Lebanon

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Hello,

Okay so I squeezed one last trip into my year before I left. Alicia and I found really cheap tickets on-line and I knew that I could stay with Pascale's relatives instead of paying for a hotel for which I was very grateful. Our adventure began when we were entering the lobby of the airport. It was 1 a.m. and we were exhausted. Some guy yells out taxi. Now I made several stupid decisions on this trip and this was my first. I said sure to his seemingly kind question. He quoted me at 120$ US to Tripoli which I knew was not the right amount. I had informed myself about the amount beforehand. He tried to sell me a bunch of bologne about it being a long trip and yada yada. I said no and walked away...He then asked how much we wanted to pay...I said 50$. We decided on 60$. We followed him into the parking lot and came up to this really beat up old car. I remarked that this did not look like any taxi I had ever seen and preceded to demand ID from him. He had a taxi driver's license. He then said that he would drive us to taxi depot where another taxi would drive us the rest of the way. Like complete idiots, we got in. When we got to the second taxi place...we could see him in animated conversation with other taxi drivers. After a few minutes...we got into this taxi. After literally one minute of driving...he started going on about how that guy said we were his cousins and how much did we give him and we should not have trusted him, etc... He turned the car around and said he was going back to find that guy. I was pretty scared at that point as he was driving around looking for that guy I started yelling at the top of my lungs "Take us to the airport". He then backed down and asked my why I was yelling. I responded with "You haven't seen yelling yet...take me back to the airport". Alicia was pretty cool about the whole thing...I was not. Being firm in this country is a must...you must stand your ground. He dropped us off at the airport giving us back 30 dollars but obviously they scammed us for the rest. So after going up to hotel counter in airport, the man there helped us get a proper taxi. This guy was very personable and at the very start of the trip he asked if he could speed. I said sure thinking he meant 20 km over the limit. Have you ever seen the old episodes of Dukes of Hazard when they fly over bumps and skid on curves? This was our drive to Tripoli. At one point he said "Don't be scared" and literally flew full speed in the air on this weird bended road in the rock. I think I broke a bone in Alicia's hand from squeezing it so hard. We arrived alive at 3 am and gratefully Tony's mom came out to greet us even though I am certain she was exhausted. There is one think about the Lebanese you can count on...hospitality. They are the rulers in this area. The next morning we had a fabulous breakfast of different cheeses and bread with homemade apricot jam. Another thing about the Lebanese...go to their home on an empty stomach because if they lay out 20 plates of food to try...you had better try it all or they will notice if you missed something! There are still remnants of war here as their power grid for electricity is still not up and running, I think electricity runs for about six hours at a time before generators are turned on. I was told it is just too expensive to replace. Imagine it...not traffic signals that are reliable so people just drive how they want ...anyway they want...I have never seen such dangerous driving!
We then went to the old souq in Tripoli which was pretty cool. We stopped at a soap making factory and bought some of that. We also visited a man's turkish style bathhouse. It was very nice inside and very old. When that was done we visited their coffee machine store (which was closed at the time) and their dry cleaning business which had been there for about 100 years. We then got into a car and we were driven to the cedars up the mountain. The cedars are among the last survivors of the immense forests that lay across Mount Lebanon in ancient times. It is a beautiful drive up. We stopped for lunch at a little restaurant facing the forest and the babaganoush was amazing it being homemade. I drank a Lebanese beer which I have to say was very good..it was mild tasting like a light beer might be. The air up there was so fresh and clear...it made me think of home. After a few hours there we headed back down the mountain and stopped to visit this old church which had beautiful paintings on the ceiling. Surrounding the church were all kinds of flowers...this country has so many varieties of flowers I was blown away by the amount of them. I actually saw a wild poppy for the first time.
The next day, we booked a tour bus to take us around. We met them at this hotel and where first driven to the caverns of Jeita Grotto which are on two levels: the lower caverns are visited by boat over a subterranean lake 2000 ft (623 meters) long, while the dry upper gallery can be seen on foot. The action of water has created cathedral-like rooms beneath the wooded hills of Mount Lebanon forming magnificent caverns. It was pretty amazing to see the formations but unfortunately they do not allow you to take pictures. That night, we went to Pascale's mom who cooked us a veritable Lebanese feast! Afterward, we went for a walk to a small market I have to say one thing I remarked on is that not many people speak English. The Catholics speak french and arabic and the Muslims only speak arabic so it was difficult to communicate with people. At this fruit market, the fruits and vegetables where amazing! I bought a pound of cherries for literally a dollar. Everything is grown there and looks fabulous compared to the choice we get in Abu Dhabi. The next morning, we took a taxi to the airport and hung around drinking coffee till it was time to leave. I have now had coffee in 5 countries...maybe I'll make it a life goal to drink coffee in every country! It is funny because when we where boarding the plane to come to Lebanon, there was a sign listing things not allowed to bring as carry-on on the plane like yogurt, meat, cheese and jam. I turned to Alicia and said to her "Who in the world would bring jam on a plane?".............I understood entirely when I was given a half litre vat of jam from Pepa which I carefully packed in my luggage...praying I would not come home to find my clothes all smeared with it...You'll be happy to hear only a quarter of my bag had jam smeared in it!

I can't wait to see everyone....I can almost smell home...two more weeks and I am there!

Sherry

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