Beirut Day 25 – July 18, 2009

I got up at 5 am and met Tolga/Ibrahim, my Turkish traveling partner from the Low Intermediate class, at the New Women’s Gate to catch a service to the bus/taxi station. This was my first time actually negotiating with the taxi. The first car was actually a taxi and not a service and therefore wanted 8,000LL to take us to Charles Helou Station so of course we refused. The second car tried to charge us 3,000LL each but I told him 2,000, which is what it should have been. The taxi let us off at Charles Helou and we were immediately descended on by a crowd of drivers asking “Ash-Sham? Ash-Sham? (Damascus? Damascus?). We started negotiations with one although we needed the help of another drive who spoke some English. They all wanted proof that I did in fact have a visa, which thankfully I did, and the driver agreed to take us to Damascus (and not just the border) for 25,000LL each. We may have been able to get it cheaper but 25,000 was the max someone told me to pay so I don’t think we got hosed too bad. There was a Syrian guy in the backseat with Tolga and I and an elderly Saudi guy in the front seat.

The trip was actually fairly nice and only took about three hours. I had no problem whatsoever at the border although Tolga had a bit of a problem because he had a special Turkish passport that they didn’t know how to deal with. At the border first you have to get approved to leave Lebanon, then you drive a stretch of land, then you have to get permission to enter Syria and it’s the same on the way back. Tolga and the Syrian guy chatted and it turned out that he owned a shop in one of the souqs of the old city and invited us to come visit. When we got out of the taxi at As-Samariyeh station outside of Damascus the Syrian guy told us to come with him and he’d show us how to get there. I was fearful the whole time that he’d try and get us to pay him for a tour, but it never happened. He pointed things out in English and Arabic on the cab ride and actually paid for the cab ride and refused repayment. He then pointed the way to the Umayyad Mosque and said goodbye. Completely unexpected.

We walked through Souq Al-Hamadiya, which is one of the famous covered souqs of the old city. Its metal covering is pierced through by bulletholes from French planes in 1925. We walked to the Umayyad mosque and tried to find the entrance. We eventually determined that it would open at 10 o’clock and the doors were where the huge crowd was waiting. After hanging about the entrance as people went in since I was the only uncovered female and I couldn’t figure out where I could get an abaya. I asked two women nearby and the pointed me to the room where I could get one, around the corner from the entrance. Admission was 50SP for me but free for Tolga, since he, being Turkish, is in theory a Muslim. It was one of many instances in which I was initially assumed to be Tolga’s wife (he does actually wear a wedding ring so it was reasonable). It probably actually helped us a little and I wasn’t harassed at all and noticed none of the stares I often get in Lebanon.

The Umayyad mosque was amazing. It was huge and gorgeous and had fascinating architecture and murals. In the mosque is also the resting place of the head of Hussein ibn Ali. He was a grandson of Muhammad and was killed by the Umayyads in Karbala (where his body rests now) and is a very important martyr in Shi’ism. That being said the area of the shrine was awash with Iranians and other Shi’i. They were polishing the shrine and kissing it and chanting Ya Hussein and beating their chests. It was quite an experience to be among although I’m told it gets even more intense in the Takiyya mosque in the city, which I did not get to see. Needless to say it is even more intense in places like Karbala, but this was the first time I’d ever seen it in person. We couldn’t find the entrance to Saladin’s Tomb or the Citadel but I found out today that they are in fact closed at the moment so I don’t feel as bad about not getting to see them.

For lunch we went to Leila’s, which was in the Lonely Planet and it seems like all the CAMES students stopped by there at some point. Unfortunately there was like an entire page full of food that I could eat…but they didn’t have it. I ended up having fattoush and potatoes Provencal. The building the restaurant was really interesting and there were these dungeon like bathrooms in the basement.

After Leila’s we went to Azem Palace, the 18th century residence of the governor of Damascus. The ticket was relatively expensive and at first we did not understand why. We had turned right from the entrance and found a small but not very impressive courtyard with some rooms filled with cultural displays on traditional dress of the region and the like. On our disappointed way out we decided to see what was through this one doorway…which opened into this large gorgeous courtyard which was part of the selamlik, or area for visiting guests. That part was definitely worth the admissions fee. I realized after we finished that I had left my waterbottle at Leila’s and we went back to get it. After initially panicking when I couldn’t find it, the waiter told me that he had given it to my friends (other CAMES students he had seen me talking to) and I was able to retrieve it on Monday from Hannah.

After that we wandered the various souqs for a while and bought some souvenirs and gifts. We walked along Souq Medhet Pasha and Via Recta/Straight Street for a while before deciding that we were tired and to head back to Beirut. We took a taxi to the station and were once again descended upon with offers to go to Beirut. I left Tolga to bargain and he actually managed to start a bidding war with the various drivers starting to get mad at each other. He eventually secured the services of a driver who offered to take us to Hamra – the area the university is in – rather than the bus station and for about the same price as we had paid on the way to Damascus.

There was very little problem at the border once again although Tolga did have a problem again with the officials not knowing the regulations for his special passport. The car was full and we were second to be dropped off. On the outskirts of Beirut on the way to drop the first guy off I noticed some buildings that looked like they had been bombed or shelled and wondered if they were from the ’06 war. Then I noticed several large posters of Hassan Nasrallah. Then I noticed large shaheed or martyr posters on the lampposts along the main street, which confirmed that we were an area that supported Hezbollah, which was interesting. Tolga and I got dropped off in Hamra near AUB Hospital which is a very short walk from the university. I met Claire for dinner and then I tried to get to sleep early because I was getting up early again for the trip with Claire and Rob to Tripoli (Trablos) and Byblos/Jbeil.