Bullseye’s Blog

Well, today is my eighth and final day in the Damascus area as tomorrow we will be moving on to Palmyra. Of the three Middle Eastern countries I’ve visited on this trip, Syria is without a doubt the best. The people here are friendly and welcoming, there is no hassle to speak of (even for the girls), and everything is quite cheap.

Half of my time here I’ve spent wandering around the old part of Damascus, which is an amazing section of the city filled with winding souq’s housing an incredible variety of shops and eateries. You can (and I did) spend a whole day just wandering from one food cart to the next sampling the cheap and delicious cuisine – an experience that only really sets you back about US $10. With the food and shops out of the way, another must-do is a trip to a Hammam (bath). Me and some of the guys headed here for an afternoon of relaxation, complete with a wash, sauna, scrub-down, massage and an hour sat drying off and drinking tea. Today should be another relaxing day, wandering the rest of the old city – seeing the famous mosque (supposedly second only to the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, which I recall was quite spectacular), and of course filling myself with some more food.

The Umayyad Mosque

Damascus Souk

The other four days I’ve indulged in the newly developed Syrian sport climbing – which to be honest isn’t really anything special. The largest and only crag I’ve visited is Monte Rosa, which consists of several dozen bolted single pitch routes on sharp limestone. The grading here is very modest, to the point where anything French 6a or above is a real struggle for me even on a top-rope. The climbing mainly consists of 15-20m routes that ascend razor sharp limestone with mainly tiny crimps for holds (a combination that has lead to quite a few cuts and scrapes). I spent 2 days working through leading many of the grade 5 climbs, and another 2 days top-roping some of the more difficult ones. Overall an interesting crag, but in no way more exciting than taking a couple hour drive from London down to sport climb in Portland (certainly nothing compared to Wadi Rum!).

Climbing in Monte Rosa

I don’t have an SD card reader at the moment, so I’ll post Damascus photos along with ones of the ancient city at Palmyra when I get a chance. Only another 6 days left on the trip!