New Basman Hotel Hamah

... bad Singaporean shows are not too popular here. I then had some late breakfast, I got lost a little and still ended up having to ask for directions. Again I was thankful that some people here know how to speak English.

The hotel was good although since it was in the centre of town it can get pretty noisy. My room had a balcony and it was facing the roof of the next building which had alot of satellite dishes. Sometimes I wonder if you can have ...

... Syria's Crusader sights so Cath, Reuben and I signed up for one the several day trips organized by the Riad. After a falafel breakfast and a fortuitous encounter with Matt, who was staying at the adjacent Cairo hotel, we headed off for our first sight, Misyaf. Initially a basic Roman fortification built on a hill that was expanded into a full-fledged fortification to (unsuccessfully) fend off the Crusaders, it was impressive both for its relative ...

... and not to cold natural air conditioning, the wind.
With a few other backpackers in tow we went off in search for a few drinks. When our waiter said "Beer with alcohol?" and the reply being "As much as we can get," we were slightly surprised when we received the non alcoholic beer with ice. With a little debate they suggested we leave it with them, so instead of non alcoholic beer with ice, we think we got non alcoholic beer with ice and maybe a ...

... out in the guide book. We tried a few hotels, including the Cairo Hotel, which to me felt like a hospital building. It had a very basic, tired room looking out to a concrete wall. I wasn't desperate enough to do it – James was indifferent so we continued to traipse through town with our backpacks on, hot, sweaty, dusty and dirty. As the evening Muslim call to prayer started moaning in the background, it felt like we were on our own pilgrimage as we searched for a decent hotel!
Hamah, Syria jimsim

... into the Roman empire. Apparently many famous historical figures took residence here for some time, including Cleopatra and Caracalla. The ruins here were absolutely massive and incredibly in-tact- do see pics. The museum had a splendid colletion of mosaics and I made friends with the museum keepers, who invited me to join them for lunch and gave me a motorbike ride up the hill.
As I went to catch a microbus to leave the city a few locals at a fruit stand hollered at me to say ...

... world. Maybe our next major trip will be in autumn. The roads were full of small Japanese and Chinese motorcycles, seemingly styled on the English motorcycles of the 70s. There is no local bus service here, so the motorbikes are extensively used. Wheat fields filled the windows as we travelled across the plain to the ancient Roman town of Apamea. This city was the stud depot for many ancient kings from around 300BC. Clearly there is a lot of money ...

... we started to get back to the western hill range and the desert changed to greenery and olive groves. The change was dramatic. The bus station we arrived in at Homs and the one that our next minibus would leave from were conveniently located at completely opposite ends of the city, about 5km from each other. As soon as we got off the first bus, the taxi sharks were quoting us fantasy prices and jumping all over us. A local guy from our bus saw what was ...

I must have to admit I love Syria there is something magical about the place. The Syrians are really friendly people and really open and willing to talk to you and just down right friendly. Just walking around they are always saying hi with a smile on their face and waving at you and it is not fake at all like other country's they are just happy to see you. My day started off with an early start I woke up around 6:30 I ...

Hama es una ciutat famosa per les seves nories i pel soroll que fan quan giren impulsades per l'aigua del riu Orentes. Malauradament quan hi arribo ja fa 3 anys que el pais sofreix una intensa sequera, i pel riu baixa tan sols un fil d'aigua. En les basses que s'hi formen, s'hi acumulen els detritus humans i l'olor que desprenen amb la calor fan que l'experiencia de passejar per la corniche que ...

From Aleppo i took the train to Lattakia on the coast, the journey was fantastic, or the first couple of hours were anyway. Again, 2 young lads next to me who i just smiled and nodded at wen we boarded gave me a twix, or the syrian equivanlent anyway for no reason. The lad sat in front offered me a room at his uni but he had quite lecherous eyes so i didnt take him up on his kind offer but terribly nice of him all the same. The views ...