On the 12th I woke up at 7:45 to get ready. At about 8:15 I got a call from Abdullah at the reception asking if I wanted to join a trip to the Crac and another castle, leaving at 9. He had talked to Gilles, who was in the restaurant waiting to talk to me about it first, since we had sort of made plans to make our own way there. We decided it was a good opportunity since there would be 5 of us going, making it only 600 a person (they charge for the car not per person, so the total is divided by the number of people). I had to rush a little to eat my breakfast as I didn't get to the restaurant until after 8:30. Breakfast was similar to the breakfast at the other hotel, only there was more of everything.
We went on our trip in a small van. The others on the trip were Anthony, from England, and Len and Jill from Winnipeg, Canada. Len and Jill are on a 1 year trip around the world. They have some amazing stories to tell.
We went on our trip in a small van. The others on the trip were Anthony, from England, and Len and Jill from Winnipeg, Canada. Len and Jill are on a 1 year trip around the world. They have some amazing stories to tell.
Our first stop was the Masyaf Citadel (Qala'at Masyaf). Amazing! It was my first time exploring an old castle, and certainly a good one. It is on of MANY huge medieval castles that dot the country.
There IS a red poppy in this picture but it is a bit hard to see. It is just to the left of the wall, at the top of the stairs!! 
[looking up from down inside]
I loved the stairs that are everywhere, going up into towers and buildings and down into the depths of the castle. It was there that I realized I forgot my flashlight. Note to self: ALWAYS take a flashlight when exploring old deserted castles!!!
[a ray of light entering the darkness]
[Light at the end of a tunnel]
On the roof - a skylight!
A lovely view - there were too many of these to count!! I love that the bird flew into view just as I took the picture. :)
View of the city below. Wouldn't it be fantastic to grow up with a castle like this in your back yard??? The original structure is of Byzantine (Roman Empire) origins, with levels being added later over the years. I wandered for a couple of hours and could have used more.Even the drive to the castle (and between castles) was great, as it is in the mountains (small mountains, as there is no tree line). All of the castles or Citadels are on top of mountains or very large hills. There were red poppies everywhere as we drove. I missed the single red poppy that the others saw within the citadel walls. :( (Though I missed it, I see that it is in a couple of pictures, including one above, where I mention it)
Sheep!!After we had our fill of Masyaf (or well, when we had to go in order to have time at our next destination), we hopped back into the van and headed for Krak des Chevaliers (Fortress/Castle of the Knights), the best castle in Syria and one of the most famous and important medieval military castles in the world.
[You can see the castle on the hill in the distance.]
As we neared the Krak (also sometimes spelled Crac), the landscape changed slightly. The poppies disappeared.
We made a stop at the St. George Monastery (Deir Mar Jirjis/دير مار جرجس). Saint George was a soldier in the guard of Diocletian (if you remember Diocletian had a military camp and a bath in Palmyra in Syria).From Wikipedia:The original monastery/convent was built sometime in the 5th century and then was added to up until the 20th century. HERE is a fairly good picture I found of the monastery from above, from a short distance.
In hagiography Saint George is one of the most venerated saints in the Roman Catholic Church, Anglican Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodoxy, and the Eastern Catholic Churches. He is immortalized in the tale of Saint George and the Dragon and is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers. His memorial is celebrated on 23 April, and he is regarded as one of the most prominent military saints.
Saint George is the patron saint of Aragon, Catalonia, England, Ethiopia, Georgia, Greece, Lithuania, Palestine, Portugal, and Russia, as well as the cities of Amersfoort, Beirut, Bteghrine, Cáceres (Spain), Ferrara, Freiburg, Genoa, Ljubljana, Gozo, Pomorie, Qormi, Lod, Barcelona and Moscow, as well as a wide range of professions, organizations, and disease sufferers.
There are two churches within the monastery. One built in the 13th century and the other in 1857.
We stopped opposite the citadel at a little restaurant for a lunch break. Gilles and I both opted to have the Mezze set (200 each - all appetizers - a couple of potato dishes, a cauliflower dish, olive dish, hummus dish, babaghanoush, bread, vegetables dish, pickles dish, and others.
It took up the entire table!!!!! We only managed to finish about half of it by the time we were both full. Then it was time for the Krak des Chevaliers (meaning basically Fortress of the Knights, also known as Qal'at al Hosn/قلعة الحصن/حصن الأکراد). The original structure was built in 1031 and was then added to when the Knights Hospitaller made it their headquarters during the Crusades. They turned it into the largest Crusader fortress in the Holy Land.
The place is absolutely amazing. It is so big and it is like a labrynth of rooms and passages.
[writing above the main entrance]
[A balistraria/arrow loop/arrow slit - I love the term balistraria. Sounds much fancier than an arrow slit.]
In books and reports about the castle, it held anywhere from 2000 to 5000 troops with their horses and equipment, and enough supplies for up to 5 years, with huge structures above ground and large storage areas dug into the rock below.
[In the doorway you can see slits where a gate would have come down to block entry.]
[Looking up in the doorway, you can see where a gate/door would have been when the doorway was open.]
[The moat: used as a water supply.]
[The Arabic baths - there are actually doors on all four sides of the central area you can see.]
[Part of a Gothic Cloister]
[latrines!]
[view of the Arabic baths]
[A good view of the outer wall.]
[Notice the flowers that go all the way around the room about half way up!]
I LOVE spiral staircases!!!!!
Up Or Down?It is a very well preserved castle. I'd love to spend an entire day there wandering about!!! Again, I wished I had my flashlight. We wandered along some back passageways using my camera as a flashlight. A bit awkward, but certainly worth it.
[In the underground storage areas.]
After the Krak, we headed on a scenic drive through the mountains, back to the hotel.We went for dinner to the 4 Norias' Restaurant. Not as fancy as the previous evening's restaurant, but the food was good. After dinner, on the way back to the hotel, I went for a walk with Len to the nearby market. He wanted to get some nuts and such for snacks, I just tagged along, but did end up getting some fruit. :) We walked through some of the market. I find markets in different countries very interesting. The fruits and vegetables, nuts, meat selections, etc are all something to look at (and take pictures of, of course).
Mutton, anyone??
It was much more colorful this time.
[notice the heart shaped blocks!!]
Unfortunately, because I was on the back of a camel, the pictures weren't as steady. Some of them turned out okay, though. :) After the sun was up, we decided to stop for a break. Getting down was interesting. For some reason, the camel went half way down, just to its front knees, and then proceeded to snack on some of the greens it saw in front of it. Ummm... I was sitting there, pretty much horizontal to the ground, holding on VERY tightly trying not to fall face first into the back of the camel's neck, though I did manage to get out my camera to take a picture of the very uncomfortable position. :)
As I mentioned before, it was a noisy and stubborn camel. It didn't want to listen to the commands. Oh, I will mention that the command for it to get down is sort of like the sound of someone clearing their throat before spitting, but more of a deep vibration held. It is hard to explain but not really hard to do. The command to make it go is sort of a deep but quick "huts".
We sat in the sunshine on the side of the Dioclecian's Baths again for a little break and to wait for the sun to warm things up a bit. There is not a whole lot left of Diocletian's Baths, only a platform and some Egyptian red granite pillars from Aswan in Egypt (as I mentioned before). The camel was sitting just to the side.
I ended up dozing off for a bit. I think Ali did, too. The camel wasn't happy where it was and decided to get up and wander out a little bit (didn't go to far, only wandered from little green plant to little green plant). One of Ali's friends was about and brought the camel back to where it should be. He then invited us for tea in his garden in the oasis. We hopped on the camel and headed through the ruins towards the oasis.The 'gardens' in the oasis are a pretty good size, each surrounded by a high stone wall. Most have a small room or a home where the owners either hang out or live. This room was quite small but cozy. The ones I've seen have been fairly well decorated with rugs hanging on the walls, and covering the floor, with cushions all the way around the walls. Every home has a little heater.
I'm not sure how it works. Fuel (I was told it's diesel fuel) is kept in a little tank just above the stove, and falls one drip at a time into a small tube leading into the stove. It's warm but a bit smelly. I can't imagine it's good for you. While we were there, the camel was being a trouble maker. It kept getting loose. First it stood up and took the wheelbarrow (that it was tied to) with it. Twice, it managed to wiggle out of its harness. Then it was something else. LOL. It was making noise the whole time. Have you ever heard a camel groaning and grunting? Funny. Ali prepared the tea while his friend was doing some work on his outside terrace (he's still in the process of building his little home). To make the tea, he filled the little teapot with water, then put 2 small glasses of tea into it, then dumped some tea leaves into it before setting it on the propane burner. Maybe I didn't mention before, but in the Middle East, they like their tea very sweet. I quite like it.
Breakfast was a hard boiled egg, some flat bread (not very much), some olives, some unsweetened yogurt and some apricot jam, and a small pot of tea. I should have gone to the pancake place that I have heard about. Pancakes would have been a nice change. Oh well. After eating I wandered around the town a little bit.
When it was time to go, my hotel called a 'taxi' to take me to the bus station. It wasn't really a taxi, just a guy in a car. I paid the same as I had from the station to the hotel. At the station, I bought my ticket to Homs (75 for a 2 hour bus ride) on the 1:30 bus. It wasn't yet 1, so I had a while to wait. A couple of Bedouin women were sitting on the curb just to the side. They called me over to sit down next to them. I did. They were trying to talk to me a little but, but I had no idea what they said, and they had no idea what I was saying. The older one was so funny. Cute. She was short and happy looking, with bright red hair sticking out of the scarf, framing her well tanned face. She was missing a few teeth. She tried to offer me some sunflower seeds and such a couple of times, but I said no thanks. Next to her, the other woman was wearing a more traditional Bedouin outfit, all black, but the head wear was different, standing up higher. She didn't really say much to me. She had a kid with her, too. Behind them, against the wall, were 2 sheep, with their front feet loosely tied together (so they could walk but not run?).
A man came up, I'm assuming the older woman's husband (or maybe both of their husband?). He was talking to them for a bit and then went and got them an orange soda. The older woman opened it, and before drinking any, insisted I have some. She absolutely would not take no for an answer, so I had some. The man then disappeared again and returned with some lettuce like greens. He gave some to the sheep and some to the women, who snacked on it (they were eating the stems and throwing the green parts to the sheep).
A toilet... just to show you what is fairly common over there. There is no toilet paper, just the water hose to wash yourself with. Some nicer places do have toilet paper but it is used more for drying than for wiping, which makes sense.
It is in an old, very large courtyard. It seems so fancy. We tried something new. Something called sajieh (?). Not quite what we had expected.
It is rice with yogurt and some seasoning, and either chicken or meat (when they say meat, they always mean lamb). It was very rich. The chicken was good, but I couldn't eat much of the rest of it. Kinda sour tasting. After our dishes were cleared, they brought us some complimentary desert
a small (still warm) chocolate chip cake with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. SO delicious!!!! We were quite happy with that.
Then we went for a walk around the restaurant, including the upstairs part which is more of a sheesha cafe/coffee shop.
In the streets of the old part of Hamah.
I was just reading about the 