Damascus - Part I

After a quick flight on the wonderful Egypt Air, we arrived in Damascus, Syria. The owner of our hostel sent a car to pick us up from the airport, and after we got dropped off at our hostel, he took us for a little tour of the surrounding area, to help us orientate ourselves. Our hostel accomodations were great. We actually were staying in our own one bedroom apartment with its own kitchen and bathroom, and a balcony that looked up at the mountain south of Damascus.



Kicking back for some light reading after a long day.



The view from our balcony of the mountain in southern Damascus (the name escapes me right now). There is a mosque near the top, which apparently is at the site where Cain, of Biblical notoriety, slaughtered his brother Abel. Or was it the other way around? But you get what I'm saying...

The mountain view by night... beautiful.

The al-Ummayad mosque in Old Damascus.

After wandering around Old Damascus for a while, Dom and I stopped at a local bar for some refreshments and a little game of backgammon. This was my first time playing the game, and Dom destroyed me. The bar we were at was located in the Christian quarter of Old Damascus, so they had BEEEEER!!!!! (The beer was awful though, and they put ice cubes in our mugs...)