Friday 4^th June

I cover the information about Lattakia in tomorrow’s log, but today we took a coach to visit the ‘forgotten cities’ and this trip set off for what was to be a very long and sadly slightly dull day.

Our guide for the day started well and brought us up to speed with a potted history of Syria and the region as well as information about the life and customs here. The coach drove through part of Lattakia City before it soon was heading out into the very sparse and barren countryside. The roads are very basic and pretty empty of any sort of traffic and the odd railway lines that we saw were mostly rusted over and disused. Dramatically, we saw a car upside-down in the narrow central reservation blazing away – laconically the guide said “oh dear, it’s a car”!   The centre reservation is actually a deep and quite wide open ditch, so traffic seemed unaffected by this serious incident and about ten minutes later we met the fire engine going the other way, rather too late perhaps.

There is a very tangible air of neglect as signs of former prosperity abound, but everything is very run down and incomplete. Our guide tried to explain that the endless shells of incomplete houses are the result of Syrians desperately trying to invest their money in something tangible during the embargo that the West put on the country following the Lockerbie bombing. Their inflation had rocketed and this was the only option open to them. In addition, Syria like Greece has (or had) a tax on completed buildings and so the game is to leave the house without a proper roof, ready for the next floor to be added and avoid the payment. The result gives the country this air of abandonment and less than half of the houses we saw showed any signs of occupation. The Syrians themselves though have shown themselves to be very cheerful and welcoming and most want to stop you and talk to you in their best English and again their excitement on discovering that we actually come from England is remarkable. Lesley spent part of the night sail learning about their customs and what to do when in someone’s home which I foolishly suggested was probably not something that was going to happen, but by the end of our first 24 hours she had been invited into at least three homes, although in fairness she has not actually been able to take up these offers yet! Absolutely everywhere we went, children would run out and wave to the coach excitedly and we saw more smiley faces here than anywhere else so far.,

After 4 hours travelling we arrived at Sergilla which is one of the forgotten cities and we got out of the coach and were taken round the key parts of this quite remarkable site by our guide under the full glare of the Syrian midday sun. There are 5 of these cities which are also sometimes referred to as villages, which grew up when the route of the silk road to the orient changed course to avoid the fighting and problems in the desert to the east of Syria. Sadly when the fighting finally came to an end (!) the route reverted to its original course and these cities were simply abandoned intact as there was no trade left at all. Numerous earthquakes since have brought most of the buildings down but it is quite surprising just how much has survived. Melting in the heat, we climbed back onto the bus and drove to the restaurant that was giving us our lunch. This was a faintly entertaining affair and once we had worked our way through all the courses we found that it was already 4.00 pm and so the coaches then headed for home. The guide then felt the need to run us through some of the politics of the region, taking the opportunity to deliver a lengthy monologue on the unfairness of the Syrian supported Hamas and Hesbollah being called terrorists whilst the Israelis were not. This continued rather too long and there was relief all round when he finally ran out of steam. He then did a pretty good job of winding us all up about the poor value for the day and the forthcoming trip to Damascus so that when we arrived back at Lattakia we were all keen to discuss matters with the tour operator! However we have now seen the full itinerary for this trip and are feeling much better again about what is in store.

We had supper on board, which of course was tuna and couscous and rounded off the day with a hot and sleepy session of Mexican Train.