A Few Days Off for Eid al Adha

 At the end of September Lebanon celebrated Eid al Adha, the Islamic holiday commemorating the willingness of Ibrahim (Abraham) to follow Allah's (God's) command to sacrifice his son, Ishmael. We chose to take the time to rent a car and travel around Lebanon.  Here are some pictures of the places we went.

First we traveled north for the day.  We stopped at Mussaylha Fort to look around.  This was constructed during the Ottoman times as a military station.

Here is another angle.

We stopped to take a picture before we went up the stairs. Like many places in the world we were reminded that in the States there would probably be big guard rails blocking the stunning views to make it "more safe".

Andrea and Janna inside of the fort.

Going down the stairs.

We then went to the Tannourine Cedars Reserve.  The Cedars of Lebanon, otherwise know as the Cedars of God are a protected species under the UNESCO World Heritage Sites

In Tannourine, the Cedars are young but they say a few of them are 1000 to 2000 years old.

A beautiful view.

We then went to the town of Bcharre, Where the famous artist and writer Khalil Gibran lived.  Tim and I have both enjoyed his book "The Prophet". I recommend you read this short book if you haven't done so yet.

We went to the Khalil Gibran Museum.  While pictures were not allowed inside I did take this picture outside of the place.

After we walked through the museum I took this picture of Andrea relaxing. It was a warm day up in the mountains.

Tim went looking round and told me to come and take a look at something.  Up the hill there was a small cave and this was inside it.

The next day we went to the Bekaa Valley and toured Baalbek. Such incredible Roman Ruins! Words cannot describe how megalithic they are.

Our dear friend Sharon

We then went to a town on the mountainside called Zahle.  It took a while to get there since we went along small roads.  The food was great! 

The next day went up to the Chouf District of Lebanon which is east and south of Beirut. 

We stopped at the town of Deir al Qamar.  

A shop within the walls.

A beautiful old door.

The entrance to a pretty cool library. 

Of course it was a French library.  So beautiful inside!

I didn't know what this was until a friend explained it to me.  Yes,  this is a loofa plant! I guess when they get big they peal the outside off and then dry them out.

Beautiful church bells.

Take a look at the stairs. Interesting how they make them so they drain well. Yes, the rain can be torrential here.

A beautiful entrance to someone's home.

We then drove up into the mountains. I had to stop and take a picture of this monument.

We stopped and had lunch at a great little place.  The kibbe was great.

We went over the mountains and stopped here for this scenic view of the Bekaa Valley.  Reminds us so much of Eastern Washington.  The mountains in the distance mark the border of Syria.

It was very windy.

This is the southern part of the Bekaa. The lake at the end of the valley ends at the Golan Heights.

Our adventure ended at the Chateau Kefraya Winery.  We walked around and enjoyed the view.  It was hard to believe were at the top of the mountain ridge a little bit before this.

Yes, Lebanon is a beautiful country!