Fried eggs on pita bread for breakfast- a McPita- before heading off to Krak de Chevaliers, one of the most beautiful Crusader Castles in the world. Its’ scale was phenomenal.
It was first built in 1031 and manned by Kurds. It was taken over by the Knights of St John who rebuilt and enlarged it before falling to the Muslims in 1271. It could accommodate 4000 soldiers.
The change of scenery from Tartus on the sea to Krak de Chevaliers in a beautiful valley to the Syrian desert. The desert was filled with military on maneuvers.
We got into Palmyra at 4:00, got our hotel (a steal at $25, with A/C), our guide and headed for the funerary tombs. The first, Tower of Elanbel (AD 106) was a tower tomb built by rich merchants of Palmyra to house their entire family. The tombs are actually built into wall niches, like drawers, extending up for two stories. Each tomb had a relief of the dead on the front. The Tomb of the Three Brothers was an underground tomb filled with frescoes and beautifully carved limestone sarcophagi. A quick tour of the museum and it was time to call a halt to the touring part of our day.
Sunset over the ruins and a bottle of wine at the Hotel Villa Palmyra and dinner at the LP recommended “Traditional Palmyra Restaurant:”. Mensaf, a traditional Bedouin dish of rice, chicken and peanuts. Later that night, John paid for the mensaf meal.
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