We said our goodbyes to our friends at the Damascus Hostel. Raymond et al made our time in Damascus an enjoyable one and the kids especially loved it.
Seidnayya
We headed out to Seidnayya, this is where Our Lady of Seidnayya Convent is perched high upon a rocky outcrop.During the time of the crusades the Christians considered Seidnayya second in importance to Jerusalem.Today, it still remains an important place for Christian pilgrimage.This is due to the presence of a portrait that may have been painted by St Luke. The portrait of the Virgin Mary has many miracles attributed to it and both Christian and Muslim pilgrims come here.
Maalula
Next stop Maalula famed for being one of only three villages where Aramaic, the language of Jesus Christ, is still spoken. We headed up the steep sided hill to the Convent of St Thecla. St Thecla was a student of St Paul and one of the earliest Christian martyrs. The legend says that when Thecla was cornered by soldiers sent to execute her she prayed to God. Immediately lightning appeared and struck the cliff creating a cleft in the rock and she was able to escape. We visited the St Thecla Gap a small siq (cleft) cut through the rock by run-off water from the plateau above the village. The siq reminded us of the siqs in Wadi Rum and Petra, albeit a much smaller version.
Hama
Throughout the Middle East the giant, wooden water wheels of Hama are very famous. These water wheels called Norias make a loud, creaking noise as they turn. They are 20 metres in diameter and the wheel and the blocks that they are mounted on are all wooden- hence the mournful groans! There have been Norias here since the 4th century AD but of the 17 Norias that survive today(all reconditioned) these were designed by the Ayyubids in the 13th century.
Ancient Funfair
Hama is quite a conservative place, most women have headscarves and long clothes. Contrary to Damascus where more women can be seen wearing western- style clothes and eschewing the headscarf. We visited a local park and the Norias and Amber spotted a funfair. The funfair looked like it had been built when my mother was a girl. There were only 3 dodgem cars working but Thomas managed to run fast and wrestle for a car for him and his sister. The kids had a ball and we got lots of friendly, inquisitive smiles. We were the only western family around and with our blonde hair we got lots of friendly stares. People came up to us and introduced themselves, asked where we were from and welcomed us to Syria. Other people said hello or salam as we walked by. So hospitable!
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