Fifth Journey Day 119: Noise Held Still

Date: September 4, 2025
Location: Latakia, Syria

In Latakia, a major Mediterranean port on the coast of Syria, the day moves to the tempo of cranes, gulls, and surf. The city’s shoreline—long tied to maritime trade and the ancient coast near Ugarit—wraps its noise around the stones of the breakwater, where salt, diesel, and heat gather like another tide.

Harbor Atmosphere

This afternoon, I walked toward the sea and found a place to sit on the breakwater. The stones felt rough and warm under my feet. They were holding in the sun's heat, and the wind made the air feel soft. The port was close enough that I could hear the cranes and trucks, but from where I sat, the water was louder. It was like a steady, irregular rhythm of waves breaking, sometimes sharp and sometimes hollow. Gulls fly across the sky. Their cries are both loud and strange, but in a good way.

Breakwater Vigil

I didn't sketch at first. I watched the water press against the stones and then move away, leaving dark marks that faded as they dried. The repetition was not exact; it was always changing, as though the sea refused to settle on a single gesture. I thought about how the harbor in Tartus had seemed calmer and quieter yesterday. Here, the sea felt busier, like the city behind it.

Choosing Stillness Over Sketching

A boy ran past with a fishing line, his footsteps quick on the stones. He looked at me for a second, then looked back at the water. I envied how easily he took to the sea, while I was still learning how to enjoy it. Eventually, I opened my sketchbook and made faint marks. I didn't draw the gulls or waves themselves, but the rhythm between them. I drew the interruptions, overlaps, and empty spaces.

A City in Sync with the Sea

Today, I remember mostly the texture of things: the salt on my lips, the stone under my hand, the sound of water breaking against something immovable. The sea here is not as soothing as I expected. It reminds me that rest can have noise, and that quiet comes when you let the noise pass through you.

Travel Notes

• Weather: 31°C and humid with a steady sea breeze; sky almost cloudless, horizon blurred by haze; sun-warmed stones radiating heat.
• Scents: Salt spray mingling with diesel from the port, a trace of metal and tar from ropes and docks.
• Sounds: Irregular waves—sometimes sharp, sometimes hollow—over cranes, trucks, and the bright cries of gulls.
• Reflection: Rest can be noisy; quiet arrives when the noise is allowed to pass through rather than be resisted.

Continue the Journey

You may also enjoy reading the earlier pause in Hama, Fifth Journey Day 116: Circle That Dripped, or tasting the city air in Aleppo the day before.