latakia's overcast embrace: a sleep-deprived photographer's lament

i arrived in latakia under a sky that looked like a washed-out photograph, all sodium vapor and low clouds. the air smelled like wet rope and fish guts, a combo that either wakes you up or makes you nauseous depending on how many hours you've been on a bus. i just checked and it's 12.43°C right now, the temperature's stuck at that for both min and max, feels like 11.95, humidity at a whopping 85% - basically the weather's hugging you and not letting go. pressure's sitting at 1011 hpa, which explains the headache behind my left eye. i'm a freelance photographer, which means i travel with two cameras, three lenses, and a bag that weighs more than my will to live sometimes. the light here is diffuse, like someone covered the sun with a sheer curtain, perfect for portraits but murder on my exposure meter.

anyway, i'll shut up and drop a map so you can see where i'm rambling from:

latakia's port is a mess of colorful hulls and rope coils that look like abandoned snakes. i spent the morning chasing gulls with my 70-200, trying to get that crisp wing-flap shot. the wind off the mediterranean is damp, it gets into everything - my sensor cleaning kit is already turning brown. the streets behind the harbor are narrow, plastered with posters for bands that never made it out of the 90s and political slogans that fade under the salt spray. i met a guy selling roasted corn who insisted his stall is the best spot to watch the sunset. he was right, but the corn was undercooked and i lost a lens cap somewhere between the kernels. still, the view of the water turning pinkish-grey was worth the hunger.

i've been hearing rumors about a 'ghost net' that washes up near the old crusader castle - someone told me it's haunted by the souls of fishermen who ignored the tide tables. i'm skeptical but the way the fog rolls in at night makes you believe in anything. speaking of numbers, i keep spotting 173576 on receipts, bus tickets, even scratched into the bar of my hotel's window. and 1760555544? that showed up as a contact on a discarded phone i found in a trash can near the fish market. i googled those numbers out of curiosity - turns out they're supposed to be coordinates, 17.3576°N, 176.0555544°E. that's dead center of the pacific, nowhere near land. maybe it's a prank, maybe it's a code for a smuggling ring. i'm too tired to care. i just want a decent cup of coffee that doesn't taste like radiator water.

the coffee here is a ritual. i found a place that roasts their own beans behind the old ottoman bathhouse. the barista, a guy with ink-stained fingers and a permanent squint, told me to try the 'latakian blend' - dark, smoky, with a hint of cardamom that reminds me of my grandmother's kitchen. i took a photo of the crema swirl, but the light was so flat it came out looking like mud. maybe i'll go back at golden hour, but the sun seems to be on vacation this season.

my gear is taking a beating. the humidity is making my lens coatings fog up the second i take them out of the bag. i've started keeping them in ziploc bags with silica gel packets, which feels like a hack from a survivalist. the sea level pressure at 1011 hpa and ground level at 1009 hpa shouldn't matter, but i swear my shutter feels slower. probably just my imagination. i did a walk around the citadel at dawn; the stones were slick with dew and the light was a soft blue that made the ancient walls look like they were breathing. i shot a series with my 35mm f/1.4, trying to get that dreamy bokeh on the oleander bushes. the frames came out sharp, but the colors are muted, as if the city is conserving its energy for summer.

for anyone planning a trip, i usually check TripAdvisor for the latest restaurant reviews, but i've found that Yelp sometimes surfaces hidden cafes that don't make the tourist radar. there's also a local forum called latakia-life.com where expats argue about the best shawarma - it's almost as heated as the weather. i'll drop a few links: TripAdvisor's Latakia page has a decent list of hotels, Yelp's seafood spots helped me find a stall with fried calamari that didn't cause food poisoning, and Latakia Life is where i read about the secret beach at ras al-bassit (though the road is a nightmare).

if you need a break from the humidity, tartus is just a short drive away, and antakya across the turkish border is a quick dash. if you get bored, the coast is full of little villages that haven't changed in decades. anyway, i should probably try to sleep before the numbers 173576 and 1760555544 start showing up in my dreams. goodnight, or good morning, depending on when you're reading this.

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