I was very pleased to be accompanied by my teenage sons in Lebanon for a week but the eve of New Year’s Day 2007 was their departure back to Singapore.

So we celebrated the coming New Year over lunch in an up market Italian restaurant in Beirut. We were welcome by a French speaking manager whom we had met the other day in another part of town. He helped us out with road directions and passed me a business card for the best restaurant in town. We did not know that his name was written on it. Since I would be on my own that evening he invited me to their dinner and dance party which I gladly accepted.

Early next morning I took a cab to the terminal to catch a taxi to Damascus. I waited for two hours and together with five other men including the driver we hit the road in an old American car that was built in the 70's. I was in the back with two huge men who compressed my seat to the left. The interior of the cab was seedy with its velvety upholstery badly stained with brown spots. Above our heads hung a swinging miniature plastic chandelier. I sat uncomfortably tilted to the left throughout the two hour journey. However the trip only cost me $10.

There was much petty trading going on between the two countries since the cost of living was so much lower in Syria, clothing, cigarettes, socks, underwear, duty free stuff, etc and was a source of extra income for cabbies who seem to know the customs officers very well. As usual in Damascus as in other places, I relied on local cab drivers to help me find a hotel. After viewing four small hotels that were within my budget I settled for one that was centrally located and was near to the Cham Palace, the only 5 star hotel in the French setting of the 1920’s. I spent most evenings in the lounge listening to live classical piano and violin performed by two provocatively dressed women from Russia. Somehow they rather reminded me of Vanessa Mae. After a couple of drinks I would take a walk in the area of my hotel. Along the way there were mainly juice kiosks since Damascus is 95% Muslim.

One evening I was lucky to win the trust of a well-known jeweller who was operating from the Cham Palace. He told me that he had a collection of ancient beads dating back from the Akkadian to the Roman period but they were not for sale he said. His description of a brooch from the Roman period was an eye opener. He explained that ornaments from this era often depict weapons because of their prowess to conquer. The gilded iron brooch that looked like archery equipment and was a pin for the right shoulder of a man. The technique of fire gilding employed used in the past, to apply a thin layer of gold to a surface, using mercury is a process that few people would undertake today due to the risk of mercury poisoning. The process involves using a amalgam of gold and mercury that has the consistency of butter, this is then applied to a prepared surface and sublimed by heat so that only the mercury is evaporated. Subsequently the metal must undergo other operations to develop the fine gold colour.

When I revisited Damacus two years later, The Four Seasons Hotel which was built and owned by a prince from Saudi Arabia was already in business rivalling the legendary Cham Palace Hotel. I had only three days in Syria two of which were spent visiting museums, souks(Street markets), the Ommayad mosques, baths and many beautiful old mansions that were around the souk. Many of these mansions have been converted to restaurants catering mainly to locals. I found it was very inexpensive to enjoy really delicious food in a historical place that had such nice ambience.

I spent my last day on a day trip to the historical Palmyra (Tadmoor in semitic) "city of dates" it was a metropolis situated beside an oasis of palm and dates in the south west of the country.
It is mentioned on Assyrian tablets in around 2nd BC as a caravan stop on the silk road that linked China and Europe via the Middle East. The Romans baptised it Palmyra "city of palms"
after it become its colony. The Palmyrians were given equal rights with the Romans. The city prospered from caravans from China, India Persia, the Persian Gulf, Arabia, Turkey, and Europe
under the reign of their military chief Odenathus II. After his assassination in 266AD,his second wife the beautiful and intriguing Zenobia who claimed to be a descendent of Cleopatra, took power in the name of her minor son, Vaballaths. She went to war with Rome after proclaiming independence for Palmyra. She was captured after her troops were defeated and was taken back to Rome and took part in the emperor's triumph, attached by gold chains to his chariot.

The partially rebuilt ruins cover 50 hectares, comprising monuments, palaces, columns and tombs. I wandered around this rolling desert on a camel with a camel driver. He also took me to a Bedouin tent with the intention of making more money. We were greeted by a couple with two children. They invited us into their cosy tent that was lined with thick cushions. We made ourselves comfortable over a cup of coffee and nuts. Salmah stood up to turn on her cassette player and with a triumphant air she belly danced to some Arabic tunes. As she wriggled more and more vigorously to the music her jingling Bedouin silver jewellery that she had on her body mingled with the beguiling tones; setting off a festive mood. She rejoined us after she finished dancing and with a little negotiation I managed to convince her to part with her jewellery happily.

The silver necklace in my catalogue, A006, which is shown in the picture above, was on her neck jingling away to the music. On the way back, my young boy camel driver suggested that I take over the reins which I regretted doing, since we were going downhill and the pressure exerted by my pillion rider was not such a good idea. Instead I wished it had been a two-humped camel that we were riding. When I got off the camel it was already getting dark and chilly and the only tourist bus was nowhere to be found. However a passer by in a van was kind enough to give me a ride to the bus station as buses run around the clock. In less than 3 hours I was back in my hotel room in Damascus with the memorable experience of my camel ride.