Middle East - Anthony Ham [414]
In the couple of blocks along Sharia Shoukri al-Quwatli and its side streets, there are a number of cheap felafel, shwarma, kebab and chicken restaurants. We highly recommend the excellent felafels at Ali Baba Restaurant (Sharia Shoukri al-Quwatli; felafel S£25; 10am-late).
Check to see if the Sultan Restaurant, in a lovely waterside stone building in the old town, has reopened after renovations. It used to be one of our favourite eating spots in Hama. To get here, pass through the low, vaulted tunnel beside the An-Nuri Mosque.
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GETTING THERE & AWAY
The Pullman Garage is a 20-minute walk (or S£40 taxi ride) southwest of the town centre, just beyond the minibus station. The microbus station is on the same road, slightly closer to town. Minibuses from the town centre to the bus station (S£5) leave from the clock tower and run between 7.30am and 10pm.
Al-Ahliah and Al-Kadmous have the most frequent departures from Pullman Garage, with regular services to Damascus (S£150, 2½ hours) via Homs (S£35, 30 minutes) and Aleppo (S£105, 2½ hours). Al-Ahliah has four daily services to Lattakia (S£180, 3½ hours) via Homs and Tartus. Al-Kadmous also has four daily buses to Deir ez-Zur (S£315) via Homs and Palmyra (S£150).
Microbuses travel to Homs (S£30) every 10 minutes from 7am to 10pm, but you’re much better off paying the little bit extra to travel with one of the luxury bus companies. Microbuses also travel to Suqeilibiyya (for Apamea) when full (S£30).
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CRAC DES CHEVALIERS
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Author Paul Theroux described Crac des Chevaliers as the epitome of the dream castle of childhood fantasies. TE Lawrence simply called it ‘the finest castle in the world’. Impervious to the onslaught of time, Crac des Chevaliers (in Arabic Qala’at al-Hosn) is one of Syria’s must-see sights. It was added to Unesco’s World Heritage list in 2006.
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HISTORY
The castle watches over the only significant break in the Jebel Ansariyya. Anyone who held this breach, known as the Homs Gap, between the southern end of the range and the northern outreaches of the Jebel Libnan ash-Sharqiyya (Anti-Lebanon Range), was virtually assured authority over inland Syria.
The first fortress known to have existed on this site was built by the emir of Homs in 1031, but it was the Crusader knights who, around the middle of the 12th century, largely built and expanded Crac into its existing form. Despite repeated attacks and sieges, including one led by Saladin, the castle held firm. In fact, it was never truly breached; the Crusaders just gave it up.
When the Mamluk sultan Beybars marched on the castle in 1271, the knights at Crac des Chevaliers were a last outpost. Jerusalem had been lost and the Christians were retreating. Numbers inside the castle, built to hold a garrison of 2000, were depleted to around 200. Even though they had supplies to last for five years, Crac des Chevaliers must have seemed more like a prison than a stronghold. Surrounded by the armies of Islam and with no hope of reprieve, the Crusaders departed after a month, having negotiated safe conduct to head to Tripoli.
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SIGHTS
The remarkably well preserved castle (adult/student S£150/10; 9am-6pm Apr-Oct, to 4pm Nov-Mar) comprises two distinct parts: the outside wall with its 13 towers and main entrance; and the inside wall and central construction, built on a rocky platform. A moat dug out of the rock separates the two walls.
A suggested route for exploration is to walk from the main entrance up the sloping ramp and out to the moat. Visit the baths, which you can get down to by a couple of dogleg staircases over