Portemilio Suite Jounieh

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The monasteries in the valley were originally built by the Maronites in the 5th - 8th centuries, to escape the persecution being dealt out on the coastal plains. To this day several of the monasteries are still inhabited, most notably by a group of extremely chirpy nuns with a penchant for team bell-ringing! The monasteries that still stand are in pristine condition, and are supported by their own little “market garden of Eden”... Boom ...

... to have rented a cabana in its section, so even though we rented a cabana for the beach area, we were not able to go into any pools. We were told that there was one free pool up the stairs and near the grass but the water in the pool wasn't the best feeling and looked dirty. It seemed everything at Ede Sands now needed a reservation, and each section of the resort now was charging all sorts of fees. When I went to Ede back in Summer of 2004, the poolside that now costs ...

... to meet her closest friends as it was her going away bash, her last night before she leaves to Denmark. I'm really excited for her. Her boyfriend is the resident DJ of basement and handed us loads of records he mixed. We left after a few hours, Chris and the rest of us could not stand the music anymore. The guest DJ was playing very dark and just killed the mood. Dominique even was concerned with the music being played. We stopped at Bechara Bros for some fabulous menouche and headed home.

... the river), picked delicious fresh fruits off the countless peach, pear and apple trees, wandered through the last remaining Lebanese cedar forest (thousands of years old), and visited the Khalil Gibran museum (early 20th century poet and artist born in Bcharre). 'The Prophet' is a magical book of poems. Breakfast was included at Tiger House - boy oh boy was it tasty (and fattening). Every morning we were given a large parcel of warm chewy sweet cheese coated in toasted ...

... sea; I wouldn't mind living there at all. The statue was huge and you could walk all the way to the top of it to see the amazing view below. There also was a monstrous church next to it with interesting architecture. After seeing the real Bait Mary we had lunch and then discussed with some locals how we were going to get to Syria. If we went through Beirut we would have to wait in rush-hour traffic for 3 hours because we were leaving ...

... to the COLA, which is where the buses to Balbeek stop. From there we took the local bus to Balbeek for another 10,000 LL. The Phoenicians named the city after their god Baal. This is the same guy the Israelites of the Old Testament got so incensed about. The Greeks called it Heliopolis or city of the sun and the Roman really built it up with several monumental temples the biggest of which was the Temple of Jupiter. What really impressed us, as unsophisticated wannabee ...

... tours"!! In summary, I was arriving in Beirut by bus at night and had no hotel booked nor any lebanese money...so this is how it went. Crossing the border from Syria to Lebanon was pretty easy. At the border crossing, I avoided all the chaos of the custom booths surrounded by all the yelling arabs by simply visiting the lonely custom official at the VIP/diplomat booth and played dumb ...

... and the other was in Europe. This was the personal side to the fact that there are more Lebanese people living outside of Lebanon than within its borders. After two strong cups of coffee, Erin decided we should get going. I was hesitant to leave the cozy little office and I had so many more questions, but we didn't want to miss our bus. Soon we were winding back to the coast, my head bumping drowsily against the window as we once again hurtled around the "hair pin curves."

... in Tripoli our minibus driver wouldn't let us out until he was sure we knew where we going. He actually walked us almost to the door of the hostel, we were so appreciative of his fatherly protection. The hostel was a haven of peace and comfort. The receptionist got us settled in and served me some much needed coffee. Coffee in Lebanon could wake the dead. No longer was I drinking in the horrible Nescafé of Egypt. This stuff is thick as mud so that the bottom of your cup ...

... opportunity, bus tickets which increase in price by 33% over night (good job I found out the real price last night!), food that when you ask for a break down suddenly drops in price by 1/4 and with a little argument even that turns out to have been inflated. The problem is that it's not in my normal phycie to question money all the time, there is no haggle culture here and prices aren't negotiable, just to the foreigner they are sometimes inflated.