Apamea, Crac de Chevalier and more

Complimentary breakfast

It’s Friday today and the only day of the week that Abdullah has a sleep-in.  But he came in early to bring me breakfast, as I’m a very old repeat guest.  With so many guests over the 23 years I doubt if he actually remembers me but he was putting on a good show.

Ant and I have a car and driver for our excursion today and Abdullah had asked him to bring in tow kinds of local specialties:  One was a savoury Danish-like pastry topped with mince and a couple of cashews (aish al bulbul), and the second was another pastry filled with lightly-sweetened cream (shaibiyeh ).

 

Apamea

We left slightly after the appointed time of 0830, with me seated in the front of the car with no seat belt.  Our first stop is Apamea which was about an hour away.

As we approached Apamea, we saw the citadel of Mudiq but didn’t stop.  It somewhat like a lived-in village and a historic site, rolled into one.

Once at Apamea, our driver Faisal, climbed up to the top of the ruins of an old gateway.  I followed him up to get a great view of the whole Apamea area.  Unfortunately, we were looking towards the sun, which meant photos weren’t the best.

From there, Ant and I walked along the Hellenistic Collonade (1.2 km) that lined the main street, Cardo Maximus.  Faisal would drive to the other end to meet us there.

We spent an hour in total here, mainly in the colonnade of this 4^th Century BC Roman city.  Some 900 years after it was established, the city was destroyed by the Persians and later taken by the Arabs who rebuilt it partially.  Apamea eventually regained part of its importance but was destroyed by an earthquake in 1152.

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Misyaf

Less than an hour away was the castle of Misyaf.  Parking outside at 1120, we were met by Faisal’s friend who offered to guide us around the castle for free.  In most other countries, we would have declined, fearing unpleasant consequences for not paying or tipping adequately.  But this is Syria.

This Ismaili castle protects the approach to other Ismaili castles in the Jabal Ansariya area.  It is believed to have been of Byzantine origin but captured by the Ismaili religious Order of Assassins in 1141.

The order conducted some high-profile assassinations in the area against the Crusaders.

We spent just under an hour here before continuing with our journey in search of a bakery that made manaish (flatbread with various toppings).  Being Friday, the highly-recommended one nearby was closed and we made do with one by the roadside on the way to St George Monastery.

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St George’s Monastery

After a simple lunch of manaish, we got to St George’s around 1325.  We had a quick walk around the small monastery and its church before leaving about 10 mins later.

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Crac de Chevalier

It was only a short drive to Crac de Chevalier, one of my favourite places in the world in the early days of my travels.  This is one of the most preserved medieval castles in the world.  While the site was originally inhabited by Kurdish troops, what we see today was built by the Crusaders in the 12^th Century.

Arriving there around 1400, I entered through the main gateway and passed through the large stables before ascending to the outer wall of the double-walled or concentric castle.  From there, I walked clockwise to get a view of the inner castle.

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Once done with that, I descended to the somewhat grassy area between the two sets of walls to enter the inner castle.

The inner castle included the knights’ hall, a large oven and chapel.  I was able to ascend one more level to a flat deck which was the roof of the level where I had just come from.

From there, I found my way up two towers at opposite ends of the citadel.  By 1515, I had completed my third visit to this magnificent castle.  While the magic of seeing it for the first time was no longer there, it was still impressive even without taking into consideration of its age.

It seemed in better condition than before with less green moss.  I was told that it hadn’t rained in years.

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I grabbed a boiled-then-grilled sweetcorn as a snack before Faisal took us to a viewpoint to see Crac de Chevalier one last time.

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War-torn Homs

At 1545 we continued driving to Homs, a city that had been devastated by the Syrian civil war.  It took about 45 mins to get there.

Faisal stopped near some high-rises that were now just skeletons.  We walked closer for a look and continued on foot to others nearby.  To our great surprise, there were some units that were inhabited in the various buildings despite just being skeletons.

It is beyond comprehension how people can live up on the 8^th floor with seemingly no water supply.  I can understand doing without power or lift but one must be desperate to inhabit a place at such great inconvenience.

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After about 30 minutes, we continued our drive back to Hama.  On the side of the highway, people were parked up for picnics.  People here don’t have much choice when it comes to a taste of the great outdoors.

Trying to avoid shawarmas

Back at the Riad Hotel around 1745, Ant and I went out for dinner together again.  Being a very quiet Friday night, there weren’t many choices.

We were both sick of shawarmas and went to a restaurant, which could potentially be too pricey as all the meat was sold by weight.  We settled on a fast-food place which served rice.

I wanted quarter chicken with rice but minimum order of chicken was one half.  Ant settled for that while I had a shawarma (again).  I was rather envious of his meal.

Food in Syria hadn’t been as good as on previous visits.  I had been staying in places that were further from restaurants and at times.  To some extent, perhaps in Aleppo, choices are much fewer with the destruction.