12 Established 1961 Lifestyle Features Wednesday, November 4, 2020 Syrian Kurdish dog breeder Mohammed Derbas, 27, rides his motorcycle alongside his running hunting dogs in the village of Hunting dogs run together in the village of Al-Derbasiyah in Syria’s Kurdish-held northeastern Hasakah province near the Al-Derbasiyah in Syria’s Kurdish-held northeastern Hasakah province near the border with Turkey.— AFP photos border with Turkey. n his motorbike, Mohammed pack of dogs darting after him in a cloud dogs sprinting behind a motorcycle. Derbas speeds across a field in of white dust. The dogs he breeds can Forty-year-old Jihad Mohammad shares Onortheast Syria, slender Saluki be sold for one to four million Syrian the same passion. “I’m so happy when I dogs galloping behind. He hopes to pounds (around $400 to $1,600 at the go out hunting” with the dogs, he said. export them for racing in the Gulf, despite black market exchange rate), depending Mohammad said what was once a war and coronavirus. Salukis, cousins of on their characteristics, Derbas said. The beloved hobby—training dogs to hunt the greyhound, have been used for hunt- breeder used to export between 100 and rabbits—had now become a business for ing for thousands of years in the Middle 150 dogs annually before the conflict, but many in the area. “I bought puppies and East and are some of the fastest of that figure has dropped to 20 in recent now I’m looking after them and training canines. Saluki dogs were revered in years. them to run,” he told AFP. Shukri ancient Egypt, being kept as royal pets Moussa, 70, said some families in Ad- and mummified after death. The village of Coronavirus complications Darbasiyah started breeding Salukis in Ad-Darbasiyah in Syria’s Kurdish-held Airport closures over Covid-19 have earnest around 20 years ago. “Back in northeast is famous for breeding and further weakened his trade, especially the day the Kurds only had them for hunt- exporting them to the Gulf, notably to the since his dogs are shipped to the Gulf via ing, but now it’s become a trade,” he United Arab Emirates and Qatar, where Damascus airport. “Because of the novel said, sitting under a tree in his courtyard, desert dog races are popular. coronavirus crisis, the airports were surrounded by his grandchildren. But he The once-lucrative export business, closed and our activity stopped,” he told said not everyone welcomed the idea as however, was dealt a blow by Syria’s A woman comes to retrieve her horse after being surrounded by hunting dogs in a field. AFP. But the breeder expects a timid socially acceptable. “Sometimes it upsets conflict since 2011 and this year’s coron- breeding dogs for 15 years. Even though have their ears cropped, while others recovery after flights between Syria and the villagers because they eat the chick- avirus pandemic that has hampered business is slowing, Derbas keeps his boast long legs partially dyed orange Qatar resumed in late October. In the ens,” he said.—AFP trade and travel. “Before the conflict, peo- 100 dogs in top shape. with henna. To improve their speed and meantime, he hopes to attract customers ple from the Gulf used to visit us here, in Tails wagging, they rally around him endurance, he straddles his motorbike through social media. His Instagram pro- search of the best pedigrees,” said 27- as soon as he enters the fenced enclo- and sets off at full speed across the arid file shows pictures of dead rabbits year-old Derbas, who says he has been sure where they are kept. Some hounds fields on the outskirts of his village, the caught by his Salukis, and videos of the A greyhound hunting dog, with its lower limbs dyed with Syrian Kurdish dog breeder Mohammed Derbas, 27, sits next (From left to right) A greyhound with its lower limbs dyed A greyhound hunting dog, with its lower limbs dyed with henna as a form of decoration and protection, rests on to one of his greyhound hunting dogs, with its lower limbs with henna as a form of decoration and protection, henna as a form of decoration and protection, stands the ground at a dog-breeding facility. dyed with henna as a form of decoration and protection. stands together with a saluki dog inside a pen. leashed at a dog-breeding facility in the village of Al- Derbasiyah. Netflix to debut its first Egyptian original series ists hung low over Machu Picchu, continue our travels in Central America,” built in the 15th century by the Inca continued, he came across a cave “as adding an eerie, otherworldly added her husband Arnaud. The gates emperor Pachacutec. It was a ceremonial fine as the finest stonework in the world.” Matmosphere as delighted tourists reopened the morning after a ceremonial center, but there were also areas dedi- ‘Paranormal’ entered the iconic Inca citadel for the first Inca ritual was performed at the former cated to agriculture and living quarters. It ‘Rise up to be born with me’ time after eight months of lockdown due religious site. “It was a surprise to see took a couple of hours for the low-lying While Bingham (1875-1956) rediscov- to the coronavirus. Two couples from that effectively we were the first interna- clouds to lift and reveal the famous ered the archeological ruins, historians etflix Inc will debut its first France and Chile were the lucky first visi- tional tourists to enter this complex,” Huayna Picchu peak that provides the say it was Chilean Pablo Neruda (1904- Egyptian television series tors on Monday to the UNESCO World Chilean Juan Jose Garcia, 34, told AFP. backdrop to the typical postcard picture 1973) who “discovered” its poetry. The N“Paranormal,” a major step in Heritage site. They were brought to the “I feel lucky to be able to visit here with- of the site. Those low-lying clouds, as well site’s reopening coincides with the 75th the streaming service’s Middle ruins by bus from the tiny Machu Picchu out people,” added his wife Victoria as the dense mountainside vegetation, anniversary of Neruda’s poem “The Eastern strategy tomorrow. The Pueblo village at the foot of the 2,400- Moran. The citadel’s eight-month isolation ensured that the citadel and its treas- Heights of Machu Picchu,” which helped series is based on Egyptian novelist meter (7,874 feet) mountain atop which was nothing compared to the four cen- ures—such as the Temple of the Sun or give the citadel global exposure at a time Ahmed Khaled Tawfik’s books the ruins sit. “We’re really happy to be turies it lay covered by dense vegetation Intihuatana stone—remained hidden for when neither television, internet nor social about a doctor whose lifelong scien- here today,” Frenchwoman Veronique, before being rediscovered by American four centuries until they were rediscov- media existed. Neruda rode a mule up to tific convictions are suddenly called who declined to give her surname, told explorer Hiram Bingham in 1911. Before ered by Bingham on July 24, 1911. the citadel in 1943, three years after it into question. His critically AFP. She was left stranded in Peru with the pandemic, around 3,000 people a Having spoken to locals, the Yale opened to tourism. Two years later, he acclaimed novels in Arabic have her husband and two children by the day would visit Machu Picchu, which University professor became convinced wrote his famous poem in which he tells sold more than 15 million copies. pandemic. Peru ordered a total lockdown means “Old Mountain” in the Quechua there were treasures to be discovered in the indigenous builders of the citadel to “Our plan is: invest in Arab creators, and closed its borders in March. It has language that predominated in the Inca the area, although he never imagined “rise up to be born with me, my brother.” in Arab production, in Arab content. since become one of the worst-affected empire. Now, visitors and staff must pass what he would find. He organized an “Cling to my body like magnets. Hasten We have announced four projects, countries in Latin America, with the high- through a temperature control before expedition up the mountain led by a child to my veins and to my mouth. Speak plus ‘Paranormal’,” said Ahmed est mortality rate in the world, after the entering the site. guide. “We were confronted with an through my words and my blood,” he tells Sharkawi, director of Arabic and tiny republic of San Marino. unexpected sight, a great flight of beauti- them.—AFP African original series at Netflix. While the confinement was hard on the ‘An unexpected sight’ fully constructed stone terraces, perhaps Paranormal centres around couple, it was like a “holiday” for her chil- On Monday, the first visitors—mostly a hundred of them, each hundreds of feet Refaat Ismail, a cynical doctor with dren, said Veronique, whose family plans Peruvians—were met by low-lying clouds long and 10 feet high,” Bingham wrote in a dark wit and whose convictions to return to France next year. “We may as they followed paths around the citadel his book “Lost City of the Incas.” As he about the natural world are put to the test when he begins to experi- ence paranormal activities. “This is one of my life’s projects. I loved (the novels) since I was a kid ... We’ve been trying to get (a series) out since 2006, so finally it has been shown to the audience,” said Amr Salama, co-producer on the show along with Mohamed Hefzy.