| Hijacked to a magical day | |
| Home | Sep 19 |
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From Damascus I took a bus two hours north to the city of
Homs, ostensibly to make a day trip to the crusader castle known as Craq
des Chevaliers. The crusaders left a string of them through this
part of the Middle East.
From Homs I took a minibus to the castle, with Anne, a woman on the bus from Damascus. |
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The castle sits majestically on a hill with a dramatic view all around.
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We got there at 6:30am, but unfortunately during Ramadan the castle doesn't open until 9:30am So Anne and I struck up a conversation with a group that was also waiting |
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| As it happens, all the people on this bus were related--sisters, cousins, and aunts. They as an extended family had rented the bus for the day. | |
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All women, except for the leader, Homam...
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and the driver, Azam |
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| and a couple of other young men | |
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Well, pretty soon Azam broadcast some music from the bus Amocel began belly dancing |
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After a bit of come hither from Amocel I foolishly agreed to join her--though I don't dance |
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Once we found out we'd have to cool our heels for a
coupla hours to get into this pile of stone, the bus people decided to
head for other parts, one part of which included a visit to Tartus, a
beach town on the Mediterranean.
But the critical thing for our day (i.e., mine and Anne's) was that they invited us to join them. Anne and I had a pow wow, and decided to cast our lot with this lovely crowd. A sterling decision |
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So we all piled into the bus (that's Anne at the far right), and headed out |
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It wasn't long before we stopped. They hadn't had breakfast, nor had we. So they commandeered an outdoor restaurant that is used to host weddings and stuff, and put out a great spread |
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Back on the bus, the indefatigable Amocel is joined by Ahlam (in the red shirt) for more dancing. Man, can these cats dance! That bus fairly rocked |
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And Anne (from France) joined in enthusiastically |
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Ceham's shirt declared the philosphy of these ladies |
Apologies to Celam She was a mainstay of the dancing, but unfortunately I have no photographic proof of that |
Ahlam Ajoub Rafeef and Amira Fkkrt |
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Hayat takes to the dance floor |
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Hayat Ceham Israa Iman |
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Many gyrations later we arrived at Tartus, and immediately chartered this boat to take us to Award Island, 4km off the coast |
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Having been robbed of seeing one castle, we toured another [slightly smaller] one |
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Great overlook to the Mediterranean
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Then back on the bus, for a short shuttle to a beach near Tartus Great swimming |
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These rough huts can be rented |
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Iman, master chef, starts dinner prep |
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And outdoors, the serious work begins |
Aman Alaa Razan Moneira Iman |
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And we feast |
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Nadia Razan and Alaa Moneira Ali |
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After dinner it was back on the bus, for a short hop back to the beach in Tartus Blankets spread, propane burners fired up, it's tea time--with [tea-like] mata from Argentina |
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Group photo time
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Anne Ahlam Iman Hayat Rafeef Homam Nadia Ceham Lee Amacel Moneira |
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Our magical day ended at Iman's house, with tea all around |
Iman's husband Ajoub Israa Iman's daughter |
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Ahlam and Iman |
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Amocel Ahlam and Nadia Hayat and Ajoub |
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After putting us up for the night, Homam walked us to the bus station, and we re-entered our separate worlds |
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By this time, Homam had become our great good friend.
Anne invited him to France, I invited him to the USA, and he told us that
we both now have a family when we come to Syria
Great folks! Great day! This day was the high point of my trip so far. |
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