Al-Atlal Lattakia

We arrived in Lattakia about 10 AM from Allepo on the train, The cost was 1U.S.D! And it was a great trip. We hired a taxi after checking in to take us on a tour of Ugarit and Aala'at Saladin. Saladin was great, and it was a great day, although I was pretty pooped out by evening, since I had arisen at 5:30 to get to the 6:50 Am Train.<br>

... and smoke sheesha and drink tea. It was pleasant to sit there and watch this world go by, even though I had no idea where I was sleeping. A guy had sat next to me and struck up conversation. His name was Hakim, he worked for the government in the day and tour guided in the afternoon. His friend also had an apartment to rent, for a price outside my broken budget. I could afford a place for S£150, he wanted S£500-S£600. Whilst we chatted about politics ( the Israeli ones got my neck ...

... castle in great condition &#8211; TE Lawrence (of Arabia) thought Krak des Chevaliers was the "best castle in the world", and Sim and I agreed (well, I agreed and Sim said something like &#8220;yeah, whatever you said&#8221;).<br><br>(Sim)<br><br>After the castle visit we had a real haggle on our hands to get a minibus back to the highway, the guys outside the gate were a pack of wheeler dealers (and definitely worked in a group). We ended up putting our packs on and ...

... It is starting to be a habit to reschedule and replan the trip every other day. Before coming to Aleppo, I had more or less organized a route. Roughly ten days to visit the country. But then you meet people on your way and they start talking about places you have never heart of (my guide doesn't even mention them) and experiences that sound amazing, and here we are again, replanning the trip to allocate more time to this ...

... but I ordered a salad.  Although it was delicious, it was also full of the same dirty tap water that got me sick in the first place and in no time I was back in my room with my butt surgically attached to the toilet.<br>By this morning I was so done being in Syria that I was going to escape even if it meant sticking a cork in my butt and possibly imploding.  I had flushed two dress sizes down the toilet and was looking quite svelte in my now ...

... have anything left in my stomach I went in for another round. I knew there was a drug store around the corner from my hotel I was not even able to stand up for more than 30 seconds at a time. After laying around all morning wondering if I was going to die a slow "Death by Diarrhoea" I suddenly got a glimmer of hope. The cleaning lady knocked at the door and I dragged my weak body over to ...

... a nice switch from buses full of men. Speaking of... Lattakia is a also home to the "free woman." Most dress very lavishly here. Walking the street is like a continual fashion show. SUCH a contrast from the rest of the Middle East. It truly does take a bit of getting used to. Yesterday at lunch a group of 3 girls sat down beside me, cramming themselves around a table for two... hhhmmm... interesting as there ...

... the United States. The Syrians joke that they get around it by labeling their olive oil "Made in Italy", and trading it for silk from China. We had hoped to take a day trip to the ruins of Saladin's castle but it rained during most of our stay here, so we passed on that. Other than eating and catching up on our reading we didn't find much to do here in Lattakia, but you might, especially if you come in the summer because it is famous for its beaches. From Lattakia we will travel to Hama.

... He talked to us about life there, hard winters, and family. In the morning, we set off to find ful and supplies we needed to complete our mission in Syria and cross the border into Turkey. Ý made friends with a handful of the local gýrls during our shopping and realized we haven´t really spoken to women in a few weeks. Ýt was hard to leave, but we piled ýn a taxi and rode the 6 minutes to Turkey.

Chris crossing my way between the Ansariyya mountain range and eastern shores of the Mediterranean, I find my self in |Lattakia, Syria's main seaport. Its the height of spring and the country side is beautiful, full of flowers and blossom, but still rugged, a quite provencal feel me thinks. |This is the heart of Crusader country and from Hama, |Tartus, and Banyas |I've taken in Kark des Chevaliers ...