Holiday Inn Beirut-Dunes

... that much<br>of their masonry had disintegrated - inches deep in places. The<br>museum's sarcophagi were only protected from ongoing looting by<br>encasing them in huge concrete coffins. You re-enter the museum in a<br>completely different context. It is a beautiful place &#8211; but one<br>which is still haunted by an incredibly dark past. <br><br><br><br><br>In the<br>museum it was possible to painstakingly restore every last artifact<br>so that ...

... slow process of repairing and replacing damaged buildings from the civil war. One day, I took a walk down the Green Line that once separated Christian and Muslim Beirut during the height of the civil war. While the main street showed no evidence of the violence that once racked the area, a few of the side streets remained in shambles. Many buildings were barely more than rubble, riddled in bullet holes of all calibers. Martyr posters abounded. Near the end of the Green Line stood ...

Leaving Syria i made my way by taxi to Tripoli in northern Lebanon. Im glad i went for the shared taxi option as i would been confused to buggery if id done it by public bus with all the border formalities. Anyway, i got in fine and headed into the city of Tripoli, not to be confused with its namesake the capital of Libya, It was a major port city for decades connecting the middle east to the med and north africa. I checked into this pension which was descibed in my guide book ...

... in the story?) and I waited. The elderly lady seemed to feel very sorry for me and was trying to talk to me, but I couln't seem to pronounce my "I don't speak any Arabic" correctly, so she resorted to patting my arm reassuringly. Walkie-talkie guy returned and said that a guy had agreed to take us and it would be US$70 each. He asked if I could pay that, I said I could and he said we needed to walk up to the car that was going to take us. I picked up my backpack (ignoring ...

... however, I doubt very much if I would be seduced by such beaches, as the Mediterranean this far east tends to have a rather dark and rocky shoreline. Feeling hungry once more, we headed to McDonalds for a late lunch. Again, the allure of Western junk food after a five-month exile was too strong to resist. Unsurprisingly the food was absolutely awful, but, as I sat back and waited for that familiar post-McDonalds feeling of dissatisfaction and shame to wash over me, I looked ...

... Christians) Lebanese, but this place is so different from the rest of the region. Forget the money and sectarian divide, the people are so flamboyant and out going compared to over the border, is it more than people just trying to be Italian? Having been overwhelmed at first, it now all seems a bit false, I've noticed so many cars with German, Swiss and French stickers ...

Behind the avocado groves above Beirut is Jeita Grotto - a massive complex of limestone caves. We went, we saw, we spent over two hours walking a broad, flat, easy 600m. If I tried to describe what we saw we'd still be here in ten days, and ultimately I'd have just told you its a big cave with lots of stalactites. Instead, here's some imagery: It is Michael Scott Rohan's Winter ...

... off the plane, and followed the people to the baggage. I bought my visa stamp and carried it on to the next visa place. The man interviewing me filling out my visa form asked me many questions. Why am I here, how long will my stay be, who do I know, will I be working, why did I come from Kuwait and so on. He got to the bottom of the form and asked for Mike's parents address and phone number. I searched and searched and ...