The Euphrates and its People

Photos I took relevant to this page can be found here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/25797682@N03/sets/72157604687128362/

On the morning of Monday, I woke up at 9am, and as I walked outside, people mentioned my car had a flat tyre. It was the tyre I had to pump up a bit previously, so riding through the desert with Hane driving must have pushed it over the edge!

People considered it to be a big deal and many offered to help, I said it was no problem and would change it later, which baffled them actually!

I took my macbook air to the cafe and used the surprisingly fast wireless internet there for an hour and had breakfast.

Then as I walked back to my car, who do I see but Hane! He is surprised to see me too, he says we should have tea, but I say I've really got to fix my tyre and get out of here, as I have a big day ahead.

He says, we should go see his friend, and we walk five metres, turn right into a cafe and says his friend is a pro. I am a little bit doubtful, but go with the two of them, up the road and sure enough, to a little tyre shop on the corner.

It turns out there are three sharp pin like objects in the tyre, so I have to buy a new one and get it fitted, which they do very quickly indeed.

Hane's friend wants to drive back, so I say, "okay" not so reluctantly. So we go back to the cafe and have some tea and something to eat. And we go cruising around for a bit, blaring out middle east pop hits from the stereo, from two tapes that they generously give to me.

As they are driving, Hane and his friend waving and getting surprised stares from people they know. We go get some petrol, I go into the sunglass shop and I would not be surprised if I set a world record for buying sunglasses. After stopping and entering the shop, it would have been two seconds at the most before then I say, "I'll have a pair of those!" pointing into the cabinent behind the desk. (yes, there was actually a sunglass shop in Palmrya!)

So at about 12.30pm, I finally get going!

The first part of the drive is fairly unremarkable... just the desert for the most part. I stop and in Deir Ez-Zur, I pick up a thin gentle soldier hitching with his big negro coloured stereo system, then drop him off in a big town called Mayadin.

When I drop him off, some people working in the roadside service shops, invite me to tea. And as usual, I am the star and entertainment for about 20 minutes. As I leave I give them all high fives, which some of the men find weird and won't do! While the boys are absolutely delighted... and then I zoom off again.

I take a left turn over the euphrates, and end up on this road which I think is no longer the highway. It is a bit rougher and consists of continuos houses and villages along the euphrates.

Any time I see the river it effects me quite a bit, it is a gorgeous cyan/blue like colour, not mud coloured like I was expecting.

I keep driving and feel somehow refreshed, the women by the sides of the roads wear the most extraordinary and colorful clothes and the men often more minimal and you can see all these gentlemen walking on the footpaths counting their prayer beads... in fact, I have never seen so many religious fellows since I have been in the country.

The area around the euphrates is so lush, and it is quite incredible what a difference a river makes! but the funny thing is, the influence only extends at maximum a kilometer, and then it is completely flat and barren desert again!

Soon I reach a spot where I think I can walk to the river without anyone around or disturbing the crops... so I grab my canon g9 camera and go. People by the river are quite surprised to see me and as I walk up towards the river more and more people notice me.

The river is a very powerful presence, almost clear in colour, and has this nurturing quality about it... no wonder this river was what supported and brought about some of the first civilisations in our recorded history.

Soon, I am walking towards some water pumps and find this whole water pump complex, pumping water from the river into many different irrgation canels.

Boys gather around me, speak broken English and I take some photos of them and show them the photos.

Then I keep walking, into a village and am immediately swamped by kids and various people interested in my presence. I manage to take some good photos of some of the kids on a fence especially!

I doubt many of them have really seen a white person closeup before... and they simply stare and stare.

Some of the women pose for my photos, while others scurry away shyly, while coming back when I down my camera to check me out more.

Soon I have been invited to sit in a courtyard outside a house, surrounded by children firstly, then women and the occaisonal man. They give me water, which they say is from the euphrates, and it is absolutely clear, and very nice tasting.

There are so many people around me, I get hot and sweaty, so one of the women begins fanning me! I take photos of them sometimes, and show them the photos on the digital screen, which makes them all giggle and laugh!

Some of the men come over and shake my head. One of the figure is the obviously the village mullah, as people tell me and he clearly approves of my presence.

Soon, I say I have to go, as I want to get to Mari, this ancient ruined city, one of the oldest in Syria, before sunset and it is already getting late.

Walking through the village, a boy comes up to me and speaks perfect English to me. He says he learnt it in school, and is the only one who speaks english to me. I say to him, get me an email address of someone in the village and I can email the photos to you all. He says okay, and goes into a house, as if to get the email address and I don't see him again.

As soon as I get to the road, there is a couple of older guys blocking the way! They seem a bit grumpy, like I have wandered into some kind of protected area! And soon this very old guy come over. He puts his hand out and I shake his hand, but he holds onto to mine! At first I think he is just being friendly, but then I get a bit of a captive feeling. I ask him if it is alright to take his photo and he seems to be alright with it... then after I take a couple of shots, turns his head away and speaks arabic to the men! One of the men, pulls out some kind of what looks, super ID card... it looks like some kind of official authorised card.

I get the impression this old guy is some kind of super-mullah patriarch. They start asking me for my passport and I say I don't have it on me, that it is in my car and they say, they don't see my car. And I say, that is because it is around the corner! The old guy says he wants money, at least it is obvious that is what he is asking. But I profane total innocense. There is no way I am setting a precedent of gringos giving the locals money in order to just leave them alone! This seems to exasperate the old guy and so I show them drivers license, holding it in my wallet, as if that is my ID and about the only right they have over me is to see it.

The old mullah then seems to get a bit hard core, speaking arabic to me and making a cutting motion on his left hand.

At first, I just think he is just a silly old bugger, who has no power over me at all... but he keeps making this cutting motion with hand. And then I remember, the village mullah has the power to cut off people's hand, if they have stolen something... the only thing I can think of, is that he thinks I have stolen something by taking these people's picture. Which is clearly rubbish, as all had a good time and saw themselves in the camera and was a mutual cultural exchange!

I get a bit nervous at this point, as they are all now getting a bit hardcore, there are dozens of kids around me at this point... and they are being stirred up by this old guy and the other men.

So I say to them, I need to go to my car to get the passport and they say, "we don't see your car" and I say, that is because it is around there! I turn around suddenly and walk quickly towards my car, the men and all the boys shout "stop, stop!" but I have nothing more to say to these people.

Soon I get to my car and quickly get in, there is like a boy crouched in front of my car, as if to stop me from driving. So I turn the engine on, back off quickly, as another boy gets out the way as I speed back! Then I turn back into the road and speed off as the boys lunge toward the car and one of them hits the window, as they are all saying "Stop! Stop!".

Again, it is a case, where they all think I am going to respect the authority as rebellion in this country is inconceivable it seems to me.

The men and boys are making some kind of road block, but speed up and make it clear I am not going to stop and they get out of the way quite quickly and off I go! My heart is racing at this point and I am a bit freaked... I don't think it could have gotten too ugly as there was nobody there who could really restrain or stop me. I would have pulled some kung fu moves I have learnt from the movies and freaked them out enough to get out of there... but I feel their psychic claws and it was not a real pleasant experience.

There are idiots everywhere in the world, and Syria is no exception... unfortunately, this kind of opportunistic vampirism has to stop if Syria wants to become more visited by tourists. It has 3,000 historic sites, while most middle eastern countries have a few hundred. It is a perfectly good example of a stable middle eastern culture which respects tradition, but is also somewhat modern in outlook.

Yeah sure, I have enough money to get to Syria and travel around, but what I have is tiny compared to all the big black, top of line tinted windowed Mercedes Benze's I see cruising past on this road, with number plates from Qatar or Kuwait. Nobody owes anyone money just because they have some!

It is said that the Bedouin will never accept money for their hospitality. But also, strangely enough, tourism may well be the only factor which enable them to survive living their lifestyle. How that will work out is anyone's guess...

So I keep driving along this beautiful road and stop and ask one of the elderly prayer bead weilding arab gentlemen for direction to Mari, I show him the arabic my Bradt guide shows for the site. He tries to give directions, but eventually, just gets in the car and say in Arabic he will go with me!

These older guys have such a friendly countenance and I cannot think of anywhere I know where someone would get in the car with a "stranger", and show you where to go! I am presuming he was already wanting to go to that area anyway!

After about 15 minutes we are very close to the Iraqi border and you can feel this tension and menace... the guide says there are check points along the way to the border, but I don't see any. We get to the town, the old gentlemen gets out, talks to what seems to be a friend, an even older gentlemen and he then gets in!

Off we go again, down the road and after 10 minutes or so, he gestures that he wants to get out here! and also that Mari is just a kilometre further, then I should turn right. I thank him and he gets out.

I get the feeling these old guys are somehow compensating in friendliness for the bad example of patriarchic male I experienced near the river. And in general, this prevents me from generalising at all about such men.

So I get to Mari, as the sun is going down and I am the only one there as is so often the case in this country. There are some ruins covered in a tent and you can walk through them like a maze... the site is very dry and muddy. And walking around, you can pick up bits of pottery EVERYWHERE!

The site is from 3000 BC, and is said to be the most important Mesopotanian site that exists and existed for about 1500 years, until the Babylonians destroyed it. The site is not amazing or anything, but is a peaceful and interesting place to wander over for an hour or so. I am especially looking for bits of ceramic showing ancient cuneiform writing... but find none!

So then I drive back to Deir ez-Zur, which is the city on the euphrates. I find a good hotel, go into town, have some falafel and then go to sleep. In my dreams that night, I discover on the ground oranate ceramic pieces displaying elaborate cuneiform writings.