Syria

While in Syria, four of us from the hostel went to see Crac des Chevaliers, the most famous and intact of the crusader castles. TE Lawrence (who, as an undergrad, studied medieval military architecture) described Crac des Chevaliers as "undoubtedly the most impressive fortress in the world." Like everywhere else I've been in Syria, it is relatively empty of tourists - which significantly enhances its ambiance.

By popular request, a picture of moi (uh, yes, still here):

Crac des Chevaliers was built in 1031 by the Emir of Aleppo. It was captured in 1099 during the First Crusade. It was finally re-taken in 1271 during the Eighth Crusade through trickery rather than physical breach.

This is a group of schoolgirls on a field trip. They, as is common with anyone you meet in Syria, wanted to practice their English with us as well as ask about our countries.

The Syrian countryside is beautiful, beautiful, beautiful:

Following our visit to the castle, we stopped on the way back at St George Monastery, built in the 6th century. At the same site is the 'new' church, built in the 12th century.

The original church:

It was, all in all, a pleasant day out. On the way back, our driver stopped at his cousin's house. They invited us in for coffee and then invited us to spend the night. Syrians - the most hospitable people on earth!

So - who's coming to visit me?

Old City Damascus is just excellent. Little mazes of streets with sweets and crafty shops.

Secret brightly lit courtyards, often hidden behind nondescript doors:

Uh, descript doors:

Shrines:

More shrines:

Craft shops:

Cafes:

Souks:

Of course, the mosque - this one in particular is the Umayyad Mosque, which houses the tomb of Saladin as well as the head of John the Baptist:

And churches:

I recently got back from a quick trip up to Syria and Lebanon. I went with Jon, a college student from South Carolina who is on the tail-end of a year long trip to all the non western places in the world. We haven't much in common - he loves Dumb and Dumber - but we get along swimmingly. In fact, I will be going to see him when I get back ‘cause he’s a cook and his family specializes in cheesecakes. Uh, and 'cause he's a cool guy.

Damascus is only three hours from Amman, so it’s much like going to Monterey for the weekend… except that when you go to Monterey, you don’t get held up at a border for ELEVEN hours.

Dang!

I can’t really gripe, though. It’s common knowledge that the long wait for Americans is a tit-for-tat thing with Syria. We barely let Syrians into the States at all; even with a visa, they are required to wait for hours (btw, I use semi-colons in homage to Kurt Vonnegut, jr, who once said that they were "transvestite hermaphrodites representing absolutely nothing. All they do is show you've been to college.")

On the plus side, the no-man’s-land between Jordan and Syria has a café with excellent food, a hotel with a business center, and a really swank duty-free store. I bought the biggest bag of peanut M&Ms you’ve ever seen. They were from a French M&M factory, which means they were much better than the M&Ms one generally gets in Jordan, which are manufactured in the Gulf. On a side note, the Froot Loops here are also sub-par, also produced in the Gulf (UAE maybe? Saudi?). So, if anyone sends a care package, let it have American Froot Loops.

Anyway, after eleven hours, we were stamped and on our way. For the record, I don’t know of anyone from the states who has actually been denied entry to Syria…unless, of course, they’ve been to Israel.

As soon as we arrived in Old City Damascus, we were completely charmed. We had to wander these tiny ancient streets lit by lamps and shrines to find our hostel.

We stayed in the Damascus Hostel, built into the wall of the Old City. They had a bunny and two tortoises and a rope ladder that hung over the side of the wall. Damascus is very fairytale. It is known to be the oldest continually inhabited city on earth.

The hostel courtyard:

Jon climbing down the wall on the way to one of our escapades:

The hostel from the outside - our room was the one in the turret:

I did a day trip to Marqab & Salah Ed-Din, two crusader castles, as well as Apamea. To be honest, I didn't expect much. Ruins start to look the same to me after a while (I'm so low-society)...and I've already been to the Dead Cities, Ebla, and St Simeon. But they all turned out to be very cool.

Just three of us went from the hotel using a taxi. On the way, we stopped for breakfast at a cinderblock home by the side of the road. It's certainly not a place one would know to stop, but that's the nature of this place. The cab driver knocked on the door and the family came out with piles of ingredients and proceeded to stoke up the oven - which, here looks like one of outdoor clay firepits, only tilted somewhat sideways with a much larger top opening. They prepared mini pizza-like pastries and cooked them by slapping them against the inside of the chimney. My favorite is one covered in oregano and sesame seeds. The goat cheese one is great as well.

The first crusader castle we hit, Marqab, is located on a point overlooking the Medeterranean and there are 360 views of the sea and hills surrounding. We were the only ones there...actually we were the only ones at all of the sites, although a regular tour bus pulled up at Salah Ed-Din when we were almost done. Actually, I think this goes a long way toward why these monuments are so striking...no people.

Salah Ed-Din is also built, as any good defendable castle, on a point. In this case, there are sheer rock walls on one end that the castle sits on. On the way in, we stopped and had Bedouin coffee with the caretaker...one of the perks of not being on a giant tour bus. He took a shine to us and gave us a personalized tour of part of the castle and also showed us some of the herbs that grow on the site.

The last place we went, Apamea, was up on a grassy plateau. It's an old Roman city and the main thing that remains is 1.8km of columns that had lined the main road. For some reason, they impressed on me the most the sheer scale of the city, unlike anything I've seen in Rome for example. There is no way to get the feeling of standing there from the photos. Also, we arrived about ten minutes before sunset, so had the opportunty to wander through them alone at dusk with the call to prayer echoing from a near by village.

I'm not up to much at the moment. I've been hangin' out in Hama, which doesn't have a lot to see as far as tourist sites go. But I'm up for relaxing anyway...I've got some time, after all. Also, for me, a big part of travel is just to hang out and absorb the culture of wherever I am.

Also, I've been spending time with Aisha, a girl who lives here (met her through couchsurfing.com), but grew up near Seattle. She met a guy from Syria back home and got married and has been living between here and the US for the past 14 years. Now she's been living here continuously for two years with her four boys (!) while her husband wraps up their affairs back in the US. She's unflappable as she accopmlishes life with her boys orbiting around her. Her youngest is 9 month old Yusef. She's muslim and gets more stares than I do when we walk around. They don't know what to make of an American in full muslim covering speaking fluent Arabic.

For the record, women here wear anything from hotpants to full black with veils covering their entire face. The clothing shops are interesting because they are full of over-the-top brightly colored dresses covered with sequins. It's difficult to find any simple clothing for women at all. With the help of Aisha, I bought some cloth and designed some clothes to be made by a tailor. I'm waiting for them now...if it pans out, I may come home with a whole new wardrobe.

The one thing that Hama is known for is the Norias - ancient wooden water wheels. They're over 1000 years old, at least. Difficult to nail down exactly how much older than that. Some say they're here from 1200BC. I've managed to arrive when the water's been blocked off for bridge repairs, but normally the norias are turning. They have an eerie groaning noise while in motion...or so I've heard. It's likely that I will come back this way after Jordan, so they should be up and running by then.

...as I'm writing this, staff at the hotel keep reaching in and giving me cups of tea and nuts. The hospitality here is remarkable. Not just at the hotel, but out in the streets. If a Syrian knows only two words in English, they are 'hello' and 'welcome'. And if you are wondering, this is even after they find out where I'm from.