Lebanon, a green oasis in the middle east

Nature has been good to Lebanon; it has the sea, beaches, green wallies, forests, vineyards, snowy mountains, and still a tiny country. All this abundance has also been its curse since so many people have passed by through history and wanted to claim it as their land.

Why go to Lebanon?

I got this question many times after finally deciding to visit this country. I had heard and read that it was supposed to be a beautiful country, but despite its history of several wars, and other crisis, it was still many things to experience in this country. The other reason for me to take the trip here this particular easter was that one traveler I have followed for a long time, Spanish Joan Torres and his Against the Compass, was organizing a short five days trip to Syria, which was going out from Beirut.

I visited several interesting places during the days before and after the trip to Syria, which will be divided into a few posts.

• Beirut
• Tyr and Seidon
• Tripoli
• Byblos and Harissa
• Baalbek

Financial crises

Once upon a time, before the war in the seventies and eighties, Lebanon was a wealthy country. The country opened up for many foreign banks to establish in the country. At the same time, the government had a banking secrecy law that led to money laundering and other illegal operations. After many years of a brutal war, the country tried to build itself up again with expensive loans from abroad. Then came the financial crisis in 2008 and the big explosion in 2020. All this has led to an unstable government and even more unstable valuta, with explosive inflation. Therefore you are not recommended to use bankcards, but bring dollars or euros and change on the black market, which is not illegal. The pile of money above is about 400 dollars.

The Lebanese food

The Lebanese kitchen is well known also outside of Lebanon. I had several well-tasting meals on my journeys. An essential component of many Lebanese meals is hummus, and flat bread is always present. Fresh fish, seafood, and poultry are eaten more often than red meat. I was in Lebanon during Ramadan, but since Lebanon is so multicultural, I did not feel this was a big issue, maybe just a bit in Tripoli, the country’s most conservative Muslim city.

Travel around in Lebanon

Between Beirut and Tripoli, big buses went a few times daily. Small buses and big vans mainly cover the rest of the country. You find bigger bus stations in most cities and can stop the vans almost anywhere. The only problem I found was that there were no names or numbers on the buses. But people are helpful. You can experience going on one van, saying where you want to go, and then when you come to a traffic junction, they tell you to jump over to another van. I never tried the Yalla-Wassel; however, I used Bolt a few times, which was cheap and convenient.

I hope this short introduction about Lebanon makes you want to read my future posts on this interesting little country in the middle east.