Krak des Chaveliers

It was yet another busy Friday weekend as we continued our sightseeing tour of Syria. This time we visited Krak des Chaveliers (Fortress of the Knights) which is near the Lebanese border. This fortress is dubbed "probably the best Crusader castle there is...". And indeed it stands mighty atop a hill overlooking Syria. The locals call it the Citadel of Hosn. The castle looks almost exactly as it did 800 year ago. It guards the only major pass between Antioch (now in modern-day Turkey) and Beirut.

After completing our tour of Krak des Chaveliers, we went up the mountain resort of Slunfeh for an Arabic dinner with a wonderful view of agricultural plains of Syria. The climate in Slunfeh is still cool despite the oncoming summer. The thermometer in the car recorded a temperature of 11 degC.