By Ashley Westerman
Today our group returned from a two-day trip from the Bekaa Valley, located in the East of Lebanon. Due to Visa miscommunication, I was forced to stay behind from the trip to Damascus, Syria; something that I am actually pretty sad about. I would have loved to have seen Syria!
Regardless, I traveled to the Bekaa Valley yesterday evening to meet the group at a 5-star hotel called the Grand Hotel Kadre. The hotel was absolutely beautiful; luxurious, fancy and comfortable. We had a some dinner at the hotel restaurant and then settled in for the night. The beds were AMAZING; definitely better than the hard dorm mattresses. The comforter was so thick, it could have been one giant pillow in itself. Needless to say, I slept very soundly.
This morning we got up bright and early to leave for the city of Baalbek. Since it is very difficult to do the city and sites justice, I will just refer you to my PICTURES.
While there we rode camels, visited the Roman ruins of the Temple of Jupiter, a museum of Hezbollah and did some shopping. The ruins were breathtaking; it just blows my mind when I see such giant, elaborate temples built in a time when technology is meager. Even the detail on the columns was interesting to look at because once you think about it: someone had to hand-chisel the details into those Corinthian columns, a task that I’m sure took a very, very long time.
After the ruins we went into a museum set up by Hezbollah. Now, this was a very interesting thing to see, especially since in the US, Hezbollah has been defamed as a terrorist organization. I found this museum very heartfelt to their cause and even the measures they were willing to take to achieve their goals. Yes, it was violent and showed some pretty gory and detailed pictures but I got their point. I now see them as a resistance to a blatant evil – this is logic to me. Perhaps others see it differently, but I am also sure that others have never been to this side of the world and seen what they really fight for and why.
After the museum we finished up our shopping and then headed to the Cedars in the mountains. The ride all together took about 3 hours and took us up and over the peak of one of the mountains. The view was breathtaking, especially since we were clearly above the clouds. When we arrived in the valley of the Cedars, we stopped for some lunch and then walked around the Cedar sanctuary where they are attempting to rebuild the great forest that once stood. The Cedars of Lebanon fell to the Ottoman and Egyptian empires to create their navies so the “forest” was really only a small patch of trees that covered maybe 6 to 8 acres of land.
Our ride back down the mountain and back to Beirut was filled with lovely scenery and many great stories from Terry and Adel. It was really interesting to see the kinds of people and places that lay just above the busy cosmopolitan rush of Beirut in the mountains that are clearly visible, even from the coast of the Mediterranean.
I was very glad to make it out of the city and to escape the heat. The weather in the mountains and the valley was cool but sunny.
I think this weekend we are just hanging around the city and seeing what turns up.
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