Lebanon: The country of surprises

With our itinerary being on constant flux we found ourselves with sufficient time to make a side-trip into Lebanon. The only hesitation was the lack of both a Lebanese visa and the Syrian re-entry visa. Well, sometimes you just have to go into the unknown and it proved that aside for being a bit expensive (Syrian departure tax, Lebanese visa, Lebanese departure tax, Syrian Visa), there was nothing really to worry about.

Lebanon proved to be yet another surprise. Firstly, it’s insanely expensive (comparatively speaking to all other Middle Eastern countries). Secondly, it’s mountainous (they have numerous ski resorts and at least based on the postcards, seem to have more snow than our local Vancouver mountains). Thirdly, it is green (the coastal mountains are covered in a carpet of lush green trees). Fourthly, it (at least Beirut) is quite wealthy (for every 10 cars, two will be BMWs, two will be Mercedes, two will be Porsches and then the rest will be a mixture of Lexus, Land Rover, Hyundais etc . oh and throw in your occasional Jaguar, Ferrari, Lamborghinis and Hummer). Beirut is the place where everyone comes to party - it is a city of glitz, glamour, restaurants, and beach clubs. However, it is also a city whose outskirts are comprised of some of the most deprived Palestinian refugee camps of all, and its crowded slums provide a breeding ground for Hezbollah fighters. As such, as the Lonely Planet puts it, Beirut is a city that is crowded and ancient, beautiful and blighted, hot and heady, home to Prada and Palestine. It is many things at once.

We paid $30US for a miserable room in the cheapest hostel in town. We paid $5US for a burger and $20US for a relatively crappy dinner. We saw more gorgeous cars in the course of a couple of days here than I have in probably an entire year in Vancouver. I saw a purse for sale for $1800US (it wasn’t even nice), the ugliest suit for about $2500US and a dress for $3800US. [I probably showing more of my ignorance since most of those things were likely some super fancy brand names that cost six times as much at home.] Nevertheless, it is not something that I was expecting to find here. In Dubai: yes, most definitely. In Lebanon: no.

To give you some perspective on this apparent wealth: a new BMW X6 costs approximately $60,000US; 80 square meter apartment (not in the best part of Beirut) costs approximately $2,000,000US (1 square meter costs $25,000US); rent for an apartment in Beirut will cost approximately $500US per month (if you share it with 4 other people); average salary is approximately $500US per month; an individual with a masters in nursing (maybe their degrees work differently here), responsible for the ICU wing in the Beirut hospital and working 12 hours per day, 6 days per week was paid $800US per month. Instead, that individual now runs a hostel but has absolutely no explanation how people in Beirut can afford the expensive cars, apartments, clothing and food. Beirut was once called the Paris of the east and it still seems to aspire to that status, but at what costs to its people?

From Beirut we made a road trip up to the Jeita Grotto. It is in the running to become one of the new seven natural wonders of the world and deservedly so. It’s comprised of two interconnected limestone caves spanning an overall length of nearly 9 km. The lower grotto can only be visited by boat since it channels an underground river that provides fresh drinking water to more than a million Lebanese. The upper grotto, which was not discovered until 1958, houses the world’s largest stalactite and is comprised of a series of chambers, the largest of which peaks at a height of 120 meters. All of this equates to a jaw dropping sight or the setting of a sci-fi movie. Unfortunately, you will have to take my word for it or else look it up online since pictures were prohibited.

From there it was on to Byblos with more ruins (slightly disappointing), back to Beirut and on the next day off to Tripoli.

Triopoli was a mess. Although the guidebooks make it seem like it’s a city filled with Souqs, mosques, citadels etc. it was a far cry from Damascus and even Beirut. We managed to meander our way through all of the key areas in about an hour with eight more hours left to the day and the Lebanese mountains beckoning. The main problem was transportation. Minibuses leave for the mountains on a semi-regular basis until about 4pm and we found ourselves wishing to head up there around 3pm. As such, the getting there was not an issue, but the coming back would be. We decided to risk it anyways and it proved well worth the chance.

The bus climbed a winding road high into the mountains, leaving the coast far below. We ended up in a little town at the foot of Lebanon’s highest peak and were informed by the bus driver that the last bus back to Tripoli would be at 6pm. Happy to hear this news we decided to explore the town a little, soak in the views, and eat a delicious dinner in a quaint mountain chalet. Unfortunately on our way back to meet the bus we were informed that the last bus to Tripoli left at 3:30pm and a taxi would cost us $40US (a figure we were unwilling to pay).

So we started walking. After some time we were picked up by two young guys who were only traveling about 2km in our direction. However, they informed us of a town on the cross-roads to Beirut and Tripoli to which it might be easier to hitch a ride. Within a minute of getting out of their car we were picked up by a great Lebanese gentleman who had spent 3 years in Australia and gladly dropped us off at Kosba. From there a $4 taxi brought us back to downtown Tripoli by 7pm.

Even if it had been just the drive up into those mountains, with the huge valleys stretching far below us, and the snow covered mountain peaks above us, the excursion would have been well worth it.

Tomorrow morning it’s back off to Syria – border guards permitting.