This post covers our drive from Aleppo to Tartus on the Mediterranean Coast of Syria via: Hama (Waterwheels) and Krak Des Chevaliers (Castle).
A great day today. Drove across semi-arid desert with the occasional olive groves and pistachio trees which is a big export of Syria. It took two hours to get to Hama.
Hama (Pop 312,994, Elev 305m, First Inhabited 1500BC) was not damaged at all in the crisis even though it was occupied since many of the militia lived there at some point and did not want to destroy their former home. Hama is located 213 km (132 mi) north of Damascus and 46 kilometres (29 mi) north of Homs. Hama is the fourth-largest city in Syria after Damascus, Aleppo and Homs. Hama is famous for its giant WATER WHEELS. These big wheels rotate under their sheer weight and the paddles all along the circumference push water from one level to another. This is done to enable irrigation of nearby crops. The wheels are made of walnut and make one revolution in 20sec – in this time 2,500 Litres of water is displaced. Amazing. The current ones were built in the 14th Century AD but legend has it that they started using them as far back as 1100BC !!! There were originally 116 of them but only 8 remain. We also visited the Old Town which is dominated by the Al Azm Palace built in 1742 by the Ottoman governor, As'ad Pasha al-Azm, as his residence. It served the continuing line of Azm governors in Hama until the end of family rule in the 19th century. This has been restored two times due to earthquake. In the courtyard of the place we were lucky to meet a group of 4 Italian Archaeologists, just by chance, who were in Syria to excavate some newly discovered ruins near Hama belonging to the Ebla Peoples. They told us the Ebla Peoples are as old as the Mesopotamian Civilisations and existed independently making them one of the oldest peoples in the world.
The Krak Des Chevaliers or “Castle of the Knights” is 40min from Hama and is a medieval castle in Syria and one of the most important preserved medieval castles in the world. The site was first inhabited in the 11th century by Kurdish troops garrisoned there by the Mirdasids. The original castle was built in 1031 by a Frenchman hence the name but was occupied also by the Crusaders and Ottomans. It is a large impressive structure covering 30,000 square metres and able to house and feed 2,000 troops. It has two large hors stables, a huge kitchen, a huge brick oven for making bread and one of the first toilets and sewage systems in Syria. It sits on a lone hill above the village of Hosn at 750m above sea level. Krak Des Chevaliers is UNESCO protected.
Our final drive to seaside Tartus only took another hour. What a treat to see the blue Mediterranean again. As soon as we arrived it was off to the island of Arwad just 5km and 25min away by boat. We were lucky enough to arrive on the island just as the sun was setting. What a beautiful sight. Contrasting sharply against an overcrowded dirty island. The one true grace of this place is the myriads of children. They came out of nowhere, greeting and accosting us. Nice. The average age on this island must be 8 !!! After sunset we walked around the entire island only a couple of kilometres and just made the boat back. The hotel at 745pm was a welcome site and just a few metres back from the beach. A tin can dinner for me tonight to bring you these posts and rest up for a very early swim the next day – hopefully.
Enjoy Hama, the castle and the coast !!!
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