The Northern Syria Escapade

It was really tough for us - woke up at 05:05 hours. After performing our Fajr prayer, we checked out from the home stay at 05:40 hours. Hesam and his Hyundai H1 have been waited at the main road since 04:30 hours. We departed for Aleppo or Halab in local dialect at 05:45 hours. At that hour, the sun was still not ready to ‘work’, but its ray colored the chilly pleasant Dimashq sky. The weather was very pleasant. The kids however, could not hold to their sleepy eyes and continued – dozed off. Subhanalladzi sakh kharalana haza wamakun nallahu mukrinin wainna illa rabbina lamun qalibun.
After about 1 hours and 15 minutes drive, we stopped at Nabak for our breakfast at Tayibbah Restaurant along the highway. The menu – what else? None other than the humus ma laban – blended chick peas and yoghurt flooded with extra virgin olive oil. That was it! Fired rice or Nasi lemak – don’t ever dream about it dude!!

Alhamdullillah. Fortunate me, the kids (if you see the three photos (Ayman,Afi,Afiq & Asri) below, they were actually sleep-walking!) and Nana had no problem with the menu. They were very adventurous and less fussy with types of foods. I spent few minutes unloading my biological waste. The cleanliness and the hygiene of the restaurant in general were superb. What had also impressed us, was the distinctive services and hospitality of the staff. We continued our trip at 08:00 hours.
The Day 3 agenda was a 2 days excursion to the Northern part of Syria. Aligned with the objectives of our trip, we have visited many prominent historical places at Hamah, Maaratul No’man, Aleppo or Halab, Latakkia or Lazaqiah at the fringe of the Mediterannean sea,Ugarit, Jablah, Banias, Tartous, Arwad Island, Homs or Hims, and last but not least the fascinating Ma’lula. The program and itinerary was very tight and compacted, but believed me, it was indeed a lifetime and eye-opening experience.
Among the places that we had visited was; the 5th oldest Masjid in the world at Hama; AnNouri Masjid at Hama; the famous Noria of Hama; the shrine of Prophet Yunus a.s; Omar Abd Aziz’s mausoleum; the footprint of Prophet Muhammad saw (peace be upon him) at Halab; Sultan Ibrahim Adham’s Masjid and shrine; the tomb of the great companion Khalid Ibn Walid and his sons’s Abd Rahman; the tomb of Ubaidullah Ibn Umar ra; the shrine of Prophet Zakaria a.s. at Halab; and many others that I will share later.

Alhamdullillah – praise only for Allah swt and thanks to Allah rabbul Jalil for giving us the wealth, strength, health and patience throughout the journey. The 2 days escapade was ultimately an amazing and enriching experience for all of us.