6th April. Hama, Syria

Two posts today as well as a few images. Had trouble loading them on to my memory stick but all is well again.

Hama is one of the ‘must sees’ of Syria. Mainly for the Norias or water wheels that elevate the water from the Orontes River used to supply the town and irrigate the land. Massive things standing at least 6 metres tall. Sadly the Orontes is now a sewer with methane gases belching up to the surface through the putrid slime. Perhaps outside the town things may be better, we shall see tomorrow. I believe they are still working further upstream
A great day’s travel; after our interrupted night on the beach we headed inland visiting this amazing crusader fortress built on top of these wooded slopes that at times drop sheer to the creeks below. Qala’at Saladin would seem to be quite impregnable but was eventually taken by the Arab invaders. The setting is magnificent but the road to it brought memories of some of the hairpin bends on the Lowari Pass in Pakistan, at least this time the road was sealed.
We then continued toward Hama stopping off at Apamea. Built by one of Alexander’s generals in the 2nd Century BC, the columns and pillars of the main thoroughfare are still quite imposing. This street would be 15 metres wide and would stretch at least a kilometre. Visitors are often joined by a flock of sheep passing through as the site isn’t fenced. Earthquakes over the centuries have demolished most of the city though the colonnades have been re erected
It’s good getting to the warmer areas. A smaller van is not so good in colder climates. Getting outside, setting up table & chairs for a meal or the hammocks to relax in is a big part of the enjoyment of motor homing and that is out of the question up till now. I see they are having more snow in the UK, don’t envy them.

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.

Typical House, Safranbolu, Turkey

3rd April. Safranbolu, Turkey

Nice to knock off early from the driving. It was our intention to have stopped off for a couple of days in Bulgaria to look at some of the sights but we decided to push on and cover the majority of the trip eastwards as quickly as possible. Istanbul was a put off as mentioned in the last blog. So here we are at Safranbolu, a very pleasant quiet town, suitable to the likes of people who find Bellingen just about right in size. Many of the buildings are old, built quite a few centuries ago. They resemble the Tudor style of construction with the timber beams and brick or mud daub infill. The upper levels hang over the cobbled paths though some of the oldest places show signs of assimilation with the 21^st century by way of the pay TV dish stuck on the outside mud wall.

Passing through Serbia I was almost once more paying over money to the Serb Treasury by way of a fine for exceeding the speed limit which happened to be 40kph at the time. This time though, when he heard we were from Australia he let us go with a warning. The police stopped us a further 3 times that afternoon but it was the rarity of seeing an Australian registered vehicle that made them pull us up.

2nd April. Safranbolu, East of Istanbul

1^st April

An uneventful trip across Europe. After spending the Friday night with our Dutch friends who once again embarrassed us with their generosity to the point of vacating their bed for us, we left Druten mid morning Saturday 29^th. We stuck to the motorways as much as we could, boring but useful when you want to get places in a hurry. Mind you the German ones make you keep your wits about you: here we are travelling along at a sedate 110kph in the slow lane with the cars in the middle one tearing along at, I would say, between 120-150kph while in the fast lane I would suggest they would be hitting 200kph and faster. Pulling out to pass means keeping a good eye on the mirrors. We slept the nights parked in the parking lots of the road houses that are placed regularly along the highway, the weather was warming a little and becoming more agreeable.

In the 5 days after leaving the UK we passed through 8 countries the landscape and people varying a little each time. Seeing a horse and cart slowly crossing an overpass with its two elderly occupants huddled up against the frosty morning while below 4 lanes of mostly modern cars flew past is a pretty good sign that we were now in less affluent areas for some of the locals.

We decided to not stop in Istanbul, we had been there before, I wasn’t sure where the camp site was and the traffic was a shambles. Instead the Lonely Planet spoke about this Heritage Listed town 250kms north east of Istanbul, called Safranbolu, it has retained much of its ancient character, we are taking a few hours off, staying in a pension where we can recharge all our batteries, have a good wash and relax a bit.

Overnight stay surrounded by semis

Cold in the Cotswolds. UK