From Aleppo we moved on to Lattakia, Syria's largest port city. Our guidebook recommended that we take the train to Lattakia, as the scenery on that line goes through the coastal mountains, passing through tunnels and high over bridges across valleys below. Our First Class train was absolutely filthy and the windows were so dirty that we had trouble enjoying the wonderful mountain scenery we paid to see.
The litter strewn tracks of the city turned into the outskirts of Aleppo and soon enough we were traveling through the dry, hilly countryside towards the coast. As we went over the mountains we went through pine forests and mountain villages. After about 4 hours we finally got to Lattakia in the dark and took a taxi to the Lattakia hotel where we stayed during out time there.
Although Lattakia is located on the coast swimming is not recommended because the cities sewage is pumped into the ocean and anyone who swims in it will come out coated in a stinky green slime. For the same reason the local beaches aren't that great.
Lattakia is one of the most liberal cities in Syria and when we explored the "American Quarter" we were shocked at the difference from ultra-conservative Aleppo. The American Quarter was full of Western style fast food pizza and hamburger restaurants . The people also dressed different. Fewer men wore the body-length Islamic suits and hats and many of the women there wore high heels, tight fitting clothes and had their heads uncovered. For us seeing the women dressed so provocatively and having them stare at us, whereas in Aleppo they were so reserved, was a real culture shock. We talked in length with the manager of the hotel we stayed at and he explained that as a port city Lattakia had more foreign influence and some of the women we saw were Christians. He said that he would never marry a woman who did not choose to cover her head and said he broke up with his last girlfriend because she was not open to the idea of him having another wife. Men can legally have 4 wives in Syria although in practice very few men have more than one nowadays.
The ancient city of Ugarit was apparently the first place a written alphabet was found in Syria. An old coastal trading city, its ruins are about 30 minutes north of Lattakia via local minibus. The location was nice overlooking the nearby ocean but the ruins themselves required a serious imagination to figure out what the piles of stones used to be. I would only recommend visiting it to amateur archaeologists.
Qala'at Salah ad-Din required a 45 minute ride in a local minibus to the town of Al-Haffi. From there you hire a local to take you to the castle on the back of a motor scooter. The trip, which causes your life to flash before your eyes on various occasions takes you to a ridge where you can see the castle on a forested peak in front of you. Then you scream down a dirt road and climb back up to the castle. The 360 degree views of Lattakia in the distance, the ocean and the mountains behind you from up on the turrets were terrific and the castle was nice and relatively empty when I was there.
Although Lattakia was not one of the highlights of Syria for us it was a pleasant, less touristy place to visit and I definitely enjoyed the castle of Qala'at Salah ad-Din.
Steve
The litter strewn tracks of the city turned into the outskirts of Aleppo and soon enough we were traveling through the dry, hilly countryside towards the coast. As we went over the mountains we went through pine forests and mountain villages. After about 4 hours we finally got to Lattakia in the dark and took a taxi to the Lattakia hotel where we stayed during out time there.
Although Lattakia is located on the coast swimming is not recommended because the cities sewage is pumped into the ocean and anyone who swims in it will come out coated in a stinky green slime. For the same reason the local beaches aren't that great.
Lattakia is one of the most liberal cities in Syria and when we explored the "American Quarter" we were shocked at the difference from ultra-conservative Aleppo. The American Quarter was full of Western style fast food pizza and hamburger restaurants . The people also dressed different. Fewer men wore the body-length Islamic suits and hats and many of the women there wore high heels, tight fitting clothes and had their heads uncovered. For us seeing the women dressed so provocatively and having them stare at us, whereas in Aleppo they were so reserved, was a real culture shock. We talked in length with the manager of the hotel we stayed at and he explained that as a port city Lattakia had more foreign influence and some of the women we saw were Christians. He said that he would never marry a woman who did not choose to cover her head and said he broke up with his last girlfriend because she was not open to the idea of him having another wife. Men can legally have 4 wives in Syria although in practice very few men have more than one nowadays.
The ancient city of Ugarit was apparently the first place a written alphabet was found in Syria. An old coastal trading city, its ruins are about 30 minutes north of Lattakia via local minibus. The location was nice overlooking the nearby ocean but the ruins themselves required a serious imagination to figure out what the piles of stones used to be. I would only recommend visiting it to amateur archaeologists.
Qala'at Salah ad-Din required a 45 minute ride in a local minibus to the town of Al-Haffi. From there you hire a local to take you to the castle on the back of a motor scooter. The trip, which causes your life to flash before your eyes on various occasions takes you to a ridge where you can see the castle on a forested peak in front of you. Then you scream down a dirt road and climb back up to the castle. The 360 degree views of Lattakia in the distance, the ocean and the mountains behind you from up on the turrets were terrific and the castle was nice and relatively empty when I was there.
Although Lattakia was not one of the highlights of Syria for us it was a pleasant, less touristy place to visit and I definitely enjoyed the castle of Qala'at Salah ad-Din.
Steve
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