Out and about in Lebanon
Given that Lebanon is such a small country, it was easy for us to use Beirut as our homebase and to take day trips outside of the city to see the various sites and cities. We visited Sidon and Tyre in the South; Baalbek, home of some of the best preserved temples in the world; Byblos, a charming little port town; Tripoli, famous for it’s sweets, and the beautiful Cedars.
We traveled thru Lebanon with our American friend who we had met in Amman and met up with again in Beirut, and sometimes with our Canadian friend as well, and it was nice to have some company. Our first excursion took us south to Sidon, where tried to visit an old detention center from the war period. Unfortunately, we were told that as Americans, we’d have to wait 10 days (which then turned into 6 days, as our discussions with the military police continued) for our permits because they had to call the American embassy to get approval to allow us into south-eastern Lebanon where the former detention center is. Our Canadian friend, who was also with us, immediately got his permit with no hassle and was able to visit that day. Denied, confused and frustrated, we headed further south along the coast to Tyre and wandered around town and the ruins. Afterwards, we stopped back in Sidon to see the Palace de Mer, the Castle on the Sea, and wandered around the souqs.
Our second excursion took us to Baalbek, where we explored some of the best preserved and extravagant Roman temples that we have seen thus far. The fact that they are so massive make them an extremely impressive. Aftering climbing around the ruins in the hot sun, we jumped into a minivan to the Ksara winery, which is the source of the oldest commercial wine of Lebanon. The winery was really nice, rivaling some of the nicer ones that I’ve been to in the Bay area, and some of the wines that we tasted were decent – though the pre-recorded tour of their cellars too closely resembled the It’s a Small World After All ride at Disneyworld. All-in-all though it was a good way to end a day of sightseeing.
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Byblos, a quaint and peaceful port town was the focus of our third excursion where we spent the afternoon wandering around (yet another) set of castle ruins and working on crossword puzzles, while having some tea along the water.
Our final excursion was an over night to Tripoli, the second largest city in the north of Lebanon that is famous for its cheesy sweets. We wandered around the city’s souqs and visited a really cool old Turkish bath that had a fountain full of water which had some of the craziest reflections that made you feel like you were looking in funhouse mirror. Our favorite memory of Tripoli is coming across a group of boys, probably around 6 years old, who were playing together. As soon as they figured out we spoke English, they began impersonating all-star WWF wrestlers for our benefit and it was HILARIOUS!
The next day, we visited the Cedars a small, preserved area in the mountains that apparently, at one time, was teeming with cedar trees before the effects of deforestation took over. It was so nice to be out in the nature and for the first time in awhile breathing air that was cool and smelled sweet and clean and really felt fresh. The main attraction in the Cedars is an old tree that is covered with carvings, one of which is breath-taking and very detailed carving of Jesus on the cross.
Our next stop after Lebanon should have been Cyprus, but we took a detour, but you’ll have to read on to find out where to and why.
For pıctures:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shanlovesphotos/sets/72057594139256418/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shanlovesphotos/sets/72057594139258927/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shanlovesphotos/sets/72057594139262918/
– Shan
Tags: Baalbek, Lebanon, Middle East, Travel
Shan