Qa'lat al MarqabI really tried hard to not pay the entrance fee at this crusader castle, climbing through a gap in the wall and trying my best to not be seen. Of course, I was caught at the very end while I was leav
... [more]The coast was awesome, but all good things must come to an end, and I'm back in the heartland of Syria, seperated from the mediterranean by a range of mountains. I used to think it a bit lame when in geography class they'd talk about how the mountains would prevent the cool weather from the sea from reaching the hinterland... turns out it's true: I was running around the ruins of Crak des Chevaliers yesterday in a T-shirt, and although today the weather was fairly warm, it got pretty cold after sundown (true to desert style).
I head a bit south to Tartus after my stint in Latakia. Although Christmas was a letdown I got to go to a Syrian (Christian Maronite) wedding, and attend midnight mass in what is commonly thought of as a Muslim country, so I guess it was worthwhile. The much-heralded "street party" was basically a street packed with people, some of which were making an admirable effort at having fun, although the rainy weather was definitely making it hard for them. The one highlight of the night was "Jingle Bells" being played in Arabic and with a belly dancing beat... too bad the chicks weren't
Sun over TartousThe shiny things you see are greenhouses which the coastal lowlands are covered with. View from Qa'lat al Marqab.
dancing. The coast apparently has a very high concentration of
Alawites, which explains why so many of the chicks weren't covered: Alawites don't pray in mosques and their women don't cover up.
Tartus was a pretty cool town. It was much quieter than Latakia, but the Old City was cool, and the island of Arwad had some pretty cool views at sunset (unfortunately I couldn't capture very many of them since I didn't have my tripod with me). I met a couple of Alawite Palestinians who had fled from the fighting about 10 years ago... their father advised me that talking openly about Alawites vs Sunnis wasn't a good idea as it may cause problems for me. He had a picture of the leader of Hezbollah on his wall, a picture I then noticed again and again at various stores.
I'm currently planning on heading to Beirut for the New Year, so that means my days in Hama will be short... hopefully once I'm done checking out Lebanon I'll continue my trip in Syria (I haven't seen Damascus yet), and maybe re-visit some of the cooler sights that I didn't spend enough time at.
Island of ArwadThis tiny island is 3km from Arwad, which makes for an extremely fun trip getting there and back. The picture isn't very clear but the sea basically formed pools between the strange rock formations.
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Crak des ChevaliersSupposedly the most magnificent crusader castle ever, it was quite beautiful. Here's a view from one of its windows down to the village below. Its name in Arabic is Qa'lat al Hosn which sounds an aw
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Qasr ibn WardanI took a trip out to the desert to see the landscape "turn into something closely resembling Mars", as the guidebook claimed. Nothing of the sort. I did, however get to walk out in the middle of not
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More of the QasrThe place was apparently built by the Byzantines as part of their fortifications against the Persians. The place is quite literally on the road to nowhere.
Waterwheels in HamaHama is famous for these water wheels, initially built by the Romans in what must be one of the most impressive engineering feats I've seen in a while. The current turns the wheels which contain smal
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More waterwheelsThey're really quite beautiful and make loud groaning noises as they turn. Only the smaller wheels turn (and that slowly) due to the reduced water flow. There are over a dozen of them lining the riv
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Send Private MessageI guess that could be considered Kool. Next time somebody breaks into your house and steals YOUR identity don't get upset Mr. Your acknowledging the fact you are a rip off artist suggests you should stay home and play with ripped off music specials. PS How do you earn your living or does Mommy and Daddy sort of pay your way? Tsk Tsk - TRAVELGUY
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