Day 12 – Damascus, Amman

We are leaving Syria today and our impressions of the country are neatly summed up by this quotation from Lonely Planet’s Middle East guide: “Syria could just be the friendliest, most hospitable rogue state on earth.”

After spending the morning trying to catch up with blogging and emails we visit the Umayyad Mosque, one of the holiest in the world for Muslims built in AD 705 and converted from a Byzantine Cathedral. Under Umayyad rule Damascus had become the capital of the Islamic world and the caliph, Khaled ibn al-Walid built what he called a “mosque the equal of which was never designed by anyone before me or anyone after me”.

Early afternoon we take a taxi to the bus station where we hope to catch a bus to Amman. Upon arrival it becomes apparent that only one of the dozen or so bus companies operate this route. There are only three buses per day and unfortunately the next three are all fully booked, so we decide to take a shared taxi.

We are pestered by various hawkers but opt for ‘Yankee Charlie’ on account of his good English, which he had acquired guiding British and American sailors around Beirut in years gone by. We are introduced to the driver and after some bartering (the request for an extra S£ 100 to use the car’s air conditioning was flatly refused), we agree the price at S£ 700 each (£ 9.00) and start the wait for two more passengers. Charlie keeps us company to ensure we are not poached by another driver.

Eventually two Arabs are signed up and at 1530 we get going. The driver is keen for us to use our “personal allowances” for the boxes of cigarettes he buys en route but all passengers decline, which he periodically bemoans in a jovial but nervous way. We pay Syria departure tax (S£ 500 (£ 6.50) each) and our driver buys some more anti-ageing products at the duty free shop, amateurishly stuffing them in to bin bags and a holdall. We pass through the customs ‘search’ uneventfully and then have the opportunity to queue for a visa and then passport stamp for half an hour.

After four hours or so we have travelled the 200 km or so to Amman and check in to our hotel. Much as we like Middle Eastern food we would like some variety and take advantage of Amman’s more cosmopolitan restaurant scene and have some rather pricy sushi for dinner.

Day 11 – Damascus

This morning I met Anne Marie Galmstrup, project architect for Henning Larsen Architects (HLA), designers of the new Massar Children’s Discovery Centre in Damascus. Anne Marie was very helpful, talked me through the project and gave me a number of leads to follow up, including contacts at Buro Happold, the civil, structural and M&E engineer for the project, and at Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), the federally owned “international cooperation enterprise for sustainable development…[supporting]the German Government in achieving its development policy objectives”.

Massar, part of the Syria Trust for Development, a non-governmental, non-profit organisation established in April 2007 by Her Excellency Mrs. Asma Al Assad the First Lady of Syria, is “creating a major national learning and development programme for young people in Syria from 5 to 21 years old…[using] non-formal learning techniques to inform, involve and inspire young people across all Syria.”

Its first regional Discovery Centre opened in Lattakia in 2007, and a second in Homs, focusing on music, is under construction. Massar’s Green Team “has been on a national touring program since July 2005 reaching 100,000 children in Syria on 01/06/2008”.

The site lies between two branches of the Barada River (which is more of a stream these days) on a “cultural strip” stretching west from the old city that also features the opera house, library and national museum. The scheme incorporates landscaped gardens, underground car parking and the new building, two-thirds of which will accommodate interactive science exhibitions with the remainder housing library, education and administration space.

HLA were one of five practices shortlisted for an international design competition; or, more correctly, a strategic design approach competition, as the design was developed in partnership with the client and later local consultants. An early activity was a fact-finding mission to Syria focusing on ‘buildability’, i.e. which materials, constructions and technologies could be sourced and delivered locally.

Water management is an issue that has come to the fore over the life of the project (four years to date). Initially the design team struggled to get information and engagement on the subject. However there has been increasing public awareness over the period and the building will incorporate low-flow fittings and appliances and grey water recycling. The latter uses sand filters as part of a “dry wetland” area of landscape, the filtered water being used for irrigation and, potentially, WC flushing. Black water recycling was also proposed but not accepted.

Solar water heating provides some renewable energy generation but overall the design philosophy advocates building ‘lean’ and avoiding ‘green bling’, which is less likely to be adequately maintained.

Anne Marie also showed me some other projects in Middle East (HLA generally being supported by Buro Happold), where water management was a recurring theme.

 

After the meeting I went to see whether the train from Damascus to Amman, Jordan is running, having been suspended during 2006, due to Syrian tank manoeuvres destroying the tracks according to one source. Alas, it is still not running and worse still the Hejaz station in central Damascus, in shades of London St Pancras, is being pushed further out to accommodate retail and hospitality development. (Khaddam, 5 km to the south, is now the main station for Damascus.)

After a pleasant amble back to the Old City and through the souqs…

 

…we found the salubrious headquarters of the Syrian Environment Association (SEA).

 

There did not appear to be anyone there so we went to the SEA’s Ecological and Biological Garden, immediately to the north of the citadel, where I was able to briefly meet Ms Etab Al-Takee, Head of the SEA (and also NPPP – Gender & Communication for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)). I was invited to a seminar on local markets that was about to start but decided that my Arabic wasn’t up to it (shamefully I have just about mastered reading Arabic numerals, and little else) and settled for a cold drink at the cafe instead.

  

Day 10 – Hama, Homs, Crac des Chevaliers, Damascus

En route from Hama to Damascus, we visit Crac des Chevaliers. Our impressions of the remarkable location and castle ruins are somewhat tempered by the development of the adjacent village, the hawkers on the entrance ramp inside the castle and the refuse strewn around the talus (fortification).

The castle was designed to accommodate a besieged army of 2,000 – 4,000 men for five years. To maintain a water supply for this long it relied on:

• One very deep well;
• Nine covered cisterns collecting water from flat roof;
• One Berquilla (an uncovered cistern, from the Arabic birkah), unusually located between the inner and outer walls.

The aqueducts also supplied the moat.

According to Hugh Kennedy, in his book Crusader Castles, “there does not seem to be a single recorded example of a Crusader castle falling through lack of water.”

 

 

Trains from Aleppo to Damascus (via Hama and Homs) run intermittently to say the least (departing Aleppo daily at 0010, 0350, 0540, 1010 and 1645), so we take the road to Damascus, literally rather than metaphorically, although after hearing that Colchester are 5-0 up at Norwich at half-time on the opening day of the season I begin to wonder.

After being subjected to a ridiculous Arabic version of James Bond for the duration of the bus journey we are pleased to arrive in Damascus. After checking in to the Old Damascus Hotel in the Christian Quarter of the Old City we go to the agreeable Art Cafe Ninar for some Syrian beer, Lebanese wine and supposedly Italian food, and I catch the final score (7-1).

Day 9 – Hama

We took a five minute taxi ride to the Baghdad station, Aleppo, at the rip-off price of S£ 300 (£ 3.85) because the driver has no change. The tickets for the 1 h 29 m journey to Hama, first class (air conditioned), cost S£ 100 (£ 1.30) each.

There were no taxis at the station so we started to walk the 2.5 km to the centre of town. We had only got a few hundred metres when a minibus drew up alongside and its occupants insisted we join them. We weren’t sure exactly where we were going to end up but the driver asked where we were staying and took us to the front door. There was no fare to pay!

Hama has a population of about 1.2 million and feels considerably smaller and less dense than Aleppo. It is also hotter though it is dry and there is a continuous gentle breeze.

The reason for stopping here is Hama’s famous norias (water wheels), which are up to 20 m in diameter and, being made entirely of timber (including the bearing), make a strange, unremitting, groaning noise.

There have been norias in Hama since at least the 4th century AD. The present wheels date from at least the 13th century and 17 of around 30 survive. In each case the Orontes River is contained by a small dam and the natural flow forced through a narrow channel which turns the wheel.

Although the wheels continue to turn they are no longer functional, raising water to high level aqueducts, which survive in part.

    

The Four Norias of Bechriyyat have become a water theme park with local boys swimming upstream, climbing on the wheels and jumping and diving from the stone piers.

Despite the reputed culture of water conservation this is one example of wastage that appears to go unnoticed.

We end the day with a stroll on to the citadel, now home to a rather ramshackle but well-used park, and a trip to the local internet cafe.

Day 8 – Aleppo

We spend an hour or so ambling through the souk before going to see the citadel by day. The now largely vanished Quwayq River and underground wells provided an abundant and dependable water supply to the site, key to its longevity.

   

Back on the hotel terrace we meet Dr Yaser of the Faculty of Architecture at Aleppo University, which has links with the University of Dundee.

Domestic water consumption in Syria averages 35 litres per person, a third of that required by Code for Sustainable Homes Levels 3 and 4 (current good practice in the UK), which the Syrians find staggering. It is likely that usage is higher in urban areas than rural, and it will be very interesting to see whether demand will increase as the country continues to ‘develop’.

Although demand is not regulated there are initiatives to implement grey water recycling, marble factories being a good example of where it is being adopted, in contrast to slaughterhouses, where it is not deemed acceptable.

Apparently there are daily water cuts (typically up to 10 hours in Damascus and 3-5 hours in Aleppo) and though most buildings have water storage, it engenders a culture of self-restraint.

In terms of wider environmental issues we learn that the village of Al-Quatara, to the west of Aleppo, became “zero carbon” last year thanks to a joint Syrian Government and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) investment programme in solar water heating and photovoltaic cells.

In Syria there is a feed-in tariff paying a premium for renewably generated electricity exported to the grid, but the rate is only guaranteed for this year, making it difficult to commit to medium-to long-term investments. Absence of clear market signals from government is a common complaint in the UK too.

Fact for the day: the words “tariff” and “sheriff” originate from Arabic.

Day 7 – Adana, Antakya, Aleppo

In a minibus to the Otogar (main bus station, literally “auto garage”)

At the Otogar lots of people are keen for our business. There is no departures board or anything vaguely resembling one, which is ideal for the hawkers. We pass straight through the building to the buses, where there is no hassle because it is assumed we have tickets. We wander around briefly and find a bus departing in two minutes, at 1130. The three hour journey to Antakya skirts around the northeast corner of the Mediterranean before heading inland over a mountain pass offering spectacular views.

 

France ceded the region around Antakya and Iskenderun to encourage Turkey’s neutrality in the Second World War. We later noticed that the present international boundary is described as temporary on Syrian maps.

At Antakya we find that there is one more bus to Aleppo today, departing at 1530, which leaves time for a kebab before we depart. After an hour we reach the border. It takes another hour to complete the formalities, and at 1830 we arrive in Aleppo.

We are staying at the Baron Hotel, which is charming but has seen better days, when guests included TE Lawrence, Agatha Christie and various royalty.

After checking in we go for a walk to try to get our bearings but wander around the lively compact streets for hours and end up somewhat lost and hungry. Eventually we spot fairly smart restaurant in a recently renovated, historic building and enjoy a very good meal for S£ 640 (£ 8.25).

Afterwards we get chatting to the owner, Kamal Kabbani, a local entrepreneur who has also lived in the UK, Middle East and Ukraine. He says that water is a significant issue but that are no regulations, and neither is it a major expense; the cost of water for businesses starts at S£ 1.5 (1.9 p) per litre. However the fact he knows is a good indicator of public awareness; I doubt most UK restaurant owners would know what they pay.

Later he insists on taking us to the Citadel, where we have drinks, which he refuses to allow us to pay for. En route back our taxi driver stops to pick up a friend who perches on the drivers seat (next to the driver), hanging out of the open door as we weave amongst the traffic!

A long day and a warm welcome to Syria.