Safir Heliopolitan Beirut

It's so humid that it's impossible to do anything during the day, the past 2 days we have been getting up at 10am going for a dunken doughnut and having a coffee (well Dino was having a coffee anyway), back to the hostel to sit in the air conditioning until the afternoon when at least the heat is bearable. The city comes alive at night, the deserted streets fill. But at this rate we won't be seeing anything.

Last night with a few ...

... and say hi to the friendly people of Lebanon. I woke up suddenly in the middle of the night with that familiar rumble in my stomach telling me I had less than ten seconds to plant my butt on a toilet. I was zipped tightly into my fleece travel blanket to keep warm since there was no heat in my room and I was having some technical difficulties getting out quickly in the dark. I ended up falling ...

... I ended up going to grab a bite with them later in the evening. Adam, Vlad, Claudio and an older American guy named Don also joined us. SO we were quite the group walking the streets of Beirut trying to find a place to eat. After we ate, we went to a couchsurfing event at a local pub. I first met up with a friend (Jacquie) from back home and her two gorgeous cousins who met us at the event but unfortunately they couldn't stay. My friend is ...

... On Monday I met up with Laith again at a place in Hamra called "Le Prague". It was a really nice café, with internet, coffee, drinks, and good healthy food. I had a huge delicious plate of rice, lentils, and tomato sauce that took me about 2 hours to eat and a cup of coffee. Laith's friend Jackson was also there who I had met Thursday night so we hung out for a couple hours chatting and eating. Eventually, Laith's friend Hany came. Hany is the producer of ...

... sea in the afternoon. Jim took me up to a nearby ski-resort (I think it was called Zaarour, but I may be wrong) to look at the ski runs. It was so hot up there that it's hard to imagine snow in the mountains, but Jim has kindly provided a photograph of the same place in winter as proof (see below). I have two regrets about coming to Lebanon: a) I should have come here sooner, and b) I should have stayed here longer. Fantastic country......

... Crusader castle or an Iron Age temple. We spent a pleasant time climbing around the ruins as there were hardly any other people there and also it was nice and sunny. The city was a major port during the Phoenician period and because papyrus was shipped from Egypt and reshipped to Greece through its port the city got the name of Byblos, derived from the Greek word for paper.

Hello everyone../ well, well, well what an incredible last few days it has been. When I left you all I was in the city of Hama in the middle of Syria and heading to Damascus. Well I will do the damascus blogg a little latter. For now other things take priority of excitment. I am in beruit,in Lebonon,and if you havn't heard on the news, what could be discribed as a small war has eventuated. The city has been bombed the last couple of days along with the airport ...

... felt crowded with buildings. Got our rooms and went to bed. I'm on the 4th floor in a double room alone which is very nice. I unpacked completely first and went to bed for a hard sleep till 8. Got up, showered in the bathrooom that I share with the girl in the other room of the suite. I haven't met her though. Then met the guys downstairs and Kamal rode with us to church. Kamal is a student at NEST and was giving the sermon today. Walid, another friend of ...

... of the country. This is of course a bit of a stretch, but the importance of toleration in a place that is chock full of so many potentially dissonant religious and political groups should not be minimized. Lebanon has not only instituted stabilizing regulations such as the requirement that power be shared between a permanently Christian president, a Sunni Prime Minister, and a Shiite Speaker of the House, but it has also managed to develop an atmosphere of toleration in which ...

... open until midnight and stocks Now, Heat, OK and Hello etc. and provides on-site access to all CDs for 'Customers'. While we didn't spend a penny, we have been their best 'Customers' for the past 5 days and we are eternally grateful to Ric************ for confiming that Darren Day is indeed a love rat, that Kerry McFadden is 'so over' Bryan, but will always love him. Now if only they would open some Megastores in Damascus, Amman and Cairo that would be nice.