Aleppo, Syria

The courtyard of the Omayyad Mosque at dusk.

Lively and authentic souqs selling absolutely anything you need in life.

The more touristy souqs are smaller and few and far between. But still beautiful!

The butcher's lane.

Architecture students!!

Oh yeaah!

The tomb of Prophet Zachariah in the Omayyad Mosque.

Maronite Church in the Christian Quarter.

These wooden boxes are amazing. I did so many sketches of them.

The Armenian Church

The view of the Mosque from the hilltop Citadel.

The Citadel.

New friends!

Very very friendly people. I love Syrians!

All the moms pushed their sons to us for a photo which we willingly obliged!

Dumped by the busy roadside in the middle of the city, the group of us travellers must've looked bewildered and lost. Trying to orientate ourselves in this sudden chaos after hours on the bus was proving difficult. We were hoping to arrive at a bus station (with a Tourist Info! How naive.) and find a place to stay for the night. We weren't even sure whether we're in Aleppo but the sensory overload - noise, dirt, chaos and massive traffic - confirmed our arrival in an Arab city. One thing for sure no one expected to be dropped off like this.

But this is Syria.

Where the hospitality of its inhabitants are age-old tales passed from travellers to travellers. We were immediately rescued by one person after another (within minutes). The locals pointed us to the right direction and assured us with a smile as big as Arabia itself - "Ahlan wasahlan".

Aleppo to a lot of Westerners is a deeply conservative city but that analysis didn't occur to me until someone actually said it. Yes there are people donning traditional dress but hey they could be physicist or a socialist for all I know. Someone wearing modern Western clothing might hold a traditional worldview (caste system, arranged marriage, honour above all, tribal allegiance etc). Is that conservative or not? The term conservative to me is confusing.

The highlight of Aleppo for me is the tomb of Prophet Zachariah. I was just walking around the Old Town aimlessly when I saw the Omayyad Mosque. I went in, prayed and sat down in the cool shades admiring the elegant architecture of the courtyard. I saw people converging at one corner and I asked someone what they're looking at. When told that it was the tomb of the Prophet I felt a kind of blood rush. I was moved. This was the first time that I actually see any kind of manifestation from the Quran and the prophetic stories. I was really moved by it. I stood there and just stared at the simple grave adorned with rich green textile. I was at peace.

The Aleppine souqs are breathtakingly beautiful. The mediaeval architecture fused with the messiness of the goods creating scenes that took me centuries back. Best of all it wasn't a museum toy town for tourists but an authentic part of the urban fabric. It's a functioning high street. Maybe a good comparison would be Fes in Morocco but there the souqs are more like alleyways. In Aleppo it was an interconnected grand bazaar covered in countless domes. And unlike the Moroccan souqs, there was absolutely no hassling or pushy sellers. I loved the souqs here. I spent hours and hours just walking around getting lost in the labyrinth. Kudos to the enlightened municipal council whose philosophy is to preserve the authenticity of life in the Old City. That would ensure this won't go down as another tourist trap. I went to the regeneration museum to learn more about their plans and was really impressed. Penang and Melaka should learn from Aleppo.

The Christian Quarter was another interesting area in the Old City. I've always been curious about the Christian Arabs. Now that I've learnt a bit more, they're all more intriguing. All of the different churches are concentrated in almost one street in Quarter - Armenian, Maronite, Greek Orthodox and Catholic. Each has its own interesting history in the Arab world. In the Armenian Church I spoke to one lady who showed me around and told me the history of the Armenians in Syria. The Armenians in Syria are mostly descendants of the Ottoman genocide survivors in the early 20th century. She still mourns the loss of Western Armenia (Today's southeastern Turkey) to the Turks and refused to use the Turkish names for these "occupied" areas. I then told her the story of the Armenians in Penang that surprised her. Even told her to come visit Penang.

Aleppo was such a great place, I'd come again for it just to be lost in the souqs or meet up with all the friends that I made here. Even if I didn't do the sightseeing, I would've still enjoyed Aleppo for the sheer friendliness of the people (free falafels, free baklava, everybody wanted a photo with me, I was greeted with songs and the Arab dance in the hammam etc). But Syria is fast modernising. Things seem like it's going to change. But let's hope it will never change the hospitable character of the Aleppines.

I LOVE ALEPPO.