{"id":947,"date":"2020-09-21T16:38:15","date_gmt":"2020-09-21T15:38:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/toonsarah-travels.blog\/staging\/?p=947"},"modified":"2021-01-12T12:10:57","modified_gmt":"2021-01-12T12:10:57","slug":"once-upon-a-time-in-syria-part-two","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/toonsarah-travels.blog\/staging\/once-upon-a-time-in-syria-part-two\/","title":{"rendered":"Once upon a time in Syria: part two"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I went to Syria in 1996, when it was a very different country. The ruins I saw have since been devastated by acts of war and terror, and its people have suffered. I wonder what happened to the Bedouin woman who sold us bread by the side of the road; or to the village children who excitedly dragged me off to meet their mother.<\/span><\/strong>..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having recently unearthed and scanned the old slides from that half-forgotten trip, the memories came flooding back and I felt the need to capture them before they fly away again. In addition, I thought these old images and an account of our visit would be of interest. Syria is in the news these days for all the wrong reasons; here is the old Syria that I experienced \u2013 warm, friendly and with a fascinating history, full of wonderful sights and captivating desert landscapes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notes about the photography in this post: our slide scanner is not<\/strong> one of the best, which combined with some deterioration in the original colours etc. means that the images aren\u2019t of the quality I would normally consider sharing, but I hope the interest-level overrides any concerns on that front. I have tried my best to identify the locations correctly but will almost certainly have got some wrong – please contact me<\/a> if you spot any errors. In addition, some were taken by my husband and are shared with his permission.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Desert roads<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Leaving Aleppo we drove west across a barren desert. I think it was in Syria that I first fell in love with the huge open skies of desert landscapes. Some of our travelling companions were bored by these long drives in the \u2018middle of nowhere\u2019 but I felt I could sit and look out of the window quite happily for hours!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Petrol
Crossing the Syrian desert, 1996<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

We stopped in a small village and wandered around taking photos, welcomed to do so by the local families who were happy to pose for my camera. I don\u2019t recall seeing any men around \u2013 they must have been working elsewhere, maybe farming (we saw a lot of dried sunflowers). One little girl literally dragged me off to meet her mother who insisted I came inside to see their home. It was simply furnished, as you can imagine, apart from a large well-polished wooden wardrobe. A few photos, some torn out of newspapers and including one of President Assad, were stuck on the walls. The postcard of London that I had given the girl was proudly added to the display. Who knows what will have happened to that family in the 24 years since I met them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n