Syria with Luxury & Style (10 Days): A Sample Itinerary
ID #: DT-S-10-10-22-10-BESI
DavidTravel Itinerary Highlights include:
Learn about ancient kingdoms and
empires while traveling to biblical sites, ruins and vibrant,
modern day souks during an independent journey that begins at
Damascus, one of the world's oldest continually inhabited
cities. From the cities of Rasafa and Aleppo to the bronze Age
city of Ebla and Homs, site of the magnificent Crac des
Chevaliers, Syria's transcendent, time honored wonders are
revealed.
• Explore the closed tombs of Borpha and Bolha in
Palmyra - a
privilege requiring special permission
• Stop for tea at fabled Al Nowfara cafe in the Old City
• See the Old Houses (Palaces) in the Old City - including Beit
Nizam and Beit el-Akkad - which are not usually open for tours
• Head off the beaten path to
Bosra, a long-forgotten city of
Roman ruins and site of the el-Mabrak Mosque
Overview:
The Syrian Arab Republic revels
in its antiquity, having been inhabited for tens of thousands of
years - and in the variation and cultural riches that such
antiquity has brought it. This is a country that preserves
scores of relics documenting the rise and fall of different
civilizations, and which continues to welcome such diversity.
Syria was once regarded as a frontier region, bordered to the
east by the Arabs and Persians. The Persian invasions were
repulsed but Syria eventually fell to the Muslims in the
mid-seventh century. From then on, Syria was to be firmly part
of the Muslim world, although retaining Christian and Jewish
populations. Muslim control of Syria was vital to the defeat of
the Christians and their expulsion from Jerusalem. Even when the
terrifying force of the 13th century Mongols was unleashed on
Syria, their massive Hulagu army was eventually defeated at the
Battle of Goliath’s Well – a victory that, in retrospect, must
be seen as one of the world’s most decisive military
engagements, preventing both the Muslim world – and the
Christian one – from certain doom.
Today, Syria's Islamic identity is as central to the country as
its Arab roots. Such doctrine over-spilled into Arab nationalism
in the 1950s - indeed, Nasser’s revolution in Egypt prompted
Syria to join Egypt in the United Arab Republic. However, the
alliance was short-lived, Syria seceding in 1961 to form the
Syrian Arab Republic. Since then, Syria has been ruled at the
head of a tightly controlled dictatorship. Even when General
Hafez al-Assad of the Ba’ath Party (or Arab Socialist
Renaissance) died in 2000, and his son Bashar assumed headship,
Western hopes that the country would pursue a more pro-Western
line proved misguided – in the vocabulary of the US Bush
administration, the Syrian Arab Republic is a ‘state of concern’
(one level below the ‘axis of evil’).
Although Syria pulled its forces out of Lebanon in 2005 after
being implicated by a UN report for the assassination of former
Lebanese premier, Rafik Hariri (Syrian troops have remained
there ever since the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, in a (successful)
attempt to prevent the expansion of Israel, and to
counterbalance Israeli military might in the region), relations
with numerous Western states remains fragile.
In short, the Syrian Arab Republic's long history is littered
with dramatic episodes, from being subsumed into past empires
(Babylonians, Canaanites, Assyrians, Phoenicians, and so on) to
more recent events, such as Napoleon’s campaign in 1799/1800,
the Egyptian invasion in the 1830s and the insurrection in
1860-61. However, such battles and scrambles over territory have
translated into a catalogue of staggering cities full of
stunning monuments, from the entire city of Damascus to the
country's many mosques. The events have also failed to impair
the character of the Syrian people who – surprisingly to some –
exude friendliness and warmth, and are justly proud of their
land.