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Published: November 30th 2018
The Corniche
Picturesque part of Beirut's west coast with the famous Raouche Rocks just below.Beirut. The name never conjures up neutral reaction; usually raised eyebrows or enlarged eyes from anyone a little familiar with the place. Perhaps your first thoughts are about war. Perhaps they are about a cosmopolitan melting pot of cultures and religions. Perhaps they are about its vibrant bars and crazy nightlife. Perhaps they are about the
awesome band of the same name. Whatever your opinions and whatever instantly comes to mind however, there is one thing that we can all agree on; Beirut is a name that fires fascination.
It has certainly always done so for me and this started from a young age.
When I was a kid, Beirut was always associated with violence, with reports on the six o'clock news always carrying stories about the latest bombing or assassination. Then as a teenager, the manager of my cricket team was Lebanese, as was his son, creating a very tenuous personal connection. By the time I had moved to London, I had become obsessed with the aforementioned band and how Zach Condon's songs were all inextricably linked with locations around the world, the music subconsciously inspiring me to travel. It was also about the same time that I started hearing stories about the wild
Mohamed Al Amin Mosque
About as iconic a landmark that Beirut has. party scene in the city and it fascinated me because I couldn't square such a scene with what at the time, I thought was essentially an Arabic country. Lastly, I was engrossed by Beirut's international status and history, its intrigue and energy, the fact that Beirut has been in just about every spy thriller ever made.
Given everywhere I have been and everything I knew about Beirut, it became inconceivable that I would not eventually visit the city one day.
Back in
Cyprus, we had a bit of journey to get back to Larnaca and to the airport; colectivo back to
Nicosia, walking back through the border in the middle of the city, catching a bus to the airport shuttle bus station and then finally, taking a shuttle to the airport.
It made sense to squeeze in Lebanon on this trip since it is cheaper and easier to fly there from Cyprus, given it's only a stone's throw away and indeed it was an up and down flight. About five minutes after the plane had finished its ascent, it was time to prepare for landing, much like a flight from London to Amsterdam. As we touched down at Beirut
Place de l'Etoile
The traditional heart of the city. International Airport, another box was about to be ticked - my time had finally come.
Although things are peaceful now, things can still be unpredictable; a bombing in the south suburbs of Beirut last year have made those areas a no-go and indeed the UK Foreign Office advises British nationals against any travel to southern Beirut. The north of the city - where we would be spending all of our time - was perfectly safe.
Nevertheless, I was still a little apprehensive as I waited in the immigration queue - yes, even
I still feel this way about new countries despite everywhere I have been - even though in almost every case when arriving in a new country, things have been absolutely fine despite the scaremongering you usually get about a 'dangerous place' by people who have never been there. Given Lebanon's beef with Israel, as long as I told the Lebanese border officers
I had never been there, I would be fine. I did think however, whether they might be stringent with security, given the the country's location and everything that has happened over the years. In the end it was a breeze getting through but perhaps like in Israel, that hassle
The Temple Of Bacchus, Baalbek
This wonderfully-intact, monumental temple is the most impressive sight at the ruins in Baalbek - and perhaps in all of Lebanon. will be saved for
the way out.
Many people don't think of Lebanon as a tourist destination and might think that they'd rather go somewhere 'safer'; but with my list of countries left to visit now getting shorter, the destinations I am going to now are a little more far out, as I ticked off country no.90.
I always love that first ride from the airport into the city when you arrive somewhere new - especially when you've arrived somewhere you've been so excited about visiting. You're absorbing everything around you, the sights, the smells, the noise, forming your first impressions.
Well, my first impressions was that this was a busy place. The roads were jammed with traffic, as we'd arrived at rush hour. Although Berlin is a capital city, it is unlike London in that it is spacious and relaxed; no-one is ever in a hurry in Berlin. Therefore I could tell straight away that Beirut - with its 2.2 million people - is the busiest place I have been since I was in
Tokyo!
Checking into our hotel/hostel near the downtown area and then going for a first stroll around the city, I have to say that Beirut is
Kebbe
A simultaneously savoury and sweet pudding-like Middle Eastern dish. unlike any one place that I’ve been to before. In terms of climate it felt like Tel Aviv but more dense and obviously, Arabic; with the French-Arabic vibe it made me think of
Tangier and Morocco in general, but more liberal; and there is obviously some money here which evokes the swankiness of
Dubai and
Abu Dhabi. With some of the old French style buildings, you could even see some
Paris here. Then there are the dirty, unfinished buildings which reminded me of
Cairo but newer. However, the images of Beirut I had seen of the tall, stained-white apartment blocks in all the movies and TV series I had watched, had all suddenly become real.
We had our first meal at a highly-regarded restaurant just around the corner called Le Chef. I tried
kebbe for the first time which looked like a sweet American-style pie, a kind of savoury, doughy cake made from bulgur, onions and mincemeat. Spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg, it was like a sweet meat dessert. I also had
fattoush, a salad served with a poppadom-like cracker on it. One thing I immediately noticed his how big Lebanese cuisine is on rosemary. We also tried a couple
Beirut Waterfront
Looking along Rue Paris and its promenade on Beirut's north coast. of
actual Lebanese desserts;
mighli, a rice pudding usually served to celebrate the birth of babies and
malabiyeh, a wonderful kind-of Middle Eastern custard similar to Italian
panna cotta. We washed it down with a couple of local Beirut-brand beers which were refreshing but pretty much tasted like alcoholic sparkling water. Apart from some local craft beers, the Lebanese commercial beers were all similarly flavourless.
The highlight of the restaurant however was the surly waiter who was somehow polite, rude, charming and unfriendly, all at the same time.
"Welcome, welcome!" he would gruffly bellow at startled customers entering the restaurant, throwing menus at them with an nonplussed sense of irritation. Having met a few older Lebanese folk during our trip, 'le chef' was far from the only grouchy local that we met; however, like
le chef, it seemed that they weren't being intentionally rude, it is just their default manner.
Perhaps they got it from the French, who used to rule the roost here after WWI until independence in 1945. French, along with Arabic, is one of the country's recognised languages and thus there are loads of French tourists here. In fact, when Beirut was a glamour travel destination during
Gemmayzeh
Rue Gouraud, the main drag of the trendy, central neighbourhood we were staying in. its 1960s heyday, the city was known as "the Paris of the Middle East". Therefore given the widespread French and Arabic, I was surprised by the amount of English in the city. English signs were ubiquitous and almost all young Lebanese can speak the language fluently.
Over the next couple of days, Scott and I decided to tackle the city neighbourhood by neighbourhood. - starting off with the area we were staying in.
Gemmayzeh is a very centrally-located district, right next to downtown Beirut, and is the city's 'arty' district with a plethora of galleries as well as hip bar and restaurant options. We were staying just behind the area's main drag, Gouraud, which is like a trendy high street. Being so central, it is a pretty affluent area. It's location and being so close to food and drink options made it the perfect area to stay. I can recommend the hotel/hostel we stayed at too, The Grand Meshmosh. It had a couple of dorms although we had a private room. The ground floor is like dining room / cafe / hang out area and is a great place to meet people. The staff are super friendly too
Hamra
An older, bustling neighbourhood of Beirut. and it is reasonably priced.
There is isn't much to see in Gemmayzeh, but it's a great area to hang out and I can imagine, a great place to live too.
We then went to local Hamra, where English is not so prominent. It's all hustle-and-bustle although more and more branded cafes and eateries slowly creeping into area. Hamra is more traditional Beirut, one of the older parts of the city. Apart from the busy atmosphere however, there wasn't too much to see. I did however have one of the best
schwarmas I have ever had at Barbar, one of the city's finest purveyors of street food.
West beyond Hamra on the coast are the scenic Raouche Rocks, Beirut's very own hole-in-the-rock formation. It has a nice little
corniche reminiscent of the one in
Marseille and even reminded me a little of
Monaco. The corniche then turns into a lovely waterside promenade, perfect for jog or a cycle. The promenade is backed by some flash apartment towers and fancy hotels.
On our way back towards Downtown, we walked through the main campus of the American University of Beirut. The grounds are extremely well kept and paired with some handsome,
Flash Buildings
There are quite a few really swanky, modern buildings in the downtown area. old and suitably
Harvard-like buildings, it was well worth the stroll.
The Downtown area is super-swanky with many brand-new, super-plush apartment towers and with many more being built. A good example of this refurbishment is the elegant and polished Place de l'Etoile, the traditional heart of the city which is a tasteful blend of old and new. Right on Place l'Etoile is the impressive interior of the St George Church and right behind the church is the iconic and massive Mohammed Al Amin Mosque. The Martyrs Statue commemorates Lebanese nationalists executed here by the Ottomans in 1916.
Right next to Gemmayzeh the neighbourhood of Mar Mikhail which is the trendiest neighbourhood of all right now and chock-full of hipster bars. There are unsurprisingly some decent spots for a feed there as well and so we ended up at a restaurant with a lovely outdoor setting called Enab, where we continued dabbling in Lebanese cuisine. We had some local red wine, which was OK and but the highlight was the
labneh, delicious scooped balls of yoghurt cheese dipped in spices. The Lebanese version of
tartare was also decent.
But while the food was good, the service was appalling. Once
Amercian University Of Beirut
Opened in 1920, the secular university's hallowed grounds hosts one of the most prestigious univiersities in the Middle East. we had finished our meal, the waiters literally never came back to us; I would've loved to have ordered a coffee, have a squiz at the dessert menu and enjoy our pre-ordered shisha pipe (that never made it out to us) but it felt like we were being deliberately ignored - I reckoned we sat there waiting for at least half-an-hour before our bill finally arrived. The service in fact upset me so much, that it almost ruined my night. Needless to say, we didn't leave a tip.
But we had to try out Mar Mikhail's bar scene and so we ended up at a recommended cocktail bar called Anise. With a polished mahogany bar and bartenders sporting dapper waistcoats, the cocktails lived up to the bar's classy yet casual and understated appearance. In between being entertained by a couple having the most deep and meaningful of D&Ms outside the bar in the style of some sort of Lebanese-millennial tele-novela, and being eyed up across the bar by some mature local ladies, we got talking to a local couple who were sitting next to us. They were really friendly, as well as being very open and willing to chat and
Nicolas Sursock Museum
This stunning palace in Achrafiyeh houses Sursock's old collection of contemporary art. we learnt a lot about Lebanon from them, from the massive worldwide Lebanese diaspora (caused by waves of emigration from Lebanon to Europe, Australasia and the Americas due to a multitude of events over the years such as the Great Famine during WWI, the civil war from 1975 to 1990 and ever-frequent political and sectarian conflicts), the surprising amount of Christians in Lebanon (about 40%!o(MISSING)f the population - I previously had no idea about the Maronite Church which was established in Lebanon in the 5th century AD, far before Islam arrived in the country) and the progressive attitudes of Beirutis.
We only had a couple of cocktails and a shot of
fernet shouted to us by the Lebanese couple before we headed back to the Meshmosh, but at the end of just one day I had already a ready-to-tell description of Beirut in my head for anyone wanting to know what Beirut is like; "if you've ever wondered what an Arabic city would be like if everyone loved to drink and were liberal as f*ck, that would be Beirut."
The next day, we started out exploring the neighbourhood just up the hill from where we were, Achrafiyeh. The
Badaro
Up and coming neighbourhood in Beirut. area is very affluent and is supposed to be a warren of beautiful old buildings. However, there are only a couple of those old buildings left - the rest have been replaced by 70s and 80s style condos a la Jardim in
Sao Paulo. One of those old architectural beauties however is the Nicolas Sursock Museum, which is home to a collection of contemporary art.
Food-wise, it was in Achrafiyeh that I tried a Lebanese-style croissant which had a sweet, pesto-like filling and the best falafel sandwich I think I have ever had, from the acclaimed ma-and-pa operation of M. Sahyoun, which has been doling falafel out of its two unassuming stores for years.
Further south is the neighbourhood of Badaro, which is up-and-coming. There is already one street of cafes, restaurants and nightlife but we didn't get to experience it since we were there during the day. Otherwise it is a fairly ordinary looking residential neighbourhood, although it is slowly getting gentrified.
To be honest, it felt like the entire city was getting gentrified and there was construction taking place everywhere. However, most of this gentrification seemed to be replacing the many shelled-out, derelict buildings that are dotted all
National Museum
Beirut's national museum has a pretty snazzy interior. over the city. So perhaps it is less gentrification and more restoration from the days of war that really weren't that long ago. Almost illustrating my point, is the fact that there were armed guards at most of these construction sights, which was unusual. Then again, this is Beirut, where the cops all wear camo.
The reason we were in Badaro was to visit the free National Museum which holds many an archaeological treasure; and the MIM Museum which houses the one of the world's largest collection of minerals. The colours and shapes that rocks can morph into are quite amazing.
That evening we thought we would give Beirut's nightlife a better go.
At the Meshmosh, we got talking to Benedict, a Londoner who decided to join us for yet more Lebanese food in Mar Mikhail. The place we went to this time was called Cafe Em Nazih, where I enjoyed some hummus with mincemeat. Stomachs lined, it was now time to get on it!
We started off at a cool little recommended bar near the Meshmosh called Torino Express. The special cocktail of the night was called a "Brexit Special", ingredients unknown, so we decided to give it
Torino Express
Cool bar we went to in Gemmayzeh. a crack. Turns out it was...just gin and Pepsi. Anyway, the bar is pretty cosy so most punters were enjoying a relatively barmy evening on the pavement outside, where I started chatting up a local girl. I generally found Beirutis to be pretty approachable and this girl was no different as I started pouring on the charm. Then a gang of young, homeless, Palestinian boys came up to me trying to sell packets of tissues. I politely decline in front of the lady but unlike most such kids who will generally leave you alone after such a denial, these kids didn't seem to know how to take a hint. They kept interrupting me, asking me to pull their fingers and getting me to participate in ever-more elaborate handshakes.
"Dammit kid, can't you see I'm in the middle of something here?!" I tried to tell them silently with my death eyes. Boy, these kids were really cramping my style. Finally, they left to hassle other patrons, one of the boys giving me a big kiss on the cheek before letting me go.
Just as I was about to continue where I had left off, I suddenly double over with a sharp
Mar Mikhail
Where most of Beirut's famed nightlife is on a Friday night. Or on any night. exhale of breath. One of the little shits had just punched me in the nuts! Other patrons were laughing. The girl I was talking to was laughing. Benedict and Scott were laughing. The kids were humiliating me.
Caroline, the girl I was talking to, spots some friends and leaves me to greet them. My shot at landing a Lebanese wife was over thanks to those pesky little brats. It was a lose-lose situation; keep talking to the kids and they would've never left me alone; tell them to f*ck off and I would've looked like an arsehole.
We decide to escape the kids and ended up at a bar called Internazionale (yes, named after the football team). When we ask the sassy bartender behind the bar for a cocktail menu, she points to herself. She asks us what sort of liquor we want in our drinks but to be honest, none of us had a clue. Scott then steps up and rattles off a list of ingredients including gin and orange bitters, to ever more puzzling looks from our bartender. She knew her shit and knew that Scott was onto a dud - he was stubborn and persistent though, even
St Nicholas Stairs
Pretty staircase that ran right next to The Grand Meshmosh. in the face of the bartender's laughter. The final result? It was pretty bland. The bartender then puts together something random which also had gin in it as well as some ginger - I forget the other ingredients - which was much better. She felt so bad for Scott however, that she made him another drink for free.
Standing outside the bar with our drinks, observing the traffic jam in front of us on Mar Mikhail's main drag chock-full of bars and patrons on a Friday night, we were then treated to what could easily have been another episode from a Lebanese-millennial tele-novela.
A girl arrives in a four-wheel drive to pick up her drunk-ass boyfriend who could hardly walk. Just as she arrives however, she brakes a bit too late and lightly bumps into the car in front of her, which was being driven by a pony-tailed man, Beirut's poor man's version of
">Reno Raines. It wasn't a big bump on Pony Tail's back bumper but rather than calmly exchange insurance company details, the girl decides to pick a fight, the camo-clad cop with a machine gun then intervenes and the cars held up by the incident start relentlessly honking.
Meanwhile, the drunk boyfriend can't work out how to open the car door, tries to pick a fight with the cop, tries to hilariously drive the car away without the keys, tries to pick a fight with Pony Tail and then heads back into the bar. Ah, there's nothing like a bit of domestic drama to liven up a Friday night.
It was about at this point that I started feeling a bit queasy. I definitely didn't feel like drinking any more and my stomach was rumbling like crazy. I was starting to feel quite tired suddenly too. I then tell the guys that I'm calling it a night.
"No, come on man", says Benedict, "just power through; you'll get a second wind!"
I was kinda hating this guy but loving him at the same time; hating him because I definitely did not want to power through but loving him because he was doing exactly what I would do tif the boot was on the other foot.
"When is the next time you're gonna be in Beirut on a Friday night?" he says.
way to a warehouse party some twenty-five minutes away by foot.
We were walking through some proper industrial and proper-sketchy areas - where Benedict almost got bitten by a pit bull - but we finally made it to the club where there was a big queue. Rather than get a second wind from the exercise, I was feeling even worse by the time I got there. I wasn't sure that I even had the energy to dance. As we wait in line, the bouncer looks at us.
We look for some girls to accompany us in but they were all taken. I was relieved, for once. I had to get back to the Meshmosh.
And so we walked all the way back - I passed out almost instantly as my head hit the pillow.
The next day I was aching all over, had a mad fever and was absolutely exhausted. I was also throwing up; it was frequently coming out the other end too. No-one likes to be in bed all day suffering from suspected food poisoning while on a short holiday but it felt like exactly what I had needed - I was
already exhausted before I left Berlin and we had been on the go ever since, not getting the chance to catch up on any sleep. We had walked for miles the last two days, all over Beirut. I was admittedly a bit exhausted even before we went out that night.
like pastry I had been carrying for about two days without refrigeration which I took a few bites out of before we had gone out. I think the exhaustion and alcohol made my condition and suffering even worse however, as the symptoms were very similar to the mystery illnesses I had picked up in
. Am I getting too old for this shit?
At least I didn't seem to miss out on much; while I was stuck in bed all day, Scott and Benedict took a day trip out of the city to the ancient city of Byblos and the Jeita Grotto, a series of underground caves. I have already seen spectacular caves in
.
And I got to see some ancient ruins the next day after recovering enough to get out of the Meshmosh.
Scott, Benedict and I were joined by German Frank from Hamburg as we loaded into the taxi we had hired for the day which was being driven by local friendly man Phillip. We were to drive out to the ancient city of Baalbek and then to anywhere else we could get to before dark.
Now I've seen some bad traffic and driving in my time and Lebanon's is up there. Although not as bad as
, crossing the road in Beirut can be difficult as the traffic is just a constant stream with very little gaps and with drivers driving fairly fast. And you wouldn't trust a Lebanese driver to stop for you either as I saw multiple instances of cars cruising the wrong way against traffic, not sticking to lanes (including Phillip) and sliding all over the road, reversing out onto busy roads without looking, not signalling, forcing their way into traffic and simply stopping in the middle of the road and holding up traffic just to have a friendly chat with a mate.
the road don't help with the quality of air, especially when we got up into the mountains. Just like
, you don't get any fresh mountain air as it seems like all the smog from the vehicles simply gets trapped up there.
Also like Darjeeling, it was freezing some 1km above sea-level - about eight degrees compared with the 20-odd down in Beirut. Lucky I had my bag with me and thus all of my clothes although Benedict and I were still getting our legs stung wearing shorts.
I also noticed that life in the countryside was much more conservative and poor; in the most religiously diverse country in the Middle East, this was Hezbollah territory and all the ladies were wearing hijabs.
It is believed that Baalbek has been inhabited for more than 8000 years but the magnificent ruins that we see today are of Roman origin. The ruins are essentially what was a temple complex with the colossal and remarkably intact Temple of Bacchus, the crown jewel. The Temple of Jupiter right next to it was even bigger but earthquakes have unfortunately left only 9 of its original 58 soaring columns standing. The ruins were reminiscent (although
. In other words, impressive.
We then stopped by at the Ksara winery - a free tour of its network of caves which act as a natural cellar, reminded me of the
although unlike Cricova, we did manage to get some free tastings here. I have an awful palate; if some people can detect a hint of wildberry in a red wine, I would be able to pick up a hint of er, wine.
Our last stop of the day was at the ruined Muslim city of Anjar, a rectangular stronghold protected by two-metre thick walls, seven metres high. Although the city was built by the Islamic Umayyads, it was striking to see architecture that was more Byzantine and Roman. I guess at that stage - in the 8th century AD - Islamic architecture as we know it hadn't been formed yet. Worth a visit and wander.
Entertaining us throughout the day was Frank; there was not a square inch of any of the sites that we visited that he did not photograph, often leaving us to wait for him before
we could move on. I wouldn't say he was being rude, he was just excited to be where he was and wanted to maximise every moment. He was always telling jokes (mostly about what he does away from his wife), always asking questions (even Phillip, one of the nicest taxi drivers I've ever met and who was happy to tell us about his country, was showing signs of irritation) and was always speaking to locals (as well as every square inch of every site, he probably took a selfie with every hawker and security guard of every site too). Where I would try and throw off any one trying to flog off a Hezbollah t-shirt to me, Frank would completely catch them off guard by talking them into submission.
I learned that the guy has done some serious travel - some 140 countries and counting - but even I don't want to get anywhere near that. Apart from Africa and perhaps Central Asia, I feel I have seen enough of the world and don't need to go as far as Frank. Even though I still have my list of places I still need to get to and even though I
have the goal to get to 100 countries, I really do think that I travelled myself out somewhat with
. Never say never, however...
As we waited at the Meshmosh for our taxi to the airport, I make eye-contact with a rather attractive, tanned, brunette local girl in the hang-out area. She beckons me over and we start chatting.
"Where are you from?" she asks.
"New Zealand", I reply.
"Really? Cool. You here on holiday?"
"Yeah, we've been here four days. Our taxi to the airport is literally about to arrive."
"Ah, that's a shame. Did you like Beirut?"
"Yeah, it's an awesome city." It was.
.
The taxi then pulls up.
As I turn away and am about to bid the girl farewell, she looks at me and says; “You’re really handsome.”
You gotta be kidding me. Just as I'm about to leave?
Well, there were already plenty of reasons to come back to Beirut - here was one more. Maybe I will find that Lebanese wife after all...
