Sidon

Sidon, Lebanon

It's a small city on the shore of the Mediterranean, a city that has suffered a lot during the civil war. Thanks to the local banker family the old town has been restored and welcomes you with its narrow medieval streets, the dark vaults and the old khans, palaces and superb mosques. It was my favorite place in Lebanon and I used it as a base for day trips to other places.

I indulged in sweets, I ate loads of oranges and mandarines from the citrus groves that line the shore South of the city and I explored every single street and alley. I watched the sunsets from the corniche and the Sea Castle glowing at sunrise. And I spent hours watching the fishermen mending their nets in the little picturesque harbour hosting a few dozen fishing boats.
The souq is small but genuine, catering to the locals' needs with countless small workshops where people still apply their traditional crafts and skills. Furniture workshops, sewing and shoe repair shops, coppersmiths and bakeries, all of these are small and dark spaces displaying a whole arsenal of traditional worktools and devices, some of which very shabby and worn, certainly fit for a museum afterlife. Alive and bustling during the day the souq turns dark and quiet soon after the daylight vanishes. Blackouts here are an everyday fact, but people are patient and hopeful. Small generators and candles are fallback resources.
The old town of Sidon with its souq is first of all not a touristy place and therefore amazing to explore.

The people are extremely friendly and the children numerous, loud, funny, bold and cute. My encounters were all extremely nice and friendly.

An older woman I met on the street invited me in for a coffee. I accepted and soon I was sitting in her small room, sipping coffee and having a conversation with her. Except that she was only speaking Arabic and me English. I understood this much: she did the haj (pilgrimage to Mecca) 3 times already (or maybe 3 years ago?), she has 3 sons (or maybe just the 2?), the eldest son is married, the youngest still with her (I met him, too) and she really, really, really liked me. In fact she liked me so much that she promised to pray for me to have children and she insisted on giving me a gift to remember her: a heavy glass curio her son received as a wedding gift. The congratulating sticker was still on.
Right, that's exactly what was missing in my already too heavy backpack but there was absolutely no way to convince her to refrain from making me this gift. And I, on the other hand, just felt too emotional about her gesture to dump the object somewhere afterwards. It now sits on a shelf in my mom's house. I don't think it'll make it to Canada, though :-)
When the time came to say good-bye ( I couldn't eat more figs, delicious as they were) and I asked for the address to be able to send this lovely woman a card the communication problem became acute. Hmmm, writing using the Latin alphabet. Thanks to modern technology the solution came quickly. The old lady dialed her married son's phone number. A simple phone call from Sidon to Beirut solved the issue: the man dictated name and address to me. I left thankful and grateful and quite speechless. Honestly, over the following days I tried to avoid similar situations as I was sincerely worried about accumulating too many gifts and souvenirs from Sidon.

The owner of a tiny coffeehouse happily brewed a coffee for a fellow traveler and me, when we showed up at 7am in his shop. We had met in Bcharre, Rob and I, then left together for Baalbek, stayed at the same place there and later met again here in Sidon. The following day he was leaving Lebanon and so we met for a last chat and to say good-bye. We were the only customers this early, but the place had only two tables anyway. When we wanted to pay for our coffees no negociation was possible. The man insisted we were his guests and he was honoured to have us there. And so he denied himself the little gain from his only customers so far. And as an extra he gave us a warm handshake and a broad smile when we left.

The fishermen were eager to pose for me with their fresh fish. Every morning they were going out on sea very early and returning about 2 hours after sunrise with their small catch.

The old man guarding the Great Mosque popped up next to me and opened the gate. Then he guided me inside. I was leaning against the big wrought-iron gates in the morning longing to catch a glimpse of the beautiful interior and exquisite courtyard with arched porticos. It was the second or third time I had come here and had lost any hope. There was nobody I could ask around. And just then the man came and let me in.

Inside the Khan al-Faranj, a beautiful, big and very well preserved khan built in the 17th century there was an ecological products fair and conference for a couple of days. Producers from the South of Lebanon displayed their products in the large courtyard. Olives, olive oil, hand made olive-oil based soap, honey, jams and pickled vegetable jars, herbs and spices. They were all very happy to show me and explain their products and work. A pretty girl showed me the craftworks made by her sister. She was pretty and smart and welcomed the opportunity to practice her very basic English.

Any guidebook will list the small but charming Sea Castle (built by crusaders in the 13th century), the Khan al-Faranj, the Soap Museum (very interesting!) and the Great Mosque as the main attractions in Sidon. However, the medieval core and its friendly, warm inhabitants were the absolute highlight of Sidon and urban Lebanon.