Lebanon

Lebanon is not a country I would normally visit, knowing Paul was posted there in the British Embassy it was a great excuse to go visit him and a new country. This trip was my first trip to the middle-east and an eye opening experience.

I arrived in Beirut very early and needed to negotiate immigration. I was pretty sure I didn't have to pay for a tourist visa, yet when I got to the immigration area there were signs everywhere with price lists and take your voucher to the counter. What was more worrying was the sign, clearly stating in English that payment for the voucher was to be in Lebanese pounds only. A bit of faffing around, walking to the money exchange desk that was closed, I discovered that you indeed, do not need to pay for a tourist visa and you can go straight to the booths with the immigration officers. The officer who stamped me into the country flicked though every single page of my passport and asked me if I was of Lebanese or Arabic decent; No, strange question.

My expectations of Lebanon was an Aladdin, Lawrence of Arabia, Prince of Persia type environment with desert, sand, camels, people dressed in big white clothes made from cotton. The movies do a very good job of romanticising this part of the world. The reality was a hot, big, noisy city where there are no rules of the road, cars make four lanes were there are road marking for three. To cross the road as a pedestrian the green man means nothing, you just need to cross and the cars will generally stop for you. Armed officers are everywhere, in little huts painted with the Lebanese flag, on the roadside, on the traffic junctions. Tanks also are on the out on the roads, gated off, but I assume ready to go.

Lebanon has a large number of people, 59% of the population according to the Lonely Planet, who are Muslim, so I was expecting the women to be in head scarves and the traditional black outfits. There were women who were in traditional clothing, but the majority of the women I saw were in modern western type dress. In the newly developed shopping areas and downtown areas the women seem to wear whatever they want. I saw one women shopping in H&M with a top so see-through I could see her bra. I didn’t see these women outside of these nice new areas on the ‘normal’ streets. The entrances to the downtown areas are gated off with barriers where armed officers and/or military police stand guard. At one of the gates were valet staff, ready to take the big, expensive, air-conditioned cars away while their perfectly coiffured owners shop. Most shops who aren't on the ‘normal’ streets will offer a valet service for clients. Outside of these new areas the city looks like a mixture of derelict buildings with bullet holes in walls or statues, a building site, where a lot of future development seems to be planned or kind of French inspired small streets.

What I also found very strange and out of place, in a country where the dress is generally conservative, are massive billboards by the roads advertising lingerie with a scantly clad lady starting down at the drivers provocatively.

It is common for people in Lebanon to have a maid and who may also double as the nanny. Within Lebanese society it shows how much money you have or your social status depending on what nationality your maid/nanny is. Apparently the best are from the Philippines, then from Sri Lanka and then the African’s. I went on two tours in Lebanon and walking to and from the hotel meeting point I saw the same local maid’s walking the same dogs in their pastel coloured outfits in the early morning and late evening. At the supermarket it is completely acceptable for someone to pack your shopping and take it up to your car and pack the car for you. Obviously a tip is involved.

Lebanese pounds are difficult to get in the UK, in fact so difficult, the man behind the exchange counter told me you can't get Lebanese pounds outside the UK. What I should have done was change all my money in to US dollars as they are used completely interchangeably in shops. If I paid in US dollars change would be in Lebanese pounds, but you can pay in which ever currency you want to, even split the currency on a single transaction.

The city is much more liberal than I imagined, apart from downtown and the seafront, there isn’t much in the city. The place to be seen in the evenings or weekends is along the Corniche, a pleasant promenade running along the sea front. There is much more interesting things to see outside the city and to make the travelling easier, I joined a couple of Nakhal Tours, to see the ancient ruins of Byblos, the limestone caves in Jeita, the temple of Echemon, a sea castle and soap museum in Sidon.

Lebanon