Liban The Good Life

During the 1960s, Beirut was as 'swinging' as anywhere else in the western world.  Pubs, clubs, parties, theatres and celebrities were as much of a feature of Lebanon as they were in London, New York or Paris.  Much of this can be attributed to its French influence after the end of the First World War.  Along wth Cairo and Tel Aviv, Beirut grew as a commercial centre in the region, especially after the discovery of oil among the Gulf States.  By the time the Civil War broke out in 1975, Lebanon was pretty much 50-50 split between Muslims and Christians, meaning more relaxed attitudes towards nightlife activities.
 
Beirut is pretty much divided into three sections; east, west and south.  I had found a place to stay in Gemmayze, the city's 'artistic bohemian' quarter, which is in the eastern section.  The area is filled with narrow streets and historic buildings making a great place to walk and marvel at my surroundings.  Everywhere I looked there were boutiques, bookshops, art shops, restaurants, cafes and trendy bars.  Walking around it seemed I was more likely to see a woman with her face covered up with an iPad than a hijab,  It felt a bit like being back in the Northern Quarter in Manchester and I almost expected to see posters for upcoming gigs at my favourite bars.

The problem I have with living in Dubai is that it doesn't feel like a city to me.  One plot of development doesn't really connect to the next one and, in fact, it is mostly separated with swathes of desert.  Without a car and outside of the Old City, Dubai can leave you feeling isolated.  Beirut, on the other hand, is undoubtedly a city.  It sprawls and links and is full of character and charm (though 5,000 years of history tends to do that).  Walking west and exiting the 'Christian half' of the city brought me to Downtown.  Central Beirut was once the dividing line between the warring factions during the Civil War (highlighted by the fight for control of the then newly-built Holiday Inn which offered a perfect locale for snipers).  Nowadays, just like in pre-War times, Downtown is a mecca for high-end hotels, designer stores, museums, art galleries and restaurants.  It is also home to numerous mosques and churches, sometimes standing side-by-side.  The inner part of the area is cordoned off with only pedestrians permitted to enter.  It can take away some of the atmosphere, especially with the high police presence at the checkpoints, but then in a city not unfamiliar to assassination attempts on those persons more likely to frequent the area it's understandable why the decision was made.

The further west you go in Beirut, the further you move into the 'Muslim half' of the city.  Here, it becomes slightly more traditional (by Beirut's standards).  Saying that, it's also home to the student population of the city with the huge grounds of the American University smack bang in the middle, so in proximity there are a number of cool bookshops and cheap places to eat and drink (including alcohol).  Eventually, I walked right through and came out at the corniche.

The promenade of Beirut is lined with palm trees and spectacular views of the Mediterranean.  Walking along from one end to the other I encountered numerous joggers, families out for a stroll, teenagers hanging out on the rocky beaches, men and women enjoying nargile (water pipe) and other tourists happy to escape the urbanity for some sea air.  It is up one of Beirut's hilly roads along the corniche that I encountered perhaps Beirut's most photographed landmark, Pidgeons' Rock.  Here I had the perfect vantage point to watch guys on scooters zip along without helmets (though probably with enough gel in their hair to soften the blow) and top buttons on their shirts undone, and girls dressed in the latest fashion attempting to catch the guys' attention.

I didn't venture to the southern section of Beirut as I didn't have enough time on my trip.  However, it is the south that perhaps says more about the capital's recent history and maybe its future than any other part.  In the grip of Hezbollah, this is where you will find large communities of Palestinians who have been displaced.  After the Israeli-Lebanon conflict in 2006, the area was left devastated and it would have been interesting to see how, if at all, it had been regenerated.  With constant warnings about security, it's probably safe to assume that it's likely to be minimal.  With the presence of the 'Party of God' and ongoing tensions with Israel (and Syria), it is said that these southern suburbs are still in war mode and ready to take up the fight once more.

In spite of this, it's even more incredible that Beirut is growing once more into one of the tourist hotspots in the Middle East.  Although I didn't check out any of the 'superclubs' that Beirut boasts (a lack of interest in techno music and being woefully under-dressed), I managed to get a feel for the nightlife hanging out at some of the bars and pubs, as well as a rather successful night at the casino playing poker.  I declined the invitation of the other card players to celebrate my winnings with a trip to the strip joints nearby, but the very fact that it was a possibility was something that took a while to get my head around.  Bars, clubs, casinos and strippers are just not things you usually associate with the Middle East.  That isn't to say it is seedy, far from it.  It is far too charming and stylish for that.  It was once hailed as the 'Paris of the Middle East' and it's not hard to see why.

The Road To Ruins

The plane touched down at 4am, seven hours later than scheduled.  I had flown from Dubai to Beirut, then back again after ridiculously bad fog had made it impossible to land.  No sooner had the pilot got the wheels down on the tarmac back in the UAE came the announcement that after re-fueling we would be trying it again.  Luckily I had had the row of seats to myself so I was able to lie down during the flight and get a little bit of rest.

By the time I got through passport control and out of the airport I was ready to crash.  I jumped in a taxi and instructed the driver to take me to the hostel I had earmarked for my stay.  I had intended to Couchsurf in Beirut, but a late cancellation and numerous no replies left me resigned to conventional accommodation.  Upon arrival at the hostel, I was informed that there was no room for me for the remainder of the night and I got a similar response from two other places nearby.  I was willing to fork out on a mid-range hotel for the night just to get some sleep and get my bearings during the day.  It was not to be as after 45 minutes of walking around the area I didn't stumble across a single hotel.  It was after 5am and everywhere was deserted except for a few hole-in-the-wall bars that were still in full swing.  My body refused to countenance going for a beer at that moment so I went back to one of the hostels to beg for a bit of floor space.  The night watchman opened the door further to reveal that every bit of the floor space had already been taken.  There would be a bed available at noon, I was informed.  Back on the street, a 4x4 pulled over and a ridiculously attractive girl poked her head out of the window and asked if I was looking for a ride.  Hot girl, 5.30am, offering a guy a ride?  I took a peek at the driver and saw it was a guy who knew how to handle himself and that accepting her offer was only going to lead to two possible outcomes; she was a working girl, or this was a Honey Trap and I'd find myself in a bath of ice with my kidneys removed.  I politely declined.  My last hope was to find a park bench and catch a few hours sleep on it until daylight fully broke.  It was easy enough to find, except that there was already a cop sitting on it.  After ascertaining where I was from and that, yes, I did like football, I pumped him for some information.  A thought struck me and with a few simple instructions ringing in my ears from the rather nice cop (makes a change on my travels) I found myself in a mini-van out of Beirut.

That was how I found myself spending my first day in Lebanon not in Beirut as I had thought, but in Baalbek, a town in the Beqaa Valley about 85km northeast of the capital.  The Beqaa Valley is better known for two things; growing a lot of hashish and opium poppies, and being the heartland of Hezbollah.  However, I was on my way to the place the Greeks called 'the city of the Sun.'  The ride through the Valley was pleasant enough with small villages and towns passing by and the snowy peaks of the mountains flanking the road.  It took me back to Central Asia except here the roads were paved and at no point did I feel like the van would go crashing into a ravine at 100km/hr.  A constant feature also unlike Kyrgyzstan along the road was the presence of police and military checkpoints with guys armed with AK-47s (OK, I have no idea if that's what they were carrying, but if Hollywood has taught me anything, then all Arabs and Commies tote Kalashnikovs, right?).

I arrived in Baalbek, no longer tired but excited to be on the road again.  It had been a while since my last little trip anywhere and it was nice to be exploring somewhere new again.  I had some pastry with cheese filling for breakfast and washed it down with some chai before sauntering over to the reason I was there; the well-preserved Roman ruins.

As a testament to Roman power and wealth, four giant temples were built on this site to honour Jupiter, Venus, Bacchus and Mercury (though the one to Mercury was built at a location separate from the other three).  As these ruins have been particularly well-preserved, it is easy to get a real feel of history and what the place was like 2000 years ago.  The sheer size of the temples, stones and trilithons are mind-bogglingly huge and, much like the Pyramids in Egypt, still leave a debate about how such feats of engineering were achieved so quickly with the tools at their disposal.  Halfway through my walk around and caught in my own thoughts, I was approached by the second nice cop of the day, who offered to be my guide free of charge.  He didn't speak much English, but I think he was just looking for some company as I imagine 'Ruins Guard Duty' is not exactly taxing work.  Up on higher ground, it was wonderful to see the mountains in the background and marvel at location.  I'm a sucker for ruins and mountains.

After taking another mini-van back to Beirut, I managed to check in to a hotel and hit a couple of bars with two Swedish guys who had also just arrived.  It wasn't how I had planned to spend my first day in Lebanon, but it turned out for the best.