going to swim -last episode-

Khaleej (baloo3a)- Latakia Mounts
Originally uploaded by amrtheproud.

khaleej-latkia mounts1
Originally uploaded by amrtheproud.

Ok, I finally reached the bottom of the world down there, raised my head up, looked around:
-OMG, this must be heaven!!
-Come on, jump man.
It took me few seconds to be in the water which was freezing..
-how many springs are there in this canyon?
-about 25 …
after 20 minutes of swimming, having fun and talking with locals, I suddenly felt that there is something missing… what is it?
Damn! The rest of the group, they might be lost up there…
I looked at the beautiful magical views around me, and at the fresh water that I don’t think I can swim in something similar in Syria anymore, then I looked up toward the cliff edge…
-Nahhh! Forget about’em, I told my self, they are a group and they can handle it..
I never felt more selfish that that day..
A half hour later I heard the rest of the group calling someone to help as I did an hour before.. the locals helped my fellows to climb down and they joined the party!!
Enjoy the photos.

Going To Swim (Part-2)

Khaleej-Baloo3a
Originally uploaded by amrtheproud.


Khaleej-Baloo3a-2
Originally uploaded by amrtheproud.

Out of the sudden, I heard a human voice, a voice of a child talking to his fellows, with a splash. Between the gradients of the green , I could finally see a small spot of blue down, so there IS deep water down there.
-finally! I told fadi..
-hey- I started calling with the loudest voice I could ever had- guys can anybody hear me?
After about 5 minutes of calling we got a response:
- yea?
- Would you please tell me how did you get there?
- It's so easy, you can just go down from where you exactly are.
I looked from where they told me, it was impossible to go down from there with my heavy pack, Fadi started to descent, he stepped on the first and easiest part and told me:
-come on, it's easy!
I tided the camera well and started to head toward the bottom of the world, I had about 50 meters to descend.
First of all it wa really easy, but then the heavy pack started to pull me down, I tried to tide my pack well but in such place where the edge is almost vertical, I found out that it was the most stupid thing I could ever do in my life.
-Fadi, I can't move, one small motion and I will be done!
With his lighter pack, Fadi started to give constructions:
-hold on, catch that branch, put your foot here…
at the end I could move again, and I tided the pack very firmly. But again after few minutes, I started to fell unstable again, and one crazy thing came out to my mind:
I took the pack off and threw it down to the river!
Deep inside, I was praying that the situation down there will worth all I've done till that time.
To be continued…
(but this time the next post will be in two days not after two weeks as the first episode)

Going To Swim! -part1-

BadLuckTree-LatakiaMounts-S
Originally uploaded by amrtheproud.

July 2005- Lattakia Mounts

All I can remember that day that we were going to swim, then it turned into an adventure of excitement and joy...
That day the whole camp was obliged to take a day off, but -for many of us- we felt like we didn't have enough of hiking, we wanted something more.
When we arrived to the place that we have to spend the whole day in, we met a local; an old man who described a place like heaven where we can swim and enjoy the pure nature, no cars or any kind of vehicles can reach this place, so we suppose to walk, and that's what we were really looking for.
As a drop of a hat, we were packed and ready to go, only six of us were ready to adventures, five guys and a brave French girl her name was Ode (but she's not..haha).
We began at 2pm, not a perfect time of the day to start hiking, we asked every local we mate how we can reach this place the locals call: khaleej.
After being lost for more than 2 hours the last man we saw told us that we were so close.
I don't remember how, but suddenly, i turned to see the other guys that suppose to be walking right behind me to discover that they were disappeared!
Only me and Fadi, Talal was alone screaming but we couldn't hear what he was exactly saying, and identifying his location was impossible. Ode, Hassan, Ehab were far away..
Trying to hear a voice or see someone, I was looking all around when I saw what I called:
The tree of bad luck! Looking at that tree made me feel nervous, it looks like it was cursed or it curses people. But I had to continue searching for that damn place, and the question of swimming or not swimming meant to me in that moment like : to be or not to be!
To be continued....