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G'day from Lebanon! ..once again
I took a few days off to visit some family in lebanon. Its summer in Lebanon now, so we usually have an exodus of family members in Sydney escape the winter and spend a month or two in warmer climates.
I took this opportunity to see them again since its been almost a year since ive been back home to Sydney. My lebanese hometown is in the northern port city of Tripoli (no not Libya! i get that a lot these days). Ill be sharing some pics of my days there as well as my trips to Lebanons highest point, amongst a few other places. http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_2464.jpg Ebbeh, a suburb not too far away from where i live along the Abu Ali River http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_2463.jpg Abu Ali River http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_2459.jpg a Turkish mosque built by the Ottomans being restored by the turkish government. This mosque sits on the Abu Ali river http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_2480.jpg driving here is not for the faint hearted. its every man for himself here. roundabouts are negotiated by beeping your horn and accelerating. red lights are ignored, and it all works itself out in the end in some strange way. http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_2751.jpg quiet mornings in Mina http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_2736.jpg a quiet morning in Mina http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_2763.jpg busy nights in Mina http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_2588.jpg This is where i spent my nights overlooking the meditereanean sea http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_2587.jpg tomorrow ill add the trip up the countryside for my trek to Qarnet Sawda, Lebanons highest Mountain. |
How do folks navigate the hill in the first picture of the suburb? Is that a road cresting along the bottom towards the right?
Glad you go to see family!! |
no idea Monkie. ive never been down that road, so i couldnt tell you. road road runs by the river. you could probably see the very edge of the retaining wall of the channel on the bottom right.
all i know is that its every man for himself on the road, and that seatbelts are for wusses. here my daytrip to Qarnet Sawda http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_2334.jpg we stopped by a town near the popular suburn of Kissba here to take a few pictures of a castlelike house built by a lebanese man who imported the dark rocks from another part of lebanon. this place has become iconic apparently. http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_2336.jpg http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_2343.jpg http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_2346.jpg can u tell where im from? http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_2354.jpg the outlook at Kissba http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_2364.jpg Lebanon has a massive collection of old european cars. by far the most populsr are Volkswagen, BMW, and puegot which ill post later http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_2367.jpg this is for all my american friends. i have no idea what the connection with misissipi is, but there you go. A restaurant named after an american state in lebanon. http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_2375.jpg the lookout at Hasroun http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_2378.jpg http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_2382.jpg http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_2386.jpg the snow usually lasts till august. here is the first bit of snow we saw going up the countryside. http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_2388.jpg a Renault carrying a diesel generator? what the...? http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_2400.jpg where my trek started http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_2402.jpg http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_2403.jpg http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_2405.jpg looking back from where i came http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_2412.jpg first bit of snow after an hour and a half http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_2413.jpg http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_2415.jpg ran into a shephard and his goats..and dog. turns out the guy had visited sydney a few years back and knew where i lived. strange! http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_2417.jpg http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_2439.jpg at 3000above sea level theres still plenty of snow up here http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_2441.jpg view from a vantage point close to the top at 3050m http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_2447.jpg me at the top of Qarnet Sawdah, Lebanons highest point! http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_2448.jpg http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_2451.jpg http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_2452.jpg view on the way down once the clouds came in. i wanted to get off the mountain as soon as possible because the temperature plummets in the afternoon, although i had my cold weather gear with me just in case. an isolated trek. not a difficult one, but a nice little challenge! |
Beautiful. Thanks for posting pictures!
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Still never good to go by yourself but glad that it was another peak you could cross off your list!
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awesome.........you're a very lucky man
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Very cool, thanks. I really enjoy your travel pictures.
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thanks guys. im very lucky to be able to travel and show the places ive been.
amonkie, although the trek was done aone, it was only a 6.5hr round trip. i got a taxi to the ski field, and the taxi driver waited for me until i got back. i also called him when i got to the top to let him know i had made it. he expected a call from me. i also had plenty of water and food with me and watherproof clothes with me, so i was prepared. lebanon is a country that is passionate about its politics. everywher you go people will talk about religion and politics in the same breath, and the country is divided up on these lines, which i think is unfortunate. a major cock up if you ask me, but thats for another thread. so i decided to take some pics of the various posters around the country as a matter of interest. let me know your thoughts..you may notice a few familiar faces in there :) you may have noticed the assassinated prime minister Rafik Hariri in a picture i posted earlier ( pic no. 3). i dont really know lebanese politics or politicians very well, but i recognose the most popular faces and names... here are a few more http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_2475.jpg Sa'ad Hariri on the right, not sure who the guy on the left is http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_2469.jpg http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_2489.jpg http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_2642.jpg a Najib Mikati ( cuurent prime minister of lebanon) placard "we are all for the nation, we are all for doing things" http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_2649.jpg Rafik hariri's son Sa'ad http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_2742.jpg "The Martyr Saddam Hussein" |
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I'm amused by the one seat chairlift. I barely remember those.
Nice shots. |
Holy crap mate.
What's with the German-and-Japanese-cars-only rule in Lebanon? Very nice scenery, though. |
remixer, wait till you get a load of what im about to show you!
theres a recent phenomenon in Lebanon that i never noticed until my recent trip. Its the VW combi-vans cum mobile cafetria that have taken over the streets. Anyone who knows a lebanese person knows that they love nothing more than have a coffee and a shisha and chat about lebanese politics and religion, preferably at the same time. so i decided to capture some of these vans on camera just out of interest. i thought it was quite amazing that there was literally hundreds of old combi vans driving around the streets of Tripoli with cafeterias in the back. Some even have tables and chairs in there as well as shisha's to accomodate the requests of the masses. http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_2615.jpg http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_2613.jpg http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_2614.jpg http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_2620.jpg http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_2621.jpg this guy has the works, including a satellite on top of the combi http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_2623.jpg http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_2624.jpg http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_2625.jpg http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_2629.jpg ok this guy has bigger ideas http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_2633.jpg http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_2634.jpg http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_2632.jpg |
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