FROM KRAK TO ALEPPO

We left our castles on a beautiful morning, and drove westwards to the Mediterranean coast and the town of Tartus. There we bore south towards the Lebanese border, in search of the Phoenician ruin of Amrit. There had been clear signposts in Tartus, but there the trail ended, and we had to retrace our footsteps as Lebanon came in view. We explored several side roads leading towards the coast, and finally found one which then turned northwards along the coast. It was a tiny, tarred road in a poor state of repair, and the Traveller was duly nervous. But coming over a low rise, we passed a bit of new tarmac on the right, and glancing down it, saw some notices in French. Yes, it was Amrit.

This remarkable temple, dating to before 1500BC, was set in a large pool and could only be reached by boat. Water was led into the pool through ornamental lions heads, some of which could be seen on the floor of the pool:It was extraordinary to think that this had established a tradition that has lasted for at least 3500 years. Further on, there was a stadium with seating for about 2000.The stadium was exactly the same size, to within a small part of a metre, as the standard Olympic stadium used by the Greeks nearly a millennium later. The entrance was near the far end, on the right-hand side. The Traveller stands where hundreds of athletes must have passed over the years. Leaving the stadium, on our way back to the car, we passed through fields of asphodel, which scented the air sweetly all around. Leaving Amrit, we returned to Tartus, then drove north along the coast, very Mediterranean except for great Crusader castles on crags overlooking the sea. Some 15km north of Latakia, we searched for the great site of Ugarit. After the tenth loop through a village that was supposed to be near the site, we found a previously unexplored turning. It led through lush fields on one side and a military-looking fence on the other. The fence turned out to be the latter-day fortifications of Ugarit!

The site covers about 60ha, and is only partially excavated. It was occupied as long ago as the 7th Century BC, but most of what you can see today dates from the 3rd and 2nd Centuries, when Ugarit was a centre through which copper was traded with the rest of the world. About 1800BC there emerged at Ugarit the first real alphabet, with 'letters' standing for individual sounds rather than different symbols for different words. This was the ancient entrance to the city:

A river used to flow alongside, and connect to a port about 1km away, so this was once a landing stage. Entering the city, you were struck by its huge size, evident from ruins scattered across the landscape as far as you could see, with unexcavated swathes in between which clearly awaited the archeologists attentions:One of the most impressive aspects was the reticulation of water throughout the city. The picture below is of a basin in one of the houses, with the tap missing from the spout above.Significant points in the ancient town were marked with huge urns carved from solid rock. The Traveller inspects one from the safety of her umbrella - the sun was really powerful that day.

From Ugarit we turned back through Latakia, and then headed east over the hills. Our road was narrow and winding, and huge lorries hurtled down in the opposite direction. The countryside was beautiful, lush and green, but the driver had his work cut out staying away from trouble. It was all the more frustrating that a magnificent modern highway, almost complete, swooped gaily over the hills, often just a few metres away. Dust from the construction added to the hazards of the drive.

On the far side we dropped down into the valley of the Asi river, which was the Orontes of classical times, flowing down from Antioch. We passed a huge nuclear reactor, which I recognised as being of Russian design, and which drew its cooling water from the river. Onwards over rolling hills through Idlib, and finally we joined the marvellous highway that runs north to south through Syria, linking its main towns. Towards sunset we reached Aleppo. Would we find our hotel in the dusk? We did.