We arrived at the port of Lattakia in Syria on Tuesday
morning, after an exhilarating overnight crossing from Mersin in Turkey. There was an almost full moon, lots of
stars and although the wind was blowing straight at us, rather than alongside as
had been forecast, the temperature was mild and the sea well behaved with only
a slight swell. We shared the watches, with Ian sleeping on board during
mine and I woke him once when I turned off the autopilot and instruments by
mistake as a large freighter was steaming straight towards us during the
darkest part of the night. Danger
was averted by re-setting the instruments and slowing down until the big beast
had passed. The only place for yachts to berth is at the Syrian Yacht
Club in Lattakia. In the
yacht club there are only four other foreign yachts and a dozen local powerboats
so we are aware that not many yachtsmen venture here. Although the
country is roughly the size of England, there is less than one hundred miles of
coastline and nowhere to sail to, apart from Beirut which will be our next
destination. The country
comprises a fertile mountainous strip parallel with the coast while about four
fifths of the country is desert, bordering Jordan and Iraq. The Syrian Yacht Club office is a yellow painted building
surrounded by a colourful garden.
The garden is planted with pink roses, tall yellow iris and purple
begonia and is home to a pair of peacocks, who were going through their
courtship ritual when I walked to the shower block early on our first
morning. The scene reminded me of
one of the Persian miniature paintings in the V & A. The administrator of the Yacht Club
has been extremely helpful and treating us like members of his family. He lent us 500 Syrian pounds as we had
no useful currency and were miles from an ATM. To our surprise everyone wants US Dollars or Euros rather
than Syrian pounds. The Syrian people are renowned for being extremely welcoming
and hospitable and we have found that to be true. Everybody greets us by saying ‘Welcome to our
country’. We reply with the Arabic
greeting ‘salaam alaykum’ (peace be upon you) which is spoken with clasped
hands and a bow of the head, to which the reply comes back ‘wa alaykum
as-salaam’ (and upon you be peace).
These greetings occur with everyone we meet, from fishermen in the
harbour, to customs officials, shopkeepers and urchins by the side of the road. Syria has always been popular with people interested in
history and archaeology, as it is such an ancient land, full of stunning archaeological
and religious sites. They
follow in the footsteps of hundreds of thousands of pilgrims who have visited
here since the earliest days of Christianity. We plan to visit Crusader castles, Byzantine churches
and monasteries and Roman cities in the desert. We are hiring a car and leaving Vasco here in Lattakia
for a few days.
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