5th April, Lataika, Syria

Well that night in the pension at Safranbalu cost us. We discovered over 500kms later that my Kathmandu Goretex jacket was still hanging behind the loo door. Darn nuisance.
The border crossing into Syria yesterday was quite an experience. No problems on the Turkish side but the Syrian side took almost 2 hours to get through and meant going to 12 different offices to get the process completed. The cost was also mind boggling: US$60 per visa US$100 diesel tax $US50 for vehicle insurance plus a couple of bribes and a few bucks to keep my helpers happy. Diesel is very cheap here, if you can get it, about 50c a litre but they get at you by taxing people bringing vehicles into the country.
Still, here we are in Syria with the feeling that the long distances in the quickest time is behind us. We stopped the night outside Aleppo at a camp site and this morning visited Qala’t et Samaan or the Basilica of St Simeon. One of the most extreme of Byzantine holy men he spent 36 years up a pole. He started with a 3 metre one at the and by the time he died he was perched up top of an 18 metre one. The Basilica was built around him and became a pilgrimage destination back in the early 5th century.
I mentioned the lack of diesel: when we crossed the border our tank was almost empty as diesel cost AU$2.85 a litre in Turkey. We intended filling up in Aleppo but as the Basilica was almost on the way we detoured. After visiting the sight and heading to Aleppo we pulled into the first servo to fill up, ‘sorry no dizel’. Six servos later and with a gauge on empty in the middle of Aleppo we pulled into a 7th servo and turned off the motor. I signalled to the bloke it was on empty and the van would stay there until we found some diesel. After a brief consultation they appeared with a 20L can and helped us out. He did this twice. When we finally found a servo with diesel we joined a queue and 90 minutes later had a tank full. Diesel is cheap but in short supply in this country.
On leaving Aleppo we decided to head to the coast for a change. Here we are at Ras Shamra, just north of Lataika and parked metres from this archaeological dig. Don’t know much about it but it’s on a headland, the Mediterranean surrounding us on two sides. If it wasn’t for the rubbish it would be perfect.
6th April
Maybe not so perfect. I was in a deep sleep and Joan had just gone off when there was a knocking on the door. I put some decent clothes on and staggered out. Here were these two blokes saying they were police, which I didn’t believe, but the rifle they had slung over their shoulder did give a touch of authority. After looking at our passports they went off after a shake of hands. We think they were security guards at one of the buildings opposite and just felt obliged to investigate.