ROMANS & CRUSADERS - SYRIA

Many people saw their goods confiscated at the Syrian border, and I still wonder how we managed to distract the officials from our IT equipment.

Travelling through Arab speaking countries also ment getting used to reading Arab maps.

In Qal' al Hosn our 4 ton Land Rover had a hard time climbing the steep road to the Crac des Chevaliers.  It was built by crusaders around 1150 over a period of a 100 years. This impressive fortress was home to hundreds of horses and more than 4000 warriors, muslim or catholic, depending on who ruled at the time.



Little by little the landscape turned into a stone desert, home to the many bedouin. I really admire these people for their survival skills in this merciless environment. Rainfall is extremely rare and it's not uncommon for 2 or 3 years to go by without a drop of rain. I still can't believe that we managed to get stuck in the only 50 m2 of mud... for 6 hours,  and dragged every helping tractor with us into the mud.



One of the main oasis in the Syrian Desert is the historical site of Palmyra or City of the Palms. Around the year 270 the fierce Queen Zenobia reigned here.