starting in Lebanon

The trip to Madaba, Nebo Mont and the Dead Sea was my last day in amazing Jordan. Next country is Lebanon!! This destination was quite a spontaneous decision - taken 4 days before my departure on holiday. My initial plan was Yemen, but since it became a bit dangerous within last weeks, I decided to go to Lebanon instead.

Straight after the trip, the driver drove me to the bus station, from which I took a bus going to the airport - bus was very civilizated and it was forbidden to smoke in. The airport was very securitized place and there were few control checks on the way to it, as well as in the airport my luggage was scanned at the various stages. At the airport I also met Omar - a very cool Turk, whom I met in the Wadi Rum, so it was cool to travel with someone.

Arabs' addiction to cigarettes is incredible! At the airport some guy was smoking at the gate! when we told him it's forbidden he kept on smoking, when we told him we will tell it to the staff, he still kept on smoking and then hide in the toilet. On the plane, we were sitting next to a very nice Lebanese. When I told him I was Polish, he smiled and said he was three times in Poland in... my beloved Wroclaw!!

At the Beirut airport I got my visa without any problem (I was told that single girls under their 30's might have problems with its obtainment). Nice surprise was also that visa was free! Only the guy was watching suspiciously at my passport cover with "Islamic Republic of Iran", but finally he didn't say anything.. I forgot that many Lebaneses don't like Iran. Not nice surprise was, that the bank at the airport was taking 18% (!!!!) of provision for exchange of euro!! we decided to withdraw money from ATM.

This evening was full of surprises- in the hotel it turned out tht there were no more single rooms (not to sy with bathroom) - the only place that left was in the dorm, which I had to share with two other guys. One of them was Australian - he slept all the day, and another one was Italian, but very quiet one, so it was ok.

The day after I decided that since I'm in the Paris of the (Middle) East, I should finally have some decent continental breakfast and maybe stop eating eggs (yeah - in Syria and Jordan egg is a must for breakfast, which means I ate at least 15 of them ;-)). And in the neighbourhood I've found PAUL, where I had a French breakfast and where I met Olivier - a French whom I've seen before in the hostel. He was heading to Tripoli, where he was supposed to meet some friend's friend's friend. Actually British Foreign Office "advised against all but essential travel to Tripoli", but I decided it cannot be that bad and so I joined Olivier. In Tripoli we met Omar - an absolutely lovely Lebanese who used to work as a tourist guide. He showed us the city and not only we could enter with him to the places closed for normal tourists (hamam from 14th century - distroyed, but beautiful many years ago), not only we didn't have to pay in the places where normal tourists had to pay (Citadel), but we also got the gifts -soaps (apparently Tripoli soaps are the most reputated soaps in the world). Unfortunately the weather was not great on that day and it rained very badly. Funnily, in Lebanon people are not very used to rain, since we were looking really a lot of time for a shop where we could buy un umbrella :-)

In Tripoli I could see that advices of Foreign Office were not unfounded - in many places there were soldiers.. and taking such pictures wasof course forbidden ;-)

Omar took us also to the soap factory which was founded 200 years ago! Now it's a small family bussiness run by father and three daughters, who showed us how the soap is being produced. Every soap in thissmall factoy is hand made.

Last, but not least - Tripoli is famous for the best sweets in the Middle East - indeed they're yummy!!

The next day myself and Olivier decided to go to Baalbek and Aanjar - both cities on the other side of the mountains. We got there by minibus, and this time we didn't have to wait until it's full, the driver was hooting all the time and by doingthis he was finding new passengers on the way :-)

Baalbek contains the most impressive ancient site in Lebanon and also one of the most important Roman sites in the Middle East. I was thinking that after seeing all Roman ruins nothing else could impress my anymore, but Baalbek ruins were absolutely stunning!! The six remaining columns of Temple of Jupiter are the largest columns in the world, while Temple of Bachus is very well kept and is still beautifully decorated. This place was just amazing, and despite the fact hat these ruins are ones of best preserved and the most spectacular in the world, there were realy very few tourists. Well, it was good for me, but it's a shame that because of political circumstances, such a beautiful country is not popular among the tourists.

Baalbek is also a city very strongly supporting Hezbollah - their posters and flags were everywhere (as well s Khomeini's pictures) and so we were offered to buy the Hezbollah t-shirts.

After Baalbek we decided to visit another ruins- this time Umayyad ones in Aanjar. The site was not very close to the road, from which we could find some transport to Beirut, but luckily some two young Lebaneses proposed to give us a lift, and then I spent one of the nices afternoons during the whole trip. Both boys were students and both were completely crazy - in a very positive way! One was absolutely engaged in politics and was playing choral liturgical songs, while other was just crazy :-) Both of them were also very intelligent and spoke perfect French - also among themselves and other members of their families. They showed us the city of Zahle and then invited to their houses. Later we were visiting the churches (both boys were Christians). According to the local tradition on Good Friday everybody has to visit seven churches. Streets were full of people heading to different churches. We finished this evening very late - enjoying AWESOME Beirut's nighlife, visiting its the most trendy locals and discussing about politics - why Hezbollah is good or why it is not.

Last day in Jordan

Although many people say Amman is ugly and there's nothing interested to see, I still wanted to visit a bit, but was not very lucky. First of all I wanted to see the Citadel, but unfortunately it started to rain and also had some stalker.. so not only I had to hide from the rain, but also annoying guy. Then I decided to visit some mosques, which I absolutely love, but this time I was not permitted to enter.. why? Because I'm a woman and not a Muslim.

Kk, next day was luckier. I decided to go for a tour organized by my hotel. First we visited Madaba (city famous for its mosaics) and then Nebo Mont - a mountain from which Moses saw the Promised Land, but was refused to enter it.

HOLY LAND

AN OLIVE TREE PLANTED BY JOHN PAUL II AS A SYMBOL OF PEACE

Then we went to the Dead Sea, which actually is a lake and moreover it's a hyper salty lake and also the lowest point on the Earth. Because of the proximity of Israel, on the way we were stopped several times by the soldiers, who checked our passports. Very stupidly (I've found it few minutes later) I decided to go to the public beach (I don't know why public, because I had to pay 7JD = 7 euro). After few minutes I realized that I was the ONLY girl at the beach full of guys!!!!!! and despite the fact that I was dressed very correctly and modestly (long skirt and long tunic) and I was with two guys, I was surrounded by plenty of young boys taking pictures of me! of course taking off any clothe, not to say staying only in bikini was totally impossible.. but I was at the Dead Sea, so of course wanted to go to the water.. a bit desperated I came back to the cash desk and the guy told me that he warned me!! and his warning was: "there are many students" - but of course I didn't know what it could mean.. anyway he was nice and said I could upgrade my ticket and go to the private beach - so in total I spent 12JD, but it was really worth it! the private beach was full of foreigners and bikini was not a sensation there. Finally I could enjoy floating on the water (the result of the salinity), as well as healing and beauty effects of the Dead Sea :-).

Ahhh - someone told me not to taste the water, because it's the most disgusting taste ever, but of course I wanted to check what does it mean the most disgusting taste ever - I thought it was just very salty. So no - it was not only very salty - it was indeed the most disgusting taste ever..

While leaving the beach, I've also met (for the fourth time within 8 days!) my Italians from Jerash :-)

Following Indiana Jones and Lawrence of Arabia!

My next stop in Jordan is the famous Petra!! Jean was already waiting there for me and so he has found a VERY nice hotel!! finally decent bathroom and great people! Hotel was full of backpackers and so I met also Italians with whom I was visiting Jerash :-) It was also fantastically located - the sunset seen from my balcony was really spectacular. In the evening we watched  "Indiana Jones and the last Crusade" - this movie is played in the hotel every single evening :-) (the action of the movie partially takes place in Petra)!!!! A delicious vegetarian buffet for dinner was a perfect ending of this perfect day!

the next day is even more perfect, although its beginning was hard - I had to wake up at 6am.. I'm not sure if I'll be really relaxed and rested after this holiday actually.. Anyway at 7 am I was ready to visit one of the World's Wonder! and it was great great decision, as at this time Petra was almost empty (few hours later it will be incredibly crowdy), what really makes a difference when visiting this place. Ticket to Petra was not very cheap (21 JD = around 23 euro), but it was definitly worth it!! Petra was definitly one of the most amazing places I've ever seen!! A 20 minutes walk in the Siq, beautiful facades of Treasury, tombs and Monastery, hiking on the Petra rocks and really spectacular views seen from Petra's highest places made this day absolutely unforgottable!!! But I also did enjoy chatting with Bedouins - they knew I wouldn't buy anything from them, but they were offering me tea (I don't know how many teas did I drink on that day!!!) for free and wanted to chat as well! very very nice people! at the very end of the day, after 11 hours of walking around and hiking I decided to come back to the exit gate on the horse. I made a deal with a Bedouin (1JD) and so was horse riding. at the end he absolutely didn't want this money (although I was absolutely persisting!!) and invited my for a drink, which he of course paid... I really don't know how these people do any bussiness!!

In the evening we met two guys - American and English- who came to our hotel for a beer (apparently the only place in the area where an alcohol was sold). They told us that they met some crazy Arab driver with a jeep, and who proposed them that he would go with them to the Wadi Rum Desert the day after. Despite our initial plan - which was going to the Wadi Rum with an organized trip from our hotel - we decided unanimously to join these guys and their crazy driver. adventure!!! yeah.... the day after, we came to the hotel where the guys were living and we were waiting for the driver.. two minutes later some other guy showed up, claiming to be the crazy driver's friend and saying that the driver cannot come. but he did not have a 4WD,but just a normal cab!! which of course made our trip to the desert impossible... no no no!! it wasn't supposed to be like this.. ok, we know it already - next time we won't trust Arabs..

so we were really disappointed and with no plan.. Wadi Musa (the town where Petra is) is a shithole, there's nothing to do, I cannot go to Petra again, because of the price of the ticket and there's just one bus per day to Wadi Rum - at 6am, which means it left 3h ago, which means we cannot go to the Wadi Rum :-( ok, we decided to do another tour - Shobak Castle and Dana Nature Reserve -both beautiful, but we wanted Wadi Rum!!! and as I said before - I won't ever be alone in this country - there are plenty of very interesting people travelling around :-)

The day after we decided - only organized tours and no more adventures! Quite unrealistic claim, given the fact that we're going to the Wadi Rum - the most adventurous place I've ever been too! Anyway punctually at 6.20 (yeah.. waking up was harsh..) we're in fron of the hotel. And this time our minibus was on time! After 2h ride we're in Wadi Rum and we meet our guide Mahmoud - a Bedouin living in Wadi Rum. In his 4WD we ride on this amazing red desert admiring its extraordinary scenery. It's an absolutely amazing place and definitly one of the most beautiful I've ever seen!! So we (a very international company of 2 Americans, 2 Turks, Canadian, Belgian and myself) follow Lawrence of Arabia's traces, hike and climb on the rocks and admire the enchanting landscape of red sands and towering sandstone peaks. In the evening we head to the Bedouin's camp (good news for me: there's a toilet and a shower!!) where we were offered a delicious dinner and after a singing and dancing in the moons' light only, some of us decide to spend the night not in the tent, but under the stars.

In the morning - myself, a Canadian and Turkish guys decided to have another adventure and come back to Amman by hitch-hiking (300km). My blond hair was supposed to be a secret weapon and so it was ;-) we got to Amman in 5h, what was a very good time :-)))