"Kassab" a Kassab Travel Page by maykal

Kassab is an odd place. Tucked away in the hills north of Latakia, Kassab obviously used to be quite a picturesque mountain village but has now blown out into a sprawling resort for Syrians escaping the summer heat. Many of the inhabitants are armenians or Turks, so more often than not, you will not hear Arabic spoken on the streets. When I first arrived, I was treated with a bit of suspicion...I felt as if everyone was staring right at me, which is nothing strange in the Middle East but here it unnerved me to some extent.

However, Syrian/Turkish/Armenian hospitality is alive and well in Kassab, as I found out trying to find somewhere to stay...a hotel owner took pity on me and invited me to stay with his family instead of overcharging me for a room in his rather swish hotel! Later, I ran into the local police and immediately thought the worst...but all they wanted was to invite me to tea and a game of backgammon down at the station!