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Lebanon Travel Blogs

Background: Lebanon has made progress toward rebuilding its political institutions since 1991 and the end of the devastating 15-year civil war. Under the Ta'if Accord - the blueprint for national reconciliation - the Lebanese have established a more equitable political system, particularly by giving Muslims a greater say in the political process while institutionalizing sectarian divisions in the government. Since the end of the war, the Lebanese have conducted several successful elections, most of the militias have been weakened or disbanded, and the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) have extended central government authority over about two-thirds of the country. Hizballah, a radical Shia organization, retains its weapons. During Lebanon's civil war, the Arab League legitimized in the Ta'if Accord Syria's troop deployment, numbering about 16,000 based mainly east of Beirut and in the Bekaa Valley. Damascus justified its continued military presence in Lebanon by citing Beirut's requests and the failure of the Lebanese Government to implement all of the constitutional reforms in the Ta'if Accord. Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon in May 2000, however, encouraged some Lebanese groups to demand that Syria withdraw its forces as well. The passage of UNSCR 1559 in early October 2004 - a resolution calling for Syria to withdraw from Lebanon and end its interference in Lebanese affairs - further emboldened Lebanese groups opposed to Syria's presence in Lebanon. Syria finally withdrew the remainder of its forces from Lebanon in April of 2005.




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Lebanon has been a country with many surprises, of course, the majority of these being enjoyable. Perhaps the best surprise of this trip though was getting the opportunity to feel Roman. Or when I say Roman, in this case I mean walking through the well preserved ancient Roman sites (and when you have the temple all to yourself, who's going to stop you from pretending?). Even though I traveled to Rome in Italy after my time in Lebanon, at this time of writing, I would still have to argue, Baalbek Lebanon has been the best Roman historical site I have visited. [View Full Entry]

gypsy_teacher - Nathan D. Bryant | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe
955 Words | 0 Comment(s) | 46 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: August 30th 2009 | 135 Views | [diary=422473]

Another face of Bacchus temple
Dionysus himself?
Selling of sweet drinks

Ryan and I started off for our adventure with one last look the apartment, our cube (which somehow, due to ryan's tetris skills and my pained packing of boxes, fit all of our stuff) and of course, our lovely "front yard" - dolores park. Breakfast one last time at DPC, and then we were off. Our most stressful travel problem so far was the flight checkin at SFO. They wouldn't let us on the plane without proof of a return ticket from Beirut. We have a return ticket, but it is from tel aviv, which is not OK with the folks [View Full Entry]

thebenders - Lisa and Ryan | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe
437 Words | 0 Comment(s) | 2 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: March 27th 2009 | 86 Views | [diary=385329]

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Impressive architecture
Impressive architecture
The Romans could build things to last!
When you sit in an ancient throne of a four thousand year old Phoenician kingdom, what sort of thoughts should you contemplate? What about when you cross the drawbridge that leads into a Crusader castle that is nearly seven hundred years old, what emotions should be elicited? Most especially, when you walk along the ring of a Roman racetrack that is two thousand years old, what sort of sights and sounds should you be able to imagine? All of these questions I asked myself in less than 24 hours, and it lead me to get the sense of how timeless the [View Full Entry]

gypsy_teacher - Nathan D. Bryant | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe
936 Words | 2 Comment(s) | 34 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: August 13th 2009 | 187 Views | [diary=422388]

The temple site is now slowly being reclaimed by nature
Main entrance to the Crusader castle
Taking in the history

Life in the camp for one pair of sisters
Life in the camp for one pair of sisters
These girls provided a more human and individual perspective for me of this camp.
Grime. Grime is something that is greasy, dark and no matter how many times you wash yourself, it seems like it will only take time before it completely goes away. As I walked through this Palestinian camp in Lebanon that was defined as temporary during its creation, one should keep in mind that was fifty years ago. Over these fifty years, I have the sense that the grime has settled here and now permeates this area. No matter how much one could try to keep themselves clean, by the very nature of this camp, the grime sticks. This entry, unlike many [View Full Entry]

gypsy_teacher - Nathan D. Bryant | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe
1009 Words | 0 Comment(s) | 28 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: July 25th 2009 | 108 Views | [diary=422092]

Hamas
A common alleyway
Park for children

I have just finished writing a very long paper for my master’s pertaining to the expansion of human rights. Work while on vacation, I have reached the level of being a true profession in making my life sometimes truly annoying. While it was pleasant the day before to read and research the ideas for the paper on the rocky and colorful coast of the Mediterranean on the Corniche in Beirut, I have decided that after e-mailing this paper to my professor, it is time to have a day that only Beirut can offer. With this request I ask of Beirut, it [View Full Entry]

gypsy_teacher - Nathan D. Bryant | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe
1109 Words | 0 Comment(s) | 25 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: July 24th 2009 | 217 Views | [diary=421815]

Now entering Beirut!
Inside the dome
AUB, a beautiful campus

By LinSaad
January 30th 2009
Lebanon Day 9 Middle East » Lebanon » Beirut
cheers
cheers
Saad and Lara share a toast. Kasekon - cheers!
In addition to hearing about the wonderful food, people, and place of Lebanon from Hani, I also continuously heard about how Lebanon had a great gold market. Anyone who knows me knows that I love jewelry and especially yellow gold. So after much convincing, we decided to check out the gold market in Burj Hammoud. It's a crowded little section with block and block of little shops. While I didn't find my jewelry at these shops, I bought most of my souvenirs from them. On the way home from the markets, I finally got to taste the REAL falafel. Hani makes [View Full Entry]

LinSaad - Lindsey Saad | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe
241 Words | 0 Comment(s) | 12 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: January 30th 2009 | 160 Views | [diary=368582]

Lebanon 2008 265
Lebanon 2008 266
Saad

By Max Crumpley
December 14th 2008
Beyrouth Middle East » Lebanon » Beirut
Last week we had yet another week off from school for Eid Al-Adha, the day commemorating Ibrahim's (known in the Bible as Abraham) willingness to sacrifice his son for God. According to Muslim tradition, God placed a ram in place of his son when Ibrahim showed his intention to carry out God's command. For me, all this meant was that I had another week to travel before I set off for Pakistan. I had decided that I wanted to visit Lebanon. My friend Christina, upon getting word of this, decided that she wanted to go with me. So last Thursday, after [View Full Entry]

Max Crumpley - Elliot Crumpley | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe
2538 Words | 2 Comment(s) | 33 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: December 14th 2008 | 475 Views | [diary=354124]

Pigeon Rock
The Corniche
Mohammad Al-Amin Mosque

By ChristopherV
November 30th 2008
Beirut Marathon! Middle East » Lebanon » Beirut
This year's Beirut Marathon invited local NGOs to set up water stations for the runners. We were assigned to Kilometer 25 in Jal el Dib. The migrant workers and social workers from Ethiopia set up a microphone and loudspeakers, saying, "Ethiopia, Ethiopia, go, go" when the Ethiopian marathon runners passed by. When a runner from Iraq or Egypt passed by, they were yelling, "Marathon, yalla, yalla!" I didn't think that cheering on some runners could be so fun, but it was a great to be dancing and clapping and encouraging them on as they passed us by..... The guy with no [View Full Entry]

ChristopherV - Christopher Mane | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe
223 Words | 0 Comment(s) | 13 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: November 30th 2008 | 97 Views | [diary=349996]

marathon 2
marathon 3
marathon 4

Construction site at my house
Construction site at my house
Just outside my living room window......which begins work at 7am every morning, including weekends.
Okay, I'm cheating on this blog because I live here. Ashrafieh has converted from a posh district of the city to a large construction site. Literally, it's nearly every block that has a new apartment building coming up. What's happening? At about 6am, small groups of Syrian construction workers start walking up the hill from Sodeco to various construction sites around the district. Each one in almost business-suit long pants, carrying his lunch in a plastic bag, heads for the buildings. By 7am, pumps are pumping, engines are humming, hammers are pounding, metal is clanging, dirt is [View Full Entry]

ChristopherV - Christopher Mane | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe
315 Words | 0 Comment(s) | 13 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: November 26th 2008 | 182 Views | [diary=348742]

Construction 2
Construction Site 3
Construction Site 4

My weekend in Beirut. My blogs are like London busses, you wait ages for 1 and then two come along at once (and also, as you'll see, they're full of angst, confusion, extortion and traffic mishaps...). The reasons for this delay will become clear as you read but I do appologise and promise to try harder next time! After the first week of my Arabic course had been completed, I decided it was time for me to get out of Syria for a bit and see what neighbouring Lebanon had to offer. So, in theory, a quick 4 hour drive accross [View Full Entry]

Gavinbedford - Gavin Bedford | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe
1231 Words | 0 Comment(s) | 0 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: November 20th 2008 | 218 Views | [diary=346819]