Apamee Cham Palace Hamah

... station, unsurprisingly since it was early morning the taxi driver did not have any change for the 100 SYP fare. He drove around the station though asking the other waiting taxi drivers for any change, to no avail. Then he drove up to a nearby cafe, and I think what happen was that the guy who run the place do not want to give change unless something was bought from there. Then the taxi driver probably said ok and he asked for 2 coffees. Right then a ...

Hama as spelled on all the road signs, yet the rest of the world adds an h, is known for its water wheels. they no longer turn and the nostalgic pictures of the crystal blue river flowing through the middle of the city still cling desperately to the cracking facades of old buildings, while poor children fish the murky depths of what is left of the river hoping for something better than a condom or a coke can. <br>At this point I am slowly acclimating to the to smell of **** and **** that is ...

... integrity and for the uncommonly well written English-language pamphlet we got with our entry.<br><br>We spent perhaps an hour there, during which I provided a running commentary for Reuben and Cath on the Crusades based on my admittedly sketchy recollection of the pertinent history - if Goldie were around she coulda warned them that half the time I'm speaking outta my ass, but as is they were a pretty receptive audience.<br><br>Based on what I could ...

... of spirit thrown in for good measure. not a very successful night. <br><br>The main reason for coming to Hama was to do a day trip to Crac des Chevaliers, apparently a "Castle which never disappoints," "A dream castle of childhood fantasies," T.E. Lawrence simply called it "The finest castle in the world." We don't know if we would say the same but it was a very impressive non the less. Maybe it was the concert stage being built in the middle of ...

... We ended up at the Sarah Hotel, a fairly nondescript mid-range hotel that did host a wonderful view of what was left of the old town. In 1982 10% of the population (25,000 people) were killed in the war against local extremists from the Muslim Brotherhood, however many of the locals were left feeling it was the government that had been extremists in the way they reacted. Sadly the bombings during this time destroyed most of the old town, which apparently had been the gem of the city prior ...

... and I must have sat with them for 3 hours, eating apricots and shooting the ****. I "played Canadian" since I was in such a remote area, and they were increddddddibly curious as they had never met a Canadian before, which got me into a bit of trouble. I said I was from Vancouver, since it's the only city in Canada I've visited, and then they started asking about hte exchange rate, politics, the population to boot! Sadly they'll be very misguided if they ever happen to meet an actual Candian

... stud work, as this site is famed for one of the longest Roman colonnades in the world. The colonnade just went on and on forever. Six hundred combat elephants (courtesy of Hannibal) and 30,000 mares with 300 stallions made their home here. That's a whole lot of stable cleaning. Apamea Teashop is also the home of one of the coolest cars in Syria, an old 1950s Pontiac. Capitols from the ancient Roman ruins serve dual purpose here as tourist ...

... on and as we walked away from the cab drivers, he directed us to the city bus that connected one bus station to the other. The driver on the city bus wouldn't even take our money for the bus fare. At the second bus station, we were quickly shown the minibuses to Hama and the rest of the journey was uneventful, though we think we saw a nuclear power plant. The scenery remained a pleasant green in sharp contrast from the desert we had arrived from. Our hotel ...

... asleep early last night as I was pretty tired from the day of traveling and sightseeing the day before. I managed to jump on a local bus to Homs which took about 2 hours through the desert. I was sitting in a nice seat by the window when the conductor told me to move to the rubbish seats at the back, I don't know why they do that they have done it to me before, maybe locals get prime seats who knows! When I arrived ...

... el riu sigui bastant dantesca. Sens dubte no es el que espera el turista a l'arribar a la ciutat. De totes maneres, Hama esta situada estrategicament i es un lloc ideal per passar-hi un parell o tres de dies i fer-lo servir com a centre d'operacions per a diverses excursions d'un dia: Crac des Chevaliers (una fortalesa de l'epoca de les creuades que es mante en un estat de conservacio mes que ...