Lebanon Part II

While my family spent day 4 on a trip to the south of Lebanon, including tours of the historic sites of Sidon and Tyr, I spent the day meeting with friends at NDU. While I apparently missed quite an experience including Israeli jets overhead, toy guns, and a traffic nightmare, it was really great to spend a day meeting with those people I have gotten to know over email from NDU. My trip to the University campus was concluded with a typical, around 3 hour Lebanese lunch. I've never seen such a lot of food in my life - the mezze alone could have fed a small village: hummus, kibbe, fattoush, vegetables, raw kibbe, raw things I dont want to think about, and goat's balls (which I actually tried - ugh)! After two courses, our party actually had to change tables for the dessert and fruit course. I've never experienced anything quite like it and just wish I could have taken some photos without seeming too much like a tourist.

Wednesday we were up early and off to Jeita grotto, Harisa and Byblos. Jeita is not far from where we were staying and I dont think any of us were quite prepared for what we were about to see. The most unbelievable display of stalactites and stalagmites you could imagine. The grotto is actually two separate but interconnected limestone caves that are almost 6 miles in length! Walking through the top grotto felt like a dream. Some of the stalactites and stalagmites were almost 400 feet tall - the largest in the world. As we walked through, our guide urged us to use our imagination and the things we saw were pretty great: Our Lady statue, mushrooms, flowers, trees covered in snow, faces, etc. Jeita is actually in a competition at the moment to be named one of the 7 new wonders of the world - I'm definitely voting for it - its a spectacular site and if you go to Lebanon you cannot miss this!

After Jeita, we were off to what the Lebanese claim to be the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world - Byblos. Our guide was so smart and knows her history so well that visiting these sites was fascinating. I was especially interested in the similarities between relics found in Byblos and those from Egypt - apparently there was a lot of trade between the Egyptians and the Cananians in Byblos over time. The city itself is situated in the most stunning location, overlooking the Mediterranean. After a long history lesson and touring, we did a brief walk though of one of the windy, quaint city streets and visited a fossil museum before piling back into the van to go visit Our Lady of Lebanon at Harisa via cable car.

The immense immaculate statue of Harisa overlooks the bay of Jounieh - much like Cristo in Rio. We were dropped off at the bottom of the cable car and took the 20 minute ride up the mountain to arrive at the statue. The cable car ride was beautiful, although Melissa was nervous a bit, it was stunning to climb the mountain while overlooking all of Beirut and Jounieh and more. After climbing up the statue and taking some stunning photos of the view, we paid a brief visit to the chapel underneath Harisa and then were back at the hotel for some well-deserved R&R. Touring all day is extremely tiring! Because my aunt was leaving the night of my father's birthday, we decided to celebrate Wednesday night instead. We went to a restaurant on the water where NDU people had recommended. Much like my lunch the previous day - the food never stopped arriving at our table! The smile on our faces was priceless and we could not have chosen a better way to celebrate my father's 60th birthday - fruit galore, hookah, fish, vegetables, kibbeh (raw), hummus, etc.etc. etc. Not only was the food out of this world, but the service was impeccable - we had about 3 waiters dedicated to our table alone!! The dinner lasted a good 3 hours and we were home late though sleeping was a challenge that night just because we were all SO FULL!

The day of my father's birthday we all woke up tired and still full from the previous night's feast. The tour guide was there early to pick us up for our trip into the BakKa valley (between Mount Lebanon and the Antilebanon mountains). Our route took us on the road to Damascus, which proved interested. I know I mentioned this before but the roads in Lebanon are a death trap! We saw the works - someone driving down the highway into oncoming traffic, a man driving a motorcycle (no helmet) gripping his baby, someone reversing down a highway in order to get to an exit s/he missed, 3 or 4 cars trying to pass a truck going up a mountain at the same time on a one-lane highway and just speed, speed, speed! By the time we'd arrived at Kasara winery (our first stop) I think we were all very glad to get our feet on the ground (what made the driving worse was our reckless driver who didnt seem to want to follow our requests for him to slow down). The winery itself was pretty and the wine good, though since we cant take liquids on the plane, none of us were able to buy any. After that, we were back in the deathtrap of a car to head to Baalbeck. Getting there took around 3 hours driving time total. The ruins of Baalbeck (originally a Roman holy site) are situated in a VERY bustling, busy, overcrowded and dirty town. We were all just amazed at how people back then were able to build these amazing temples with HUGE rocks, columns, and intricate carving. Again, having a very knowledgeable tour guide was essential because we were able to get all the history then and there, which really makes it more meaningful.

We were all tired and ready to get back to the hotel after Baalbeck, but went on to one more stop - the ruins at Anjar. Anjar is about 4KM from Syria (too bad we couldn't make it there this trip) and predominately Armenian. We did a brief tour of the relatively recently found ruins of the town of Anjar and did a little bit of shopping. After a quick snack stop, we were back on the road to drop off Patsy at the airport and then our hotel in Jounieh - exhausted, but grateful for a great day and a safe trip back on the craziest road we've all ever seen in our lives!

Our last day in Lebanon was our well-deserved day to relax! We were able to sleep in and spend some time at the hotel pool, chatting with friends we'd made on the trip, and just taking in the wonderful weather and scenery. We then spent the afternoon shopping in Jounieh. Aside from a quick stop off to shop in Anjar, we really hadn't done much shopping (unheard of!), so we spent the afternoon walking around, going into grocery stores and just exploring alone. One final Lebanese cuisine dinner with friends from South Africa put the cherry on top of a fantastic week before we were taken to the airport for our flight back home. Though a whirlwind, our week in Lebanon was an unforgettable journey into our heritage and a history book. I've left with new found knowledge and respect for the country and people as well as a strong desire to learn Arabic and to return for another adventure in the Blaird!!

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