Latakia, Syria (CNN) Children splashing in the Mediterranean, young men and women in swimwear smoking hookah -- this could be any holiday hot spot, but it's Latakia, a seaside town in war-torn Syria.

On our way here, we drove through Homs' al-Khaldeeye district -- its streets empty after being under siege for years. The concrete husks of former homes and businesses stretched out in front of us for as far as the eye could see, buildings riddled with bullet holes, floors collapsed from tank shells, bombs and mortar fire. The only living souls were us, an occasional car and the Syrian military posts every couple of blocks. It was difficult to imagine, despite years covering Syria, the amount of destructive effort that was needed to attain this result. Hours earlier, as guests of the Syrian government, we were on the front lines of the military's fight against ISIS in the country's central region, where devastation also reigns.

The contrast with Latakia -- in Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's heartland, where his support is rock-solid and the Russians have an air base -- could not be more stark.

One of the beach resorts in Latakia.

Tucked safely away from the six-year-long Syrian war, Latakia is a seaside province that has escaped the fighting largely unscathed. Assad's ancestral hometown, Qardahah, is a short drive away. It has always been a bastion of relative peace during war; but now more than ever, as Assad's military gains are cemented.

"We are tired from the war," says Michael Michael, who was taking a break from his job at the Syrian embassy in Sudan.

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