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Published: October 18th 2009
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So next stop Lebanon. Having spent a wonderful few days relaxing in Damascus, it was time to pack up all of our belongings in the world into our very little bags again to get back on the long and winding road. This time we went for a little luxury (as I was getting bored of slumming it all the time - yes all it is Dee speaking this time around) and we got a service taxi to bring us over the border from Damascus all the way to Beirut. Although Lebanon and Syria are two separate countries, the capitals are actually closer than you think with the whole journey taking us about 3 hours in total and the taxi costing just a little bit more than a much longer bus journey. So all in all, I was suitably enjoying the treat.
And it was during the border crossing when all the fiscal confusion occurred…. To be fully prepped for the Lebanese border crossing we had been reliably informed that you needed to pay for your visa in Lebanese Lira so we had gotten some in Damascus before we left, along with some Jordanian Dinar for our next destination. Also, on
exiting Syria we had to pay an exit tax in Syrian Pounds. All of that combined with a non-English speaking taxi driver who needed paying in some sort of currency - who knew by the end of it - lead to lots of fun at every border crossing and in the end Niall opening up his wallet to the taxi driver asking him to pay whoever needed paying whatever they needed paying. By which time Niall was carrying at least six different currencies none of which was worth very much…. Lebanese Lira, Syrian Pounds, Jordanian Dinar, US Dollars along with some left over Turkish Lira and Euros. If only I could have done just a little shopping!
Finally, over the border and onto Beirut where the shopping is plentiful; although, definitely out of our meagre budget. Beirut is a beautiful city, very new and rapidly expanding. We spent two nights here staying in the best budget accommodation Beirut has to offer which was conveniently located in the heart of the nightlife district. Definitely no frills though, staying in a stuffy dorm room and paying for our own toilet roll…. But hey guess that’s all in the day and a
life of being a crusty traveler right?!?!?
On the upside we arrived during the Beirut Jazz Festival so the city was alive with the sound of music which meant a night out for Niall and Dee, it has been quite a while since we treated ourselves to a well earned bottle of beer during happy hour. Also during the days we came across the hottest weather we have had so far - seriously my irishness came well and truly to the fore - thought I was going to melt as we wandered around Beirut checking out the sights. My personal favourite was the blue Mohammed Al-Amin Mosque which Is really new in comparison to the majority of mosques, churches and ruins we have seen so far but no less stunning. The former prime minister of Lebanon Rafiq Hariri is buried here.
It was also in Beirut that we learnt a very interesting fact about Lebanese life…. Well, let me illustrate with an example. Over the last month, no matter what country or which language, we have been known to raise our right hands to signal the use of a pen and lay our left hand flat to signal
writing on some paper. This universal gesture has managed to get us the bill everywhere we have visited so far, Lebanon included. However, when it comes to another universal gesture, hailing a taxi, the Lebanese seem to have completely misunderstood. Instead of waiting for you to step out into the road, raise your hand and shout “Taxi!”, they drive around the city, beeping their car horns continuously and shout “Taxi!” at you. It drove us completely mad.
After two fun days in Beirut sightseeing and saying no to over-enthusiastic taxi drivers, we headed south for a place called Tyre - known as Sour to the locals - where we spent one night by the sea. The drive down was beautiful and it was nice to get a feel for what the real Lebanon looks like. The coastline is really gorgeous and it soon became very apparent that the Lebanese like their fruit with plenty of banana plantations and orange farms.
In Tyre, we were fortunate enough to meet up with Haiwada and her family. I particularly took a shine to her two beautiful sons Hassan and Hussein. Haiwada knows Fr. Des since he spent time here as Chaplain
to the Irish Navy (for those of you that do not know Des he is the legendary priest that married Niall and I and has known me for many years), and we were delighted to meet with her to understand a little more about what it is like to live in South Lebanon. This is where the majority of UN Forces are still based (currently troops from Ghana, South Korea and Italy) and it was great to get a real life view from Haiwada as to what this really means. Having heard so much about what the people here have been through on the news, we were not quite sure what to expect before we arrived but I can honestly say that the people of southern Lebanon are among the most friendly and resilient we have ever met. We were particularly impressed by the way everyone has adapted to UN troops being around all of the time and just gets on with daily life.
From Tyre, we headed back to Beirut for one final night. Then we embarked on our first “Double B Day”, two border crossings in one day. First an early morning trip from Beirut back to
Damascus, crossing into Syria. From there we found another bus to take us onward to Amman, crossing into Jordan. You will all be delighted to hear that we are doing some quality work developing our passport stamp collection which is building up nicely now.
So, will tell all about the delights Jordan has to offer in the next update. Oh and please do keep the emails and messages coming, nice to hear from one and all every now and again.
Will be blogging you all again soon,
Dee & Niall
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Derek
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Class!
Soooooo jealous ya pair of muckers!! Keep it coming :-)