Lebanon

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Lebanon

Middle East » Lebanon
April 14th 2008 by Emmad

Biggest rock in the world - 1000 tonnes

Wow, I never thought I would get here...

Yes, Lebanon, famous for wine, Lebanese bread and civil war. I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to spend a day there, to see it post civil war and find out what it was really like behind all the hype.

I can attest that it's a lovely, friendly and scenic place. While there are lots of seriously armed soldiers around, particularly around the border areas, that's not different from any other of the surrounding countries.

We started off early from Damascus and travelled to the ruins of Baalbek in Lebanon, an old Roman ruin - yes, another one. Though this is a particularly good one, definitely one of the best I've seen in my journeys. And I'm including Rome in that!

We stopped at the 'biggest stone in the world' on the way, 1000 tonnes worth, intended for Baalbek but it never quite got there. It's also known as the pregnancy stone as ladies who were unsuccessful in their attempts to become 'with child' used to visit it and touch it to help out. I stayed well away and photographed it from a distance - you can't be

Mosque

too careful in these things.

Baalbek was built by 10 generations of slaves, and never actually got completed even with all that manpower. The columns were all one piece and were rolled there all the way from Egypt. The foundation stones were 600-800 tonnes each. They were huge, and I mean huge. Very large. I'm sure you get the picture.

There was also a remarkably intact temple which was dedicated to Venus, though is named Bacchus' temple due to the mosaic of Bacchus outside. No wine to be seen anymore, more's the pity.

From Baalbek we travelled through the Bekaa Valley. It's a beautiful area, looks remarkably like rural France with the red rooved villas, vineyards, lush green fields. It's hard to comprehend that it was the centre of so much conflict. At any places we stopped we had the opportunity to purchase souvenirs such as Hezbollah t-shirts and flags. And there were always pictures of politicians from the two opposing parties up on the walls, their faces on flags hanging from lampposts and pictures of them in car and apartment windows, depending on the political persuation of the occupants. Yet it was all peaceful, no anger,

Our group at Balbec

just everyone living together getting on with life, despite the differences in opinion.

Driving closer to Beirut, we saw more buildings, and with that were more buildings that had not been repaired from the war. Rooves stoved in, windows blown out, bullet holes and rocket holes in walls. Yet amongst all that were rebuilt buildings with present day occupants. Life certainly goes on.

Beirut was significantly different to the rest of the Middle East. It's much more westernised, women don't all wear headscarves, they drive and openly show affection with males. The clothes are modern and we didn't stand out like we did everywhere else.

Walking up to the 'green line' was another revelation. It's now a normal street with traffic, people and businesses. It was a bit like going to Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin, and realising all that happened there is just a memory now, though here is a lot more recent memory with the risk of it happening again. Along the green line now there are flags strung back and forth right down the street as a reminder of what once was, and that the Lebanese don't want to have to live through again.

Doorway at Balbec

Wandering round the streets was just like travelling round any city, though with a notable lack of touristy stuff - it's definitely not a big destination on the tourist map, but it's such a great place that I imagine that won't last long, as long as the political situation settles down. We can only hope that the Lebanese people get the chance to continue living in peace.

Did the typically western thing, appropriate for such a westernised city, and had dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe Beirut. Even the name is such a trippy thing - I'm actually in Beirut! Walking along the corniche after dinner was lovely, it's been totally rebuilt and is now looking forward to the future.

The long drive back to Damascus gave me time to try to digest the difference between the image of Lebanon and Beirut that I grew up with and the reality of the situation now. I don't know what is going to happen, but I am certainly appreciating the opportunity that I had to see just a bit of such a captivating country.