Le Chateau des Oliviers Tripoli

... from books to imitation shoes (Adadas, Nikke... There are stalls upon stalls of pure kitsch and others of real taste and quality. One street had a shop specialized in fundamentalist clothing, featuring a chador-like dress that I've never seen worn in the country (women that choose to wear the veil just cover their hair and otherwise dress freely. When one who's really covered up ...

... sweet baklava and other treats – we made sure we didn't miss out on these.

Once we'd finished exploring the old town we caught a mini-bus up into the mountains (Lebanon does proper mountains, with decent snow and even a few skifields), heading for the town of Bcharre, at the head of the stunning Qadisha Valley.

... Lebanon will hold an incredibly important election on June 7, with the US-backed Hariri camp going against the Syrian and Iranian-supported Hezbollah. Polls are 50/50 at the moment. An indication of the election's significance, both Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden traveled to Beirut in the last few weeks to indicate support for Hariri, as well as the Obama admin's intention to work with whichever party wins the election.

In addition to scores of interestic historic ...

... 445. They didn't accept credit card or traveler's checks. My cash reserves are being depleted fast. Went to the helpful tourist office on the eastern boarder of Hamra and got my directions to Tripoli. Got on a Connex bus for 4,000 pounds. Was in Tripoli in 1.5 hours. The bus took the main highway that went North, right beside the Mediterranean. There were numerous multinational fastfood chains on both sides of the road. In addition, the building that I could ...

... au coeur du pays du Cèdre. Le transport se fit en bus une nouvelle fois, passant par Tripoli dans un état post-apocalyptique. La nuit tombée (18h30), mon arrivée à destination prit la forme d'un épisode mystique, un peu comme celui vécu à Dana. Je parvins à un hôtel vide, au fond d'une ruelle complètement noire (comme le reste de la ville), sous la flotte. J'étais à la réception, elle éclair ...

... couldn't keep his eyes off all the pretty girls and was constantly telling me how good-looking Lebanese women are. He had a point. The men weren't bad either... On entering the site we had been given tickets for a raffle. One of the DJ's approached Tom just before the draw at 4am and told him he was about to win 2 flights to Greece! Tom thanked him kindly explaining that we were Asia-bound and therefore had little use for them. This act of generosity is something we have ...

We left the Crac and hitched our way to the Lebanese border, catching two lifts, the second of which was slightly freaky given the size of the two men that picked us up, the blacked out windows of their powerful 4x4 and the bottle of Jim Beam whisky that we were offered as they veered off-road into no-mans land. Thankfully they turned out to be gentlemen and after the brief detour - apparently to avoid some road works - we rejoined the road and ...

Trablous (Tripoli) - great wandering the street souqs (markets). Citadel of Raymond de Saint-Gilles on the top of the hill overlooks the whole city. Originally built as a Crusader fortress in 1103. Imposing entrance with moat and 3 gates; one Ottoman, one Mamluk and one Crusader. During my visit, it was actually in use as a citadel. There were groups of soldiers in different areas including a ...

November 24, 2007 Tripoli, Lebanon The bus from Hama to Tripoli cost us 700 SP. We got our Lebanese visas at the border and they were free. We are staying at the Hotel Koura with a very nice room for 60,400 Lebanese Lira. The exchange rate is 1,510 LL to the dollar. Shortly after clearing the border we passed an apartment block which had obviously been the site of a major combat. There were bullet holes all over ...

North of Tel Aviv is the rich agricultural heartland of Israel. I tis greener than I would have thought possible. We headed to the Sea of Galilee which turned out much like the Jordan river to be a rather diminutive lake. Tiberias is the only town of any size upon its shores. It is a really pretty town built on a hillside. It is the home to Christian and Jewish ruins and has a rich cultural heritage that centers on fishing.