Exploring the Night Life of Souk Sirijeh, Damascus

We arrived Dimashq around 19:10 hours and went to a place called Masaqin for what Amir called Syrian ‘Nasi Mandi’ dinner, but rather a Yemeni cuisine of Syrian Lamb and Chicken Briyani. The succulent Syrian Lamb or Lahmah Dhoni had tempted my appetite that I have to ignore the alerting level of Uric acid circulating in my blood. The Yemenian relaxation style of dining was another memorable experience for all the kids.
The above photo: Amazed by the architecture of Bab el Jabieh and enthusiastively attentive listening to Amir's story of one of the seven doors of the old city.
After the dinner, we took two taxis to one of the well-known spots of Dimashq that is well known by tourist, the Souk Hamidiyyah or Souk Hamidi by the Local. Actually, our main intention was to perform our obligation at the Grand magnificent Umayyad Masjid or Masjid Umawi in the Local dialect, which is one of the most prominent features of Syria. I will share about the Masjid in my later entry.
Various colors and taste of the local olives that decorated the alley of Souk Sarijeh. In the photo below: all sorts of local fruits were nicely presented to lure customers. Awesome, aren't there?
After had satisfactorily fulfilled our obligation, we went to Souk Thawil or the Long Bazaar or Madha Pasha Bazaar, which is parallel with Souk Hamidi. Most of the shops out of service I mean closed. All the places I mentioned above are within the old city of Damascus, which has 7 main Gates. And, one of it is Bab el Jabieh, which we went through to Souk Sarijeh (am not too sure I pronounce it correctly) in the Local dialect.
Nana bought some pastries and a kilo of the local orange or Buktuqal. The price - was rediculously cheap.!
Can't remember the name of this species. There were warmed above the hot charcoal.

Goat head or Ras Khorouf was very popular in Syria. One could find many restaurants serving the dish. How they serve and consume was not sure for me though. Nevertheless, it was an eye opening experience to the kids. All this while, they normally heard about the goat head story in one of the hadiths during our ‘ta’lim’ session.

There were few pastries masteries and/or halawat shops along the Souk. We bought something similar to baklawah in Egypt – I think Manahourah (please do not quote me!). I must say; it was really mouth watering crumply delicacies.

We tried these sweety deserts, made from cheese, milk, wheat, sugar and sprinkled/decorated with sliced pistachios. I have tasted both and must say - yummy, yummy....delicious.

Souk Sarijeh was basically accommodating the Local produces vendors, which was still busy during this odd ours. The people that we met were very friendly, accommodative, helpful and polite. It was really an awesome experience roaming the alley in the middle of the night entertained by the beautiful colors, shapes and characters of the inhabitants. Despite the hectic agenda, most of us still have sufficient energy to walk through the nite. Anyway, we decided to call it a day - time ticked 23:37 hours. Masalamah