Mount Hermon (Jabal Al Sheikh)

Kanaker-spring-2005
Originally uploaded by amrtheproud.

Kanaker

April 2005 The best time to roam in Syria -in my own opinion- is in spring time; lovely weather, perfect time for every outdoor activity
I took this photo near Kanaker; near (Damascus-occupied Golan Heights) highway..
Hermon mounts (Jibal al Shaikh ) the highest mounts in great Syria
(bilad al sham) are still covered with snow and the earth is waking up.
So when it's spring time: go to hike, climb, and camp, go in a tour. Because if you stayed at home or only went to restaurants; you will be missing a lot.

In a Muddy Valley

mashtah's area summer-2004
Originally uploaded by
amrtheproud.

Al Mashta Mounts

June 2004 Now I have to stop posting beautiful views for a while and give you an idea of the people I hike with.
I forgot most of these people names, because every time I go I know new faces, and different guys and girls, and I hike with several groups.
My friend Ayman took this photo while we were walking in a valley and suddenly I felt like my legs were sinking in cold water.

Snow in Zabadany

Bloudan
Originally uploaded by amrtheproud.

Mounts
Originally uploaded by amrtheproud.

(feb 2005 )

Many Syrian bloggers posted photos of Zabadany and Bloudan towns. Actually I thought a lot before posting these photos, then I thought that I have to show people who know this area that they have to take a walk around and not only stay at their flats and restaurants to enjoy the same views each time they go there.


It was one of the craziest trips that we have ever planed to; the forecast said it will be a snowy day especially in the mounts, but we decided to make a barbeque party in one of our friend's flats in Zabadany where the temperature will be about (0 c,-30f).
The water at our friend's house wasn't guaranteed, and even if there was water, it would be frozen.. we left Damascus at Friday morning, the snow was falling, but we insists to go there..

We reached Bloudan and we went in a few hours walk through some farms in the mountain. Then we went to our friend's house on the other side from the valley.
Everything went well till we discovered that the road was blocked, and the only way the reach there, was through a road that crosses the top of the mountain, so we left our cars there, and then we carried all the barbeque stuff and the food and stereo and walk liked an army through the snowy mountain to reach our destiny..
Finally we reached the house, but there was another problem, the door was impossible to open,it was swelled because of the high humidity, and we tried to open it and after 20 minutes we could.

Now we made the barbeque issue and ate and after the sun wnet down we decided to go back of course.
Swelled because of cold weather, tired because of the great conditions, we went into the cars to go back home… but SURPRISE!! :
The the snow under the cars was frozen and turned into glass, and now we have to move the cars in any way to survive and not to go home.
We succeeded somehow, thanks god, and now let's go home, and we were praying all the time that nothing will happen to us while driving to Damascus.

Do you like to join us next time we go there?

la3natool hello

I am having problem sending photos through hello, first I thought it was a regular Syrian server problem as we are used to that, but the surprise is it's a global matter:
take a look at this page

I'm so furious cause I hate flickrs, it sucks, and the latest photo I sent needs resolution and they just destructed it.

Waiting till they fix that damn problem. I will send a post that doesn't need any photo then I will try to update the photo when it works:

Herissah Nabkieh:

We arrived after a long day of walking, we walked about 35 km in one day "I think we could cross Lebanon for example in two days!".

Anyway walking back from Mar Moussa Monastery was so long and tiring, we arrived to al Nabek, and as usual the people were staring at us like we were aliens.. heh..
We were like potato bags laying on the street and the walk sides, tired to death and hungry.

Suddenly a middle aged woman appeared, from where? I don't know, the only thing I care about that she was carry a very important thing, the goal of life at that moment:
a Nabky sweets box!
-Wow.. i screamed
Lauren an Australian teacher who was with our group stared at me and said:
-why's that wow Amr, the lady isn't that cool and she didn't talk to you..
deep inside I knew what the lady was going to do:
- Tfaddaloo.. she said
- what does that woman want… asked Loren
- She wants us to test the Arabic sweets they make in Al Nabek..
- Is anyone hungry? The woman asked..
Lauren (who was 50 YO) jumped like a kid and ran toward the box, it wasn't Loran alone that he did so, all I can remember is we ended up that box in one second!

The bus came to pick us and on the way back Lauren and his wife and a Macedonian woman were eating the sweets…
- I am surprised how generous Syrian people are… Lauren said to
the Macedonian woman who smiled like she totally agrees.
In each time I will eat Arabic sweets, I will remember the Syrian people: the most generous people on earth.

PS: ma yatlubuhu al mushahidoon: this is for Sinan, he asked me to talk about herisseh.

The Road To Mar Moussa AlHabashi- last episode-

Al Nabek (Qalamoun Mounts)

(feb/2005) well this small church inside the monastery was one of the strangest things that i have ever seen!
Religious drawings wherever you look, most of the drawings are over 800 years old.
i picked this one that describes the judgment day:
on the right the bad fellows that crying blood, with the devil (the black on the second row)
on the left the good guys... the most interesting things are the shapes and the costumes of the people (that gives a good idea of that time), and that (and it's my own conclusion) it weren't drawn in Mar Moussa's life, because if he was there he wouldn't draw the devil in black because in Ethiopia they used to draw Jesus as a black one.