Lebanon round trip
Near East - Lebanon - Beirut City - Beirut
von 02.08.2012 bis 08.08.2012
Autor: Heimo Wallner02.08.2012
Off to the south
Arrival in Lebanon,
Departure from Salzburg at 6:25 a.m. to Frankfurt,
Onward flight at 10.20 to Beirut arriving at 15.10.
Upon arrival in Beirut we are already warmly welcomed by Lena.
After clearing customs and obtaining visas, we take a bus to the Palm Beach Hotel. During the ride we can already see that this city has taken quite a beating. Many buildings still show the traces of the civil war 20 years ago and stand as ruins. The location of the hotel is directly on the sea with a view of the marina and some hotel ruins. The swimming pool is located on the roof on the 7th floor with an attached bar. Here we refresh ourselves before we are picked up for dinner. We are assigned a bus driver named Anto, whom Joschi and Lena have chosen and who speaks 7 languages. Anto is to be our chauffeur for the next few days. Combined with a small city tour we will visit a typical Lebanese restaurant and enjoy the typical dishes of the country. Arabic salads, vegetables, lamb, chicken, chickpea puree, etc.. In addition, there is plenty of arak and of course water, wine and beer. The nightcap is taken at Lena’s sister Sonja’s place. We gladly accepted the invitation to come to your apartment. By candlelight due to a common power outage we end this first Lebanon day.
03.08.2012
Lebanon’s mountains
Anto, our bus driver skillfully and carefully steers the minibus that leads into the mountains on today’s excursion. Arriving at an altitude of about 1,700 meters in the Barouk Cedar Forest, we breathe a sigh of relief. The temperature is several degrees cooler than in Beirut, and the scent of the cedars fills our lungs. The Lebanese national flag, in red and white, differs from the Austrian flag in that it contains a cedar tree. Once there were about 66 million of cedars in Lebanon. Today the responsible persons count approx. 7 Mill. Above all for the shipbuilding the lasting, strong wood was used in former times. A cedar needs more than 100 years until it has reached its size. Its emanating fragrance prevents pests from settling. Saying of the day from Joschi : It is here like in Galtür, only completely different.
During the ride to Beit Ed Dim, we settle into the rocking of the bus , and listen to Arabic music. The visit to the palace “Palais De Beit Ed-Dine” lets us imagine how luxurious the Emir resided. The very well preserved palace is still used today, concerts are held in the courtyard during the summer.
Lebanese cuisine satisfies our hunger in the afternoon and a glass of arak concludes the day. Genaced! (Cheers in Armenian)
Serenading the bus driver as he gets off: He’s so beautiful, he’s so good, he’s the Anto from Beirut….
04.08.2012
Birthday party in Lebanon
Happy Auer Tours will pick us up at 9am. The youth spent last night exploring Beirut’s party scene, forgoing today’s outing. During the bus ride towards Jeita to the stalactite cave, our first destination today, we get involved with the vibrant life, and Anto keeps drawing our attention to interesting things.
Impressive, majestic and amazed we walk around the cave, always contemplating what beauties nature produces. We let our imaginations run wild, and who would have thought that Sepp Forcher would be pictured wearing a hat in a cave in Lebanon.
We continue to the Armenian monastery “Bzommar”, and are shown around by a guide, who shows us the church and the museum, where many Armenian exhibits are kept. Among other things, the first printed Armenian Bible, made around 1770 in Amsterdam. In Harissa we experience a fantastic view of the sea, the coast and Beirut with its suburbs. The largest Catholic church is located here. The construction of the new church is nearing completion and will be visited by the Pope in September.
The highlight of today is Joschi’s birthday party. We get to join in the celebration with his Lebanese family with an excellent meal, arak and wine, music, belly dancing and lots of merriment. A multicultural party, in which we managed to accommodate Arabic music and a few Gstanzln for Joschi.
05.08.2012
Lazy day
Vic from Los Angeles sampled another Galtür gentian schnapps, and then the rest of the festive guests also found bed at 5 a.m.
What better way then than to have a relaxation day. The beaches in and around Beirut invite you to do sweet nothing. While Heimo, Dominik and Elisabeth take a dive to see the world under water, we let a cab driver take us to the Palm Ladies Resort, a beach club for women only. The sea has a temperature of 28 degrees, the cooling is in the pool, which is pleasant for swimming. a nap under the parasol, the sound of the sea in your ears creates a vacation mood.
Taboule salad, consisting of parsley, tomatoes, onion, bulgur, lemon juice, salt and allspice, is just one dish that is part of Lebanese food. The ingredients are chopped and then wrapped in a cabbage or lettuce leaf, or eaten with pita bread. They serve chickpea, eggplant puree, bread salad, raw vegetables, pickled cucumbers, olives and grilled meat or fish to finish. A delicious meal. Arak completes the meal, but the Libasian wine also tastes very good.
After two really exhausting but very eventful days, we all needed a lazy day today.
Gitti and Julia spent a day at the beach and noticed that there are separate bathing establishments here. Strictly separated into male and female.
Elisabeth, Dominik and Heimo took the opportunity and went diving.
06.08.2012
Trip to the ski resort
Some travelers of the Happy Auer Tour are a bit weakened, either from the extensive celebration or from Montezuma’s revenge after all. Therefore, the round for today’s trip to Bcharre’ and further towards the mountains has become a little smaller. The drive initially takes us out of Beirut towards Bybloss, which has a resemblance to Monte Carlo with its beautiful beaches, large hotels, clubs and a large casino. 25 km before Tripoli we turn off in direction of the mountains and climb continuously up to 2000 m. On the way we see many olive plantations . In Amioun we visit an old orthodox church. An elderly man, leaning on an old stick, tried to give us explanations in Arabic. Thanks to Anto’s translation, we learn that underground escape routes saved the lives of Christians in times of persecution. Bcharre’ welcomes us with beautiful, newly built houses, a large church. The most famous former citizen of the city is Khalil Gibran, the most famous poet from Lebanon. Unfortunately, the museum is closed.
The bus struggles on over some curves until we reach the 2000 m altitude. Bshary, a ski resort with some resorts and lifts, as well as a small cedar forest, by which we hike a round, lets us relax a bit in the cool air.
The return trip takes 2.5 h and a little tired we get off in Beirut arrived. Lena’s brother and sister-in-law invite all of us (17 people) to an Armenian dinner. This hospitality has touched us and we are spoiled with salad, pickled and fresh vegetables, pita bread filled with meat and herbs and then cake.
A fulfilling day with many impressions and heartfelt experiences lets us fall tired into our beds.
07.08.2012
Drive to Bekaa Valley
Today there is a special trip. We visit the famous Bekaa Valley in the east of Lebanon on the border with Syria. With civil war raging in Syria at the moment, this is a risky venture.
We leave Beirut in an easterly direction and cross the Chouf Mountains towards Damascus. During the ride we see the old railroad line to Damascus, which is only fragmentary. Some tunnels and bridges are still preserved. Arriving at the pass, we can already see into the long, wide valley basin of the Litani River. The first stop is Zahleh, 35 km from Damascus. A small town with countless restaurants, it is the wine center of the Bekaa Valley. Then the journey continues to Baalbek to the oldest Roman temple complexes in the world. The largest stones ever processed were used here.
After visiting a Hishbollah museum we continue to Aanjar. This place is an Armenian enclave in the middle of Muslim territory 10 km away from Syria. The stop at the trout inn is the culinary highlight of the day before we start our return journey to Beirut.
The evening will end comfortably at the Hard Rock Café in Beirut.
08.08.2012
Beirut and Islam
This morning everything is already in a mood for departure. Dominik and Elisabeth leave the hotel already at 05:00 and start their journey home. But we still have half a day and want to visit Beirut.
After breakfast we check out and then stroll into the old town. A hot pleasure at 37 degrees in the shade. We visit one of the largest mosques and rest comfortably in the city center with water and ice cream.
Time passes and we say goodbye to the rest of the birthday group and head for the airport.
After a short flight via Frankfurt and on to Salzburg, we arrive home at 22:30, tired but safe.
Conclusion: This country is not safe but we never had the feeling that it is dangerous. This is certainly thanks to Lena and Joschi, who through your family and with the bus driver Anto have organized everything safely and perfectly.
At this point again many thanks to the two and Lena’s family.
