City of the Sun (Heliopolis)

---

Yesterday is but today's memory, tomorrow is today's dream. -Kahlil Gibran

My plan was to transit through Lebanon to get to the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, but as usual, my plans changed and I decided to just stay in Lebanon. I just kept my fingers crossed that the consequences of an expired visa wouldn't be too serious. Everything always seemed to work itself out, so my plan was to ride on this high tide of optimism.

On Sunday, Chi and I headed over to the ancient Roman ruins of Baalbek, which is charmingly referred to as the City of the Sun. It was known in the ancient times as a place for Romans to worship their god, Jupiter, so you can imagine how massive this place used to be in its glory days of 100 BC through 300 AD.

We got a late start, probably because I lagged. We rode a taxi to a local bus station...called Cola!

We got dropped of somewhere in Baalbek town and the vague Lonely Planet map guided us to the ruins. Some people complain that the LP maps are utter crap, but from my experience I've been able to navigate my way through towns and cities with it, finding accommodations, resources, etc. Needless to say, I'm still a fan of it b/c it serves its purpose as being a basic guide book offering helpful suggestions.

Since we arrived late in the afternoon, as the sun was headed for its daily retirement, we unexpectedly came at the best possible time of the day! The temperature was mild since the sun wasn't shooting down on us, and the rays were gently basking the ruins with a glowing orangish hue. It made the ruins look alive and vibrant. It still amazes me how the sun can effect the appearance things so significantly. The ruins were scattered around a large area, some well-preserved and some unrecognizable, but my two favorites had to be the remaining pillars of the Temple of Jupiter and the very well-preserved Temple of Bacchus (the god of wine, though some sources say that the temple is actually dedicated to Venus-- goddess of love, lust, and beauty).

As I've mentioned in past blogs, I have seen so many ruins that I am not as impressed by them as I should be. But this had to be one of the most magical and blissfully enlightening moments I've had. I think that several factors played a role-- things that crossed my mind, the time of day, the emptiness of the place, the presence of the cedar trees, and the thoughts of what it was like when things were vibrant millenniums ago. The area is vast and there was a feeling of immense solitude, but there's no feeling of loneliness. If I came back here later on in life, it might not feel as special and intimate as it did this time around.. it was just something about this exact moment. There was one point where I sat and relaxed on top of what used to be the Temple of Jupiter, overlooking the dry hills in the foreground, and the moment felt just perfect. I wish I could bottle this feeling somewhere and experience it at will.

It's amazing how fast the sun sets... but once it was lost over the rolling hills, we made our short walk back into town. We checked out a local eatery and had a delicious plate of shwarma, fattoush and grape leaves. Yuuuum! Walk into any local hole-in-the-wall in Lebanon, and chances are that it won’t disappoint! Lebanon is a culinary delight!

We rode a bus (a four-row van) back into town. After everyone had been dropped off, the driver asked us, through the help of a semi-bilingual Lebanese man, where we needed to go. After we sorted that out, he invited us for dinner. Although Chi and I had stuffed ourselves at Baalbek, we couldn't refuse his offer on sheer politeness. After we ate (shwarma), the man paid for the meal before we even realized it and I felt extreeeeeemely grateful to his friendly gesture. We sat around puffing away a few smokes before he helped us catch a taxi (and negotiate the rate) for the rest of the way home. What a wonderful day.

When we got back to our guest house, it turned out that Heather (Korean girl studying in London and traveling through the Mediterranean countries) and David (Australian student doing independent journalism work while on summer vacation) were going to go to the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp the next morning with an aid crew, in northern Lebanon. I wanted to join but David had a snobby “this ain’t a field trip” attitude about it.

Aside from that, there are two more things that I regret skipping. One, is a visit to Kahlil Gibran's museum... the man who wrote one of my favorite books, The Prophet, which I've carried and reread since I first received it as a book swap from Leon, back in February in Nepal. Two, is a visit to BO18, the hottest club in Lebanon (very LA of me to say that, I know. Oh the shame!). Next time... and there definitely will be a next time!

And ever has it been known that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation. -Kahlil Gibran

---