We are currently in Hama, home to many large norias (waterwheels) that scoop the Orontes river into aqueducts that then carry it off to fields for irrigation. I'm not sure the aqueducts are the method of transit now, given a lot of them seem a bit frayed and well...non-existent at points, but I'm assured that in spring when the water levels are higher these big glorious bastards creak into action and spread water here and there. They are necessary because the Orontes has fairly steep banks, making other methods of extraction less helpful.
Hama itself is a nice city, pleasant to walk in during the evenings. Today we walked on the other bank up a ways and it was slightly less pleasant. Maybe it was just the time of day but things felt hrrrrm, I'll say less nice. Probably because people don't usually go for walks over there.
Unfortunately our walk ended at the museum wherethey decided by student identity card was illegitimate. Apparently, despite my use of it all over Syria, there is some 3 month old command from the head poobah in Damascus that students can only be students to the age of 26. So I'm screwed. Hopefully it's a one time deal because I much prefer spending 10 syrian pounds to get into places over 150. Go figure.
But let's get to some specifics.
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