A blog by someone new to blogging, set in Beirut, by someone new to Beirut.

Monday, August 20, 2007

A new addition to Beaufort Castle

Continuing the theme of travelling around Lebanon at the weekend, we headed off to Beaufort Castle on Saturday. Dom had visited the site in May last year, I had been in Syria that day (with Liv and Charlotte) so hadn't gone.

Beaufort Castle is perched on the north bank of the Litani (thus making it OK to travel to according to FCO advice!) and commands spectacular views of the Golan Heights, Israel and much of Southern Lebanon. The castle itself, although still pretty impressive, was badly damaged in 2000. The Israelis had used it as an army outpost (you can still see the trenches next to it) and, when they withdrew from Lebanon in 2000, blew up parts of the castle to hide the evidence of them being there. (Although you'd think that blowing up parts of a castle might also indicate that you had been there...).

Like most items of historical interest, the castle is in a pretty bad state of disrepair and is quite overgrown. Still, you can see from the ramparts that it once would have been a formidable nut to crack, and indeed I don't think it ever fell in battle. There is also evidence of its recent history lying around - bullet cases and assorted goods wrappers with Hebrew writing from the Israeli army. The castle also sports three really tatty flags, the Lebanese flag, Hezbollah's flag and Amal's (another predominantly Shia political party and one that often opposes Hezbollah - its leader, Nabih Berri, is the speaker of the Lebanese parliament).

Another new addition that Dom pointed out, and one that was probably erected after last summer's war, is this sign - entitled 'The Zionist Outpost of Beaufort' - and detailing various acts of resistance that Hezbollah carried out during the Israeli occupation of south Lebanon:


So no inflammatory language there, then!!

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Photos of the Chouf


1. Bekaa valley from the Chouf


2. Locked in the nature reserve!


3. A Cedar tree!!


4. The Mdeirij bridge - 1 year on - do not drive across this!

Monday, August 13, 2007

A day in the park - with a machine gunner!

(Dom reporting) We had a great but decidedly odd day on Saturday. A lovely day but a bit sweaty and humid in Beirut so what better plan than to head for the hills and specifically the Chouf Cedar Reserve. This place is truly beautiful - the largest nature reserve in Lebanon and home to 3 separate Cedar forests, up to around 2000 metres altitude. You enter the park in a car and gradually climb with a few off-road sections, going through Umbrella Pine belts, then the Cedars at around 1600 metres, then a few normal pines planted as a reforestation project, then finally to the snow line where it is scrubby grass and rocks. The temperature at the height of summer in the day drops to around 10 degrees up here and there is a cool wind - but the views over the Bekaa valley are great, and the air is clean. All in all I thoroughly recommend it.
But this day was slightly different. We went to a different entrance to the park from our normal one - the Ain Zhalta rather than the Barouk one. Noticeably less popular, Ain Zhalta lacks the shop selling the local produce such as cherry jam or the pomegranate paste which you baste your meat in before grilling on the barbie (well worth a try if you swing by Lebanon).
There was a Saudi registered car in front of us with a Lebanese guy and a couple of young kids - maybe around 8 years old. We asked to pass him and I popped into the 'office' to chat to the gate-keeper. 'Have you got permission to enter'? 'No'. 'Well OK you can go in then. About 2 hours - leaving at 6 pm? No problem - let yourselves out'. And he lifted the bar and off we went into the wilderness.
I was vaguely aware that the Saudi-registered car was following behind. At the top we turned right (at Hilly Pond - an oasis of green and water and great for birdwatching just before the summit), and they turned left. We abandoned the car and set off walking along the ridge. The Bekaa is laid out below like a completely flat carpet of agriculture about 1000 metres beneath us - distant vineyards and groves of trees and the famous wetlands - one of the most important migratory routes for birdlife.
But what is that noise on the breeze? Oh its only someone firing an AK-47 just round the hill. Then single-shots. Crikey! For a few minutes we thought we had stumbled across Fatah al-Islam training to take over Lebanon and make it an Islamic Caliphate - whatever their plan is these days. Then we realise that it must be the Saudi car! Probably taking pot shots at a water-melon or something. In a nature reserve!
Anyway we walk for around 40 minutes, with the idyllic scene ruined by this damn machine-gun. Then we decide to roll back down the hill in the car to check out the cedars. This is a beautiful tree and what a great symbol for a country! Steadfast, strong, lasts for thousands of years, etc. We walked amongst the cedars for half an hour - and then headed back for the exit. When we got there at 5.45 it was locked and we were locked in. Right. So we are at 1500 metres with the sun setting in an hour, it is going to get cold and we are stuck. So I call the mobile of the Assistant Park Manager. He is great and his name is Walid. What are you doing there? Nobody knew you were there?! But the gatekeeper let us in - he raised the sodding barrier! Oh well we'll send you a guy to let you out. Thank the Lord for mobiles and that we had the guy's number. After 10 minutes of mooching about the Saudi car materialises behind us. The shooters. Do we raise it with them? Well we are stuck most of the way up a mountain and he has a machine-gun. Maybe we shouldn't. Then out of the car emerges the gate-keeper!! Well you said you would be leaving at 6, he says. Oh well sorry but we didn't realise you would abandon your post (the park officially closes at sunset), lock the gate and head off with your shooting colleague to fire off machine-guns?! Somehow I don't think it is in his job description. Anyway he lets us out just as another guy, sent by Walid, rides to the rescue. We decide that discretion is the better part of valour and head off down the hill to the lovely little town of Deir al-Qamar for ice-cream and to buy some old 50's era Lebanese bank-notes in my case (sad!).
Then with darkness falling it is onto the roller coaster ride which is the southern motorway back to Beirut.
Just another slightly crazy but great day in this amazing country - not an experience you'd get on Dartmoor! Photos to follow tomorrow - insha'allah.

Friday, August 10, 2007

Normal Service Resumes

Again, it's been a while. I went back to the UK for a few weeks, and Dom also returned for a slightly shorter time. The UK rain was a great relief from the oppressive, humid weather Beirut had been having at the time - courtesy of the Gulf, of course. Thankfully it's a lot better now, sunny, clear and with a nice breeze.

There were two by-elections in Lebanon last Sunday and although in most countries they wouldn't normally merit a mention, they were high-profile enough to make it onto the BBC News front page - mainly because of the tensions here at the moment. Most of the time, unless you were a real political animal, you wouldn't realise that anything is amiss. People are out all the time, traffic is bad in the evenings, the bars and restaurants are packed. But there is an underlying current of tension, and these elections could have turned nasty. For background, the elections were being held as as result of the November and June assassinations of MPs Pierre Gemayel and Walid Edo respectively.

Without going into too much detail, because frankly, it's all getting a bit boring, the Beirut seat was uncontested - the Sunni pro-government candidate won easily - and would have done so even if Hezbollah had put a candidate up against him. So Hezbollah didn't bother. The election for the Christian seat in the Metn was a different matter. The father of Pierre Gemayel, Amin Gemayel, stood as the pro-government candidate, and for the party. Against him stood Kamil Khoury, a candidate for the Free Patriotic Movement, the party headed by Michel Aoun and allied with Hezbollah - they make up the 'Opposition' (a few of their supporters are still camped near Downtown). After much mud-slinging, name-calling (including a nasty tirade against the Armenians who had voted for FPM by Gemayel) and allegations of dirty tricks and false calls as to who had won, Kamil Khoury, was announced as the winner by only 400 or so votes.

So we were treated, as we live in the middle of both factions, to fireworks celebrating the 'win' of Gemayel, then, 30 minutes later, to fireworks celebrating the actual win of the other candidate. And this is just for a by-election!!!! Goodness knows how people will mark the Presidential elections next month!!!

Anyway, the BBC article here explains it all much better!