Day trip to Lebanon

Trip Start Jul 01, 1997

Trip End Oct 29, 1997

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Flag of Syria Damascus, Syria
Monday, July 28, 1997

Set out early towards the Lebanese border in a coach which made a change from the truck. Started to see mountains as soon as we approached it. Once in Lebanon we found ourselves in the Bekaa Valley between two ranges of mountains. First impression was that it was far more fertile than Syria. There were many migrant workers in the fields who'd set up groups of tents made out of sacks. Many were wearing large straw hats coolie-style. Passed through many Syrian army checkpoints, but never saw them stop anyone. Just about every billboard was advertising paint, with a brand called Dutch Boy being the most prominent.

Arrived at the highlight of the day, Baalbek, a magnificent set of Roman ruins that, in my ignorance, I'd never heard of before. It was totally amazing. Had a guide take us round the enormous site. Most of the site was one building, the Temple of Jupiter

Temple of Jupiter, Baalbek

. The scale of it was mind-blowing. It originally had 54 huge columns, but now only 6 remain standing because of earthquakes. These are pretty impressive though and you wonder how they erected them. There was also a temple to Bacchus which seemed almost intact and had very ornate carvings. Outside it they were setting up for a music festival which will feature Rostopovich. It is a fantastic setting for a concert.

Afterwards we drove over the mountains to Beirut. Reconstruction was evident everywhere. Just about every building was riddled with bullet holes. In contrast to Syria, nearly everyone was wearing western dress. Once at the sea front you got a feeling of how cosmopolitan it had once been. I was surprised to see a ferris wheel - not something one associates with Beirut. It was very humid in the city, but nowhere near as bad as Iskenderun. Had a large lunch - meze, chicken and rice, watermelon and weak turkish coffee. Visited Martyr's Square which was now a total building site. A group of archeologists is excavating an old Roman settlement that was discovered after the bombing.

Didn't get back to the campsite until late.Passed through Damascus on the way which was lively at night. As it extends up hills, the lights look wonderful twinkling away.

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