"Lebanon" a Lebanon Travel Page by sachara

Since I learned about the Phoenicians at school, I knew once I will visit the Middle East and Lebanon. In 1973 I was planning my first trip to Lebanon .... I don't know anymore why, but I ended up in Poland and Russia that year.
In 1990 we visited Cyprus. For my friend and his colleague in Nicosia, both journalists, it was very tempting to take the boat to Lebanon for a short visit to Beirut. I didn't like to join them, because of the risks of war, so they didn't go either.
In 1995 twenty two years after planning my first trip, we got the opportunity to make a try-out trip for a small travel-agency in Amsterdam, so we did, allthough we just returned from Sikkim in the Himalayas.

We visited all parts of Lebanon, starting in Beirut. Here we saw the terrible traces of the war, but we saw and felt also the great energy of the Lebanese people reconstructing their city.
Everywhere in Lebanon we discovered the remains of its rich history, Phoenician, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Arabic, Mameluke, Ottoman ....

In the south we visited Tyre, Sidon, Echmoun and St Saveur.

In the east in the Beeka valley we visited Baalbeck, Zahle, Aanjar and the Lac de Qaraoun.

In the Chouf Mountains we visited Deir al-Qamar, Beitedinne, Moukhtara, Ain Zhalta and Ain Dara.

North of Beirut we visited Harissa, Jbail, Tripoli, Afqa, Al Akrine, Ehden, Bcharre, The Cedars and the Kadisha Valley with its villages and monasteries.