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Published: September 9th 2006
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Crac des Chevaliers
12th Century French Crusader Fortress Second blog from Syria. Coincidentally, also from Damascus, however in the intervening time I have been all over Syria. No pictures as yet, those will have to wait until I can get to a country that does not have internet censoring. It's very annoying.
So anyway, cities I have been to include Damascus, Aleppo, Hama, and Palmyra. This was with a tour group, and while travelling around Syria I am sure would be quite possible as an independant traveller, I think it would also be very lonely. In my week in Syria I have seen almost no other travellers, despite the fact that in places like Aleppo we stayed in the same hotel that is the top ranked backpacker hotel in lonely planet, yet there was still no one there. My assumption is that a great deal of people have been driven away by the whole Lebanon mess from July, which is too bad, since I've encountered no security issues whatsoever while in the country. I imagine I would feel much safer walking around Damascus in the middle of the night than I would in certain American cities.
First city to travel to was Aleppo, second largest city in
Waterwheels
Wooden water wheels in Hama to take water up to aquaduct level Syria, and it's long time rival. Also one of the more conservative cities in Syria, meaning about 95% of woman were wearing some sort of Hijab, Chador, or various other garmet covering themselves. The full black outfit with only an eyeslit was common. That being said, it's still not law, and women travelers are not required to cover their hair, except in mosques. The main things to see in Aleppo are in the old city, which vies with Damascus for the title of 'Oldest Continuously Inhabited City in the World' according to some people, although this is a tough claim to conclusively prove. Inside the old city are the covered souq (like a marketplace or bazaar), where everyone tries to sell their wares, and also the citadel, which is the big fortress that was built on top of a man-made hill to defend the city. The outside of the citadel has been restored, but the inside has not, but it's still a good place to get a view of the city.
From Aleppo we travelled to Hama, then straight to Crac des Chevaliers, which is a great fortress built by the FRENCH, back in the 12th century as part
Palmyra 1
Remains of 3rd Century AD Roman city of Palmyra. Note the lack of any tourists whatsoever in this photo of the crusades to defend the holy land against the Moorish infidels. This was apparently one of a series of such fortresses running in a line from Turkey in the north all the way to the south of Jordan. They also had a series of signal fires as per the fabulous scene in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King to alert the other fortresses when one of them was attacked. Very cool. Also, if anyone has seen The Kingdom of Heaven, there was a crusader fortress featured very prominently in that movie, although I think that particular fortress was Kerak, which is in Jordan. Anyway, the reason why Crac des Chevaliers is so good to visit is that it is in extremely good condition, having never been conqured. Essentially the FRENCH did such a good job of designing it that the Muslims under Saladin could never breach the walls, but on the other hand the fortress was surrounded, and the French inside couldn't get out and there was no hope of reinforcements coming, so it was a standoff, and the French eventually had no choice but to give up the castle. So the end result is
Palmyra 2
This camel is sad because there are no tourists in Syria to ride him that we tourists get a virtually intact crusader fotress to walk around. There is a 13 tower outside wall, then a moat that actually still has water in it, then a 5 tower inside fortress. The stables, knights hall, dining room, battlements, and a host of other things are all in extremely good condition, making it very interesting to tour around. So that was good to see. Also in the same day we saw Hama, known for it's wooden water wheels that are used to bring water from river level to aquaduct level. Pictures to follow at some point.
After Hama it was on to Palmyra, which is this town out in eastern Syria in the desert next to an oasis that has sizeable Roman ruins. The city is notable as for a brief period it was the capital city of Queen Zenobia, who made an attempt to conquer the Roman empire, and actually managed to take Egypt before she got her bum kicked by the Roman Emperor Aurelian in 271 AD. That was pretty much the end of the city's promenince at that point. The ruins are interesting to see however, although Ephesus in Rome was much better
Damascus 1
Entrance to the old city of Damascus and the main Souq. President Bashar's smiling face greets everyone who enters the city. preserved. An interesting thing to note was the number of tourists in Palmyra compared to that of Ephesus. Ephesus: thousands of tourists and the ruins were filled to bursting. Palmyra: maybe 10 tourists a day, even though this is one of the major things to see in Syria. The contrast was quite striking. I felt bad for the people in Palmyra who are trying to make a living off tourism, as they are clearly struggling. We had the same guy on a bicycle trying to sell us cola riding by us about 5 times a day, as there was no one else to try to sell to.
After spending a day an a half there, it was back to Damascus for the final two days in Syria. The old city is very similar in structure to the one in Aleppo, although the city walls are much more defined in Damascus' case. Major things to see are the Umayyad Mosque, the souq, and just wandering around the old city. They have Christian and Jewish quarters as well in the old city. The Christians are accepted as part of Syrian society and there are numerous churches to see, mainly Armenian and
Damascus 2
Ummayed mosque at sunset Greek Orthadox, which are very old branches of Christianity. The Jewish quarter though has almost no jews left in it though, as the Syrian opinion of Jews in the last half century has deteriorated markedly. Apparently there are a few Jews left, but they take pains to not stand out from the rest of Syrians, so as not to attact attention, so I was not able to spot any.
So to conclude on Syria, Damascus and Syria in general is quite a facinating country, well worth visiting, and completly safe as far as I can tell. I have encountered no problems whatsoever while travelling around the country, and I haven't even gotten sick, which speaks well for the food preparation standards here (contrasted against Egypt where travellers diareaha is endemic). So I'm quite glad I came, and I'm also looking forward to my next destination, Jordan, to which I travel to tomorrow morning. So, goodbye until the next blog!
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jrfromafar
JR
incredible photos... am contemplating a trip to syria, but wondering about getting a visa... any inside info would be appreciated