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DAY 26: "A Walk in the Lebanon: Beirut - Byblos - TRIPOLI - CRAC Chevaliers (Syria) - ANTAKYA (TURKEY). 450 kms.
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visit to Beirut in the morning I showed several things. First, the guy who invented that Beirut was "the Paris of the Middle East" spent four people. They have nothing in common but the streets are in French.
The second is that Beirut is a lot of money, which is easy to deduce if after 15 minutes I've seen a Ferrari dealer, a Porsche and a Rolls Royce. Indeed there are countless bank branches and it is clear that Lebanon should be an important way not only of European and American economic aid to buy stability in the troubled region, but from money laundering and tax haven.
The third is that Beirut has nothing particularly beautiful, even the famous "Corniche", ie the promenade morning joggers use and each evening Beirutis is filled with walking.
The second is that Beirut is a lot of money, which is easy to deduce if after 15 minutes I've seen a Ferrari dealer, a Porsche and a Rolls Royce. Indeed there are countless bank branches and it is clear that Lebanon should be an important way not only of European and American economic aid to buy stability in the troubled region, but from money laundering and tax haven.
The third is that Beirut has nothing particularly beautiful, even the famous "Corniche", ie the promenade morning joggers use and each evening Beirutis is filled with walking.
Beirut The most typical is the "Rock de las Palomas (in the district of Raouche), just point at the" Corniche "
And finally the fourth is that if there is something to note is the religious coexistence, almost overlapping beliefs demonstrated in Beirut. A clear example is the institution which by the way is closed to traffic and pedestrian access controlled by the army to prevent suicide bombings bombs filled vests I guess in the Parliament and City Hall.
If we leave from the Catholic Church of Saint Elie Armenia, once we reached the impressive Great Mosque of Mohammad Amin, who is wall to wall with Christian Maronite Cathedral of Saint George, and cute behind the Greek Orthodox Cathedral San Jorge, which in turn is about 50 meters from the Al Omari. All in an amazing multi-religious amalgam. Armenia
Catholic Church of Saint Ellie.
Blue Mosque Muhammad Al Amin.
Greek Orthodox Cathedral of St. George with the Blue Mosque in the background.
Clock Tower (Rolex ...) Place de l'Etoile (Star) or Nejemah Square.
The Hotel St. George area is where three years ago with a very powerful bomb (equivalent to 1,000 kgs. TNT) assassinated Prime Minister Rafik Hariri despite the circular armored car.
Next, and very close to the prestigious St. George Yacht Motor Club, you can still see the huge Holiday Inn hotel was shot in times of civil war, and continues there full of bullets as a warning of what happens when you can intransigence to reason. Old
Holiday Inn Hotel in Beirut.
Paseo de la Corniche.
In Beirut there is a public beach and several private beaches with access only through clubs and hotels (this already happened to me too many years in Morocco in the Corniche of Casablanca). The public beach is great and looks good, so I do not quite understand to pay to swim in the same ocean as coastline of Beirut.
Paseo de la Corniche.
In Beirut there is a public beach and several private beaches with access only through clubs and hotels (this already happened to me too many years in Morocco in the Corniche of Casablanca). The public beach is great and looks good, so I do not quite understand to pay to swim in the same ocean as coastline of Beirut.
When I got into the water it became very clear thing: the water is filthy, smells and tastes like fecal discharges or nearly so. It turns out that the collectors of Beirut into the sea directly, and the more distant is the beach of the most coveted collector as well.
Asco-bath in the Mediterranean Sea from Beirut.
Beirut
The northbound exit was the entrance, with a horrible traffic. It is true that I was lazy up until the Roman ruins of Baalbeck, but in general my Lebanon seemed an overpopulated country, full of people and cars, not too good, actually. I finally reached
Byblos, the city where the papyrus was invented for the sake of writing. The historic city center is a very pleasant walk passing through the citadel and descends to the picturesque little port. Clearly it is a popular tourist area and is full of souvenir shops.
Port of Byblos.
Crusader Castle
Hahahaha.
Then, following the coast road, it did not take too long to reach Tripoli, Lebanon's second largest city. The first thing you see in Tripoli is that it is an Islamic city with a much more marked than Beirut and it is not surprising that there are just as fundamentalist attacks more frequently. I circulated a while wandering around semi-lost the streets and saw nothing particularly remarkable, so I went to the north and Turkey address
Tripoli.
Clock Tower.
The output border of Lebanon had no complications or output rate as I recall, and input to Syria for the third time and I like a veteran (with the GPS again very hidden).
In a relatively short distance of the border is dels Crac Chevaliers (Qal `at al-Hosn), which has been named as the best example of the Crusader castle that once dominated these lands constant skirmishes with the infidel armies of Saladin (Salah-ad-din).
Indeed, this is a very well preserved castle and since it dominates much of the territory, not in vain, the Crusaders finally left without land they never surrendered the castle.
With a last stretches flowing through Syrian land so diverse it and grateful for the traveler, we finally reached the exit border, and Turkish border post. Touch it to pay out rate, then charge for admittance ...
already in Turkey night fell fast, but he planned to get there if it was possible to Antakya, the biblical Antioch where they used to preach the majority of the apostles of early Christianity.
arriving in the city I stop at a gas station to take stock and engaged in animated conversation with a guy, a school teacher in Istanbul, who spoke enough English that he is vacationing with the family that own the gas station. One thing led to another and with all the nose got permission to plant my shop in his garage. Soon the conversation was already with the whole family, young and old, who came out in droves to the next house to meet the stranger. It turns out that in city \u200b\u200bcelebrated that very day the anniversary of the independence of Antakya (which once had the status of independent fiefdom or so I understood). So I was invited to go down to downtown to the party, and as I'm in for a bombing gladly accepted.
As we talked, and as I knew the cloth, to the question of whether he wanted to eat something I said I had already eaten, yet after a while leaving a wife with a tray full of diverse food . So once again I ended up having dinner by Turkish hospitality.
then shipped four human in a car and headed toward a kind of exhibition that was mounted in the center. The evening was not very funny and entertaining as we just talk and walk in the park and return even had to wait for the brother to close down the clothing that was open at the fair, and so we got seven in the small car. But a gift horse ...
then to sleep in the tent next to the Panther that has amazed me how hard it is and how little I can complain.
Asco-bath in the Mediterranean Sea from Beirut.
Beirut
The northbound exit was the entrance, with a horrible traffic. It is true that I was lazy up until the Roman ruins of Baalbeck, but in general my Lebanon seemed an overpopulated country, full of people and cars, not too good, actually. I finally reached
Byblos, the city where the papyrus was invented for the sake of writing. The historic city center is a very pleasant walk passing through the citadel and descends to the picturesque little port. Clearly it is a popular tourist area and is full of souvenir shops.
Port of Byblos.
Crusader Castle
Hahahaha.
Then, following the coast road, it did not take too long to reach Tripoli, Lebanon's second largest city. The first thing you see in Tripoli is that it is an Islamic city with a much more marked than Beirut and it is not surprising that there are just as fundamentalist attacks more frequently. I circulated a while wandering around semi-lost the streets and saw nothing particularly remarkable, so I went to the north and Turkey address
Tripoli.
Clock Tower.
The output border of Lebanon had no complications or output rate as I recall, and input to Syria for the third time and I like a veteran (with the GPS again very hidden).
In a relatively short distance of the border is dels Crac Chevaliers (Qal `at al-Hosn), which has been named as the best example of the Crusader castle that once dominated these lands constant skirmishes with the infidel armies of Saladin (Salah-ad-din).
Indeed, this is a very well preserved castle and since it dominates much of the territory, not in vain, the Crusaders finally left without land they never surrendered the castle.
With a last stretches flowing through Syrian land so diverse it and grateful for the traveler, we finally reached the exit border, and Turkish border post. Touch it to pay out rate, then charge for admittance ...
already in Turkey night fell fast, but he planned to get there if it was possible to Antakya, the biblical Antioch where they used to preach the majority of the apostles of early Christianity.
arriving in the city I stop at a gas station to take stock and engaged in animated conversation with a guy, a school teacher in Istanbul, who spoke enough English that he is vacationing with the family that own the gas station. One thing led to another and with all the nose got permission to plant my shop in his garage. Soon the conversation was already with the whole family, young and old, who came out in droves to the next house to meet the stranger. It turns out that in city \u200b\u200bcelebrated that very day the anniversary of the independence of Antakya (which once had the status of independent fiefdom or so I understood). So I was invited to go down to downtown to the party, and as I'm in for a bombing gladly accepted.
As we talked, and as I knew the cloth, to the question of whether he wanted to eat something I said I had already eaten, yet after a while leaving a wife with a tray full of diverse food . So once again I ended up having dinner by Turkish hospitality.
then shipped four human in a car and headed toward a kind of exhibition that was mounted in the center. The evening was not very funny and entertaining as we just talk and walk in the park and return even had to wait for the brother to close down the clothing that was open at the fair, and so we got seven in the small car. But a gift horse ...
then to sleep in the tent next to the Panther that has amazed me how hard it is and how little I can complain.
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