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Published: September 29th 2007
Once known as the Paris of the Middle East, Beirut was long considered the most liberal and "laissez-faire" city in the region - the "joie de vivre" is evident. Without a map telling me that I was in the Middle East, I could be at any coastal city in Southern Europe. Despite the recent troubles the country has been facing, and the political instability which adds to the uncertainties about the future, Lebanon is a country with a lot to offer. Due to its unique geographical position at the western edge of the Arab world and the eastern edge of Europe... and the many cultural influences left by the various conquerors throughout its history, it has always been a melting pot of different cultures and ideas - be it religious, cultural and even culinary...
Until the events of July 2006, when Israel invaded Lebanon in response to two Israeli soldiers being kidnapped by Hezbollah (the "Party of God"), the capital, Beirut, was a cosmopolitan city on its way back to its former glory and Lebanon's tourist industry had been emerging from turbulent years hampered by conflict. But once again fighting caused high numbers of civilian casualties and once again many
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City Center Beirutbuildings were destroyed in Beirut, Tyre and villages in the south... and once again most tourists decided to avoid Lebanon as a travel destination.
So, the question I've heard most when telling people, I am going to Lebanon was: "Is it safe to go there now?" and the answer is: "Maybe not, because Lebanon will, due the political instability, always stay potentially dangerous!" But then, even in a place like that life is going on, people have to go to work, go for lunch, dinner, shopping, drinking, partying... in short: live a normal life like everyone and everywhere else in this world. So, instead of being constantly scared of car bombs or rockets coming from somewhere south of the border, I felt relatively safe while walking through the streets of Beirut - almost as if I were in Paris just that I was in the Middle East and just that armed soldiers were standing on almost every corner of the city and just that there were here and there some big holes in some buildings as friendly greetings from the even friendlier neighbour in the south called Israel!
- Antalya to Beirut - The Odyssee - 1:30AM
City Center
Beirut, Lebanon - Somewhere in Beirut: "It's full. We have no beds left!" the man from the hostel said. "It's full!, It's full!, It's full..." it kept echoing in my mind and my thoughts wandered back the timeline...
...34hours before I boarded a nightbus in Antalya, Turkey, and headed towards east. The busride was ok, I had the seat behind the driver, even though I couldn't stretch my legs properly I was ok, turned on my mp3 player and fell asleep. From time to time I woke up for a second or two and glimpsed out of the window. The bus drove along the Mediterranean coast, up into the mountains and from there I had a beautiful view over the sea. The surface was reflecting the moonlight, so that a part of the sea seemed to glimmer in the night like a huge silver shining tablet with diamonds. 14hours and 800km later I arrived in Antakya, a city close to the Turkish-Syrian Border.
The first thing I did when I arrived at the busstation in Antakya was to follow the sign "Internet" as I had to check my mail to find out where Grace was and to find out if
Sunset
Beirut Seaside I had to head to either Damascus in Syria or Beirut in Lebanon - as we had the plan to meet up somewhere, but where an Internet cafe supposed to be was a kind of restaurant and when I entered the staff asked me if I want a cup of Turkish coffee and American breakfast. "No, thanks!" I answered and asked him if I can use the internet somewhere?! "There was a sign saying: Internet!" I said, and he replied: "No Internet here, but you can have French toast!", so "what about the Internet sign", I asked again, and he replied "Ohh that Internet sign,... hmmm I have no idea who put it there and why!? There is no Internet here, trust me, but we have good breakfast, trust me!"... so as I was hungry anyway I decided to trust him and ended up having breakfast at that internet cafe with no internet.
Later I found out that there was no Internet connection at the busstation or closeby, as there was no single PC at all. But to my surprise and ironically there was a Wireless-Lan network, so that waiting passengers could use their laptop-pc to go online for
Fishing
Beirut Seaside free, the only problem was that noone had a laptop. In short: I couldn't check my mail and decided to get on the next minibus to Aleppo in Syria (3 hours, 7EUR) and to check my mail there!
On the minibus to Aleppo were some other travellers, 2 Korean guys, a Canadian, a Spanish couple and a Japanese guy who looked like a girl. 2 hours later when we arrived in Aleppo there were just me, the Canadian and Koreans left. The Spanish couple were rejected to leave Turkey as they had no Turkish arrival stamp and ended up returning back to Antakya for getting a stamp at the immigration office before heading to the border again, and the Japanese girl who actually was a boy and just looked like a girl disappeared at the border crossing. I am not sure what happened to him (or her) but I haven’t seen her (or him) again, and this will probably stay one of the big mysteries in my life which I’ll never solve. And I am sure that in like 50 years from now, when my grandchilds happen to read this, they will ask something like: "Grandpa-Chi, what happened to
that Japanese girl who actually was a boy but just looked like a girl?!?"
Anyway, again the first thing I did when I arrived in Aleppo was to follow another „Internet“ sign which this time led me into a souvenirs shop! "No, we have no internet here, but we have nice shirts, U wanna try it on?! Do you like yellow?" was the answer, when I asked for a PC with internet connection. So I was in trouble as from Aleppo I actually had to take a bus to either Damascus or right into Lebanon and to Beirut… but I had no idea where Grace was. So I decided to walk into the city for finding an internet cafe, where they don't try to sell me an American breakfast, a yellow Aleppo shirt, an ancient carpet, a camel or whatever...
I asked some Syrian guys on the street about the closest Internet Cafe, but they didn't understand me. So I just made movements with my hands (=universal language) as if I were typing on a computer keyboard. "Ohhhh... Innteeerrneetttttt!" all of them said and one of the guys gave me a sign to follow him, so I did.
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Beirut, Lebanon We walked through half of the city, into a computer shop of a friend of his who told him where to find the next internet cafe, so we continued our walk through the other half of the city until the guy stopped, smiled and pointed on a door with a big sign "Internet!". I wasn't sure about the smile and much less about what I should expect and what would happen when I open that door as it wasn't the first "Internet" sign I have seen on this day, not that I end up in an illegal mass destruction weapon factory, brothel or gay massage club or so, even though I truely doubt that they have such things in Syria. So when I opened the door and entered, I was relieved that I was actually really standing in a real Internet Cafe with real PCs and really nice big flatscreens. I checked my mails but couldn't find out if Grace was either in Damascus or Beirut, as she apparently forgot to mention this in her mail! I rarely get mad, some people have known me for a decade or two and haven't seen me getting mad, but after like almost
At Twilight
Streets of Beirut 2 days on road all the way from Hamburg to Aleppo, an hour of walk with my big backpack through the city to find that Internet Cafe so that I finally could check my mails, just to find out that the mail I received didn't have the requested information I needed and asked for... made me a kind of mad... especially as we actually said that we will meet in Amman, Jordan on the 3rd but then Grace just changed her plan one day before my flight and sent me an e-mail saying that she met some other travellers and will go to Beirut instead of waiting for me a day in Jordan. But that's Grace.
So as I didn't know whether I have to head towards Beirut or Damascus, I decided to go to Jordan instead... but when I wanted to purchase a ticket for the next bus to Amman, they told me that I have to wait for like 5 hours for the next bus... but I could take a bus to Damascus (4hours, 3USD) first which would depart in 5min and take another bus from there to Amman. So I somehow ended up on a bus
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Beirut at the Mediterranean Sea to Damascus, sitting next to a Syrian guy who was trying to convince me to swap my shitty mp3 player with his shittier one.
When I arrived in Damascus around 8:00PM I had to find out that the bus to Amman had already left and that the next one would be in the morning. Though I liked Damascus, as I finally felt that I am somewhere in the Middle East, with bustling crowded streets, oriental scents and an very own atmosphere, I felt like to move on - I would return to Damascus in a few days anyway. You have to know, that whenever I feel like that, I can't stop and must keep moving on and on.
I asked some people where I have to go for catching a bus to Beirut and found out that the taxidrive would cost 600 SyrianPounds (12USD) to get there, as it would be a different busstation, which was far away. But I didn't want to pay that much money considering that I just paid 15USD for the whole way from Turkey to Damascus. So I asked a policeman how to get there by public transportation, who was then so kind
Watching the world goes by
Lebanese women in downtown Beirut and stopped like every minibus and asked the driver if he is heading towards the busstation until he finally found one. I took the minibus (5 SYP) into the city and changed to another bigger public bus (5SYP) to the busstation, so that I paid 10 SYP (20 Cents) instead of 600SYP (12USD) for a taxi, to get there.
But again I had to find out that the last bus had left to Beirut as well. The only way to get there would be by hiring a private taxi, which would cost like 40-50USD instead of 3USD for the bus. As I couldn't pay that I thought about hitchhiking but then bumped into another German, who was working for the German Embassy in Beirut and just returned from Iran. I couldn't help but to think that he was very German - well, if you're living in Germany but aren't very German yourself, you probably know what I mean, and if you're not, sorry... well then you'll probably not know what I mean at all. Anyway we ended up sharing a taxi with 2 Lebanese so that each of us paid 10USD. The ride to Beirut took just about 2
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Grace taking a pic hours including border crossing, duty-free shop stop and a drink with the other passengers.
When I arrived in Beirut around 11:30PM I had no idea where to go. Like I had no idea if Grace was actually in Beirut or not and if yes, where?! As it was late all internet cafes I passed by were already closed, and I couldn't check my emails. So I checked my guidebook and decided to head for a hostel which offered free internet. I walked an hour through the city and after another hour I finally found the hostel as the map in my guidebook wasn't good and I only had the streetname but no housenumber.
So 43 hours after my departure from Hamburg, I finally reached my final destination and was looking forward to having a shower and a bed where I could crush on. But then the man at the reception said: "It's full. We have no beds left!".
"It's full!, It's full!, It's full..." it kept echoing in my mind... before I answered: "I don't care, just let me sleep somewhere... I can sleep on the balcony or whereever!"... The man smiled and told me that I
can sleep on the rooftop, they have beds there for 3USD per night. The rooftop didn't look too nice on first sight, 2 beds in front of a huge advertisement screen with big floodlights right next to the beds facing up to illuminate the screen at night. It was a kind of bright but I didn't care too much about that and agreed to stay and ended up a kind of like it there - a rooftop just for me above the roofs of Beirut.
I walked down to the reception and stumbled over a blue backpack in the room, which looked very familiar to me. It was undoubly Gracy Grace's fake China bought NorthFace backback. "The world is small", I said to myself and left a note on her backpack that I am there and on the rooftop, as she was still out for dinner. I walked upstairs to my rooftoop, laid myself on the bed and turned on some music, stared up to the sky and tried to find some stars but without success... even though I was physically tired my thoughts started to wander around and I didn't fall asleep until dawn - but at least
Scars of war
the former Holiday Inn Hotel my Odyssee had an end.
- Beirut - On first sight Beirut surprisingly felt a bit like being in Southern Europe, especially the French-influenced Gemmayzeh district. But then it’s a melting pot of different cultures. There is Ras Beirut, which has a more Arab feel to it with its street vendors, mosques and souqs. On the streets of Beirut you can see both, women wearing miniskirts, tight tops and highheels, and covered Muslim girls. When you look up towards the sky you will find the minarets of mosques stand next to the spires of Christian Maronite churches, a meeting place of east and west.
Beirut was originally built on the mountain and trailed down all the way until it reached the sea. It spread out in different directions and was filled with a lively mixture of modern life and old traditions and architecture. It has been variously occupied by various conquerors throughout its history like the Romans and the Phoenicians, who named it "The City of Wells".
At the end of the 19th century, the city thrived on exporting silk grown on nearby Mount Lebanon. And when the French established a modern harbour and a
Scars of war
the former Holiday Inn Hotel rail link across Lebanon to Damascus and Aleppo in Syria, much of the trade was carried by French ships to Marseille, and soon French influence in the area exceeded that of any other European power. After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire following WWI, Beirut, along with all of Lebanon was placed under the French Mandate. Therefore, the French influence is still evident nowadays, many Lebanese still speak French and other prefer speaking French to English.
When Lebanon achieved independence in 1943, Beirut became its capital city. Beirut remained the intellectual capital of the Arab world and a major commercial and tourist center until 1975 when a brutal civil war broke out in Lebanon. During most of the war, the city was divided between the largely Muslim west part and the Christian east. The central area of the city, previously the focus of much of the commercial and cultural activities, became a no man's land. Many of the city's best and brightest inhabitants fled to other countries.
Since the end of the war in 1989, the people of Lebanon have been rebuilding Beirut, and by the start of the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict the city had somewhat regained its
Soldiers
in Beirut status as a tourist, cultural, and intellectual center in the Middle East, as well as a center for commerce, fashion, and media… but due to ovbious reasons Beirut lost its importance to the new heavyweights in the Middle East like Dubai and other cities.
But when you think that Lebanon is a war torn country with savaged people running all over the place. Ladies and Gentleman you are wrong. If you think that the streets of Beirut would be a disastrous place with the buildings all busted and things of that sort, boys and girls you are wrong. Instead you will see a neat city with charming buildings and streets filled with laughing, friendly and lifeloving people.
But here and there one can still see the scars of the Lebanese civil war and the Isareli invasion in 2006. The conflict and civil war grew out of the disillusionment of the Muslim majority over the political dominance of the Christian minority in the capital as Muslims make up 59% of Lebanon's population - and still the situation is not stable, it’s still dwelling somewhere under the skin.
I spent 6 days in Beirut as Lebanon is small enough
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Grace and me with Lebanese soldiers that you can reach all cities within 2hours busride for a visit. I walked around Beirut and its coast, went clubbing with David, Grace and Heather, had great food, drunk a lot of Coke and Sprite light, rented a car for trip to Tripoli and Byblos with Grace, Yousef, Omar and Arty, had a big photoshooting session in Baalbek with Grace and spent a lot of time actually doing nothing and just hanging out in the hostel, cafes, restaurants and internet cafes. But more on all that and Lebanon, the country at the western edge of the Arab world and the eastern edge of Europe,… coming up later as I guess I’ve bored you enough by now. :-)
To be continued… next: Lebanon - The Road Trip to the North...
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Yuki
non-member comment
Hello traveller!!!!!!!! ^-^
CHI! your photos of all your trips are absolutely stunning! Your travel blog is really inspiring! I love reading your stories! hugs, miss you - Yuki ^-^