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Published: July 23rd 2011
We had decided to go on an organised trip as our first trip to the Lebanon as we had only a week and wanted an easy time in terms of travelling around, booking places to stay etc . So there we were at T1 Heathrow people spotting to try and guess who we might be spending the next week with.
We flew out from London to Beirut on BMI, not the BMI Baby offshoot that the number of ankle biters on the plane might have led you to believe. I normally sleep like a "baby" on flights but this was four and a half hours of screaming wakefulness. And we were late so dashing my hopes of seeing all the second half of the Champions League Final destruction of Man Utd by Messi and Co in a Beirut bar.
We got off the plane into a warm evening and met our fellow travellers and Paul our leader and guide. As it turned out there were only eight of us on the trip, perhaps a consequence of the extended Arab spring that was continuing in Syria.
After our first experience of barmy Beirut traffic we pitched up at our hotel
and after dropping the bags went to get a beer and to watch the final minutes of the match. About five minutes after the final whistle the first set of local youths on mopeds zipped past cheering and flying Barcelona flags.
Early Sunday morning we had our initial briefing about where we would be going for the week and then piled onto our not very large bus and started to wend our way south stopping at the Pigeon rock for the first photo opportunity.
As we drove out of town we saw the strange contrasts of this nation for the first time: road side adverts celebrating the withdrawal of the Israeli army mixed with adverts with scantily clad lingerie models and large pictures of religious men with big beards and assassinated politicians! Plus lots of smart new cars including Lamborghinis, Ferraris and big Mercedes mixed in with 1980s Renaults - mostly being driven equally badly . The roadsides were also very green and wildflower filled - the latter a big surprise.
Next stop was Sidon where we wandered around the ruined sea castle before walking through town, stopping to pick up and share some baklava like pistachio
and sugar cake sort of thing. We walked up to the soap museum for a brief visit, more interesting than it sounds and set in a very nicely restored soap factory that looked more like a posh house from the French Riviera. Whilst some of the crew considered shopping/tea/lemonade opportunities I escaped up the hill for 15 minutes to see what I could of the land castle and the hill of Murex shells (whence the ancient Phoenicians obtained purple dye). Sadly the castle site was behind walls and fences and firmly closed - readers of previous blogs will know that castles are a bit of a theme.
I rejoined the group and we then meandered through the souk to the picturesque caravanserai/Khan before reboarding the bus and heading up into the beautiful hills. At one point we were overtaken by a convoy of big SUVs as we approached Walid Jumblatt's country house (look him up), I rather think there were men with guns and shades on board. Lots of interesting driving on the mountain roads - apparently there are driving licences here but no requirement to take a test! Just like some parts of south London.
We stopped
off for lunch at a local's house where we did some group bonding over our first meal together in the garden - olives, cheese, hummus, moutabbal, yoghourt, salad, chicken and rice, green beans in a tomato sauce. Some of those dishes would recur many times over the week! We also tried some unidentified yellow/orange fruit with huge seeds. After this feast we retraced our path to the Beittedine Palace, the former presidential palace. This huge complex is partially open to the tourist with a museum of various things from prehistory through to the Ottoman period and, in the former stables a collection of late Roman or Byzantine mosaics many from a former church. After an enjoyable wander we drove a few kilometres to Deir el Qamar where we would spend the night in a B&B. We walked into the town as evening services were being held in the large and full Maronite Christian Church. Nice small town with lots of old buildings. After another al fresco meal as the sun went down we headed back to the B&B where some of us then shared a bottle of wine - particularly smart small vases doubling as glasses.
Monday dawned bright
and we headed further up into the hills to join the Beirut - Damascus highway just by the new motorway bridge replacing the one bombed by the Israelis about five years ago. New bridge partly financed by the USA who had probably part financed or donated the planes and bombs to the Israelis, go figure.
We then had the joy of driving downhill into the Bekaa Valley- some of us pressing invisible brake pedals. We then went to the ruins at Anjar, the 7th or 8th century Umayyad city where we had a knowledgeable local Armenian guide - modern Anjar is populated by Armenians who escaped from southern Turkey in the first world war - as well as giving us a tour of the site we also got a very potted history of the Armenians in the Lebanon. The weather was lovely and the site peaceful, a nice spot. All too soon we were back on the bus.
Only a short drive away we stopped off at the Ksara vineyard for a short trip in the cellars followed by a sit at the bar tasting a good selection from the whites, rose and reds - even trying the
fruity red that was pronounced to be vintage Ribena. We then had another shopping opportunity so stocked up collectively for aperitifs/digestifs for the rest of the week and a couple of bottles to take home.
We then drove into Baalbek admiring the yellow and green Hezbollah flags (complete with AK47 profile) along the smart dual carriagewaycentral reservation and stopping for lunch to try a local speciality - spicy lamb pastries - or more cheese for the vegetarian contingent. Fuelled up we had a quick look at the biggest stone in the world - an unfinished piece in the quarry at Baalbek next to the souvenir shop where you can buy a range of Hezbollah memorabilia.
Then we went into huge Roman temple ruins, truly enormous and impressive. After a couple of hours here we then went to visit one of the local mosques, had cake and icecream at a new patisserie before going onto our hotel, this one being a surprise - a four star. We had a big room where we had the after dinner vino with the usual suspects!
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Garabet Benjamignan
non-member comment
Lebanon tour
I liked your visit and blog of your trip. Very informative and am glad you know now the history about this region better. I noticed your other trips, will go and explore them. I found your blog while I was looking for column making, Baalbek etc. I want to make a mini six column Baalbek looking in our front. Enjoy your next adventures...