The Crac des Chevalliers. According to T.E. Lawrence (before he acquired his "of Arabia" sobriquet) it is "...undoubtably the most impressive fortress in the world."



It is a fantastic place. Huge, much more so than the castle at Misyaf. though there were a handful of other tourists there, the vast, sprawling nature of the place pretty much swallowed them up and I was left with a sense of having the whole thing entirely to myself. The castle is situated amazingly, high up on hills, surrounded by terraced orchards of apple, olive, pistachio. (I have Abdul to thank for these agricultural insights.)

As usual, I explored at random. climbing up to high promontories, peering through arrow slits, wandering through the kitchens and store rooms. I found a set of steps that descended down into blackness. I tenatively took a few cautions steps down and their wet, uneven nature caused me to stumble and slip, sliding down 4 or 5 steps but remaining miraculously upright. I cursed my foolish nature and retreated back upwards. It didn't take much imagination for me to realize how long my broken body would lie at the bottom of a an obscure stairway in a castle in Syria before anyone thought to go have a look for me. I rummaged through my backpack and pulled out my headlamp. Properly geared, I headed back down into the depths, surrounded by dark, drippy, walls. I poked around, found another set of stairs ascending and popped back up into daylight near the Arab baths. This is the stuff of childhood fantasy.