Set off early – stopping to see stunning Sayyidah Zaynab Mosque including ultra rare sighting of inside because Abdul told them that we are Andalusian Muslims!
I don’t think we would have the chutzpah to do this now. Abdel explained to us that non-Muslims are not allowed in that stunning mosque, so we expressed our disappointment and endeavoured to photograph it from a distance.
Abdel then suddenly said – “let’s go inside”. I’ll tell the men that you, Ian, are an Andalusian Muslim who only speaks Spanish and English. On the women’s side, Janie, you tell them that your husband is a Muslim and that you only speak English and that you are training to be a Muslim.
The “Andalusian Muslim” idea came from a conversation we had around one of Abdel’s tapes, which was Syrian Bedouin music but I mentioned that some of the tunes and rhythms reminded me of Moorish music from Andalusia. Here’s the very music we discussed so you can decide for yourselves, dear readers. About six minutes into the second track it starts to sound really quite flamenco to my ears.
Anyway, regardless of my dubious musicology, our dubious identity story passed muster with the mosque authorities without a glitch. Clearly I had the physiognomy to support the story – I looked like a Syrian soap opera star – remember?
Janie got on very well on the women’s side. One local woman spoke very good English and was delighted to help Janie with her training by trying to help her to say some players in Arabic. Janie explained that she was new to it and found the language side of it very hard; her female companions were extremely supportive.
Of course we could take as many photos as we wished, we were honoured guests.
It was a stunning, never-to-be-forgotten experience for us.
Then saw Shahba – dull Roman ruins town apart from Druze bereaved.
Then onto Qanawat – a single monument in a pretty village.
Then straight on to Bosra. After hotel stop – toured citadel and amazing amphitheatre.
Quick lunch break and then quick once over town racing against the rain. Sanctuary at friend Michal’s place – he also showed us the underground market which we missed in our rush.
Back to hotel and early night.
That had been quite a day – one of the most memorable.
A placeholder & links covering the whole journey can be found through the link here and below:
All the photos from the Syrian leg of our journey can be found here or below:
