Syria Favorite Tips by call_me_rhia Top 5 Page for this destination

the cities

Favorite thing: the cities... well, they are not that many - although the mojor ones (Damascus and Aleppo) are truly spectacular - although very different from each other. Homs and Hama sort of belong to the cities list, but they are of no particular interest (except for the area nearby them)

Fondest memory: the cities are the place to go people watching and see Syria parading before your eyes: women in ultra-short miniskirts, others completely covered with their abbaya, others again have a scarf thrown all over their face as a sort of a native burka... and another one, my very favourite, was a woman in black stilettos, tight-fitting bright green leather trousers, and a dark hijab. Definitely a land of contrasts.

the desert

Favorite thing: The desert occupies a very large portion of Syria, and I'm embarassed to admit I've visited only a very limited part of it - the one near Palmyra. It's not a sandy desert, but a stony one - so it's a desert that stands still - unchanged - unbothered.

Fondest memory: More than the desert, its the people of the desert - so much different from all other people, and so very warm and welcoming. Even if living in towns the tradition of hospitality has not been lost - everywhere else in Syria you'll meet welcoming kind people, but it's in and near the desert that their hospitality will touch your heart.

mountains, they call them

Favorite thing: Mountains - the ones I saw - were particularly located towards the border with Lebanon. The ones in the picture belong to the Anti-Lebanon range. They're not very high, but high enough to be covered in snow in winter... i saw white patches in several places.

Fondest memory: the contrast between the rocky and unpassable faces of the mountains, and the very reddish ground that emerged wherever there was no rock. fertile mountain soil, which isn't always a common sight.

the orontes valley

Favorite thing: The Orontes river valley is a very fertile area that surrounds the towns of Homs and Hama. It's home to many cultivatins - among them olives... you really can see olive groves stretching as far as your eye can stretch.

Fondest memory: About this area, I fondly remember these olive trees, planted just about anywhere... and with a few houses or ruins scattered in between. I also like the contrast of colours... especially the white-ish "thing" places around them. It looked like sand - ro some sort of fertilizer - but I never found out for sure.

the "deep" north

Favorite thing: What I call the deep north is the area around Aleppo... rocky, barren, isolated. The landscape was somewhat familiar... nearly pre-alpine and hillish. It's the home of the famous abandoned bizantine cities now known as "dead cities", as well as, further up north, as the border area between Turkey and Syria. Prestigious unexpected landscapes...

Fondest memory: About this area, the fondest memory is the mist... engulfing all when least expected. There's very much desolation and isolation up here - which is very fascinating as it looks so very remote and time-forgotten, while in reality a modern city is only about 30 minutes away.