Beijing is a long way from Beirut. Somewhere between middle school geography and the year 2011, my brain shrank the distance, resulting in me thinking it was maybe a 3 or 4 hour flight. Well, it's a 10+ hour flight (Departure: 11:55pm. Arrival 5:25am), and if you've read the post
Big Cities, you'll know that flying with a plane-full of Chinese people is not conducive to relaxation or sleep. I had a seat in the middle of the party for the first couple hours of the flight, but my Turkish Airways stewardess-hero took pity on me and moved me to the economy preferred section (or whatever Turkish Air calls it), and I was able to get a few hours of sleep.
I'll digress for a moment to give thanks for 2 things: the British and speaking English. I am thankful that I speak English, and I'm guessing the extent of the British Empire is what caused it to become the international language. All airlines announce things in English (many as the first announcement), and this includes internal India/Nepal/China flights as well as international flights. Also, most signs across the Near and Far East have an English translation in smaller letters. I can't imagine traveling only speaking German or Thai.
Moving onwards, Lebanon is a beautiful country. You can see this much from the plane before landing. Just generically, I suppose it's hard to find anything but beauty in a country spilling out into the Mediterranean with mountains in the background. And the fact that you can swim in the sea and then snow ski 45min later is pretty cool (not that I would ever do that; seems like a lot of effort for a vacation).
Besides spending time in Beirut, we hit Faraya (in the mountains), Harissa, and Byblos. All were beautiful, and all were worth the short drive from the city. Byblos is one of the oldest continuously-inhabited cities in the world (with signs of civilization dating back to 5000BC).
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| Yeah...not depressing, to say the least. This is the view down the coast from Byblos. |
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I know you're all wondering about how my ego has been since Beijing, and I am happy/sorry to say it has been killed. I was pretty confident in the looks and the physical fitness department, and both have taken hits. First off, my buddy Mac killed me on a run up and down hills on the coast (seriously killed me). Then, it became clear that Lebanese women have no interest in skinny white boys. The cool guys in Lebanon clearly spend more time in the gym (mainly bench press, apparently) than they do yogging.
My four days in Beirut, etc were definitely a highlight of the trip. It was great to see a friend after 6 or 7 weeks of solo travel, and it was great to hear that friend speak English in a normal, native accent. I found that I could talk in my usual cadence and actually be understood. It was quite refreshing.
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| View from Harrisa. |
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| Byblos. |
