Castling

Late now, so I'll be brief. While all that I described was going on, we were in Krak des Chevaliers. We thought, it's a castle, we'll be in and out in 30 minutes. How wrong we were! We stayed for hours, and the only reasons we left so soon were the pain in our legs and the hunger in our bellies. The castle is amazing. Built in 1031, it served a variety of masters, among others Richard Coeur de Lion and Sal al-Din. The inner castle was built by the crusaders; when the Arabs seized it, they reinforced it with an outer wall and an additional moat. We went through a lot of the castle, but missed even more. And we met a nice architect-restorer that gave us a free tour of his castle model. Pictures and description, some other time. I hope I do do it, because Krak deserves an entry all by itself. With piccies.

Then we drove a bit further, and saw great mill wheels of Hama. The road to Hama was windy and uncertain, but we made it. They were nice, but they were just big wheels.

Then we returned to Damascus. I know, this sounds awfully short, but those places are not close, and the drive (and the snooze) took most of our day. In a new car. Because neither the old tyre nor the new one were very good, and the agency chose to give us another car rather than change the equipment immediately. So we drove in an ATV-limo hybrid. Very nice. Don't ask me what it is. I might try to remember for tomorrow's entry, but no guarantees.

Today we went shopping. In the morning, my uncle was in the office, so the three of us wandered off to see the shops by ourselves. We got some nice things, including half decent T-shirts for 250 or 200 pounds per. I drove the price down to 250; Nisha managed 200, just a minute later, with me still standing there. I suck at haggling.

Then in the evening, the collective visit to the souq. I got some nice presents (for other people), and I got a nice present (by my uncle, to me). I loved all of them. Although my uncle rolled his eyes at our mercantile ineptitude. We just don't haggle enough. He's probably right.

Although, Nisha is pretty good, at least in my layman's eyes. Two more incidents from today: a) He walks into a shop, and asks about an object. "Two thousand five hundred." "Ooh, too expensive, I need something about a thousand." "Thousand okay." b) "Thousand two hundred." "Maybe discount?" "Okay, thousand one hundred." "Wait, let me get my wallet... So, you said, thousand and...?" "Okay, thousand, take it."

We also visited the silver souq, and the military museum. I couldn't see anything in the military museum except for three or four airplanes, but the silver souq was very interesting. I might return there. I asked the price for a piece I liked very much, very cunnily crafted, and the silversmith just plopped it on his scale, did a quick multiplication on his calculator, and quoted me the price. That it was of exquisite make did not factor anywhere, just the raw weight of silver, which is, by the way, really cheap here. Very cool.

They loved us still, but I have no idea if it will last. Apparently, at least in some Bosnian eyes, Croatia has joined Denmark. Insults were shouted, flags were burned. We'll see. I'm not frightened of the public opinion. I'm worried what some individuals might conceive of.

I heard that Pukanic, the reporter responsible for the cartoons being published in Croatia, got death threats. I do not care. My compassion is wasted on worm society castouts like him, and he deserves whatever he gets. I do not condone violence, but in this instance, however corny and callous it sounded, He asked for it applies here very well. Not very Christian of me, I know, but then, I am not one.