Crac de Chevalier was our next stop and is an ancient castlebuilt by the emir of Homs in 1031, but it was the Crusader knights who, around the middle of the 12th century, largely built and expanded Crac into its existing form.
Castle Review: they are old, have lots of stone, people used to fight in them, and now they don't.
We then made our way South to go to hot springs and stay out with the Bedouins for a night. If you've never been to a hot spring, then you won't be able to imagine the overwhelming egg smell from the sulphur - eventually you get used to it and it's well worth it! We were out in the middle of nowhere, and the Bedouin man of the family turned the springs on for us and we drank and were merry in sulphurous water for a few hours. For a Bedouin tent, they must have been doing okay seeing as they had a television and a huge dish for cable right outside the tent - really quite hilarious!! We spent the rest of the night sitting with the Bedouin family, whose roles we were never entirely sure of. There was the Man, his mother, and two other women, and a little girl and boy. I attempted to play guitar, only after breaking a string, and the Bedouin man pulled out his homemade 'tin with one string' instrument' and what an interesting night we had.
After that we went on to Palmyra which has Roman ruins, dating largely to the 2nd century AD, cover some 50 hectares and have been extensively excavated and restored. It's really something to behold, and it just goes on and on and because they have excavated so much of it, you can really see the spread of the city and begin to imagine what it would have looked like.
The town itself however is really very strange. Being that we were in a tourist supported area in the middle of winter, it was like a ghost town. Competition is fierce and everyone tells lies and stories about restaurants, hotels and anything else they can. Basically the idea is, that if you ask someone where a good restaurant to eat at is, and they suggest you definitely don't go to xxx then, go there!! It's the kind of place that you come to see the ruins, realise how creepy everyone is, and want to get out of there as soon as possible.
Next we had Damascus, which I barely saw any of. We ran around when we got there trying desperately to find some accommodation, but most of the good hostels were full. We eventually found the most seedy and feral place I have stayed in so far, and made home there for a few days. I went out on the first night for a tea with a german guy that we'd met and looked for accommodation with, and managed to get really sick, so for the rest of Syria I pretty much stayed in the hostel in bed and tried to get better. In reality, by this stage, I was rather over Syria and wanted to get out. I think I'd had enough altogether - so after a couple of days, we were heading to Jordan.
No comments:
Post a Comment