Lattakia to Hama

Syria just keeps getting better and better! I had been told that there was no direct microbuses from Lattakia to Hama and that I would need to change at Homs. When I walked into the microbus station, not having a good understanding of exactly how I was going to negotiate this, the first guy I saw asked me if I wanted to go to Beirut! I assured him with an emphatic shake of the head that the answer was no. Assuming that what came out of his mouth next was asking me where I did want to go I replied with Hama. The gut standing next to him smiled and said (in almost perfect English) come with me, I am going to Hama). Normally I would be a little sceptical but all the Syrians I have met have been so friendly and genuine.

Anyway, my new friend guided me through the process and sat next to me on the bus. Not only did the bus go directly to Hama, I learned that he was a civil engineering student at University in Lattakia, who was returning home to Murghada (near Lattakia). He got to practice his English for a few hours and in return, he insisted on buying me lunch at the rest stop!

I may well have got off the bus at the wrong stop in Lattakia and spent the first 15 or so minutes wondering where I was and whether I was walking in the right direction. There are alwasy plenty of taxis around in case I felt that I became hopelessly lost! Just when I was beginning to feel more confident about where I was and the direction I was heading, another man approached me and asked if I needed any help. He knew of the place I was intending to stay (Hotel Riad) and walked with me the five minutes until I was at the front door. He was studying English Literature and a secondary school teacher.

I'm not sure whether this is typical or whether I just continue to be extremely lucky with the people I am meeting but either way, I hope the trend continues.

Hama and Hotel Riad are great. The city has a great feel to it and the manager of the hotel, Abdullah, has fantastic english and a really wicked sense of humour. The hotel organises day tours to the sights within driving distance of Hama and I expect to spend the next 3 or 4 nights here, using it as a base from which to explore.

Hama is best known for its wooden norias (water wheels), which are up to 20m in diameter and take water from the Orontes River and into mini aqueducts, from where it is used to irrigate the surrounding fields. Because the water wheels and the blocks on which they are mounted are wooden, they produce a mournful groaning which I anticipate to be quite haunting at night.