A Mediterranean Treat

Tripoli, Lebanon

I am happy I came to Lebanon after Syria. Had I been here before I would have got depressed in Syria :-) Despite the long time civil war and the related suffering and damage I discovered a country rebuilding and reshaping itself with smiling, open and optimistic people, so different from the grim, tired and depressed look of many Syrians.

I arrived in Tripoli shortly around 6:15am after almost 6 hours on the bus from Aleppo, Syria. An older gentleman helped me whenever an interpretor was needed for any visa issues and later - after passing the border into Lebanon - bought me a cup of tea. A wonderful start in Lebanon, I thought. Finding the pension to stay was easy and people on the street extremely friendly. I've been welcomed continuously and people smiled. Yes, they SMILED!!! How I missed that in Syria. People have asked me if I needed help or offered their help. I was asked where I came from, if I liked it here and I was left in peace afterwards with a wish to enjoy my stay in Lebanon.
By 8:30am I had walked across and around the old city, along the narrow alleys where little shops are lined up, through the small souq and I had met dozens of people. I bought fresh bread from a bakery where they invited me in to see and take pictures. I talked to a young man doing woodcarving in a little workshop and he showed me an album with pictures of his works. I simply had lovely encounters!

Tripoli is not the most impressive of cities, but it has a small harbour and a small souq in the old city where a few beautiful buildings survived the last centuries. It has always been a major trade point, mostly lacking a local industry. The long time war scarred the city but now it's struggling to revive. Local hand-made soap production has picked up again after the craft was almost forgotten. The new city has modern exquisite shops and malls and I even caught a woman looking at me quite disgusted. No wonder, my clothes were dirty, looking as if I had slept somewhere near a garbage dump. Funny how the night before I could walk like this into the most expensive restaurant in Aleppo and here I felt out of place on the boulevard. So I just walked on the corniche in the early afternoon enjoying the sun and the deep blue sea with its fresh breeze. Along the corniche you can see young couples strolling holding hands. What a lovely sight!

Tripoli was going to be my base for a few side trips to ancient Byblos, to the Quadisha Valley and Kahlil Gibran's place of birth.