KRAK DES CHEVALIERS

First thing, our car was delivered - a very battered Renault, with 190 000km on the clock, barely a drop of petrol, but it was the best Hertz could do! We spent 10 minutes documenting all the dents and dints, and checking that the thing actually started, with the renter saying "Careful, it hasn't got much fuel!"

Leaving Damascus was stressful, not because of the traffic (which was bad) but because we had to travel about 20km before we came to the first filling station. All my experience as a rally driver came into play. Economy runs had nothing on this!

Then we were on our way, along a broad double carriageway over rolling hills. The further we got from Damascus, the drier it seemed to get, yet the denser the newly planted trees. This was a surprise. Acacia and eucalyptus were prominent. For several hundred metres either side of the road, there were young trees, perhaps 2m high at the most, planted about every 5m. But as we came closer to Homs, about 100km north of Damascus, the countryside grew greener.

The ring road round Homs carried us westwards, away from what was clearly a thriving industrial city. After about 40km, we spied a castle on a hill to the north.

Now this was clearly a castle of distinction. Krak des Chevaliers, one of the greatest of the crusader castles in the Middle East. A road wound up the hill, through pleasant villages, until we came to the entrance, behind the highest tower in the picture above.

The entry to the castle led up a steep ramp, with broad steps showing the wear caused by hundreds of horses. One of the first rooms we came to was the stables, with room for at least 100 horses. Beyond the stables, there was a huge reservoir sufficient to keep 3 000 men alive through a siege of several years, even if no rain fell.

Water was reticulated throughout the castle. The picture below is of one of the wash basins. I am still puzzled by the second tap-hole. The Traveller was quite certain they had running hot water!A Gothic walkway ran along one side of an inner courtyard:

Doorways on the left led to the kitchens, and next to the rose window at the end was the entrance to the dining room. The kitchen had one of the largest pizza ovens I have ever seen - the chimney at the back was 1.8m high. The roof of the oven has collapsed, but the oven would have cooked enough meat for 3000 diners.

The dining room was, naturally, spacious!

Then we came to a strange structure with four alcoves next to each other, and looking into the alcoves, found they had no floor - just a view down the walls to a defensive moat far below. We asked a guide - "Latrines" he said laconically.

There was even a church, with a truly wonderful stone pulpit:I just had to climb up it - "Hear me! Noble knights!" - and it echoed and resonanted as a good church should.

We had a late lunch in a charming cafe built on the ramparts, and then set forth in search of our hotel. It was supposed to be quite near the castle, but round and round we went, and kept on getting directions to carry on, and after about 15km found it. And it was worthwhile. A modern castle, conceived by an ex monk from a nearby monastery, with one of the most comfortable rooms we found, and a view of two castles from the front window:

The turrets in the foreground belong to the changerooms for the swimming pool!