Shalom Lebanon. Shalom Israel.

Beirut, Lebanon.

When I woke up on my first morning in Beirut, I noticed that my laptop had not charged over night. I checked the power point, tried several combinations of adaptors and chargers and still I had no luck.

So I asked the dude at the counter (the same guy with the gun, for more click here) and he said, “Oh yes, that is because we have black out every day because Israeli Air Force bombing in 2006. Now we use generator for lights only during the blackouts, the other power doesn’t work”.

For this dude, it was just a matter of fact; there was no anger in the statement. If anything, he seemed frustrated with the Lebanese government for not fixing it soon enough.

This was the first real mention of the war with Israel.  I didn’t think that the effects would still be so tangible.  

It was a strange feeling, because the next day, I checked out, flew to back to Jordan and crossed the border into Israel.

Here are some photos from my last day in Beirut. I was in the student quarter of Hamra for the most part. Like much of downtown, it’s full of bars and cafes.

Stay tuned for tales of Israel, the Western Wall, the King Hussein Bridge and the War of the Cab Drivers in the next post. 

Graffiti in the student quarter.

More graffiti

I wish I could translate this minni poster for you, but your guess is as good as mine.. 

As a University student I always wanted an old Datsun like this. I think it's a 120Y. A beautiful car.

The local beer is pretty damn good.

The 8mm Bar in Hamra. 

My travel dudes, Matt and Caroline in a restaurant in Hamra.

Smoking shisha and playing backgammon is bloody great. Thanks to Caroline for teaching us how.

A Gun in the Drawer.

Beirut, Lebanon.

The last time Lebanon saw open conflict was the 2006 war with Israel. The years before are checkered with civil war, more war with Israel and general awfulness.

The signs of the past can be seen everywhere. Buildings throughout the city are pocked with the distinctive scars of battle, there are bored teenage soldiers armed with M-16s dotted about the city and when the dude from our hotel reached into a drawer behind a counter to pass me a key, I could see the but of a semiautomatic pistol amongst the pens and stationary.

I got stopped at one checkpoint and had my bag searched by a baby-faced soldier with a huge rifle slung over his shoulder. He was fairly chilled out about the whole thing. I was probably a little more anxious.

Despite all this, there is a very positive vibe in the city. There are slick looking dudes with permed-haired girlfriends sitting in swanky cafes in the center of town, and there are hipsters and students drinking cocktails and smoking lucky strikes in the bars at night. I really love this place.

Beirut is armed, but it doesn't fell dangerous.

The city is pretty quiet on a Sunday. Most shops are closed so we decided to amble down to the corniche and watch the locals enjoy their weekend.

My two travel buddies were possibly the only tourists I saw all day. This makes us a real novelty.

While perched watching the sun set down by the water, a dude came up to me shook my hand put his arm around my shoulder, took a photo of the two of us, then offered me a smoke. He had no English, and I have no Arabic so that was the extent of our cultural exchange.

This happened to me two more times that afternoon. Beirutians, it seems, want to meet foreigners, or at least have their photo taken with them. 

There are sentry boxes like this all over the city. Some police told me off for taking this photo, but it wasn't too much of a big deal.

The abandoned Holiday Inn shows how fierce the fighting must have been. 

A wall on the ground level of the Holiday Inn. 

Traffic by the corniche.

There is a photo of the this guy and me on his phone.

This group of dudes asked me to take their photo.

Hezbollah Country.

Beirut, Lebanon

After a 4am start to get to the airport in time in Amman, two cab rides and a lot of coffee I landed in Beirut.

Two of the travelers I met at Petra, Matt and Caroline (both from the 'States) were planning on spending the weekend in Lebanon, and so I decided to join them.

I’m so glad I did. While I haven’t had a chance to really check out the city, the small parts of it that I have seen are great. The down town area has a much more European vibe than Amman, it’s filled with bars, bakeries and restaurants.

More on that in another post…

Our first stop in Lebanon, after a delicious breakfast at a local bakery of Lebanese pizzas, was the Roman ruins at Baalbek.

About two hours drive from the capital; this town has the air of a rural retreat. It also happens to be what one of my travel companions called, “Hezbollah Country”. Apart from the old dudes selling Hezbollah T-shirts at the bus stop and photos of Islamic leaders plastered all over the place, the average schmo would have no idea about the politics of this region.

There was the distinct sound of gunfire in the distance and we explored the ruins, but in this part of the world that could just mean there was a wedding party, or some other sort of thing.

We were there, for the most part, to see the ruins. The scale of this site is unbelievable. 

The flight in gave great views of the snow on the mountains of Lebanon 

Donwtown Baalbek

A cobbler in Baalbek works on a pair of Caroline's shoes.

This dude made a great felafel roll.

The ruins are huge.

A soldier holding a kalashnikov walking down the tunnel in the Roman city.