Quick preface: I am currently in Europe on the crazy Ultimate Train Challenge, but scheduled up a few non-train posts before I left on it, in case I was short of internet. So enjoy this post and others, but…. come over to the train challenge site also and root us all on in our quest to get from Lisbon to Saigon in 30 days!
The Damascus souk, also know as Al-Hamidiyah Souq, just inside the walled city is massive. Until you spend three or four hours walking around, you have no idea really how massive it is.
wishing this was Smell 'O Vision....
The Damascus souk stretches over what seems like miles and miles of streets and alleyways in the walled city. Normally tourists only get to see a small bit of it when they enter through one of the main gates, walk down the main, wide street towards Umayyad Mosque, and perhaps down the other main street of the souk that passes by the gold and spice merchants.
But if you wander around the tiny side alleyways and streets of the Damascus souk, you then start to understand not only its size, but also how many things are actually for sale inside. Here is the link to some of my short videos from walking around at night.
I took hundreds of pictures when I was there, so I’ve divided them out into two photo journal posts. This one consists of the spice and food shots I took, the other one is going to be of the rest. Enjoy and if you like it, I’d love if you shared it around on Facebook or Twitter or Google+ or any of the other little buttons I have strewn around here. Thanks.
all kinds of food stuffs for sale --- here, various nuts
candies, anyone??
freshly squeezed orange juice, with a huge smile
more spices and smell-good stuff
dried fruits for sale in the Damascus Souk
cannot get enough of the spice shots here
even the non-colorful spices look cool
we interrupt the spices to bring you.... potato chips
and now back to our regularly scheduled programming
ok, enough of this... you get the point
x
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Ah yes, spices (and orange juice) – undoubtedly THE most photographed subjects in all of the Middle East (the World?)
And yes, I too am presently queuing up a gaggle of advance posts to entertain the TravelnLass troops when I necessarily enter seclusion upon starting the month-long CELTA course in Saigon.
Dyanne@TravelnLass recently posted..Have you Hugged Your QR Today?
When are you going to be in Saigon? We’ll all be there in October after the train challenge.
yuummmyyyy I’m hungry now…. luckily tonight we are having curry!
Jade Johnston – http://www.ouroyster.com/home
Jade Johnston recently posted..Best and Worst of the UK
I haven’t had a good curry in ages… miss that
I can never get enough of it, I love spice markets.
Ayngelina recently posted..Home sweet home
Same here — photo heaven
I’ll take 16 ginormous bags of potato chips, please!
ehalvey recently posted..Saturday Snapshot-Guinness Art in Dublin, Ireland
Isn’t that crazy? Just huge open bags of chips.
I love the spice pictures! Markets are great photo places. I was in the market in Ubud, Bali recently looking for a blue weaving. Even though the place is a crazy maze with lots of tourists wandering around buying things by the time I’d been there for two minutes all the vendors knew I was looking for a blue weaving. I would turn a corner and they would call to me “blue”, “blue”.
It is moments like that where travel really all comes together in my eyes. Creating the memory you will have forever.
Love these photos! I wish I actually knew how to use more than 3 spices when I cook.
The Travel Chica recently posted..First Week in Ohio
I thought you were a great cook?! That’s the word on the street.
I saw my first spice market in Morocco – and fell in love there and then. This post just fuels the passion – cheers!
Abi recently posted..Unusual Paris – Ghosts & Ghettos
Ahhhh, I need to get to Morocco. That is high on my list of countries to visit soon. Such great colors.
Man, those sure are a lot of spices! What I find interesting is that it actually even smells good despite many of them being strong.
I wish my posts sometimes were smell-o-vision. This being one of those times.
Teach me how to cook with these spices!
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