A pot-bellied Syrian in a brown shirt is calling out tickets for Damascus, but we’ve already lost ours with the company.

“Sham! Ash-Sham! Ash-Sham!”

He has a teenager’s wisp for a moustache, slicked hair and fake leather shoes that curve so much at the toe, ending in a square tip, that they look like witch boots.

We had bought four tickets for a bus scheduled to leave at two-thirty, then proceeded on a servees to Qardaha to see the former president’s tomb with two hours to kill. The lion’s mausoleum beckoned.

By the time we got back to town at two, the bus was filling up. Our tickets were presented and promptly refused. They were for the one-thirty bus, another pot-bellied but stubble-bearded man told us. The transvestite behind the ticket counter had told us two-thirty but sold us one-thirty tickets. We hadn’t taken the time to notice, to decipher that hand-written ticket.

The ensuing hour of arguing, in which we tried and failed to get our money back.

Mustafa, our host in Latakia, was darting purposefully from the untended police station across the cement lot – the bus station – which smelled powerfully of urine, in the hallway outside the office where two men smoked under a portrait of the president, checking foreigners passports, saying hello, and smoking more cigarettes, in rhythm with glasses of tea.

New tickets were finally secured and we sat on a metal bench under a brick roof which was the bus station.  Mustafa told raunchy jokes and some one else chimed with his own, obscene Balkan jokes. Nothing nice about Montenegro.

Peddlers at the rival bus companies barked destinations.

“Homs! Homs! Homs!’

“Haleb! Haleb! Haleb!”

“Ash-Sham! Ash-Sham! Ash-Shaaam!”

Hours earlier, as we tried to buy our bogus tickets, we had tried every single of these companies, standing in little offices that lined the brick overhang, creating the closed space of the station, mostly a parking lot. All tickets to Damascus were sold out, we were told one by one, until buying the doomed set from the office abutting a decaying bust.

Now, hours later, tickets were for sale.

We were treated to a Steven Segal movie on the night ride back to Sham, and stopped at a rest stop long enough to meet a sole French tourist, Arab, who was couch-surfing around Syria. We wished him luck as we returned to our bus and Segal, who was looking badly out of shape in his old and B-movie age.

"In most cases, according to scriptures and legend, it happened in a flash. Mohammed fasting and meditating on a mountainside near Mecca and-flash!-ecstasy, vast revelation and the beginning of Islam. Zoroaster hauling haoma water along the road and-flash!-he runs into the flaming form of the Archangel Vohu Mano, messenger of Ahura Mazda, and the beginning of Zoroastrianism. Saul of Tarsus walking along the road to Damascus and-flash!- he hears the voice of the Lord and becomes a Christian. Plus God knows how many lesser figures in the 2,000 years since then, Christian Rosenkreuz and his "God-illuminated" brotherhood of Rosicrucians, Emanuel Swedenborg whose mind suddenly "opened" in 1743, Meister Eckhart and his disciples Suso and Tauler, and in the twentieth-century Sadhu Sundar Singh -with-flash!- a vision at the age of 16 and many times thereafter; "...often when I come out of ecstasy I think the whole world must be blind not to see what I see, everything is so near and clear... there is no language which will express the things which I see and hear in the spiritual world..." Sounds like an acid head, of course. What they all saw in... a flash was the solution to the basic predicament of being human, the personal I, Me, trapped, mortal and helpless, in a vast impersonal It, the world around me. Suddenly! -All-in-one!- flowing together, I into It, and It into Me, and in that flow I perceive a power, so near and so clear, that the whole world is blind to. All the modern religions, and the occult mysteries, for that matter, talk about an Other World - whether Brahma's or the flying saucers' - that the rational work-a-day world is blind to. The-so-called!friends-rational world. If only they, Mom&Dad&Buddy&Sis, dear-but-square ones, could but know the kairos, the supreme moment... The historic visions have been explained in many ways, as the result of epilepsy, self-hypnosis, changes in metabolism due to fasting or actual intervention by gods-or drugs: Zoroastrianism began in a grand bath of haoma water, which was the same as the Hindu soma, and was unquestionably a drug. The experience!"

- pages 127-128 of The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe

If you are a thoughtless, careless man about your soul, you will take no interest in the subject of this tract. Faith and assurance are mere names and words to you: they are neither land, nor money, nor horses, nor dress, nor meat, nor drink: like Gallio, you care not for them. Alas, poor soul! I mourn over you. The day will come when you will think differently.

Reader, if you really desire to go to heaven, and to go there in the Bible way you will find the subject of this tract of the deepest importance. Believe me, your own comfort in religion, and your peace of conscience, depend exceedingly on understanding the matter about which I am going to speak. I say then, that faith in Christ, and a full assurance of being saved by Christ, are two distinct things.

A man may have saving faith in Christ, and yet never enjoy an assured hope, like the Apostle Paul. To believe, and have a glimmering hope of acceptance, is one thing; to have joy and peace in our believing, and abound in hope, is quite another. All God's children have faith: not all have assurance. I think this ought never to be forgotten.

I know some great and good men have held a different opinion: I believe that many excellent ministers do not allow the distinction I have stated; but I desire to call no man master. I dread as much as anyone the idea of healing the wounds of conscience slightly; but I should think any other view than that I have given a most uncomfortable gospel to preach, and one very likely to keep souls back a long time from the gate of life.

I would not desire to make one contrite heart sad that God has not made sad, or to discourage one fainting child of God, or to give a soul the impression that you have no part or lot in Christ, except you feel assurance. I do not shrink from saying, that by grace a man may have sufficient faith to flee to Christ, really to lay hold on Him, really to trust in Him, really to be a child of God, really to be saved; and yet to his last day be never free from much anxiety, doubt, and fear.

"A letter," says an old writer, "may be written which is not sealed; so grace may be written in the heart, yet the Spirit may not set the seal of assurance to it."

A child may be born heir to a great fortune, and yet never be aware of his riches, live childish, die childish, and never know the greatness of his possessions.

And so also a man may be a babe in Christ's family; think as a babe, speak as a babe, and, though saved, never enjoy a lively hope, or know the full privileges of his inheritance.

Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ a man must have, beyond all question, if he is to be saved. I know no other way of access to the Father: I see no intimation of mercy excepting through Christ. A man must feel his sins and lost estate, must come to Jesus for pardon and salvation, must rest his hope on Him and on Him alone. But if he only have faith to do this, however weak and feeble that faith may be, I will engage, from Scripture warrants, he shall not miss heaven. Never, never let us curtail the freeness of the glorious gospel, or clip its fair proportions. Never let us make the gate more strait, and the way more narrow, than pride or love of sin have made it already. The Lord Jesus is very pitiful and of tender mercy. He does not regard the quantity of faith, but the quality He does not measure its degree, but its truth. He will not break any bruised reed, nor quench any smoking flax. He will never let it be said that any perished at the foot of the cross. "Him that cometh unto Me," He says, "I will in no wise cast out" (John vi. 37). 1

Yes, reader! though a man's faith be no bigger than a grain of mustard seed, if it only brings him to Christ, and enables him to touch the hem of His garment, he shall be saved: saved as surely as the oldest saint in paradise; saved as completely and eternally as Peter, or John, or Paul. There are degrees in our sanctification: in our justification there are none. What is written is written, and shall never fail: "Whosoever believeth on Him," not whosoever has a strong and mighty faith, "Whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed" (Rom. x. 11).

But all this time, I would have you take notice, the poor soul may have no full assurance of his pardon and acceptance with God. He may be troubled with fear upon fear, and doubt upon doubt. He may have many a question and many an anxiety, many a struggle, and many a misgiving, clouds and darkness, storm and tempest to the very end.

I will engage, I repeat, that bare simple faith in Christ shall save a man, though he may never attain to assurance; but I will not engage it shall bring him to heaven, with strong and abounding consolations. I will engage it shall land him safe in harbour, but I will not engage he shall enter that harbour under full sail, confident and rejoicing. I shall not be surprised if he reaches his desired haven weather-beaten and tempest-tossed, scarcely realising his own safety till he opens his eyes in glory.

Reader, I believe it is of great importance to keep in view this distinction between faith and assurance. It explains things which an inquirer in religion some times finds it hard to understand.

Faith, let us remember, is the root, and assurance is the flower. Doubtless you can never have the flower without the root; but it is no less certain you may have the root and not the flower.

Faith is that poor trembling woman who came behind Jesus in the press and touched the hem of His garment (Mark v. 25). Assurance is Stephen standing calmly in the midst of his murderers, and saying, "I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God" (Acts vii. 56). Faith is the penitent thief crying, "Lord, remember me" (Luke xxiii. 42). Assurance is Job sitting in the dust, covered with sores, and saying, "I know that my Redeemer liveth" (Job xix. 25). "Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him" (Job xiii. 13).

Faith is Peter's drowning cry as he began to sink: "Lord, save me!" (Matt. xiv. 30). Assurance is the same Peter declaring before the Council, in after times, "This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" (Acts iv. 11,12).

Faith is the anxious, trembling voice: "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief" (Mark ix. 24). Assurance is the confident challenge: "Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? Who is he that condemneth?" (Rom. viii. 33, 34).

Faith is Saul praying in the house of Judas at Damascus, sorrowful, blind, and alone (Acts ix. 11). Assurance is Paul, the aged prisoner, looking calmly into the grave, and saying, "I know Whom I have believed," "There is laid up for me a crown" (2 Tim. i. 12; iv. 8).

Faith is life. How great the blessing! Who can tell the gulf between life and death? And yet life may be weak, sickly, unhealthy, painful, trying, anxious, worn, burdensome, joyless, and smileless to the very end.

Assurance is more than life. It is health, strength, power, vigour, activity, energy, manliness, and beauty.

Reader, it is not a question of saved or not saved that lies before us, but of privilege or no privilege, it is not a question of peace or no peace, but of great peace or little peace, it is not a question between the wanderers of this world and the school of Christ, it is one that belongs only to the school, it is between the first form and the last.

He that has faith does well. Happy should I be if I thought all readers of this tract had it. Blessed, thrice blessed are they that believe: they are safe; they are washed; they are justified. They are beyond the power of hell. Satan, with all his malice, shall never pluck them out of Christ's hands. But he that has assurance does far better, sees more, feels more, knows more, enjoys more, has more days like those spoken of in Deuteronomy, even "the days of heaven upon the earth" (Deut. xi. 21). 2

Reader, whoever you may be, I exhort you never to be satisfied with anything short of a full assurance of your own salvation. With faith, no doubt, you must begin, with simple, child-like faith: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." But from faith go on to assurance. Rest not till you can say, "I know Whom I have believed."

Believe me, believe me, assurance is worth the seeking. You forsake your own mercies when you rest content without it. The things I speak are for your peace. It is good to be sure in earthly things; how much better is it to be sure in heavenly things!

Make it then your daily prayer that you may have an increase of faith. According to your faith will be your peace. Cultivate that blessed root more, and sooner or later, by God's blessing, you may hope to have the flower. You may not perhaps attain to full assurance at once: it is good sometimes to be kept waiting; we do not value things that we get without trouble. But though it tarry, wait for it. Seek on, and expect to find.

FOOTNOTES:

1 "He that believeth on Jesus shall never be confounded. Never was any; neither shall you, if you believe. It was a great word of faith spoken by a dying man, who had been converted in a singular way, betwixt his condemnation and execution: his last words were these, spoken with a mighty shout 'Never man perished with his face towards Jesus Christ.'"  Traill.

2 "The greatest thing that we can desire, next to the glory of God, is our own salvation; and the sweetest thing we can desire is the assurance of our salvation. In this life we cannot get higher than to be assured of that which in the next life is to be enjoyed. All saints shall enjoy a heaven when they leave this earth: some saints enjoy a heaven while they are here on earth." Joseph Carlyle. 1658.

Well, we know that there is a cost for that and it is called to be on credit but, then again, what is money for if you do not take the risk. A risk that is high when you travel in Europe. We have been seeing the difference while traveling in Syria; cheap traveling is so much easier here.

We went on from Homs to Hama and then Aleppo. I could say Aleppo is truly a medieval city, with its souks and citadel which unfortunately we couldn't see because it was closed for a private event related to the Eid. As a traveler, you don't feel like you are visiting a city in the year 2008 but as if you were a visitor to an old fortress, an old world.

Aleppo is huge but definitely beautiful: culture, history, soap, silk, citadel, mosques and churches, new town and old town – all are things to discover for sure. The best tips we could give you is, as even Lonely Planet said, drop the guidebook and loose yourself in the street of the old town and the street of Al-Jdeideh, the new town from 16th century.

I can assure you that Syria has been the safest country to travel. Nobody interferes with you and you can have it all, you can see outstanding places, taste sublime Aleppan cuisine (like cherry kebab - yummy!) and wonderful sweets, and shop until you drop.

We have discovered a lot on our way through the Syrian coast and those major cities and the awesome historical points of interest around them. We have met good-hearted people of the countryside welcoming us, we hitch-hiked with trucks, sheep and in back-trunk, and I can assure all the ones sitting in their offices reading this blog that this trip is a must do. Get the heck out of that bubble and go see the freaking world before you are too old to carry your bags (am referring to me and Maiku and our heavy bags :) )

Last night, we took a night train from Aleppo to Damascus which was a good choice, the first class for the price of 3 USD was a heck of a comfortable place even though old and rusty and a bit noisy, but it gets you to your destination.

Syria is not so closed country as much as the Western media tends to show. It has nice and hospitable people. You just got to speak some Arabic and watch out from the taxi drivers. Well, they are assholes everywhere.

Sasi loving it!

(...)

Damascus, What Are You Doing to Me?

by Nizar Qabbani

A car bomb killed 17 people and injured 14 others on a crowded residential street in Damascus today, according to Syrian television.It said a car packed with 440 pounds (200 kilograms) of explosives blew up on Mahlak Street, in a southern district of the Syrian capital close to the city’s international airport. . The charred remains of the car was shown by television in the street near a primary school as firefighters stood near a wide crater believed be caused by the blast....

Bassam Abdul-Majid, the Syrian Interior Minister, called the bombing a terrorist act and said all the victims were civilians. But he would not say who might have been responsible. “We cannot accuse any party. There are ongoing investigations that will lead us to those who carried it out.”

Such bombings are rare in Syria, a tightly controlled country where President Bashar Assad's regime has used heavy-handed tactics to crack down on dissent.

But over the last year, the country has witnessed two high-profile assassinations. Several explosions have also been blamed on Sunni Muslim militants opposed to Syria’s secular government.

Today's bombing was by far the largest to hit the capital in recent times. It shattered building and car windows and twisted the roof off one car, according to footage aired on Syrian television.

The explosion occurred at the intersection that leads to Saydah Zeinab, a holy shrine for Shia Muslims frequently visited by Iranian and Iraqi pilgrims about five miles (8km) away. A building used by the intelligence services is also located in the area, but cars are not normally allowed to park nearby....

Source : http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/022859.php

The Syrian state news agency has said Saturday's bomb attack in the outskirts of Damascus was carried out by an Islamist suicide bomber.

The agency also says the attacker entered Syria from an unnamed neighbouring Arab country...

No group has claimed responsibility for the blast, although the Syrian interior minister, Gen Bassam Abdul-Majid, called it a cowardly "terrorist act". >>>>>

Off Straight street one can visit the house of Ananias. All we can say with certainty is that this is another of those uncertain traditional places. Luke tells us that Ananias went to the house of Judas where Paul was staying.

An ancient wall still surrounds much of the old city. A modern chapel is built into the wall to indicate the place where Paul was let down through a window when a plot was made to kill him (Acts 9:25; 2 Cor 11:32-33).

]]> http://hiddencities.wordpress.com/?p=121 Sun, 28 Sep 2008 19:13:55 +0000 freddydek http://hiddencities.ar.wordpress.com/2008/09/28/saturday-morning/ A bomb goes off in the sun before noon, you get a text message to check in, but traffic keeps moving in the central neighborhoods in Damascus. I was walking to buy, of all things, litter and food for a new cat when I received a vague message from the embassy to check in. Knowing something had happened, I ducked into an internet cafe where I saw the news: a car bombing south of the city, towards the airport, near the popular Sayed Zeinab shrine, a beacon for Shia pilgrims and a neighborhood home to maybe a half million Iraqi refugees. There is disconnect, to be sure, whether in the Old City or in the upscale shopping area of Shaalen, popular with foreigners, like Cairo's Zamalek or Dokki. The state television coverage offers a glimpse into a scene on a main road you passed on your way from the airport less than two week before. The next day, in small groceries, the requisite satellite television carries a goverment minister, being interviewd on a set with fake plants, explaining that the perpetrators were foreigners.

Joshua Landis at Syria Comment writes: "A friend who recently opened up a hotel in a renovated Ottoman house in the old city of Damascus called and said that he had lost $40,000 worth of business overnight due to the car bomb. All his October reservations have cancelled."

More importantly:

In general, Syria has been one of the safest major Middle Eastern capitals. The US State Department has maintained a travel advisory against Syria, but that is largely for political reasons. Jordan, Turkey, Lebanon, Iraq, Egypt, Israel-Palestine, Saudi Arabia, etc. are much more dangerous than Syria and have suffered more al-Qaida attacks and dead Americans than Syria. It should be said that no American has been killed by terrorists in Syria throughout the entire history of the country. At least I don’t know of one. Perhaps a Syria Comment reader will correct me?

The fear sparked by this attack is that terrorism has returned to Syria. During the late 1970s and early 1980s Syria experienced a steady and violent period of terrorist strikes, carried out by the radical wing of the Muslim Brotherhood.

There have been a number of political assassinations and several failed terrorist attacks in the last decade, but extremist Sunni groups have not been successful in Syria. Some of the assassinations and explosions are commonly attributed to Israel. See al-Jazeera’s Timeline: Syria attacks. In this group we can place the most recent  Mughniya assassination, the authorship of which is disputed, the “nuclear” facility bombing in Sept 2007, the September 2004 car bombing in southern Damascus that killed an official of the Palestinian Hamas movement and three passers-by.

The al-Qaida type explosions or attacks are:

• April 2004:Three assailants and empty UN building in Mezzeh. Apoliceman and a woman passer-by die in the gun battle. The government blames al-Qaeda, but the attack is claimed by a group which says it wants to avenge the government crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood in Hama in 1982.
• September 2006: The US embassy was attacked by three armed men, which was botched. All three were killed and a member of the Syrian security forces was killed and 14 people wounded in a failed attempt to set off a car bomb.
• There have also been a number of round-ups and gun battles between security forces and “al-Qaida” types, but not successful extremist opperations that have done much damage.

According to the official SANA news agency, the blast occurred on the Mahlaq road in southern Damascus in an area crowded with civilian passers-by. The site was near the Sayeda Zeinab neighborhood, which is popular with Shiite pilgrims from Iran, Lebanon and Iraq. No group has yet taken responsibility for the bombing. It may have been an Iraqi Sunni group targetting Shiites or a home-grown Syrian group. We don’t know.

1. In perhaps the most important development last week, Congress reached a deal on a $700 billion bailout package for the financial sector.   Progress towards an agreement had collapsed last week after House Republicans withdrew their support for President Bush’s initial proposal and Democrats refused to move forward without their support.  The impact of the financial collapse (and bailout) in the United States has yet to be felt, but already some—including Germany’s finance minister, Peer Steinbrück—are arguing that the crisis means the U.S. has lost its “financial superpower status.”

2. In the most recent development in souring Russian-American relations, Russia and Venezuela moved to cooperate more closely in areas of energy policy.  This follows on the announcement that Russian naval vessels and aircraft would participate in Venezuelan war games in the southern Caribbean.  Since 2005, Venezuela has used a portion of its oil wealth to purchase more than $4 billion worth of weapons systems, including fighter aircraft, helicopters, anti-aircraft systems, and armored personnel carriers, from Russia. 

3. The vast expanses of space are becoming a bit more crowded, as China and India expand their own space programs.  China launched the country’s third manned space mission on Friday.  The mission culminated with a successful space walk over the weekend.  Meanwhile, India is planning its own launch intended to map the surface of the moon.  According to some observers, the Chinese and Indian governments are engaged in a new space race, echoing the U.S.-Soviet rivalry of the 1960s.  

4. On Saturday, the Syrian capital Damascus was rocked by a car bomb which killed 17 and injured 44 people.   Although no group has yet claimed responsibility, suspicions have fallen on resurgent Sunni fundamentalist groups.

5. South Africa’s president Thabo Mbeki abruptly resigned last week.  Although the African National Congress’ leader Jacob Zuma is likely to be elected president in the upcoming election, Kgalema Motlanthe, former guerrilla and union leader, was selected as the interim president on Thursday.  Motlanthe says his agenda will focus on maintaining economic and political stability.

Syrian security forces cordoned off the area located near an important Shia shrine and a security post, said the official.

The Sayida Zeinab shrine, in the south of the capital, is popular with Iraqi, Iranian and Lebanese pilgrims.

The security post, Sidi Kadad Intelligence Headquarters, houses a special unit responsible for Palestinian security and intelligence matters.

Syrian media said that the car was packed with about 200 kilograms (440 pounds) of explosives.

More here:

Car bomb kills 17 in Damascus

Syrian car bomb attack kills 17

via the balcony and a ladder that looks like it was carved from an old tree. i was told to store anything i didn't want in the house (like a rusy old bedframe residing on the balcony) on the roof. there is an out-of-use satellite dish up there and piles of wood and metal rubble. the roof is my basement, since the basement is my kitchen.

that doesn't mean a great deal, however. since it's ramadan around sundown the streets quiet, but aggression seems to be taken out here on the roads; syrian politeness and hospitality are otherwise renowned.

i got a kitten today. she's very small and black, 3 months old. a friend who has been here a while took a few of us to see the woman who gave her her cat about a year ago. the family's house was an old beit arabi, beautiful courtyard, outside the old city near a market. like so many houses here, just a door on an alleyway that opens up to greenery inside. only this house was also full of cats. maybe a half dozen kittens running around plus the same number of full grown cats. the father of the family met us in the market and led us to the house, where he met his wife and their daughter. we had coffee with them while we played with the kittens and two of us picked two out, from the same litter, 3 and half months old, but mine is all black and seems the runt of the litter if her tiny frame is any indication. later the family brought out two of their taxidermied cats. one was the grandfather of the kittens. it was mounted on a block of wood. this seemed too much out of seinfeld. the second one was not mounted but stuffed in its curled-up floor position. the faces of both looked crazed, the taxidermy job a little odd. they really love their cats here.

All of the New Testament references to Damascus are related to the conversion of Saul of Tarsus (Acts 9; 22; 26; 2 Cor. 11:32; Gal. 1:17). Saul had participated in the stoning of Stephen and was active in the persecution of the disciples of Christ in Jerusalem. He asked the high priest for authority to go to Damascus and seek out men and women who belonged to the Way and bring them bound to Jerusalem.

The Lord appeared to Saul as he approached Damascus and told him to go into the city where he would be told what he must do (Acts 9:6). Saul stayed at a house on the street called Straight. Ananias came to him and told him to arise and be baptized so that his sins might be washed away (Acts 22:16; 9:18). Saul stayed with the disciples for several days and immediately began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues as the Son of God (9:20).

The street called Straight (Acts 9:11), the ancient Via Recta of the Roman city, now lies about 20 feet below the present street which runs the length of the old city, east to west. At the east end of the street a Roman gate has been elevated to the present level and partially restored. A small monumental arch can be seen near the middle of the street.

The photo below is one I made on Straight Street in 2002. This is not the main shopping street in the old city, but is historically significant.

i may get a small cat soon. university classes don't start for another week and half. i have a membership to the danish institute's library. the institute is housed in a beautifully restored beit arabi (arab house). unlike one recently opened boutique hotel here in another beit arabi, which replaced the fountain in the central courtyard with a lap pool, the restoration of beit al-aqqad, the home of the danish institute, preserved the building's past integrity for the sake of the present. there is a large volume on the work available at the institute. step one of research.

It's interesting.  Clearly there was something extraordinary about the encounter.  It's unclear if Paul was blind at this point of a moment later.  But he must have realized something was going down, he must have realized he was in the presence of greatness, otherwise, he would not have ended the question with the word, "Lord."

And yet, he'd spent his whole life seeking out God.  He had the scriptures memorized.  He lived by exhausting, exacting laws.  He was filled with fire and felt like he was doing God's will as he persecuted the early Christians.

I wonder what it was like.  He's no dummy.  He must have-- just at that moment-- realized that his entire life had been basically a farce.  He must have realized-- just at that moment-- that he was face-to-face with the object he'd been seeking for his whole life.  The fact that he asks who it is though indicates that he realized he'd been barking up the wrong tree, that he never really got it at all.

            Regardless, the relatively easy journey was especially welcome after the stress of hearing from Di and Jeevs, who had gone ahead to Damascus in order to buy out train tickets to Iran, that there were problems and that we had to come ''as soon as possible''. When we finally arrived at the hotel to meet them, we realized that the cause for such haste was that, contrary to the information that I had received from the train station a month ago, they couldn't purchase the train tickets with the scanned copies of our passports and Iranian visas. Which means that we all have to go to the train station at 6am tomorrow morning and try to get them then, before the train leaves at 8am.

            We also learned that they were being told that British passport-holders have to pay $150 at the Turkish border, while the French are let in free! Again, different people say different things and we still haven't confirmed this. Notwithstanding, J has made it clear that he thinks that the fact that the Brits have to pay at all while the French are let off scott free is the height of ingratitude, considering the Brits' relatively open attitude towards Turkish integration into the EU compared with France's uncompromising secularist discourse on the issue...

            And funnily enough, I am very often surprised at the overt reverence that so many Arabs ( in my experience Egyptians, Lebanese, Syrian, Jordanian) have for France compared to their vocal disdain for the US and the UK. Obviously, such attitudes are more the product of the violence perpetrated by the latter in the 21^st century. That reverence, however, completely glosses over the horrendous history of French colonialism and its legacies in the region. Especially in Lebanon, I am constantly shocked at the francophilia present in all echelons of society, not just among the nostalgic Maronites with their superiority complex and 'French education'. Surely, they recognize the French role in establishing the confessionalist system that continues to plague their country? Often, no; they would prefer to denounce the monsters of more recent history instead, as if some precarious balance of blame had to be maintained in which not all imperial powers could be held accountable at the same time.

            Anyway, our crossing into Turkey, provided that we do get on that train tomorrow, could be condemning some to falafel and fruit diets while enabling others to be a bit more frivolous in the bazaar's of Tehran...

            We strolled through the old part of Damascus after Iftar had finished and the shops had re-opened. The town, charming in ordinary times, is doubly enchanted in the evenings of Ramadan. The winding alleyways, the stone arches, the balcony overhangs supported by wood that tilt occasionally, betraying their longevity... All these time-machine scenes are rendered more magical by the proliferation of fairy lights and flags strewn overhead, the late-night chanting that rises from the mosques all around and the festive family atmosphere. Children know they can profit from their parent's good spirits and do not miss an opportunity to ask for an ice cream, a pair of earrings or the latest novelty toy, which they are rarely refused.

            And a wonderful first city to start this journey in. The architecture, the food, the hospitality and the current vibe all combine to make it lovely to pass through Damascus. We have all visited Damascus before, so for all of us it is not a discovery, rather a welcoming inkling of comfort before a vast horizon of unknowns.

Highlights in the museum were the oddly moving 1400BC tablet with the world’s first recorded alphabet and, alongside it, another tablet with the world’s first recorded musical notation. Also the 4,000-year-old Phoenician glass, sublimely coloured using techniques experts still can’t unravel. And the stupendous Dura Europos synagogue, the wall paintings as pristine and beautiful as they must have been when created 1,800 years ago.

Glad to see Dura getting some mainstream press coverage!

They don't know what blindness is

They claim to wander the long road,

They don't know that it left them long ago

This dervish wanders in clouds of dust, following a path unknown

Into the ocean we shall see the climax at the gates

They say that they have power,

We ignore it and keep our secrets

We know the way, they know the dialogues

We keep the silence, and they believe the have found us

We do not hide our union,

but merely tell them they do not see us

They light a candle at the ocean's edge and attempt to tell us they see

They are blind, but we are mute

They speak many empty words

Our language is carried on by our silence.

This conversation will never end,

its language is written into the very cells of my body that burst with new life

It is unspoken to the ear

but the words that carry out from my motions

They're like ocean waves, and your whispers

they carry over my body in echoes

This dance that I dance, it's part of the secret of our langauge

my feet scratch mysteries into these grains of sand underneath

We are the sand, and the moonlight overhead,

I am an endless ocean

And light pours out from my eyes

The light of the dawn, makes merry meetings

In meeting, these two hearts beat closer

We have a secret union

The hyacinths blush and the lilies whisper across the banks of our river

The Indus and the Ganges have nothing on us now

The pilgrims search out there for this

They are seeking for the outside in their travels

They know the sights

We keep the silence

The initial 'leg' of this journey is infact a false one: it takes me from Nice (where i've been for the last 10 days visiting my mum and stepdad) back to Beirut, from where the real games begin. However, it is nonetheless stressful, and will take over 12 hours and 2 stop overs (Paris and Budapest)...

I should arrive there at 4am tomorrow (Sunday). Just enough time for me to go to my friend's house, take a quick nap, shower, and pick up my big backpack, before heading out to Damascus round noon with J and Caro.

In Damascus, we will meet up with Di and Jeevs, who have gone on ahead of us in order to buy the train tickets to Tehran. Our train is scheduled to leave at 8am on Monday morning. The train is 2350 km long, and taks over 50 hours.

Route: From Damascus, it takes us north into Aleppo, and then further up into Turkey. From there we turn east and run along into Kurdistan, till we reach lake Van. I think then we have to take a shotr ferry. Then back on the train till the Iranian border, where we cross at Razi. And then we descend south-easterly into Tehran.

For a detailed timetable, see here.

So that's the first stage... Quite hectic, but that only increases the excitement.

2. Angkor Wat (Kamboja) : the world’s largest religious temple
Angkor adalah sebuah rangkaian lokasi ibu kota Kerajaan Khmer dalam periode lama dari abad ke-9 sampai abad ke-15 Masehi. Puingnya terletak di hutan dan tanah perladangan di utara Danau Besar Tonle Sap, dekat Siem Reap, Kamboja sekarang ini, dan merupakan Situs Warisan Dunia UNESCO. Kuil-kuil di Angkor Wat, sekarang sebagian besar telah dipugar, merupakan bagian dari contoh arsitektur Khmer.

3. Memphis (Egypt) : ancient capital of Egypt

Mesir Kuno adalah suatu peradaban kuno di bagian timur laut Afrika. Peradaban ini terpusat sepanjang pertengahan hingga hilir Sungai Nil yang mencapai kejayaannya pada sekitar abad ke-2 SM, pada masa yang disebut sebagai periode Kerajaan Baru. Daerahnya mencakup wilayah Delta Nil di utara, hingga Jebel Barkal di Katarak Keempat Nil. Pada beberapa zaman tertentu, peradaban Mesir meluas hingga bagian selatan Levant, Gurun Timur, pesisir pantai Laut Merah, Semenajung Sinai, serta Gurun Barat (terpusat pada beberapa oasis).
Peradaban Mesir Kuno berkembang selama kurang lebih tiga setengah abad. Dimulai dengan unifikasi awal kelompok-kelompok yang ada di Lembah Nil sekitar 3150 SM, peradaban ini secara tradisional dianggap berakhir pada sekitar 31 SM, sewaktu Kekaisaran Romawi awal menaklukkan dan menyerap wilayah Mesir Ptolemi sebagai bagian provinsi Romawi. Walaupun hal ini bukanlah pendudukan asing pertama terhadap Mesir, periode kekuasaan Romawi menimbulkan suatu perubahan politik dan agama secara bertahap di Lembah Nil, yang secara efektif menandai berakhirnya perkembangan peradaban independen Mesir.

4. Petra (Yordania) : stones structure carved into rocks
Petra adalah kota yang didirikan dengan memahat dinding-dinding batu di Yordania. Petra berasal dari bahasa Yunani yang berarti ‘batu’. Petra merupakan simbol teknik dan perlindungan.
Kata ini merujuk pada bangunan kotanya yang terbuat dari batu-batu di Wadi Araba, sebuah lembah bercadas di Yordania. Kota ini didirikan dengan menggali dan mengukir cadas setinggi 40 meter.
Petra merupakan ibukota kerajaan Nabatean. Didirikan pada 9 SM-40 M oleh Raja Aretas IV sebagai kota yang sulit untuk ditembus musuh dan aman dari bencana alam seperti badai pasir

5. Palmyra (Syria) : the bride of desert
Palmyra dulunya adalah kota penting di Syria, terletak di daerah oasis 215 km timur laut Damascus. Dahulu dikenal dgn nama Tadmor (bhs Arab). Kota ini dulu terletak dekat sumber mata air panas, Afga, dan merupakan tempat singgah ideal bagi para kelompok pengelana dari Iraq – Al-Sham (skrng Syria, Lebanon, Holy Land, Jordan). Lokasinya yg strategis membuat Palmyra menjadi kerajaan terkenal dan makmur pada jamannya abad 2 SM.

6. Pompeii (Italy) : buried by volcanoPompeii adalah sebuah kota zaman Romawi kuno yang telah menjadi puing dekat kota Napoli dan sekarang berada di wilayah Campania, Italia. Pompeii hancur oleh letusan gunung Vesuvius pada 79 M. Debu letusan gunung Vesuvius menimbun kota Pompeii dengan segala isinya sedalam beberapa kaki menyebabkan kota ini hilang selama 1.600 tahun sebelum ditemukan kembali dengan tidak sengaja. Semenjak itu penggalian kembali kota ini memberikan pemandangan yang luar biasa terinci mengenai kehidupan sebuah kota di puncak kejayaan Kekaisaran Romawi. Saat ini kota Pompeii merupakan salah satu dari Situs Warisan Dunia UNESCO.

7. Palenque (Mexico) : one of Mayan’s most exquisite cities
Palenque adalah kota peninggalan bersejarah suku Maya yg berlokasi di kaki gunung Tumbala, Chiapas, Mexico. Kota bersejarah ini tidak terlalu besar tetapi di dalamnya memiliki bangunan2 dengan arsitektur indah, patung2, ukir2an yg dibuat oleh suku Maya.

8. Vijayanagar (India) : capital of one of the largest Hindu templeKerajaan Vijayanagar adalah sebuah kerajaan India, sejak 1336 dan terletak di Deccan, India Selatan. Kerajaan Vijayanagar ditemukan oleh Harihara (Hakka) dan saudaranya Bukka Raya. Kerajaan ini diberi nama sesuai dengan nama ibukotanya, kini namanya berubah menjadi Hampi di Karnataka, India. Kerajaan ini berdiri mulai thn 1336 dan berakhir pd thn 1660.

9. Ephesus (Turkey) : one of the most important cities of early Christianity
Ephesus (Efes bhs Turkey), kota yg membentang sepanjang 3 km di bagian selatan kota Selcuk, provinsi Izmir, Turkey. Kota ini dulunya merupakan pusat perdagangan dan pusat agama Kristen sampai sekarang. Reruntuhan Ephesus merupakan salah satu obyek wisata favorit di Turkey.

10. Sanchi (India) : the best preserved group of Buddhist monuments
Sanchi merupakan komplek monument yg menandakan jaman keemasan Budha di masa Kerajaan Ashoka. Kalau jaman sekarang Sanchi sama dengan stupa, kuil, atau tempat kediaman para biksu. Monumen Sanchi berawal dr abad 3 SM sampai abad 12. Yang paling terkenal dr Sanchi adalah Stupa 1, yg dibangun oleh Raja Mauryan. Monumen ini berisi ukir2an yg bercerita ttg sejarah agama Budha.