Le Meridien Lattakia

... that was not the case, I carried on resting my head on the burning glass window and attempted to sleep through the nightmare. I could see that Syria was going to be the challenge I had expected, but I was prepared for it and eager to take it by the horns. Did mention Lattakia is on the coast of Syria? Its got the whole 'Med feel' going there so I was in search of its beaches. Did I also mention the beaches, to the ignorant like me, are nearly impossible to find? Well, now I have ...

... big packs are a bit of a pain I have to say, you have to hire one extra seat for one bag and basically nurse the other or try to put it somewhere out of the way, often difficult in small bus with about 15 people! From Homs we decided a taxi to Krak des Chevaliers would be the easiest bet and worth spending a bit more (it only cost around $8).

We ended up with the strangest taxi driver, he had a permanent smile and it seemed like he'd had one too many Redbull ...

... Lattakia en tren i poder aixi atravessar les muntanyes i fruir d'un bonic paisatge, i visitar el castell de Qasar'al Saladin. Aixi que m'aixeco a les 6 del mati per prendre el tren de les 6:45. Arribo amb el temps just per comprar el bitllet i pujar al tren. El viatge es forca agradable (molt millor que en autobus on sovintegen els sotracs i la conduccio temeraria), i les vistes tambe. Estic tan rebentat que em passo mes de la meitat del trajecte dormint. Quan ...

... you think? And it was right on the meditteranean. Just beautiful. I had EXACTLY the right amount of money to check out of the hotel, get a taxi across the border to beirut, pay for my departure tax and my lebanese visa, with 2 american dollars left over.. not bloody bad.

... spiked heals and big mall-chick hair - they are still pretty modest.  Aside from one man in a Speedo and headscarf, no one else on the beach was wearing beach attire. Perhaps that is why my driver almost had a heart attack when I took off my socks and shoes, rolled up my pants and walked in the water.   He tried his best to stop me but eventually gave up.  The water was so warm I just wanted to strip down to my underwear and go for a swim but ...

Lattakia is a city of just under a million about an hour north of Tartus. When I got on the bus to come here I was one of the last ones to climb aboard. When I looked down the aisle I was surprised to see that pretty much all of the other passengers were 20-something's... mostly women... I asked a guy behind me what was up with this and he said they were mostly university students returning to school after the weekend ...

... trucks up into the hold of a ship. Lattakia is Syria's main seaport. The longshoremen operating the cranes stack the containers nearly as high as the conning tower. We can't tell whether the containers are empty or full of commerce from Syria to China. But these days most shipping containers, all over the world, are going back to China empty. Syrians tell us that their biggest export is olive oil. Because of Syria's rogue state status trade restrictions have been imposed by the EU ...

... with an interest and curiousity that outweighed any real concern. We choose a restaurant that nıght because they made khubz tannoor and ate our last dınner ın Syria. We enjoyed a nice selectıon of mazza including the best kibbeh nayeh İ´ve had. Evrim got enough protein too (stop worrying Bird). Sat a long time wıth Serj, a pretty cool Armenian Syrian kıd from Kesab who worked at the restaurant ın the ...

We travelled west to Lattakia which is the principal port town in Syria located on the Med just north from Lebanon. Here there is a much more liberal and european lifestyle than most other Syrian towns. We did some trips into the mountains from here and seen some incredible things like the castle of Sa Alheideen, the ...

... and since he was at the wheel he asked Granny to light the pipe for him. She dutifully packed the pipe and struck a match and started puffing away when Brandon pulled out his camera and snapped a picture. Granny was livid! I seem to remember Brandon telling me that he never even developed those pics....but it cracks me up to this day thinking about her expression. Lattakia is a bit off the usual overland route for most travelers heading south through the ...