I
remember reading in a magazine some time back of this bloke from Lebanon who
said he loved living in Lebanon because where else could one go skiing in the
mountains in the morning and swim in the sea in the afternoon on the same day.
So I thought it would be cool to check out this country one day. After visiting
Jordan in end-January and early February 2015, I decided that my next Middle
Eastern destination would be Lebanon and planned to visit it in end-December.
The trip almost didn’t materialise when I read about the attack in Beirut on 12
November 2015 (a day prior to the Paris attacks). I was about to put the trip
off then thought, hey, people won’t stop going to Paris or Mumbai or London so
why should I stop going to Lebanon? I only searched for a flight to Lebanon in
early December and bought the ticket without further ado.
Thursday,
24 December 2015/ Friday, 25 December 2015
It
was Maulidur Rasul today, a public holiday, and my flight is in the evening. I
finished packing and tackled household chores then finished my book before
resting. I had a brief siesta after lunch then got up at 15:30 for a quick
shower and got ready. CT came to fetch me and we left at 16:00. We stopped en
route at Salam Noodles in Cyberjaya for early dinner en route to KLIA. I
realised I had too much meat that day (why must you be acidic food and
unhealthy?). We reached KLIA at 18:30 and I dropped off my bag. There was a
long queue at the check-in counters so I was glad I had checked in online.
We
took off on time and I was about to doze off when I was awakened by the sound
of children crying and the crying went on and on and on so much so I wondered
if the parents had gone deaf. Of course one crying was followed by another. We
landed at Doha just before midnight local time some eight hours after take-off.
I felt it was a very long descent and it took a while before we landed and
taxied the runway. I made my way to the transfer gate and there was a very large
crowd of people. Confusion reigned for a while as we were unsure what was
happening as there was no clear signage, no clear explanation and, worse, no
organised line. It didn’t help that a few flights landed at around the same
time. I joined the throng of passengers and we slowly shuffled along to clear
the transfer security check.
Once
done, we emerged into the duty-free area. I had a brief rest before checking
out the area: noting the location of the desk for the free Doha city tour, taking
photos of the area and locating the ladies’ prayer room before walking to my
gate.
We
took off slightly later than scheduled but I was too sleepy to care. We were
handed a box of sandwich and pastry but I was too sleepy to eat and instead
just stuffed it into my bag. Mind you, being sleepy didn’t mean I could sleep
of course.
We
landed at Beirut International Airport at 05:10 and the first thing that went
through my mind was that Beirut is not a flat city as I’d read from an online
forum. I quickly made my way to the immigration. The process was slow and I
stood waiting for 15 minutes before it was my turn. The officer demanded (?) I
needed visa and I said no, I didn’t require one. He insisted and I said, no. I
had checked, dammit. But his insistence raised doubts in me and then he
directed me to go the office so I went in a huff. The officer inside was
attending to a family but he took a look at the passport in my hand from five
metres away, checked a list behind him and told me that I didn’t need a visa. I
felt like marching back to the first officer and telling him off for wasting my
time.
My
bag didn’t take long to emerge and after getting hold of it, I walked out. This
is where you get ambushed by the taxi drivers (or touts?) asking if you needed
one. I insisted I didn’t want one as I’d read of minibuses that service the
airport and the city. I went to ask at the convenience store but the guy behind
the counter dismissed the question and said there was no such service. I went
back up to the Departure area and asked a porter. He showed me a departing van
and said that would be what I was looking for. So I stood there flagging down
vans (some stopped of their own will), enquiring if any of them were going
to/passing by Charles Helou bus station. A few replied in affirmative and
quoted fares ranging from LBP4K to LBP10K. I had read that the fare should be
about LBP750 (then again, it might be old information) so I waved them off
again. A cabbie said he could take me for USD15. No way, mate. I was beginning
to kick myself for refusing an offer of LBP2K when a clean white van came along
(this shortly after a driver in a dilapidated no-longer-road-worthy van quoted
me LBP5K) and quoted USD1 to me. I hopped on gratefully (this is where having a
small trolley bag came in handy).
The
airport is only 9 km from the city so we were at Charles Helou less than 15
minutes later (the minibus stopped a few times along the way to pick up
passengers). The driver would beep his horn to attract passengers or stopped
when hailed. I observed all this while taking in the sights of the city. I got
down at Charles Helou and asked for directions to Talal Hotel which I’d booked
for my stay. The hotel is located in a small side cul-de-sac off Charles Helou.
I left my bag there, returned to Charles Helou station and bought a ticket to
Tripoli (Trablus) for LBP5K. The trip took an hour and we reached Tripoli at
09:10.
At
Tripoli, I wandered the streets but nothing much caught my fancy. I returned to
the bus station before 11:00. I decided to take the bus to Byblos (Jbeil). The
ticket cost LBP4K. The driver dropped me off by the highway and I walked into
the town and wandered until I came to the port. I spent some time walking
around and taking pictures before making my way back to the highway. I lost my
way but managed to find a minibus back to Charles Helou in Beirut.
Back
at the hotel, I checked in to the double room which I’d booked at the third floor (with shared
bathroom). I also checked out the girls’ dorm. There were only three beds and I
decided I’d stay the first night in the double room and move into the dormitory
for the next three nights. When I checked in, Talal, the hotel owner, said that
Lebanon is not a cheap country so I decided to save costs by staying in a
dormitory. Oliver, a bloke from Guangzhou I met at the lobby, concurred and said
he cooked all the time. Oliver also mentioned he was going to The Corniche so I
decided to venture out with him and maybe pick up some groceries at a
supermarket. So I took along my Longchamp Le Pliage and put my pochette,
camera, water bottle, iPhone and iPad in it.
We
left and walked to downtown about eight minutes away. Then we turned into
another street and walked along the waterfront. There were a lot of people
there although it was already dark (the sunset was at 16:30) – jogging, strolling
along the promenade, hanging out with their friends or families. It was a pleasant
evening out and you could see the twinkling lights of the nearby towns around
the bay.
We
were on the way back to the hotel when I suddenly felt something snapped. It took
a couple of seconds before I realised that some scum had snatched my Leica camera
from my wrist which in turn was in my hoodie pocket (!) from behind. Oliver was
looking at me and he gave chase. I gave chase too but the perpetrator had a
waiting accomplice on a motorbike and they were already speeding off. The thing
was, it was not a dark area at all – in fact we had just passed some posh
restaurants with guards outside the door and were in front of a car dealership.
The guards were not at all helpful and didn’t even lift a finger, what more an
eyebrow. Well, that happened barely 12 hours after arriving in Lebanon. What an
awful thing to happen! And why do these things always happen to me? (A mate
once said I looked posh. Well, be that as it may, surely I don’t look like I’m
begging to be robbed or snatched or attacked???) Oliver kept shaking his head,
apologising for not being able to help and he kept saying that some Arabs were just
crazy. He then told me that his friend was robbed by the cabbie of a service taxi (a service taxi is one you share with other passengers) while travelling to the airport for his flight out in 2014; it turned out that the other passenger was an accomplice of the driver. They left the friend in the mountains but he somehow managed to get a free ride to the airport after telling his predicament to some locals (it helped that he knew Arabic). I shuddered and vowed to never ever take a taxi all alone there (not that I dare to ride a cab alone here anyway). It’s better to stick to the buses and minibuses - safety in numbers and all that.
I
was shaken and stirred and told Oliver to just return back to the hotel. Thank God
I was safe and sound and alive instead of injured or having a twisted wrist or
had a knife pointed at my neck. Still,
I was wary and suspicious and alert of every male we encountered after that
incident. We made our way back, stopping at Signature
supermarket near Beirut Souks (where the premium and posh luxury brands are) en
route.
My record walk today!!!
Note:
USD1 is fixed to LBP1,500. USD is accepted throughout the country so you really
have no need to find a money changer. It would be best and ideal for you to
carry USD in small denominations. Thank God I had a lot of USD1 notes which I
bought in KK last year.
To be continued
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