Roaming Syria

A Normal Spring Trip

2006-04-29T13:28:00.000+03:00

Me and My partner in the university Hashem were asked to continue our graduation project by going to one the Following villages:
khouikhat
Hasoura
Mqa3bra
Rastan

Do you know this villages? Well due to my general culture I know about Rastan town, and due to my "hiking experience" I know a little about Mqa3brah as I hiked near by two years ago, and the other two villages we couldn't even find them in the map.
What I know about it that it's located not very far from the Crack de Chevalier citadel to the west of Homs and in the middle of greenery there. So why not? A graduation scientific trip and a chance to take a breath in the best time of the year here in Syria.

And there we went, we went first to Hims (Homs) where we found out that most of the people there are originally from Homs countryside, and they advised us to take a transportation to one of the major towns which is called Al-7Howash and then continue by walking. And so we did.

When we took the micro bus I realized that everyone knows everyone even the driver who knew even the names of all the passengers!
The driver dropped us in the last station and we had to continue our trip walking!
Everyone advised us to take the main road, but for me, I find it boring, so we decided to cross the valley , and then up to the mountain, using the old roads that the ancestors there made by hand and they call it "7heresh" 's roads..
First we came across an old mill, as usual now it's totally neglected.

And then we went up to the top pf the mountain, where we met a simple nice family who offered us water and invited us to a cup of tea, a shepherd from a village in one of the top of the mounts there joined us, he took of his Ngab (kufieh), showed us the way and told us many strange stories about a big black snake in the valley which attacks everyone stands in its face!

We continued to the village and we found that village was really damaged because of a creep and other earth movements in the main slope over which most of the village is situate, me an Hashem took many photos and interviewed many people.

Welcome To Turkye!

2006-02-12T16:03:00.000+02:00

In the day I finished the exams, my friend Abdul Kader called and asked me if I have free time for a two days trip in Latakia; well, who will say no!

Since Latakia and the neighboring mountains were on or facing the Mediterranean, every body thought it was a crazy idea to go there in the winter. But I –deep inside- I knew that it will be warmer than any other region in the country, and it will be amazing to me to watch the snow in the mounts and see from the same place without making even a small step.

So we went to lattakia, spend the night in the coastal city, and head in the next day morning to the mounts, beginning from Kassab.
Kassab is a small Armenian town near the Syrian – Iskanderoon borders- the village is boiling with tourists in the summer and a ghost's city in winter. Beginning the walk from there and heading to the borders, we encountered very beautiful scenes, and as I expected, I saw the snow and the Mediterranean from the same spot.

Standing there watching what is called internationally "The Syrian Turkish borders", and locally "the Syrian Occupied Iskanderoon", I tried to figure out what my feelings should be; should I feel like I'm looking on an occupied land, or I'm looking at a Turkish land. While many people still insist that time should never make us forgive and forget. Many people don't care about this large peace of land any more.
Still do I look through the borders, thinking about how we were living under one flag and one territory for over 500 years, when no languages or religions were separating us. I sudenly recieved a text message on my mobile phone saying: welcome to Turkye!

Deserted Village

2006-01-08T14:42:00.000+02:00

If you passed by a broken window, you will throw a stone on it, and if someone asks you why you're doing this, you will answer spontaneously that: It's already broken!
Well that what our folks did in a night hiking trip between Qara and Jrajir, when we passed near the ruins of an old deserted village, they left all the places and pissed on it's walls!
-nobody's living here anymore! –one of the hikers said-
I think he's right, somehow.

The village is really a perfect place for shooting a movie or being transferred into a hotel, and it's built in the old traditional way, or what's left of it.
We camped near by, I felt like it was haunted, and when the sun rose again, I went there with my friend Ihsan and I took other shots.

click on the first photo, oh who's that! yazan was there too..hehe, sorry Yazan.
more photos on flickr.com

Crossing the borders

2005-12-01T19:57:00.000+02:00

Crossing the stream
Originally uploaded by amrtheproud.

Crossing the borders

I was always wondering how many goods pass illegally from Lebanon, until I finally went to Serghaya; a small town near the Syrian Lebanese borders.
When first we arrived it looked like a virgin valley to me; a lovely river passes through farms, villagers that smile while waving there hands, apricot and cherry trees all around. In conclusion, it was a perfect place to hike!
That's how the day began; we decided to head to a fountain called AlJosha, and the only thing that we had to do is following the old railway that was built in the last years when the Ottomans controlled the country.
We went there, and it was like magic, do you know how the scenes were? If you know Ein Al Khadra and Al FeeJ, it's exactly like this but without restaurants or pollution. The river's water is very pure and the even the farmers were nice.
We kept on going and going, and suddenly we heard a gunfire, the leader of the group (Bishr Sawwaf), asked us to hide our cameras and stop singing and making loud sounds (As we always do, we ruin the calmness of every place we hike in.). we came closer and closer to the sound till we figure out that it was a military officer hunting,
I donno if our ancestors left us a thing to hunt, I thought everything was already hunted by them, they left us only rabbits and frogs!
We asked him the way to Josha spring:
-Go further he said
so we did, we walked another hour till we reached a tent, beautiful teenage girls were working under it..
-escuse me ladys
(the ladys looked like guys actually)
-yea.. (with a thick and loud sound)
-can you tell me where am I?
-You're in Lebanon

dah you're kidding! We passed through the borders and nobody even asked us who we are and what we're doing! And there was no signs no anything, we just passed, and hola: we're in Lebanon…
we came back to Syria after walking back for about 30minutes, haha, and we had a great time.
Actually for me, this one was a picnic more than a hiking trip.
Enjoy the photos!

A New One, But Might Be The Last For Many Of Us

2005-09-19T20:09:00.000+03:00

Date and time: Friday the 16th of September from 8 am till ~~9 pm~~ 35 actually.
Location: Ofra- Hrera- Bloudan.
Land type: High Mountains.
Organizer: The Rangers Hiking group, led by Bisher Al-Sawwaf a journalist and a member of the Syrian Union of Hikers.
How many kilometers: ~~25 which is classified as medium length.~~ 35 some friends are cursing me day by night after this "small mistake".

How much you have to pay: only transportation fees.
so connect if you're interested. (if it is your first trip, make sure that you have the hospital fees too)

Spring
Originally uploaded by amrtheproud.

Well, I don't know where to begin from! First of all :
Sorry Ihsan , Ghalia, Dima, Reem, and in the first place, sorry Luma.
When I wrote about this trip, I didn't expect it will be exactly the same one I did about two years ago.
Oops! I told my self when we reached the place we wanted to start from, when I jumped out of the bus and looked around I realized that I was mistaken, I told them it's a medium trip, but in fact, it was the hardest one in my entire life. and now I'm do it again but this time with 4 beginners and the disaster is all of them were my friends.
I can't remember the trip well because of going up to the top of the earth, and then down to the bottom of it.
Trying to convince them how easy the hike in such mounts is, I was telling stories about how super power any human being can have if he wanted to, but deep inside, I was praying no one will fall in the middle of the road.
Actually we weren't the only hikers, we had a company, they even shared drinking water with us.

Hrera
Originally uploaded by amrtheproud.

What makes this trip so special is that we didn't pass through any village, villages always looked so far away, to be more specific, civilization seemed to be so far away. (remember I'm saying this words in Syria!)
Finally we reached Bloudan, all of us wanted to go home, but Bisher -the leader- insisted to take us to a restaurant, going to the restaurant was like a punishment nobody wanted to there!
- Please don't take us to the restaurant!
We were shouting while walking like ducks in the town, most of people were staring at us; people come to Bloudan to GO to a restaurants..??
35, that's the real distance, and not 25 as I said. I couldn't believe my ears when I heard Louma telling me when going home: Thank you Am
- are you serious??
-yea, thanks we had so much fun.
-(thanks god…)

More photos on Ihsan's blog too: Ihsaniat

Hikers, our company
Originally uploaded by amrtheproud.

A New Hiking Trip:

2005-09-14T13:44:00.000+03:00

Date and time: Friday the 16th of September from 8 am till 9 pm.
Location: Between Ofra and Bloudan.
Land type: High Mountains.
Organizer: The Rangers Hiking group, led by Bisher Al-Sawwaf a journalist and a member of the Syrian Union of Hikers.
How many kilometers: 25 which is classified as medium length.

How much you have to pay: only transportation fees.
so connect if you're interested.

going to swim -last episode-

2005-08-30T21:15:00.000+03:00

Khaleej (baloo3a)- Latakia Mounts
Originally uploaded by amrtheproud.

khaleej-latkia mounts1
Originally uploaded by amrtheproud.

Ok, I finally reached the bottom of the world down there, raised my head up, looked around:
-OMG, this must be heaven!!
-Come on, jump man.
It took me few seconds to be in the water which was freezing..
-how many springs are there in this canyon?
-about 25 …
after 20 minutes of swimming, having fun and talking with locals, I suddenly felt that there is something missing… what is it?
Damn! The rest of the group, they might be lost up there…
I looked at the beautiful magical views around me, and at the fresh water that I don’t think I can swim in something similar in Syria anymore, then I looked up toward the cliff edge…
-Nahhh! Forget about’em, I told my self, they are a group and they can handle it..
I never felt more selfish that that day..
A half hour later I heard the rest of the group calling someone to help as I did an hour before.. the locals helped my fellows to climb down and they joined the party!!
Enjoy the photos.

Going To Swim (Part-2)

2005-08-23T00:02:00.000+03:00

Khaleej-Baloo3a
Originally uploaded by amrtheproud.

Khaleej-Baloo3a-2
Originally uploaded by amrtheproud.

Out of the sudden, I heard a human voice, a voice of a child talking to his fellows, with a splash. Between the gradients of the green , I could finally see a small spot of blue down, so there IS deep water down there.
-finally! I told fadi..
-hey- I started calling with the loudest voice I could ever had- guys can anybody hear me?
After about 5 minutes of calling we got a response:
- yea?
- Would you please tell me how did you get there?
- It's so easy, you can just go down from where you exactly are.
I looked from where they told me, it was impossible to go down from there with my heavy pack, Fadi started to descent, he stepped on the first and easiest part and told me:
-come on, it's easy!
I tided the camera well and started to head toward the bottom of the world, I had about 50 meters to descend.
First of all it wa really easy, but then the heavy pack started to pull me down, I tried to tide my pack well but in such place where the edge is almost vertical, I found out that it was the most stupid thing I could ever do in my life.
-Fadi, I can't move, one small motion and I will be done!
With his lighter pack, Fadi started to give constructions:
-hold on, catch that branch, put your foot here…
at the end I could move again, and I tided the pack very firmly. But again after few minutes, I started to fell unstable again, and one crazy thing came out to my mind:
I took the pack off and threw it down to the river!
Deep inside, I was praying that the situation down there will worth all I've done till that time.
To be continued…
(but this time the next post will be in two days not after two weeks as the first episode)

Going To Swim! -part1-

2005-08-10T19:20:00.000+03:00

BadLuckTree-LatakiaMounts-S
Originally uploaded by amrtheproud.

July 2005- Lattakia Mounts

All I can remember that day that we were going to swim, then it turned into an adventure of excitement and joy...
That day the whole camp was obliged to take a day off, but -for many of us- we felt like we didn't have enough of hiking, we wanted something more.
When we arrived to the place that we have to spend the whole day in, we met a local; an old man who described a place like heaven where we can swim and enjoy the pure nature, no cars or any kind of vehicles can reach this place, so we suppose to walk, and that's what we were really looking for.
As a drop of a hat, we were packed and ready to go, only six of us were ready to adventures, five guys and a brave French girl her name was Ode (but she's not..haha).
We began at 2pm, not a perfect time of the day to start hiking, we asked every local we mate how we can reach this place the locals call: khaleej.
After being lost for more than 2 hours the last man we saw told us that we were so close.
I don't remember how, but suddenly, i turned to see the other guys that suppose to be walking right behind me to discover that they were disappeared!
Only me and Fadi, Talal was alone screaming but we couldn't hear what he was exactly saying, and identifying his location was impossible. Ode, Hassan, Ehab were far away..
Trying to hear a voice or see someone, I was looking all around when I saw what I called:
The tree of bad luck! Looking at that tree made me feel nervous, it looks like it was cursed or it curses people. But I had to continue searching for that damn place, and the question of swimming or not swimming meant to me in that moment like : to be or not to be!
To be continued....

Don't Ask For A Cigarette

2005-07-21T19:52:00.000+03:00

JablehCountrySides
Originally uploaded by amrtheproud.

July (2005)
(Jableh countryside, Western mounts)
It looks like a scene from Yemen and not from Syria, tobacco is widely planted in the northern parts of the Syrian coast and western mounts, even though I'm a non-smoker, I like the colors and the shape of that plant.
What was really horrible in these villages that everyone smokes even the old women!
Anyway, here's a little advice when you visit this area and enter a shop: don't ask for cheese, yogurt, or milk; they are all home produced!
And when visiting a village as the one in the photo don't ask for a cigarette, because they make their own!

How Well Do You Know Palmyra?

2005-07-03T14:08:00.000+03:00

PalmyraNP
Originally uploaded by amrtheproud.

(Palmyra - September 2004)

Everybody knows Palmyra from its Roman style ruins and the Palm oasis that surrounds it, but nobody knows what is right to the north of it..
Neither did I till I had the chance to visit the mounts of Palmyra, an average height of 1300-1500 m, and a National reservation for birds and other rare desert animals.

First we walked through valleys and hills, nothing was around unless the earth and the sky, but suddenly we saw a very unexpected view: right in the middle of the desert, and on a small hill, there was a very huge tree and right over the tree, there were three eagles roaming around!!!

We reached the top of the hill to see a countless number of these trees, each one seems to be as old as Zanobia the queen of the ancient Kingdome of Palmyra.
I couldn't do anything but walking with mouth open!
I will talk about Many amazing things happened to me there in the next posts.

PS:
Abdul Hadi Najjar was there too and he took many photos from this area:
check out his site
http://www.syriait.com

also read his comment

Aramaic Village

2005-06-12T13:55:00.000+03:00

Jaba3deen
Originally uploaded by amrtheproud.

Mars 2005 Another part of Al-Qalamon mounts (middle of Syria), and another great view of this region which is rich with historical monuments and unique sights, Jaba3deen is one of the few left villages which its inhabitants still use Aramaic in their daily life. Aramaic is the language that Jesus Christ spoke 2000 years ago to spread his morals among people.
As an important information, the inhabitants are Muslims, so it's not like most of us think, not everyone who speaks Aramaic or Assyrian should be a Christian.
The village is so Close to Maloula and Rankous. (45 km of Damascus).

Al-Ghouta-2

2005-05-31T13:36:00.000+03:00

Ok Rami, here is a new post about Al Ghoota with more photos and resources,

Al Ghouta surrounded the old city from every direction, but mainly from the east and west. To get to Damascus, you had to walk through heavenly valleys and large plains all planted with olive trees, apricot and nut trees and other fruits and all kind of vegetables.
Al-Ghouta wasn't simply a large area of "farms", it had waterfalls and great views wherever you look, and many historians believe that the first café in the world was established in Al-Ghouta in the years of 1500's.

But what was sure that it played a very important role during history:
A place where the princes and caliphs built castles, a picnic place for the Damascene, and a shelter for the revolutions against frensh occupation.

To have an idea about how big was Al-Ghouta, you have to know is that most of what we call “Modern Damascus” was a part of Al-Ghouta I will name some neighborhood that’s been built during the 70’s and till now:
Mazzeh, Malki, Fattaleh, Kafarsousseh, Dareyya, Jaramana, Harasta, Tijarah, Douma, Ghozlanieh, Al Rabweh, Set Zainab, Hojjera…..

The door is open for everyone to add the information he likes.

PS: for more information visit:

http://www.oldamascus.com/ghouta.htm

Ghoota2
Originally uploaded by amrtheproud.

Ghoota4
Originally uploaded by amrtheproud.

Ghoota6
Originally uploaded by amrtheproud.

The Remains Of Al-Ghoota

2005-05-24T19:24:00.000+03:00

Ghoota1
Originally uploaded by amrtheproud.

I was surprised to see a pure part of al Ghoota; no ugly buildings, no factories, no high pollution. Just as it used to be 80 years ago, when the old city was surrounded by an oasis and the poems described it as heaven on earth.

-When we woke up in spring time, and looked from our windows, we used to see large areas of al Ghoota covered by snow, but when we look again, we discover that that what we thought it snow was apricot flowers! -My aunt beautiful memories of Al-Ghoota are countless-Barada River was full of fishes, and people used to swim in it.

It's not only the sweet memories of people, it's a patriotic memory of a nation; The revolution against the French occupation in Damascus took Al Ghoota as a center during the 30's of the last century, and no French soldier or tank, dared to make one step in it. They had to burn large areas of trees and farms to take control and stop the revolution.
And now the Syrians are completing what the French invaders started, most of Al-Ghoota disappeared forever, and what remains is suffering from high pollution.

Al Jaware7

2005-05-14T19:35:00.000+03:00

16TishreenLake
Originally uploaded by amrtheproud.

Mashqita
(September-2004)
Just about 20 km (13 miles) from the north east of Lattakieh port, you can reach one of the most beautiful lakes in Syria; the lake of 16 Tishreen (16 November), this lake has its magical views surrounded by plants and forests.
It's also a natural reservation; I saw many kinds of birds that you rarely encounter in other Syrian regions.
The lake is also surrounded by restaurants and one hotel, the restaurants carry the same name of many Syrians series that have been shot here as Al Jawareh, Al Bawassel, Al Dawajen...
The only thing we really miss to have in this lake and in all Syrian lakes are "water activities", as yachts for example.

Call me a Kid!

2005-05-07T10:58:00.000+03:00

Jaba3deen-Rankooss
Originally uploaded by amrtheproud.

(Mars 2005)
I finally decided to take my childhood friend Mamdouh with me on a hiking trip between Jaba3deen and Sednaya; he said he wanted to quit smoking so I suggested he goes out, hikes and breaths clean air.

He really wanted to know what are hiking trips about, so he accepted.
The picture I have in mind of Mamdouh, that he is a tuff guy but very nice deep inside. We started walking from Jaba3deen, it was so cold that day; The air was freezing, and we walked for hours. But as I thought exactly, Mamdouh didn't complain at all, he was joking all the time and telling his life story as all the hikers do.

But suddenly we reached a slope, as you notice from the photo, it was dangerous, but everyone boys and girls kept on walking like we're walking at home, except one guy:
The Matsho Mamdouh!!
-ehhh Amr (a trembling voice), do you know that if I slipped I could die?
- man take it easy it's not that dangerous as it look like!
-Man you have to wait for me I have to walk slowlyâ¦
I started to nag on him and make fun of him till he stared at me confidentially:
-Akhy (brother), Alf olet walad, wala olet woe3 min eljabal!
( saying thousand times he is a kid, better than saying he fell from a mount).

Mount Hermon (Jabal Al Sheikh)

2005-04-29T12:25:00.000+03:00

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

2005-04-22T19:06:00.000+03:00

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

2005-04-15T20:31:00.000+03:00

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

2005-04-05T14:50:00.000+03:00

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-

2005-04-02T14:06:00.000+03:00

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.

The Road To Mar Moussa Al Habashi -2-

2005-03-26T10:45:00.000+02:00

Al Nabek (Qalamoon Mounts)
And here it is, who expected it will look like that?
Mar Moussa knew where to build such monastery, an isolated place, calm, and you can't reach it by any vehicle.
We encountered faithful young Christians in every cave around it, some were writing, some were thinking and others choose to pray and serve the monastery in the few days they want to spend there. i didn't see a lot of fras and fathers, it was like the place was runing by itself!
Such an interesting place..
but what's behind the old and poor looking from outside?
to be continued........

Posted by Hello

The Road To Mar Moussa Al Habashi

2005-03-19T10:51:00.000+02:00

Al Nabek (Qalamoon Mounts)
February/2005 Mar Moussa monastery, built about 1000 years ago by "as a legend say" an Ethiopian prince how decided to leave the fancy life of the royal family in Ethiopia, and went to the middle of Syria where he built a monastery near AlNabek Town. We went there with The Rangers hiking group led by Bishr Al Sawwaf who decided to take us from the mountains, after several hours of walking the monastery started to show up.
to be continued.......
ps: my friend Talal Nahhass was in this trip, and i borrowed his camera to take several photos as he took some, and without his camera, this photo wouldn't exsist.. (and for girls: Talal is a very nice guy and he goes to GIM daily wowo)....thanks Talal !???
Posted by Hello

Spring of Hama country side

2005-03-12T10:57:00.000+02:00

Hama
April/2004: It was like magic, great views in the middle of Syria, very close to Kafar Zaita and Tibat al Imam villages (north of Hama), endless fields, farms planted with wheat and olive trees.
Posted by Hello

Nomra

2005-03-06T19:55:00.000+02:00

Sweida
June/2004The fourth trip i made this year was in Sweida, Sweida's region is located in the south east of Syria.It was too short but at the same time too exciting!this pic is taken in Nomra, a small peacefull village in the north west of Sweida's region.what is so remarcable in Sweida that everything is black except the sky and the plants!

Posted by Hello

A New Syrian Blog!

2004-11-16T18:36:00.000+02:00

Hey wherever you are all around the world, this blog is about my trips in my country:Syria, about its people and nature... i will try to make the photos talk, and here we go: