Damascus -- Maaloula Street Sights

Yesterday I started telling about our trip through the mountains to reach Maaloula. Along the way, we stopped once or twice for pictures ... and even to have afternoon tea. Abu Muhammad brought a thermos of hot tea and we stopped at a place like this to drink it.

Andrew caught me and Samer in the midst of a discussion. Perhaps it was as deep as "So why did the chicken cross the road, Samer? What is your Arab perspective on that?"

We didn't see a lot of these, but they still caught my eye. It appears to be a mountain house, Syrian-style! Complete with a pool??? Or perhaps it's some sort of inn. I don't know. Either way, I was intrigued.

As we drove up the road, we left the main area (downtown?) of Maaloua behind and came across this interesting sight!

Talk about having a balcony outside of your room! This

was part of this old house!

And you want a place to store things? How about that loft there in the distance? Want a closer view? Here it is!

See it? Get a load of that ladder!
It reminds me a bit of a loft in a barn.

Maaloula was great fun because we enjoyed the sights and stopping to climb rocks along the way

And cross bridges if ya like

Seeing all the caves along the streets of Maaloua made me understand how people can hide out in caves and avoid detection. It made me think of Osama bin Laden, but also Bible characters. I recall Saul and David seeking shelter in caves. I just never had seen so many until I came to the Middle East especially Maaloula.

All these Maaloula pictures were on the way to The Gap. Hope to get there soon enough to relive that walk here on my blog.

Pictures from Maaloula, Syria
February 2009