Hama and Krak Des Chevaliers

I havent been having much luck with the computers as the last two long entries have been lost so here is to this one saving!

Anyhow after the beehive villages we returned to the hotel where I met my new roommate who was from Canada. We agreed to go out later that afternoon as it was a Friday a lot of Hama was closed. We went back to the Orient House as the food there was yum and it was a very different quiter walk to during the week.

Woke up around 8 ish to go to Krak Des Chevaliers which is a crusader castle and is in the mountains mid way between Hama and the coast. As Erin needed to change money that was the first stop of the day and it proved to be a mild adventure as we toddled up to the main back and were then told that it was a holiday and so they wouldnt be able to change money but they were open! We toddled of to another bank and halfway up the stairs there was a mass exodus I later discovered that there was a man being naughty with the door open - eww!

The money was finally changed and we toodled of to the microbus station where we were succesful in getting a bus to Homs and then on arrival at Homs we were greeted by chaos! There are so many different bus companies going all over Syria that finding exactly were you should be is never easy. We attracted a persistant taxi driver which was more than slightly annoying as there was no way I was spending 1000 syp going to the castle when the bus would do it for 100!

We found the right area (next door to where we arrived!) and boarded the bus which was empty because the buses wait until they are full we had a long wait ahead - luckily lots of babies were on the bus and one of the fathers worked at the castle so he talked to us about it all. After about an hour the bus finally moved and we arrived at the castle and decided to have lunch at the restaurant across the road - twas rather good and only slightly ruined when the tour group across the road got loads of yummy looking wine and me and Erin decided that we couldnt afford it!!

Anyhow we entered the castle and I cant begin to describe the sheer size of it - it is massive and in amazing condition considering it's age. We wondered around climbing onto the outside walls which were a bit high for me though the view was gorgeous and we were able to see for miles but it was hazy and soo windy. As I had cunningly brought a torch we were able to explore all the inner passages which were really dark and spooky!

On realising the time we had to make a dash for the bus because the buses were not regular after 4. Anyhow we met the nice man who we had met earlier and he told us where to wait so we sat and waited for what seemed like an eternity but was probably just shy of an hour getting more and more anxious that we would be stranded! Eventually the bus arrived and we agreed to pay 100 SYP as the bus wasn't full but as we drove we made a few detours and eventually had a full bus so we decided that we would only pay 50 syp as that is what everyone else paid. The bus driver who had been merrily falling asleep woke up in anger and started shouting us - everyone on the bus told him to shut up and that he was ripping us off so we stayed firm!! We were eventually the only people on the bus and he kept glowering in the mirror and saying the odd words of Arabic to us so we merrily fled on arriving at the Bus Station!!

---

---