for intercessions, thought and actions. No doubt politicians will neither be reading nor heeding the article.
