"Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed."

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Damascus -- The Gap at Maaloula

A while back I told you about our visit to Maaloua which was about an hour's drive from Damascus. We ventured through the mountains and ended up seeing some wonderful sights.


This is St. Takla's convent. I love how it is nestled safely in the mountain. Reminds me of verses in the Bible discussing our being sheltered safely in God's hands or finding protection under His wing. We wanted to visit this place and one of the routes was


a mile-long hike through this gap! I loved it! It's like going hiking in the Blue Ridge Mountains only it's a rocky path instead of a trail with trees and grass, weeds and roots.


We went under this bridge and walked the rocky path to the convent


Come on, guys! Time's a'wastin'!


OK, here they come finally


I found a little girl walking through the gap by herself


We stopped along the way to pose for pictures


A ceiling picture from within the gap .. cool, huh?


Andrew and Samer enjoying the walk

This guy, Tony, said a prayer for us in Aramaic. He was like the keeper of the gap. Samer got his prayer on video. We were detained by him for a while.

Pictures from Maaloula, Syria
February 2009

1 comment:

Niki said...

That trail reminds me of Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Three of the characters (Aragorn, Legolas & Gimli) walk down the Paths of the Dead looking for a dead king and his dead army.

It also reminds me of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. They were walking down a trail with very tall rock walls, similar to this. I think it's a real place, but I can't remember what it's called or where it is. Somewhere in the Middle East.

Anyway, sorry for rambling on your blog. :-)