Roman Ruins and Crusader CastleOct 24, 2010
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We visited Palmyra site after an early breakfast. It is extensive, with thousands of beautifully decorated columns – each of which would have had a statue on it. We have seen it all on this rally, but surprisingly we are not exhausted of ancient ruins and the stunning setting of Palmyra makes it very memorable. Our guide to the (Pagan) Temple of Bel was excellent and had us lying on our backs under a propped up piece of carved lintel to see fine carving and painting in the original 2000 year old colour. A great start to the day, but we could not hang around as our route was over remote desert to Hama to see old water wheels used to raise water from the river. After a quick lunch we drove over the mountains to take us to the best castle in the world: the crusader castle, Krac des Chevaliers.
The castle was everything you could expect one to be. Vast, solid, standing on an outcrop and with walls built of finely polished stone at an angle designed to repel cannon balls and grappling irons. Another real ‘wow’ from Syria. If you have been here, why did you not tell us about it. If you haven’t book yourself a trip. We will leave tomorrow for Turkey feeling our stay was all too short.