The other SAR

Adrian (my soon-to-be ex-boss) chose Damascus as the venue for his final Regional Meeting. No powerpoints, reports...or paper for that matter. It was basically a grand send-off weekend party for The Gane. No problem here. The toughest part was trying to pretend I was drinking as much as everyone else without actually doing so. The fact that DB was there definitely didn't help - the man drinks like a fish.

Damascus holds a viable claim to being the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world. The city, particularly all within the old city walls, was simply stunning. The photos speak for themselves. Syrians are so hospitable, they seem to constantly worry and want to make sure you're having a great time every single minute...which can become a little difficult for both sides. One really has to appreciate that they carry the best of intentions. I've been so spoiled by them it makes me wonder how I will be able to handle the reverse culture shock when I get kicked back to take-it-or-leave-it Hong Kong.

Having said that, the Syrian Arab Repulic is an authoritarian regime accused by the US of harboring former Iraqi leadership and terrorists, allowing resistance fighters to flow from its border into Iraq, and is right up there on the suspect list for assassinations committed on Lebanese leadership. Yummy.

Walked around the Umayyad Mosque (my first time in ANY mosque, believe it or not), and struck up an interesting conversation with a visiting Iranian on the shrine of John the Baptist as well as must-see places in Persia. All went well until he started talking about Zionism, at which point I appropriately (for my sake) interrupted with "So, are there many of my fellow Chinese living in Iran?"

Along with the boss, I got kicked off the flight home, so we spent the night dining at a hilltop restaurant overlooking Damascus. We drove out of Syria the next day, passing through Lebanese vineyards in the Bekaa Valley and flew out of Beirut. Well worth the offloading.

Now here in the office I sit...the king-bitch of Bahrain and offline Middle East...for a month.

Comments

[Brian]

hey, how many photos can you store in these albums?

[Peter]

Zionism.... ahh....