Exploring Lebanon

I arrived in Lebanon to a huge immigration queue. The last time I was here (March 2022) I had whizzed thru! Clearly travelling in covid times really was a thing of the past!

The first time in Lebanon, I had joined a day tour with two gents, Simon and James. Both were in Beirut to start a tour to Syria. I didn’t know it yet, but James and I would travel in Iraq together, later in the year. I was totally the green eyed monster being just on a weekend trip, and thought "I need to book myself on a Syria trip as soon as possible!"

We travelled north to Anjar, Balbeck and Ksara, through the snowy roads over the mountain passes, despite beautiful sunshine in Beirut. I hadn’t heard of Anjar and had only booked on the day tour because I had seen photos of Balbeck, but I quickly realised how glad I was to be seeing other amazing sights in Lebanon. Anjar is a town in the Bekaa valley and means either “unresolved” or “running river”. It is also the site of a former Umayyad trading city. Founded by Caliph Waldo I at the start of the 8th Century, it was finished and was abandoned and destroyed by 744 AD (within 50 years) by Caliph Ibrahim, son of Walid after he was defeated in battle. Anjar showcases the typical 8th Century town planning in the region. The city was found by archaeologists in the late 1940's and boasts the ruins of the main street, partial city wall, towers, gates, palaces, colonnades, public bathrooms and shops. This town was an important place (although for a limited period) because it was on the crossroads between Balbeck and Damascus.

I was quite in awe of the columns stretching far into the distance along the Main Street which we started to walk along. It was incredibly beautiful and you could imagine the shops lining the road, the rich in their chariots and the poor walking alongside. On the left a little way along was the palace which still had two sides remaining, suprisingly with second floor walls. I’m not sure I’d ever seen ruins like this before as usually only the ground floor walls remain (sometimes not even that!) - so this was quite something. The public baths also seemed to be fairly in tact although there was now long grass growing within them! Probably not going to be used in future! Anjar definitely proved to be a worthwhile stop even if I’d had no awareness of its existence before arriving here.

Baalbek on the other hand was the reason I’d come to Lebanon for the weekend. This is the site of possibly the best preserved Roman ruins in the world and I really do mean that. The Temple of Bacchus was what I was here to see. Having done little to no research before this spontaneous trip (booked Wednesday evening to fly Thursday evening as COVID restrictions had just been dropped) I had no idea of anything else there was to see at Baalbek. Baalbek is a series of temples (not just the one I’d seen the picture of) and boasts temples to Venus and Jupiter as well. The temple of Bacchus was smaller than the larger, Temple of Jupiter, but had survived far better. I wanted to rush to see the Temple of Bacchus, but my guide took me the usual route around the complex. We started with the Temple of Jupiter - a colossal Roman temple, that served as an oracle and was dedicated to Jupiter. Who commissioned the temple and who designed and built it, remain unknown, but it is estimated that construction probably began around 16 BC and was nearly complete by about AD 60. It is situated at the western end of the Great Court of Roman Heliopolis, on a broad platform of stone raised around 7 m above the huge stones of the foundations - three of these foundation stones are among the heaviest blocks ever used. When you see them, it is pretty mind blowing! It is the largest temple in the Roman Empire built for Jupiter and has columns nearly 20m tall and 2.5m in diameter. It is overwhelmingly breathtaking when you get to see it.

Wandering around this huge temple makes you feel incredibly insignificant and almost like you are trespassing in another world. This was likely helped by the lack of many other tourists meaning we virtually had this huge temple complex to ourselves! There are still immense structures in places although most have fall down or are crumbling, however you can still feel the majesty of the temple when you look at the columns and archways and see the amount of detail that was carved into the stone. There is a staircase that takes you up to the raised platform upon which the Temple of Jupiter stands. The Temple itself was circled by 54 unfitted corinthian columns which were organised by 10 along the front and back, and the remaining equal spread across each side. Many emperors enriched the temple site during their own reigns to leave their mark on this amazing place. Nero, one of the first, built a tower-alter opposite the temple, before Trajan added pink granite porticos to the forecourt.

Sadly the Temple of Jupiter was destroyed by many earthquakes, before it was pillaged for the stone. eight of the columns were to Constantinople (Istanbul) to form part of the Haiga Sofia building. After strolling around (I and admiring what was left of this huge Temple) we started to make our way towards the temple of Bacchus. They were not far away from each other, and the walk allowed for spectacular views and photo opportunities of the Temple of Baacchus.

If I’m honest, I have no idea how to describe this temple in words. Along with the ancient Egyptian sites, The Temple of Bacchus (built in the 2nd Century AD) is probably the most spectacular man made structure of the ancient world, I’ve ever seen. The treasury at Petra and the Amphitheatre at Ephesus are indeed truly spectacular, but this temple totally blows you away. Both inside and out.

The columns are in tact and equally spaced along the sides, stretching from ground to ceiling. Inside the stage still remains majestic at one end, with giant engaged columns running down the long sides articulating an arcade below and niches crowned by triangular pediments above. The Temple of Bacchus (or the temple of the sun as it’s also known) is built in the Corinthian style, with 8 columns along the front and rear and 15 down the sides. The columns are made with limestone sourced locally with unfluted shafts. This temple is only slightly smaller than the Temple of Jupiter, measuring 66m by 35m by 31m. Inside the Temple, there is a Sanctuary, upon a raised platform, 11m long and 2m high. The nave takes up the rest of the space inside the temple and is 20m long.

As you leave the Temple of Baalbek and head to the exit, you stumble upon a far smaller temple surrounded by limestone blocks scattered all around it and the remains of the Temple of Venus is perfectly situated in the centre. The temple (that Hadrian wanted to dedicate to the goddess Roma Aeterna and the goddess Venus Felix) is on a high base overlooking the Colosseum Valley and would have been near the colosseum and close to the Forum. It was built in the 3rd Century and it is thought that an earthquake destroyed it in the 9th Century.

Just outside Baalbek there is an unfinished obelisk, which is also known to have special powers of fertile. Being a childless woman of childbearing age, the guide told me to go and touch the obelisk to make sure I had children in the future. I found it odd, he didn't say the same think to Simon - a guy of similar age to me, however, I've often observed as I've travelled, that fertility issues in large parts of the world, are always blamed on the woman. Interesting as generally two people play a part in brining a child into the world naturally. In Uzbekistan, women had to walk around a stone three times and crawl under it, in other countries, if a woman sat on a particular rock, she would get pregnant and here touching an unfinished obelisk would increase my fertility. I wonder if we will ever see men crawling under rocks and walking around objects three times to ensure they can make a baby?!

The final stop of the day (and much needed after the fertility incident) was Ksara. Again, like Anjar, I didn’t have a clue what this was, but was delighted to find out it was a chateau and we were going wine tasting! With the glasses lined up, we started tasting the white wine, then the red, looking at the bottle of red, I realised I’d drunk this wine before, the week before in fact at a dinner party and I liked it! Happy days.

We drove back to Beirut a little tipsy and saw the site of the explosion in 2020. There were paintings along the wall of the road and one caught my attention - an eye, with a child bandaged across the face. I managed to get a quick snap of it. We arrived back at my hotel and Simon asked if I wanted to join him and some of the Syria group for beers at the communist bar that evening. Travelling solo, i had no plans for the evening yet, so accepted this fortuitous invite, swapping numbers to meet later.

I met James and Simon at their hotel and we walked to the bar, it was cosy with pictures covering the wall and communists items scattered throughout. It was quirky and the beer was cheap. It was going to be a fun evening. Slowly and in pairs or solo the rest of the Syria group wandered in throughout the evening and we all chatted away. I got chatting with a German guy called Fabien about travel and then diving and travel and diving and at the end of the night we switched numbers. I remember thinking how happy I was that day and how good life was. I hoped it would continue to be a great trip. A few months later I would message Fabien about joining me in Iraq and we would also travel together in Azerbaijani and Belarus! Meeting travel buddies is always so random!

As the night drew to a close I said goodbye to everyone to head back to my hotel. “See you tomorrow” they shouted after me. “Have a great time in Syria” I shouted back. Half of them had forgotten I wasn’t on the trip they were starting in the morning…

The next day for me was another day tour. This time up to Byblos, Jeita grotto and Harissa. Waking just before pick up I rushed to pack (the very limited items I’d brought with me) and then met the guide). Today was just me and a German guy who was very well dressed but in his early twenties. Wearing yesterdays jeans and hoodie as I hadn’t brought a change of clothes I felt incredibly scruffy but given I’d never see the guy again ultimately I didn’t really care!

Jeita Grotto was the first stop and this was a cave complex that reminded me a lot of the caves in Socotra and also the Postojna Cave in Slovenia. The cave system comprises of two separate, but interconnected karstic limestone caves that span a distance of around 9 kilometres. Sadly the part I wanted to see (being the one with the boat trip on the cave lake) was shut due to the snow melting and the water level being raised. However, one must make the best of every situation dn that was what I was going to do. The cave that we were able to view is the "upper cave" and it 56m below ground level. It also holds the worlds largest known stalactite. It has been furnished with an access tunnel to allow people to view this natural wonder without the presence of people disturbing the natural landscape. However, as a warning, it is still quite slippery as there is constantly water dripping down from the rock ceiling, its probably advised to be careful!! The grotto is situated in the Nahr al-kalb valley, which is only 18 kilometres north of Beirut. The caves are nicely lit, to maintain the mystic atmosphere of going underground, whilst lit enough to appreciate the size and intricacy of the landscape that was formed by the movement of minerals over many hundreds of thousands off years.

We then travelled to Harissa, which is home to Our Lady of Lebanon and was erected in 1907 and is 650m above sea level. Inside the base of the bronze statue which has been painted white, is a small chapel which is dwarfed by the huge Maronite Catherdral which was built right next to the statue itself.

We got the funicular ride down the mountain after admiring the beautiful views and headed to Byblos. Byblos is believed to have first been inhabited between 8800 and 7000 BC and more impressively, continuously inhabited since 5000 BC. This means Byblos, is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. During Byblos’ expansive history, it was part of numerous civilizations, including Egyptians, Persian, Phoenician, Roman and ottoman plus many others. The city of Byblos is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The citadel in Byblos was built by the crusaders in the 12th Century from limestone and the remains of Roman structures that had been destroyed or fallen into disrepair over time. The castle was also known as the Castle of Giblet and owned by the Genoese Embrianco family.

and how do you totally freak yourself out? Get in a coffin...Not cool!

Byblos town is a very tranquil place by the sea and it was nice to have some chill time before driving back to Beirut.

A beautiful sea view!

So second time in Lebanon, a country that is on my top 5, and what to do. There was so much I wanted to see and do, yet for some reason I was being totally indecisive. I looked through the list of day tours available the following day (nothing like last minute planning) and decided I’d look at the pictures and make a decision that way (because obviously choosing a book by its cover can have a happy ending!!)and settled on the tour with a picture of a tank. Who knows what I’d be doing other than seeing a tank! 8.30 pick up - better get some sleep.

I was collected and this time drove to the South of Lebanon, following the beautiful coastline as we progressed. There were three stops on today’s agenda, Mleeta monument, the Temple of Eshmun and the Beaufort Castle. I was looking on google maps in the car and we were entering a town called Sidon. This had been one of the options as part of a different trip I could have picked. I looked out the window towards the sea and there was an old castle just coming up on the right. The driver turned to me and said, “you want me to stop?”.

“Yes please” I said.

What a bonus!! I wandered in and started taking pictures. The castle had no roof, but some of the beautiful archways still remained that, although falling down, were holding their shape well. I tried to walk up to the higher level, but my way was blocked by two local Lebanese girls.

“Hello,” they said,

“hiya, how are you?” I responded.

“Are you from England?” They said.

“Yep, I am!”

“Take us with you please!”

“Gosh, no” I said “it’s far too cold in England!” I laughed.

They laughed back.

We took some photos with the sea as a backdrop and continued exploring.

Sidon castle was built by the crusaders in the 13th Century and is considered a Fortress to the holy land and is built on a small island with an 80m connection to the mainland. The castle fell into disrepair but was restored in the 17th century and is now a tourist site.

Next stop or the first official stop was Beaufort Castle and was at the top of a hill between the coast and the Syrian border. The views from the castle were beautiful if you weren’t blowing away. If I had hair and it was loose, it would be everywhere. Luckily I didn’t! But I had to remove my baseball cap or it would be gone! The castle was across a number of floors and was built partly into the mountain face and partly on top of it. All along one side were views towards Syria and the other side there were views towards the coast. The stairs were internal to the castle and incredibly dark! It is not the first time wearing flip flops and a dress were perhaps inappropriate travel clothes, but hey, couldn’t get changed now! Beaufort castle was built in the 12th century by the crusaders and in recent history, up to the year 2000 had been occupied by the Israeli military. Prior to that and since their removal, the castle has been a tourist attraction.

Next was Mleeta. And the Mleeta monument, also named the Tourist Landmark of the Resistance, which is a war museum operated by Hezbollah near the village of Mleeta in southern Lebanon. The museum opened on May 25, 2010, marking the 10th anniversary of the Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000 and is an amazing work of art that for a war memorial, I have not seen before. The detail and symbolism that has gone into the landmark is incredible. The spiders web connection from Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah’s victory speech (when Israel withdrew its troops from Southern Lebanon) where he stated that Israel’s military was weaker than a spiders web is clearly shown in this monument along with references to cyclones and Israeli military gear scattered throughout the memorial. I must admit, this blew me away. The completeness of the tanks, the drones, oil cans built into a flame and the tank by the golden wall was very thought provoking, yet the memorial had such a serene feeling to it. There was also an arial viewing point so you could capture the whole memorial in one view.

The last spot on the official tour was the Temple of Eshmun. The guide spoke French and I spoke English, so we played a game of guess the word through actions and guess work, which lasted around 5 mins before we both decided to wander round instead of playing charades!

The Temple of Eshmun was built for Eshmun, the god of healing as a place of worship. There is not too much left of it now and the land is very overgrown, however some mosaics and structures still remain although it is not frequently visited based on the state of the temple.

I look forward to exploring more of Lebanon and maybe see some of Beirut on my next visit. Its time to explore Syria!!