Movenpick Resort Beirut

... showed us where bullet marks are engraved into the table from the civil war, as well as pointing out the crack in the glass door from the same period – the glass in this window had been replaced many times. The reality of the past seems only too real, however Jamil insisted that one must not look back, it's time to look forward and not dwell on what has happened. Apparently this is the Lebanese way.

On our first day in Beirut we covered 15 -20kms by foot. We ...

... up from the water that no one knows how they got there. It was pretty awesome looking. I also noticed that the Nintendo game Wave Race had these as the ‘practice course’ yes, useless trivia. We also met some guys from Australia that was very interesting. 3 Arab guys speaking English with an Australian accent saying mate to us, very very strange. After the pictures we went to a restaurant on the cliff called Bay Rock and took some more pics with a light meal. Both ...

... Joining me was Claudio (from Brazil) and Kevin (from Ireland). Later on, a Danish couple from my room joined us as well as an American friend of Kevin's named JJ. We stayed at the bar until closing time - 2 am. AT that point, we were all feeling good and decided to hit a night club. It was time to sample the legendary Beirut nightlife. We ended up hitting the club we were supposed to go to the previous night - BO18. The club is pretty cool as it ...

... a car pulled up, a man got out of the car and came up to our window. He asked for our passports and went inside. Then he came back out and said there were some complications because we were arriving too late and so it's going to take longer than expected. We followed him by car through some checkpoints and then pulled up to an office. We then were welcomed into the office of a high-ranking official and took our seats.................to be continued....

... for awhile as I relaxed and finally breathed in Beirut air. Then I got a text from my friend Laith who lives in Amman but was also visiting Beirut, asking if I wanted to chill with him and some of his friends for the night. I was tired but ready to get started in Beirut so Amy and I met up with them and went over to one of their apartments. All of them were either photographers, fashion experts, or dancers and very artistic so we ended up hanging out until ...

... in the National Assembly. There are 50 authorized sects: the Maronite Christian, Greek Orthodox, Sunni, Shiite and Druze sects are the major ones. There are political parties also and they can run a slate of candidates in races for all of the 50 authorized sectarian seats. There are 128 seats in the legislature and Hezbollah party has the largest voting bloc with eight seats. The power is not shared proportionally, so small sects get the same representation as ...

... baseball team) from the US, Jas, a kiwi doing a journalism internship in Beirut, and a japanese adventurer traveling the world for 3 years!! We quickly agreed to continue our chat over a couple of beers at a local beirut pub. I thought I really needed a beer in celebration of my succesful travel day but not as badly as my new American friend who spent the entire day at the Syrian border ...

... a random woman checking passports to see if she can help me and I try to explain that I'm waiting for help but thank you. He doesn't seem to understand. I apologize to the woman who looks annoyed and tell the man thank you for your help but I'm being helped. Someone comes, looks at my form, makes a phone call, leaves. I wait. He comes back with a security guard and they go into the luggage room and there, finally is my bag! Broken, busted zipper pull (so much for the TSA lock ...

... palace to escape the heat in nearby Damascus. This final stop was something of a bonus for us, as the primary objective of seeing Baalbek had already been accomplished. Nevertheless, this more dilapidated set of ruins provided an interesting mix of architectural styles and historical periods. Like other Muslim structures we had visited, the predominant architectural element of Anjar is its large fortress style wall that surrounds the complex. Before the Byzantines, the Romans ...

... he'll let me be his assistant. Sounds fun so off I go with him and find myself walking passed security barriers as he has a press pass. We interview various figures - i'm not sure who - and are standing just 6 feet from the utterly frenzied crowds. Thankfully the army are out in force and so it seems things will be controlled to sufficient degree. After an afternoon interviewing we go our separate ways and I head up to the airport to catch my plane - again! what a day. what a trip!