In Syria, Motorists Press on, Yielding for War On the highway between Damascus and Latakia, families and traders share the road with soldiers and rebel fighters. NORTH OF DAMASCUS, Syria - Along the road that winds over Mount Qasioun on the way out of Damascus, concrete archways lead to gated military bases, and sentry posts perch atop the slopes and rises of the dry, scrabbly hills. From behind sand berms at army checkpoints, tanks point their heavy guns into traffic. Driving out of Damascus, the Syrian capital, toward the city of Homs about 100 miles to the north, it is easy to see why rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad have been unable to advance toward the capital from the north and west. The mountains and open plains here are thick with defenses built over the 40 years of Assad family rule to protect the center of power. But as the highway continues between two mountain ridges and reaches a flatter stretch south of Homs near the Lebanese border, this crucial corridor of government control becomes more fragile, crossed by rebel supply and recruitment routes, and war feels closer. On a recent trip from Damascus to Latakia on Syria's Mediterranean coast, a driver paused before heading onto an overpass on the outskirts of Homs, where rebels are still active, to talk to a man changing a tire. "Fi shi?" he asked. Is there anything? "Just repeat "God" and go," the man replied, and the driver sped up and over the bridge, gunning the engine as he turned west, relaxing only after he reached the solidly state-controlled coast. To drive from Damascus past Homs to Latakia is to tour the strategic spine of the country, the ultimate prize in the civil war now in its third year. Most of Syria's population is clustered in a series of settlements in the west of the country, stretching north from Dara'a to Damascus, Homs, Tartus, Latakia, Idlib and Aleppo, cities where the government remains in full or partial control but must contend with insurgents harassing people on the roads and in rural areas between. Road tripping in Syria reveals the sometimes surreal experience of Syrians" trying to move themselves and their goods around a country that has become a patchwork of rebellion and control, where government and rebel fighters share the roads with families and traders trying to go about their business. The main highway out of Damascus leads past and through eastern suburbs where rebels are entrenched, but no barriers or warning signs indicate the start of areas where rebel snipers or government artillery could strike. Yet blue reflective road signs bearing the names of once-unremarkable working-class suburbs - Harasta, Douma - now indicate war zones, and many drivers take the older route over Mount Qasioun. On a bright, windy morning, a haze lay over most of the Damascus outskirts as they disappeared behind the mountain that overlooks the city. On the back side, military bases alternated with towns of concrete-block buildings and domed mosques, like Al-Tal, where despite government control around the town, rebels inside it are active, residents say. Some analysts say bases here were the source of chemical weapons fire that killed hundreds in August, prompting the deal to eliminate Syria's chemical arsenal; the government denies that. What is not in dispute is that artillery strikes from the general area target the suburbs daily, the sounds of launching shells echoing over the city. "The Syrian Army for the sake of the safety of the people," read a poster at a checkpoint where men in camouflage checked cars; one driver appeared to be handing over a bag of lettuce to a soldier. "Yes to reforms" was scrawled on a concrete barrier. Nearby, the twisted carcass of a burned tanker truck lay on the shoulder, unexplained and ignored by people waiting for rides. On stretches between time-consuming checkpoints, truck drivers tried to make up for delays, rattling along at breakneck speeds. Signs that said "Traffic Police for Help" included a number to call. Despite everything, Syria's traffic police are far more effective than those in neighboring Lebanon, pulling over drivers and writing speeding and parking tickets.