GOOOOD FOOOOD

It's about time I write something about the amazing food, here in Lebanon. The most common street food includes: falafel (usually in a pita sandwich w. tomato, yogurt, and pickled cucumbers and radish) and shawarma (you know... the gigantic rotating hunk of lamb or chicken, shaved onto rice or sandwiches).

Mezze plates, sort of like tapas: hummus, moutabal (what I know as baba ghanoush, or puree of roasted eggplant and sesame paste), wara enab (rice-stuffed grape leaves), labneh (yogurt with garlic and mint), flavored nuts, seeds and rice crackers, olives and pickled things.

Plus lots of fresh salad options: tabbouleh (bulgur wheat, parsley, tomato, onion, lemon), rocca (arugula, onion, lemon), and fattoush (lettuce, mint, cucumber, tomato, lemon, etc).

Bakeries make everything from fresh pita to manoushe (flatbread with a parsley/basil/sesame pesto and melted cheese) and sfiha (triangular dough filled with minced lamb, garlic, onion, tomato and spices). Oh so very delicious and fattening.

Then, of course, there's a hundred ways to eat meat, meat, and more meat (plus a little fish). Kafta (strangely textured lamb sausage, with wheat and no casing) and kibbeh (raw ground lamb, bulgur wheat, and lots of spices--not as disgusting as it sounds) have been the most exotic.

Oh yeah... there's also an amazing assortment of sweets: baklawa, and lots of date/pistachio/sesame/dough combinations.

The coffee and tea are strong and delicious. And though I'm not a big fan, arak, the local anise seed liquor, must be mentioned. It's smell is much stronger than its taste and it goes down quite smoothly, but I've always been grossed out by licorice.

Pictures are:

5. Coffee service

4. Street falafel

3. Sfiha in the brick oven

2. Nuts, seeds, and rice crackers

1. Mezze and kibbeh with Hawraa, a social worker in Baalbek.

Hermel, Lebanon

4.15 Hermel, Lebanon

Hermel Pyramid was constructed as a prince's tomb and features elaborate stone-carved hunting scenes, as well as a variety of modern grafitti- messages of love and pleas for recognition. Nearby was a small Palestinian refugee camp and a TON of sheep. As we continued through the Beka'a Valley, reknowned for its hashish production and being the administration headquarters for Hezbollah, we passed many temporary tent camps, Bedouin, Syrian and Palestinian.

Cornet Al Soura, Lebanon

4.14 Cornet Al Soura

With 3 Frenchies, I hiked Lebanon's highest mountain, Cornet Al Soura. We started at 2000m and summited at 3000m. Snowfields, mud and scree made for a difficult trek. The highlight for me was hopping on a makeshift sled on the descent. The day was long and we went without eating much at all. Afterwards, we drove north and east through the mountains, managing to get lost for a full hour.

Qadisha Valley, Lebanon

4.13 Qadisha Valley

I met a pair of Brit boys at the hostel. We descended the steep rock cliffs of the Qadisha via a goat trail to the valley floor and hiked along the river for 4 hours. We passed 2 monasteries, built into the valley's caves, and various other religious sites and hermitages. Centuries ago the persecuted Christians sought refuge in this hard-to-reach land. Their descendants still populate the region.

Tripoli, Lebanon

4.12 Tripoli is predominantly Muslim and significantly more conservative than Beirut. In the morning, I got lost in the winding streets of the old city, a mess of dilapidated buildings. There was limited signage in English and French; my few words of Arabic and charade skills came in handy. Along with a pair of Spanish boys, I toured several mosques, the bazaar (souq), and the massive Crusader citadel that overlooks the city. I also met some local folks enjoying coffee in the park. They were very entertaining, to say the least.

Byblos, Lebanon

4.11 North to Byblos
Weddings are a REALLY big deal here. As we drove out of Beirut, there were literally hundreds of billboards advertising wedding couture, venues, photographers, etc. When I arrived at the Roman ruin site of Byblos, a bride and groom were in the midst of an extensive photo shoot with their hired Papparazzi (the company's name). The ruins of a citadel and necropolis (loads of crypts) were somewhat interesting and I enjoyed looking at the surrounding oceanside villas.

Beirut, Lebanon

4.10 Beirut

Beirut is a city of contrasts. Luxury and poverty, modernity and tradition, burkas and silicone. The scars of war are plentiful, but the city

is rapidly rebuilding. Large cranes define the growing city skyline, as do dozens of bell towers and minarets. Cosmopolitan 20-somethings congregate in coffee shops and discuss the prospect for their country's future stability and prosperity. By night, the wealthy strut their stuff and flock to flashy clubs. My hostel just happened to be in the night club district, which made for great people-watching from above.

farewell to tahoe

Goodbye Donner Lake!!! Goodbye pow pow!!!