Aanjar & Baalbeck

While in Beirut I took a day trip to the Bekaa Valley. The Bekaa is best known for being the headquarters of Hezbollah and cannabis farming, but it's also full of interesting historical sites. My first stop was Aanjar where you can explore the ruins of an Umayyad city. The Umayyads were the first hereditary dynasty of Islam and ruled from 660-750 AD. The population of Aanjar is predominanty Aremenian. The town was founded by Armenian refugees who fled Turkey during the 1915 genocide.

After exploring the ruins in Aanjar I headed to Baalbek. The town is the administrative headquarters for Hezbollah. While there are Hezbollah flags flying, there are certainly no masked militia men. I was offered a souviner Hezbollah t-shirt. While that would be just about the best souviner ever, I didn't buy it because I figured it could mess up my security clearance when I apply with the State Department. The site was originally Phoenician and was settled in the 3rd millennium BC. In 64 BC the site was made part of the Roman Empire and it became a large city. The ruins are extensive and extremely well preserved. Incredibly impressive considering the age of the ruins and the number of wars that have happened in the area.

After Baalbeck our tour group went to Zahle for lunch. Zahle is the largest Christian (Catholic) city in Lebanon. We ate at a beautiful restaurant set back in a gorge. The majority of the restaurant is outdoors with tables mixed among gardens and fountains. The Birdawni River also runs through the middle of the restaurant. We had a delicious Lebanese lunch and headed to our last stop- the Ksara Winery. I won't say much about it because the wine wasn't very good. What makes the winery interesting is that their wine is stored in caves that have the perfect temperature and humidity for storage.

Beirut

I recently had a break from school and had the opportunity to do some traveling in the region. My first stop was Beirut. Beirut is a lovely city and very un-Middle Eastern. I would describe it as a mixture of western Europe and Miami. They've done an impressive job of re-building the city after the civil war, but there are still signs of the war- some of them left intentionally so that the people won't forget what happened.

I spent most of my time walking around the city and eating at great restaurants. The city is fairly easy to get around by foot, with the exception of the fact that they don't have street signs. Beirut drivers are also quite frightening. The city has created the illusion of being pedestrian friendly with sidewalks and walk signs (unlike Amman). I learned fairly quickly that red lights mean nothing to drivers in Beirut. Not just the occasional running as the light changes; the light could have been red for a minute and people will still run it. Needless to say, I had some near-death experiences until I figured this out. I would very much prefer that they remove the walk signs so that pedestrians know that they never have the right-of-way.

Beirut lies on the Mediterranean Sea and has a beautiful pederstrian promanade. Walking along the promonade is a great way to see a wide cross-section of Beirut society. Lebanese women showing off their newly purchased breasts, men laying out on the rocks along the coast, college students, and traditional Muslim families. Beirut was not a good place for me to practice my Arabic. I heard more English and French than Arabic while I was there.