NSS: Trip to Beautiful Beirut, Lebanon Next Weekend

[Butch]

Easter weekend here in Europe is boring as all hell since everything is closed, so each Easter I try to head to a non-Christian area (last year was Istanbul).

Well, I wake up this morning to find that Lufthansa has a last minute deal to Beirut (1/3rd their lowest normal fare)! Beirut is supposed to be a jewel of a city (before last year's bombing by Israel, Travel & Leisure rated it one of the world's Top 10 destinations). I can't wait to see it - been wanting to go there for a while. Of course, current circumstances aren't ideal and I'll have to cover my ass a bit, but all should be pretty safe.

I love going to visit places in transition. By the way, my next trip after Beirut will be to the Balkans in May/June . . . should get to Kosovo, Serbia and Bosnia (among other places) while I'm there. I may even hit up Albania.

Love travel!

[Butch]

Had a great time in Lebanon - highly recommend a trip!

The areas of Beirut that a tourist would go to were untouched by the bombings. In fact, you are much more likely to view still-existing (and quite extensive) damage from the Civil War. The only evidence of recent issues was a huge tent city of Hezbollah refugees living in a bunch of parking lots next to the downtown area. Needless to say, that area was rather tightly protected by military and police presence.

Sunday was kind of funny as Hassan Nasrallah (head of Hezbollah) held a rally in the tent city. Before he started speaking, some fireworks went off. At that moment, you could see a bunch of tourists crap their pants and start to scatter, thinking the pops were gunfire.

The downtown area (literally across the street from the tents) is beautiful and incredibly peaceful. That goes, as well, for the Corniche (the waterfront). There is a lot of modern construction and so much potential in the city. It's really a shame that for every step forward they take, there are 2 steps back.

Food and drink were also fantastic - there are a couple streets teeming with great bars and restaurants that were always packed! I met tons of great people in the bars - all incredibly friendly, and all exceedingly enthused to see an American who was in Beirut as a tourist. In fact, last night (about 12 hours ago), I happened to meet the son of the Minister of Tourism at one of the bars. He made a point of coming up and starting a conversation.

Also took a day trip to an area outside of Beirut called Baalbek. It is considered the "strategic center" of Hezbollah and is situated on the Syrian border. Why go there then, you ask? It contains absolutely jaw-dropping Roman temple ruins (temples of Jupiter, Bacchus and Venus). I was in Athens at the acropolis less than 2 months ago, and I think Baalbek blows Athens away. Not only do I think the ruins are more impressive, but they are not completely walled-off like in Athens. Anyone could touch, climb, play on, interact with, etc. the ruins. In fact, I climbed to the top of a sacrificial altar (animal, not human) in the center of the grand courtyard and spent an hour or so just thinking and reading - incredibly peaceful. I guess they only allow this because the site gets many fewer visitors, so much less potential damage can be done.

The route to/from Baalbek was the only time I could see direct effects of the Israeli bombing, since Israel focused a lot of effort on cutting-off routes of transit between Syria and Lebanon. The most conspicuous bit was a bridge that had been pretty much destroyed. The ruins were still standing. There was also a bombed-out yogurt factory. Yes, yogurt.

Anyway, great trip. So glad I went! I'd love to go back sometime since there is a lot I had to skip. I'll post photos whenever I can get around to uploading from the camera.

[Jenny]

Very nice! Sounds like it was a great trip. Can't wait to see pictures. I'd love to travel overseas someday. Went to England in high school but was only there for about a week, so didn't get to do anything except with the group I was with. Would love to go back and spend time there then travel elsewhere in Europe.

[Napoleon54]

I imagine travelling to places like Lebanon must really put things in perspective when thinking about international political issues and such. I think just being there and experiencing the atmosphere first hand, being immersed in the culture, seeing the faces of the people mentioned in the news so often, etc, would have a big impact on me. Seems like personal experiences like that would make things a lot more tangible and a lot less abstract. I wonder how discussions in the Political Forum would be different if we all had more personal experience to aid our opinions.

Any comments along those lines Butch?

[oblongmelon]

Sounds like your trip hit the jackpot. I think I'd be a chicken **** to go there though. I'm waiting for a good Ireland/Scotland/Wales trip with a good price to flash in front of my face.

[Butch]

I imagine travelling to places like Lebanon must really put things in perspective when thinking about international political issues and such. I think just being there and experiencing the atmosphere first hand, being immersed in the culture, seeing the faces of the people mentioned in the news so often, etc, would have a big impact on me. Seems like personal experiences like that would make things a lot more tangible and a lot less abstract. I wonder how discussions in the Political Forum would be different if we all had more personal experience to aid our opinions.

Any comments along those lines Butch?

Absolutely . . .

It's surprising how much travel and experience puts things more into perspective, but also throws off all sense of perspective. I'll just say that I think it's absolutely true that the more answers you get, the more questions you have. Unfortunately, it seems too many people think they have the answers, but don't seem to have the resulting questions.

I found being over there that I met such a variety of opinions that I had a really difficult time adapting to discussions. I met taxi drivers who fully supported Hezbollah, students who hated Hezbollah, and moderates who felt Hezbollah was an equal evil to the government. In such a polarized environment, it was a tremendous challenge to adapt my comments in such a way to get the most out of each discussion I engaged in. Then, just when I thought I was starting to have things a little figured out, I'd meet someone who threw off my radar and made me re-question everything.

Generalizations about the people there are inevitably going to be simplistic and pretty pointless. As I found, once you're there, it's impossible to generalize.

With that said, the key learning was that I have a lot more to learn. The experience has sparked a desire to travel further throughout the region.

I would fully encourage everyone to travel - as much as possible - but I realize for most, it's simply not feasible. In that case, try not to be so dogmatic - keep an open mind and question things more - don't adopt a simplistic (black/white) world view. Feel like it's OK and, in fact, necessary, to continually adapt your views. Openness to adapting a view would make the Political Forum a hell of a lot more interesting.

[Butch]

Here are a few photos from the trip . . . click the photos for larger versions

Beirut

A pedestrian area in downtown - so peaceful! The square was packed with families and little kids playing. The cafes were great! Could sit on the square and have a glass of nice Lebanese wine, which they complemented with peanuts, pistachios and carrots - almost a meal.



Statue in Martyr Square, which is the main square in Beirut. It's huge and pretty much empty now. The statue commemorates Lebanese nationalists who were hanged before WWI. As you can see, it took some damage in the Civil War.



A view from the statue across Martyr Square to the Hezbollah Refugee tent city. The location of the tent city used to be packed with buildings, but they had to be torn down after the Civil War. Since then, the area has been used as a parking lot. No idea why this photo is so out of focus. Bah!



A bullet-riddled canopy and building near the American University in Beirut.



Baalbek

The Temple of Bacchus



The 6 still-standing pillars of the Temple of Jupiter. Some of the other pillars that still exist were used to build the Haggia Sophia in Istanbul. This was taken while standing between pillars of the Temple of Bacchus.



The altar I plopped myself on top of for an hour or so . . .



Just a view of the grand courtyard - starts to show the scale of the site and how it was pretty much empty. Each side was the length of a football field . . . can also see the altar again (a couple people sitting on top towards the left of the photo) . . .



By the way, yesterday, I finally booked my next trip - three weeks in the Balkans in June . . . can't wait!

[Butch]

Sounds like your trip hit the jackpot. I think I'd be a chicken **** to go there though. I'm waiting for a good Ireland/Scotland/Wales trip with a good price to flash in front of my face.

I was a bit chicken **** about it at first, too. Even when I got there, I was a bit chicken **** about going downtown near the tent city . . . and chicken **** again when debating whether to go to Baalbek. In each case, the moment I got there, I realized my worries had been unfounded, and it was SOOO worth it.

By the way, I'm also looking for a trip to Ireland and Scotland - never been! However, I won't get there until next year, since I'm almost out of vacation days for this year already!

[Napoleon54]

Wow, Butch. Everything you've posted is fascinating! I have a month of vacation time saved up, but funds are too tight for travel at the moment. But that's not going to be the case in a few years. I really look forward to having similar experiences.

[Houdini]

Wow, Butch. Everything you've posted is fascinating! I have a month of vacation time saved up, but funds are too tight for travel at the moment. But that's not going to be the case in a few years. I really look forward to having similar experiences.