Byblos and Baalbek

Tom had a four-day weekend, for the end of Ramadan, or Eid, celebration. One doesn’t know exactly which of two days day the Eid will be celebrated, as it depends on the imam (?) seeing the crescent moon. But what about clouds, I wonder—what if the imam lives in Washington?? Never mind, the American Community School blocks out a four day weekend to cover the bases…

We had two amazing trips. The first was a day trip to Byblos, up the coast from Beirut about 45 minutes’ drive. We got to go with new friends Tim and Francoise in their rented car, along with their sweet little dog Tupi (so nice to get a dog fix; he sat on Tom’s lap the whole way back). Byblos has a quaint harbor guarded by a Crusader castle, and a nice pebble beach. Byblos claims to be the planet’s oldest continually inhabited city. It is home to an excavated area of mind-boggling ancient ruins. We paid all of $4 to enter the sprawling historic site, and view the remains of an incredible mishmash of centuries and civilizations, from Stone Age to Byzantine, Phoenician to Roman. The Crusader Castle was built by the Franks in the 12th Century, mostly with blocks pillaged from the earlier Roman ruins. There are six different layers of city walls, dating from the 3rd century BC. And it is all so picturesque, overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.

The next day we ventured over the mountains to the cities of Zahle and Baalbek. Tom calls the trip over the mountains an “E ticket ride”… Zahle is a beautiful town along a river in the Bekaa Valley. It is reminiscent of Italy or France, its old stone buildings decorated with colorful wooden shutters, ornate iron grillwork, chandeliers and flowering plants. It is predominantly a Greek Catholic town, and bells rang out the Sunday morning as we walked around town. It took less than two hours to get there by public minibus (they leave when they are full) over the mountains. We stayed in a budget hotel at Zahle, accurately listed by Lonely Planet as “dilapidated but character-filled” old house = Ottoman era.

After checking in to the hotel, we boarded another minibus for Baalbek, 30 minutes to the north. Outside of town Tom spotted an Israeli tank that had been captured during the Israeli invasion last year. It had been mounted on a pedestal about 20 feet high, right next to the main road, a prize for all to see. In contrast to the Christian town of Zahle, Baalbek sports posters of Hezbollah leaders and even Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini. Outside the historic site at Baalbek we were offered picture postcards of the ruins and bright yellow Hezbollah T-shirts for sale.

As you drive into the center of town the historic site comes into view at once. You can’t miss it—there is a vast area of ruins over which the enormous columns of the Roman Temple of Jupiter loom. Jupiter is the larger of the two main temples on the grounds. It’s six remaining standing pillars, made of beautiful red and grey flecked granite, jut 70 feet into the air. They are over 7 feet in circumference—the largest in the world! The stones used for the base of the temple are mammoth blocks weighing close to 10 tons--the largest stone blocks ever made. See photo of Tom (below) standing in front of a block and a downed pillar. Apparently people used to think the place was built by giants.

The smaller temple, the Temple of Bacchus (photo at right), is larger than the Pantheon in Athens, and is better preserved. It’s just amazing. It was completed in 150 AD and has survived major earthquakes, religion changes from pagan to Christianity and Islam, and a spell as a dungeon in medieval times. An outer portico supports a ceiling of decorated curved stone with scenes of Mars’ winged victory, Diana taking an arrow out of her quiver, Vulcan with a hammer, etc. It gave us a much better idea of what temple remains we have seen in Italy and Turkey looked like originally. Scattered around the temple and the sprawling site are chunks of carved stone with lions, eagles, faces, etc. and bits of fallen columns and pedestals. There are no barricades or guardrails to keep you from climbing around and touching the relics. It is quite a fantastic site.

Back in Zahle we enjoyed a walk by the river with many other visitors celebrating the holiday. There was an arcade with video games, air hockey and bumper cars. There was popcorn, cotton candy, and the local equivalent of peanut brittle. Strolling families, as everywhere some women with headscarves and some without. We treated ourselves to nice meal at a riverside restaurant (see photo showing dessert)—pleasantly surprised when the bill came to $20.

Back over the mountain, I shot a photo of a bridge destroyed by an Isaraeli airstrike last summer. There is a detour.

Climbing into the minibus, Tom's watch fell off, but he didn't notice. Someone picked it up and handed it to him. Later, a family getting on passed their toddler in ahead of them. A man held the child on his lap and talked to him until the family got settled, then the child was passed from arm to arm back to them. Lovely people!

People everywhere are just outstandingly kind and welcoming. In Zahle a man in a baked snack store (small pastries with lamb or spinach, flat rounds with thyme spice mixture or cheese or lamb, all fresh baked on the spot, with tomatoes, cukes and olives added if you want them) asks where we are from and says, “America ! Bush !good!” I say, “We like America, no like Bush,” in Arabic (rather proud I made a sentence). He disagrees, “Bush good!” He makes gun sounds. “F16!”

And speaking of Arabic, I know the whole alphabet now, more or less. Unfortunately I have very little vocab to go with it so can’t understand what I can read. One day I was practicing the pronunciation of some letters when Tom came into the room and inquired if I was having digestive problems…