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!

A Trip to Palm Islands

Last weekend we went to the UNESCO Reserve site of Palm Islands. It is a boat ride across from the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli. This was the furthest north we have been in Lebanon. This island is only open 3 months out of the year because loggerhead turtles lay their eggs there and it is a resting place for monk seals. It is also a stop for many migratory birds as well. Here is a link to the wikipedia page on it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palm_Islands_Nature_Reserve

We took the trip with a tour group. Many of our colleagues also chose to go on this trip. While it was wonderful to get away from Beirut, this trip took us to a beautiful place that is obviously unappreciated by many people.

On our way we stopped by an artisan pottery shop.

It was surprising how quickly the artist could just create 10 pots.

He ended up smashing quite a few of the ones he made in front of us but he did keep some.

We arrived at the harbor to go out to the island. This harbor was incredibly polluted. Coming from a harbor town I am familiar with unclean water around docked boats but I had never seen anything like this.

We got on the boat and my good friend Sharon and I had to take a picture.  It was so hot (90's with 80% humidity) we were hoping to get away from the heat.

The girls were excited as well. We had to go through a military check point to leave the harbor. Or course, no pictures were allowed.

As we were leaving we went under this bridge that went out to a small island. Notice the blockage. I guess it was closed.

Here is the island.

On our way out to Palm Island we saw a few people diving for shellfish.

Some of the islands looked just like this.  I'm sure you have to be familiar with this area while boating or you can wreck your boat.

After about 40 minutes on the boat we arrived at our island.

When we got there only a couple boats were there. When we left it was packed.

We climbed off the boat and went across this walkway.

The island was very dry (it being the end of a very hot summer) but we say many of these lovely flowers. Wild onions.

Our guide took us on a 1/2 hour walk around this island. It is also known as rabbit island but Janna was the only one to see a bunny.

This old building was put there to observe birds and wildlife..

While up in the building we could see the island next to ours. Until 1982 it was a Palestinian Refugee Camp. With the lack of water and food out here I bet it was a difficult place to live.

We then walked back to our beach spot. The island is very small. I bet you could walk all the way around it in about an hour to hour and half on a cooler day.

The water was very warm but still quite refreshing.  

On our way back into shore both of the girls fell asleep.  Playing in the sun, walking and swimming tired all of us out.

On our way back kids were jumping off of the bridge. They were daredevils for sure. Jumping right in front of our boat.

Just a quick picture of the coastline. If you look carefully you can see the Lebanese Army's tanks....

 On our way back we hopped on the bus and saw some interesting sites. Here are some of the pictures.

The Palm Islands are an incredible and beautiful place that should be pristine and treasured by the community. Sadly, it was absolutely polluted. Trash and garbage were everywhere.  The islands that we went past were covered with garbage that people had obviously left there as well as trash that had blown/floated in.  Our tour guide said that after the islands close for the season he and a select group go out and clean the island that we were on so the turtles and other wildlife are not as effected.  This made me happy but still, I was saddened that such a beautiful place could be so unkept.