Beirut Spring and Rachaya

Two months of rainy days end abruptly with blazing sun and dazzling blue skies. The temperature goes from 60 to 80 in one day. And mounts from there the next six months… We may not see rain again until after that. In fact the word in Arabic for “winter” is the same as for “rain” = “shitte”. One local friend said last week she planned to change her Facebook status to “Tired of all this shitte”.

Sunny Sunday morning we wait on Hamra Street to board the bus that will take us to southeastern Lebanon for a hike. An “80% off” sign draws me to peer in to a women’s clothing shop window. I judge a couple of items to be “not too bad”. I realize that the decision on whether enter such a shop is proportional to how long one has been in Lebanon (or how soon one expects to visit the US or Europe). Spangle level is not something I have to think about in the States.

RACHAYA

We had been looking forward to this hike, which had been twice postponed because of rain. It is in the south, close to Syria and not far from the Golan Heights. The brochure covering the section of the Lebanon Mountain Trail we will hike tells us we might see “India fig” and “Palestine pistachio” trees.

This is Druze country. Men is (mostly) black with white caps and distinctive baggy pants. Women in black or dark blue shirts and long skirts, with flowing white cotton scarves. [The camera batteries finally died or I would have included more pix, sorry]

Mt. Hermon rises above the rocky hills and valley dotted with grape vines, almond trees and the occasional herd of goats. Mt. Hermon is the border with Syria in this part of the country, and temporary (well, sort of) home to German an Austrian UN soldiers on patrol. Two photos, the one on the left, not by me…














Wish I could have shared a photo of the red and purple flowers we passed amidst the orchards.


The town of Rachaya is lovely, with red tile roofs. (Another borrowed photo on the left)
















Rachaya is definitely off the [lightly] beaten tourist track, about 2 hours drive from Beirut. As we neared the high bridge destroyed by the Israelis in the 2006 invasion, I see a sign I hadn't noticed before near some construction equipment: A gift from the American People. Well, a good gift to be sure, but one that would have been quite unecessary had we not previously gifted the bombs to Israel.



I can't resist sharing another few choice signs (mostly shops) spotted on the way:

• Swear Sweet
• Countryside Girl
• Lebanese Canadian Modern School
• Natural Center for Ever Living
• Pizza Hot

And I few others I had jotted down from the previous trip to the north:

• War Games Sale Talk
• Top Human
• Old Age Wood
• Basket In
• Mega Snack