Beirut – our taste of the Western world in the Middle East
We arrived into Beirut, thrilled to get a taste of city life with some Western-flare, something we haven’t experienced since leaving Taipei months ago. Upon arriving in Beirut, I was thrilled to find that the airport bathrooms were pristine, smelled like roses and had toilet paper – not just one but TWO rolls for me to choose from! They were heaven on earth after months of having to making sure to always have tissue or TP with me and learning the art of deactivating my sense of smell without asphyxiateing myself every time I entered a public toilet. Not only were the city’s public bathrooms clean, but we also basked in some of the simple pleasure’s that we’ve been missing while being on the road.
The Middle Eastern cuisine has been excellent. We’ve loved the mezze (small appetizers like hummus and baba ghanoush), shwarmas, falafels, and gooey syrupy pastries especially fresh out of the oven in Amman, but frankly have started to get a little sick of them as our staple foods and are missing much variety in terms of access to international cuisine. Thankfully, Beirut had what it took to satisfy the needs of our palates.
Our first indulgence was BACON – it was the first pork that we’ve seen since East Asia (and most likely the last until we get to Europe)! Our first night in Beirut, we picked up some groceries and cooked our first meal since starting this trip with some friends who we had met in Amman and were now at the same hostel in Beirut. Main course that night was bacon cheeseburgers – heaven!
Second indulgence was SUSHI – at the recommendation from an American who had just been there weeks before us, we splurged on dinner at “Japanese, please!”, a casual little sushi place on the campus of American University Beirut. Not the best sushi we’ve ever had but at the time it sure tasted like it.
As alcohol is not common in much of the Middle East, we haven’t encountered much in the way of nightlife and if anything, it would shut down before midnight. However, Beirut is known for it’s great nightlife – cafes, bars, and clubs that are open until the wee hours of the morning as things don’t get started there until well after midnight. We were psyched to be able to stroll around late at night and take in all the energy and indulge some more…
Third indulgence was KARAOKE – per Anthony’s post on Taiwan, we had had more karaoke than you could ever imagine, BUT I was still going thru karaoke withdrawal (like the good Asian that I am – my father would be proud) and like an answer to my prayers, we stumbled upon K.O.B. (Karaoke of Bierut) one night and ended up singing our hearts out with some of Beirut’s karaoke finest – it was our first non-Asian international karaoke experience – let it be known that the Lebanese take their karaoke very seriously as they sing with much gusto and passion. Look out for Lebanese Idol coming soon to Fox for sure.
Aside from having Western flavor, Beirut proved to be an extremely intriguing city. Remnants and reminders of the civil war are everywhere. It was a little eerie walking down the “Green Line”, which was the divide between the Muslim and Christian areas of the city during the civil war and had experienced some extremely intense fighting, and seeing the physical remnants and reminders and even beginning to try and imagine what went on there. In many sections of town, there are abandoned buildings (many which you could tell where very beautiful at one time) whose exteriors are covered with pock marks from bullets and whose entire floors are without walls after being blown apart. We were shocked to see that the third floor of our hotel, the floor right above ours, had been completely blown out. The interesting thing is many of these partially intact buildings are still standing amongst some that have been fixed and even brand new buildings that have just been put up and the contrast is really mindblowing.
One of the highlights of our visit there was the National Museum of Beirut, which is beautiful, has a great collection and is the perfect size. Additionally, knowing how much effort and care that the museum curator and staff went thru to preserve and protect the pieces and artifacts during the war make the collection even more impressive. We watched a video which showed us how many of the pieces were covered in concrete and put into storage deep underground under the museum to protect them during the war and how much work it took to take them out, restore, and re-exhibit them after the war.
The Lonely Planet talks about how “Beirutis are doing their utmost to put the recent past behind them by…..generally enjoying life, giving the place a buzz that is absent from almost every other city in the region” and despite what the city has been thru, you can definitely feel the special energy and joie de vivre that eminates from it seeing the way that people are out and about all around town – sitting outside drinking tea at cafes, strolling along the sea on the corniche, hanging out and watching the fisherman there, or just sitting outside on the sidewalk talking about whatever they are – and you understand what makes Beirut the unique and special place that it is.
For pictures:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shanlovesphotos/sets/72057594139184880/
– Shan
Tags: Beirut, Lebanon, Middle East, Travel
Shan
May 13th, 2006 at 3:25 pm
I make Suchi also is call ” Suchi Waterloo Style”
with a pinch of dry Ranch Dressing. Mom