Four nights in Jounieh, Lebanon
10th - 13th June 2009
After the dust and grime of Iskenderun and Latakia ports, and the disorganisation of the officialdom in Syria, arriving in Jounieh ACTL yachtclub was like paradise, just 15km north of Beirut. It is a large modern marina, with proper finger pontoons, a large luxurious sports complex and an Olympic sized swimming pool. The rally boats were squeezed into all available places – 9 boats in space meant for a maximum of 4! You can't help but think 'what if there's a fire on the inside boat?!' but then you go to the swimming pool and stop worrying about it.
Our first tour was 'Beirut by night' – enough to send a chill down your parents spine, as it has been the site of such a violent civil war until really very recently. Luckily I hadn't read Tom Friedman's 'From Beirut to Jerusalem' before we visited as I was blissfully ignorant of the scale of bloodshed that went on here. Our tour guide happily pointed out the shell damage and bullet holes still evident around the city, and we visited the memorial to the president who was assassinated in 2006 by an enormous car bomb, which also killed 25 bystanders.
The decades of living in constant danger now seems to have manifested a belief in immortality- the driving was by far the most reckless I've ever seen. It was not safe to walk where there was no pavement, as you could easily be swiped by a high speed passing side mirror or wing. There were many big black American 4x4's and Mercedes, a testament to the wealth of Lebanon as the Swiss banking economy of oil-rich Middle East countries.
It would be so fascinating to spend more time here, to hear the stories of people who lived in the city during the troubles. No life would have been untouched by danger and tragedy.
The following day our tour bus drove us into the mountains and beyond to the Beqaa valley, the stronghold of Hezbollah and scene of much destruction by Israel in the most recent war. Hezbollah leaders' faces and AK47's were all around on t-shirts and posters all down the middle of the highway. We were told that they are like a Territorial Army, only allowed to bear arms in time of war. I guess that could be any-time around here though.
The jewel of the Beqaa valley is Baalbeck (Baal – God of the Sun) – a Roman site built over Phoenetician temples and incorporating local pagan beliefs. It boasts the tallest columns ever erected,and the largest stones ever cut – one stone is the weight of 2 jumbo jets, and it is thought that it would take 40000 men to move each one! The complex of the Great Temple is in 4 parts, my favourite being the smaller but perfect Temple of Bacchus (God of wine and ecstasy) where the stone masons have carved intricate pillars of grapes to celebrate worship of wine, and eggs to celebrate fertility, and sheaves of wheat for celebration of food. That's our kind of church!
We visited the nearby Roman stone quarry where the gigantic stones had been hewn in ancient times. It had been a rubbish tip for many recent years, and one man set out to clear it and preserve it despite the locals continuing to use it as a tip, stopping by to call him a fool. He finally funded his own refuse collection service for the town until the municipality took it over after a few years. What a dedicated guy!
The stones were only roughly hewn in the quarry, being carved once in place. Can you imagine the swearing if your chisel slipped and chopped off the final carving detail? The surfaces had to be completely smooth for joining together with metal hooks, as there was no mortar to hold the joints together, and more amazingly it is still standing 2000 years later, despite the earthquakes and wars surrounding it.
For the next 2 days we hired a car and driver to explore with John and Priscilla our groups leaders. First we visited Byblos, an ancient Canaanite and Phoenician sea port important in the Mediterranean trade of papyrus, then timber, shipping the Cedars of Lebanon all over for building ships for trade and war. It has 7000 years of history before your eyes- neolithic huts where family members were buried under the floor of their own homes, bronze age walls, temples, rock tombs, phoenician necropolis, a castle with Byzantine, Crusader and Ottoman contributions.
More to Stuart's taste we also had a beer at the beautiful Byblos Fishing Club looking out over the tiny fishing harbour. Here we are with our lovely friend Brendan, who sadly lost his life in the Haiti earthquake whilst on a UN mission.
Our second trip was up into the cedar clad mountains to Beiteddine palace complex, built in the early 19th century by the ruling Emir Bechir Chehab II. It has beautiful architecture and manicured gardens around al fresco Byzantine mosaics. This was built under Ottoman rule, but the Emir incorporated secret Christian signs into the design, such as a special window in the haman (baths) which displays a perfect cross when you stand right under it.
It was a shock to be visiting such recent construction,as we have become so used to looking at piles of rocks and Roman pillars since we were in Italy!
Does he have the best job in the world?
Tending rose gardens among Byzantine mosaics in the levantine sun!
It is strange how the most unlikely sights can be so thought-provoking. On the last morning I took a taxi along the busy motorway towards Beirut, and we turned off where the roaring traffic crosses a once peaceful, narrow valley called Nahr-al Kalb. Before this major construction project, the valley was a major challenge to cross, exposing troops through the ages to the fire of whichever opponents they were facing at the time. In commemoration of their success at crossing the valley various generals through the ages took time-out and ordered inscriptions to be set into the rocks. The oldest is from the 6th century BC where Nebuschadnezeer records his campaign in Mesopotamia and Lebanon. There follows a 14C AD Arab inscription, a 200 AD Roman one right next to a modern obelisk marking the French and Allied forces arrival in 1942. The others: Greek, Assyrian, British (1918 capture of Damascus, Homs and Aleppo), Phalangist, and last but not least, none other than Napoleon was 'ere. This brings to mind the constant movement of people and troops and the upheaval of the Middle East and its occupation by successive rulers.
Lebanon is a truly beautiful country. Despite years of war it is rich beyond belief in finance and nature and more importantly it has water in the snowy mountains, which none of it's near neighbours enjoy. Our visit was only marred by some official wrangling. When the rally leaves Lebanon we have to say that we are going to Limassol in Cyprus, as it would not be acceptable to say we are going to Israel. Although the marina know that, of course, we do not sail 200 miles out of our way, they have until now, turned a blind eye to the rally schedule. This year they took our passport details and yacht details and threatened all rally participants with the status of persona non grata if we went directly to Israel. This caused much consternation and a few yachts left the rally at this point so as not to cause problems later. It's a shame that officials chose to do this once the rally was in already in town, instead of addressing the problem at the organisation stage with Hasan and the committee, as it could have been avoided by rearranging the order in which the rally visits each country. All the marina staff we met said they were really sorry about it and had no problem with our programme. Anyway it just goes to show the sensitivities involved and the luck of the draw regarding which official you meet on the day you check in to any new country.
So maybe we will go back to visit beautiful Lebanon again - or maybe we cannot.
For other visitors, you can sail to Jounieh and arrange a visa/shore pass with the marina office. I believe the first few days mooring is free, but then becomes very expensive. The office were very helpful in arranging a car and driver. Just don't go if you have any evidence of having visited Israel.
Matador's books:
Some Other Rainbow, John MacCarthy's incarceration in Lebanon
Beirut to Jerusalem, Tom Friedman, very scary reading indeed.
Lebanon Through the Lens of Munir Nasr, nice pictures
No comments:
Post a Comment