Distance: 64 km
Time: 3:21:00
Max speed: 31 km/hr
Ave speed: 18 km/hr
Temp: 28 C
Weather: Warm daytime, some heavy wind in wide areas
From Nebek, Chris and I continued backtracking north up to Homs, a so-called conservative town smack dab in the center of Syria. The main north- south highway connecting Turkey and Aleppo to Jordan and Damascus, as well as the main west-east highway connecting the port of Tartus to Iraq and Palmyra intercede here, resulting in a heavily crowded ring road.
Syria's highway is (mostly) lined with windswept trees
Large church in Homs, black and white stone a reflection of Assyrian culture
One of the cool mosaics in the entrance breezeway
Despite the rumor of conservatism, I found Homs to be a very progressive and liberal-feeling city, mostly because there is a large university and high Christian population, with many women of all ages foregoing the hijabb. There were also tons of bikers in the streets, and the overall city actually appeared to be thriving, without so many men simply standing or wandering about aimlessly as is usually the case. Women were everywhere! However, I was the only female on a bike, because, as I was informed, bikes are believed to deflower women, and their virginity is still sacred...
Feeling lazy in a park
Chris and I couchsurfed with a young french couple, who are volunteering for 2 years through their church, working with mentally disabled children. They also have an adorable 16 month old daughter, who spends every waking moment smiling and laughing, as well an endless curiosity and desire for her parents' attention. Marie and Sebastien, the parents, are extremely patient and happy to dote on her, utilizing their abundant free time to give her as much nurturing as possible.
Sabastien on guitar with Marie and their daughter
I instantly liked them because they wash and reuse cloth diapers, make all their foods from scratch, and feed their child real meals instead of chocolate and potato chips, which is what I have been noticing everywhere! Also, they were very friendly and interesting, sharing evening meals and stories with us about life in Syria as well as back in France.
Eloise loves popcorn almost as much as we do
We stayed 3 nights, usually wandering through the souk streets and relaxing in parks during the day, as well as hunting for massasa mati (mate straws), silver filter straws that are great for sipping little cups of loose tea.
Goofing off in lover's park
While biking around one morning we stopped by the Walled Mosque, a large jamii surrounding by a black and white stone wall. En route we glimpsed two young boys with some camels, riding through traffic, and decided to follow them as they entered an empty park. They brought the camels here to feed on the thick, tall grass, which is rare to find, especially in the desolate suburbs.
Man in his kufia wandering the mosque
One of the camels grazing in the city park
Camel friend chewing the cud in the park
The outdoor market are especially interesting, of course because there are such huge quantities of fresh fruits and vegetables simply spilling out everywhere, but also because the men seem to do all the shopping. In Albania, the women tend to buy and prepare the food (but guys will pick up groceries pa turp), yet here it was exclusively men. We wandered around taking photos (often of the sellers who wanted to pose) and were welcomed down the suq.
So many veggies to choose from!
People were eager to take pictures with Chris
Fresh pide from the bakery
Each night we cooked with our hosts, except when feeling lazy we opted to order Syrian style pizza, which is full of veggies and loaded with salt. Still tasty though! On our way home the last night Chris and I stopped in an internet cafe (hard to find) and opened a string of Thanksgiving messages from friends and family. Suprise! We had no clue it was bird day! Our French hosts were equally unaware, I guess no American culture-sharing this year...
Pizza night. Authentically Syrian.
Happy Thanksgiving!
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