Apamea, Masyaf & Krak des Chevaliers

I can not complain enough about the lack of decent internet cafes, government website restrictions and decent connections in Syria. I just lost two hours of work because the internet cafe owner decided to reboot all the computers without warning. Ahh! That said, most of my day was quite enjoyable. I went to the Apamea ruins, the Masyaf Fortress and the Krak des Chevaliers crusader castle.

Through my hotel I arranged a tour of the sights I menioned above. Normally others would join in but no one in the hotel seemed to want to do this tour, so I was on my own. The benefit was having no one in my photos. On the downside, I had to pay a lot more for the tour. It was all worth it when I got to Apamea and was the only person there, just as the sun was rising. It was a beautiful sight and very picturesque. Apamea is most popular because of it's long column lined roads. The site has passed through many hands, including the Crusaders, but went through its golden age during the Roman period.

Masyaf fortress was my second stop for today. This is the castle that was once occupied by "THE" Assassins and part of the inspiration behind me traveling through the middle east. It was part of my inspiration to see the middle east, as it was featured in a video game called "Assassin's Creed." The game story line was based on actual places and characters during the Crusader period.

My third stop of the day was the Krak des Chevaliers. I didn't know much about it, aside from it being a major Crusader stronghold. It was easily the highlight of the day. The castle is huge, boasting two defensive walls. It was easy to get lost among its many corridors. In fact, I did get lost. I had a great time imagining battles it must have seen as I traced my way along the exterior fortifications.

During the sightseeing I met Aaron from Australia and Mariee from Quebec. I met them at Masyaf and ran into them again at Krak des Chevaliers. They were incredibly friendly and when they found out I was staying in Hama they invited me out for dinner. It was great to have some company. We ate, played backgammon and shared travel stories. Walking around Hama we also met a number of locals who were happy to tell us of Syrian customs and instruct us in the way of the Arabic language. The friendliest of all was Hassan, in the middle of the photo on the left flanked by Mariee and Aaron.

Apamea ruins:

Masyaf fortress:

Entering Masyaf fortress:

Krad des Chevaliers:

Krad des Chevaliers interior fortification with moat. Mariee and Aaron are the figures on the wall:

Me at the highest point of the castle:

View from the highest point of the castle:

Walking around the castle:

Aleppo and Hama

Ahh, I haven't had much luck with the internet connections. I don't know if it's the whole country or just the cafes I've been to, but the connections are equivalent to dial-up. Coupled with the government bans on blogging websites and facebook, and dirty/sticky keyboards, it's been a frustrating experience using the internet here.

To make matters worse, I'm pretty much illiterate here. In Turkey I could at least read signs, maps, etc. Here the Arabic script is unique and I've had a greater amount of difficulty finding places. Even the numbering is different, though I learned it fairly quickly. There are signs in the latin alphabet, but few and far between.

Aleppo was not as fun as I thought it would be. Part of that was because it's Tuesday. It's a holiday and most of the sights were closed. The one I was looking forward to most, the citadel, was also closed. The Great Mosque was open, but it was a bit of a let down for photos. All I did really was walk around Aleppo's souq (market place), which was pretty fun. It's much more interesting than Istanbul's Grand Bazaar, though the guidebook says otherwise.

In all honestly, I couldn't wait to get out of Aleppo. To me it seemed overpriced, dirty and overrated. I decided my next destination would be Hama. That's where I'm writing from now. It's so much better. The first hotel I went to was very clean and I wasted no time booking a room for almost half the price I paid in Aleppo. I then made my way around the town, getting oriented with the neighborhoods and taking some photos. I met a handful of locals, all were very friendly and I saw a very welcoming and clean town. I'll probably spend a couple of days here. Tomorrow I'll visit a couple of nearby castles and some Roman ruins.

Aleppo:

My breakfast:

Aleppo Citadel:

A man fights with a sheep:

Aleppo Souq (marketplace):

Carpet shops:

All natural soap:

Nut shop:

Aleppo's Great Mosque:

A Beautiful Hama Mosque with Norias (water wheels):

Insha'Allah I am in Aleppo, Syria

This morning I decided to skip visiting the Harran ruins, I heard that much of them have been destroyed as the locals create a more modern town. So I decided to try crossing the border into Syria. From the beginning of my trip, this was my biggest concern. Most foreigners, especially from North America, must have a visa ahead of time. I didn't get mine, but I read on the internet that sometimes they let you through, issuing a 15 day visa at the border. I also heard that people have waited 12 hours only to be turned around. Needless to say, I was a little apprehensive.

From the Urfa bus station I hoped on a mini bus and got to the border in about an hour. As I walked to the border line I was invited for tea by some Turkish Arabs. I got my first taste of Arabic, which is sooo much harder than Turkish. I sat down with them for half an hour trying to communicate using English, Turkish, Arabic and whole lot of hand gestures. It was a pleasant experience.

After some tea, I decided to brave the border guards. It wasn't nearly as bad as I imagined. Immediately the Turkish border guards noticed I didn't have a visa. They called the Syrian border guards who decided to be generous and issue me a visa at the border. Both sides spoke pretty good English. During this experience I met three tourists from China, one who was also trying to get a visa at the border. We decided to stick together until we reached the closest Syrian city; Rakka. Together we got to the border bus station and crammed into a mini bus with a bunch of Syrian people.

I sat in the back between two, both were extremely friendly and tried to teach me some Arabic. The friendliest one was Ahmed, the one I'm sitting next to in the photo above. His English was also the best. The rest of them were not so keen on photos.

The bus got to Rakka where we transferred to a bus to Aleppo, the second biggest city in Syria. That is where I write from now. It seems to be a city that has a lot to offer in sight seeing, tomorrow I will explore. There is definitely a lot of difference from Turkey. Cleanliness is the most noticeable, in terms of hotels and internet cafes. At this cafe cockroaches are crawling around the computer desks. Also, my hotel smells funky and it's the one I settled on after seeing rooms at four others. On the bright side, the people seem to be extremely friendly and there seem to be a lot more tourists here than the places I visited in Turkey. I should be able to make some friends.

On a side note, the Syrian government has banned access to Facebook and blogging seems to be somewhat restricted too. Strange.

Urfa instead of Antep

The bus driver stopped at Gaziantep and I asked him if the bus was going to Sanliurfa, he nodded and I gave him twelve Turkish lira to stay on the bus. A last minute change. Reading the guide, I thought this would be a better place. It's smaller, the bus station is closer to the town centre and it's close to the Syria border.

The name of the city on the map is Şanlıurfa, which means Glorious Urfa. Locals just call it Urfa. In the ancient times it was known as Edessa, a town of northern Mesopotamia. The Turks associate it with Ur, the birthplace of Abraham. Many of the places in the town are linked to this story, like the two pools near the bazaar that are filled with sacred fish. It's said that touching the fish will make one blind.

At first glance, the guide led me to believe that there were a lot of sights to see here, there aren't. I was pretty disappointed when I got to the castle, there's really nothing left of it. It provides a view of the city, which looks much like the surrounding landscape; arid and dry. A huge change from the coastal towns I was very much getting used to.

My first impression of Urfa was a little disappointing, but as I made my way through the town and the local bazaar, that quickly changed. There is a lot more culture here and the people are so interesting and friendly. The town is more rooted in the past. I spent much of my time today browsing the bazaar, taking photos of shops and shop owners. The people seemed happy to be in the photos. The food here is excellent too and there seems to be many choices.

At the hotel I'm staying at I met a student who's learning English. He seemed eager to try speaking to me and offered me some tea and a sit down. I was happy to have someone to chat with. We sat in the lobby and talked for what seemed like an hour or so, often referencing the English-Turkish dictionary. I imagine our conversation would have been shorter had either one of us been fluent in each other's language. Still, it was a pleasant experience.

The guide mentions a touring company in the town, with an owner that speaks very good English. I eagerly made my way to the location and found it closed. Hopefully it'll be open tomorrow. I'd like to see what my possibilities are in terms of visiting the nearby Harran ruins and transportation for crossing the border into Syria.

View of the city from the castle ruins:

Halil-ur-Rahman Mosque:

Children looking at the sacred fish:

Street food; shish kabobs, mmm:

Bronze shop:

Women a the spice shop:

Spices:

More spices:

Wood shop:

Anamur: Mamure Castle & Anamurium

Anamur is a tiny town directly north of Cyprus. It has nothing to offer in terms of sight seeing. However, just a few kilometers away are some beautiful sites that don't seem to get many visitors; Mamure Castle and the ancient city of Anamurium.

There was a rooster outside of my hotel that started crowing at 4:00 am. I kept waking up and going back to sleep until finally getting up at 5:30. The sun was just rising as I started biking to the nearby Mamure Castle.

The castle was originally Roman, but has been reconstructed over the centuries; used by Byzantines and the Crusaders. I got there before the ticket booth opened. There is no gate so I walked around taking photos and had the whole place to myself. It was quite peaceful, right on the coast. I climbed up to the highest point of the castle, sat down and listened to the waves crashing below.

Following the castle visit, I made my way to Anamurium. It was a long bike ride and I wasn't quite sure if I was headed in the right direction so a few times I stopped and asked the locals. They seemed to find me funny. All the same, they helped me find my way.

Anamurium is a huge site. An ancient city dating back to 4th century B.C. It's also right on the coast and many of its houses are still in good condition. I went into a few and was surprised to see that many still had frescos decorating the walls, though most were barely visible. I saw other tourists at the sight, but they seemed take off quickly and again I had the place to myself. I spent most of the day here, exploring just about structure that still had a doorway (and there were many). I also saw a lot of wild life at this sight. Giant lizards, a giant snake and ton of tortoises. The tortoises were everywhere!

I also saw some wild life I really didn't want to see; mosquitos. This is the first time I've seen them on my trip and I really didn't expect to considering it's winter season here. I got bitten pretty badly.

On the way back to town, the Turkish road workers decided to redo two sections of the road, and there were no ways around it. I had to ride my bike through whatever kind of oil they use to prime the roads before they lay the pavement. My bike, shoes, pants and pack got covered in oil. I don't think there's any way to take it out. I tried soap and detergent, but it seems I'll have some permanent stains as remainders of my trip in Turkey.

I've decided to change my plans a little. Tonight I will catch an overnight bus to Gaziantep instead of Antioch. Gaziantep has an airport and if I can't get into Syria, as I originally intended, I can fly to Istanbul and fly somewhere else in the area. I really want to get down to Jordan to see Petra.

Mamure Castle:

Mamure Castle with the Mediterranean Sea:

A level of the main tower at Mamure Castle:

My transportation for today:

Dwellings at Anamurium:

Frescos of Anamurium houses:

Public bath ruins at Anamurium:

Tortoise at Anamurium:

A long day on the bus

My plan today was to get to Anamur, another city on the Mediterranean coast about five hours from Antalya. The difference in today's trip would be me doing everything versus a touring agency. Up to this point I've been using small touring companies who would book buses and sight seeing trips on my behalf, for a price. It's a very lazy way of doing things and really doing it on my own didn't seem like it would be that difficult. It wasn't. I easily found the bus that took me to the bus depot and quickly made a reservation for a bus leaving for Anamur. I saved about half the money that I would have spent doing it through a touring company.

I booked a bus that would allow me to get to Anamur in the daylight, which would make looking for a hotel a lot easier. Unfortunately this meant that I couldn't see the Antalya museum. It was a difficult decision to make, as I hear the exhibits are excellent. Ah well, maybe one day I will return. It's a beautiful city and well worth another visit.


The bus ride to Anamur was so scenic! The road winds around the mountain side with a view of the Mediterranean sea. Sea as far as the eye could see. I was imagining how it would have looked like during the Crusades, with hundreds of ships in the horizon. I took a few photos from the bus, but it was simply impossible to capture the beauty of it, especially with a very bumpy ride.

The bus broke down half way and I arrived to Anamur a little late, just an hour before sunset. I didn't have a chance to do much or take many photos. I took a photo of the main mosque, which happens to be right in front of the hotel I'm staying at. I've rented a bicycle for tomorrow to see a castle that is about seven kilometers from here.