Baalbeck, Anjara and Ksara

Yesterday we went to these three places.  Just a note...yes I am here alone but I don't feel alone.  Everyday I meet fellow travelers and we band together and make friends.  I will never see these people again but for that moment we enjoy each other's company!  I have met many interesting people from many different countries.  I am loveing that part of traveling!

We started our day at Anjar.  This is a ancient archeological site discovered by accident.  Because there was conflict going on in Lebanon at the time they could not get any professional archeologists to excavate it so it was excavated by students at the university.  There are some obvious mistakes but it doesn't take away from the fact it is history and a great example of Roman ingenuity.  They had drainage systems.  They had Roman baths with cold, tepid and hot pools.  There was a harem that even though we couldn't see the true beauty of it we could see from what was left how beautiful it must have been!  The entire site was a square shape and in the center were walkways that went from east to west and from north to south.  Each quarter had a different function from living quarters of the Caliph to the harem, the souks and so on.  I keep wanting to touch these ruins hoping some dna from the past has been left that I can connect to.  It is an amazing feeling!

From Anjara we went to Baalbeck.  Here the Temple of Jupiter at Heliopolis along with the Temple of Venus and Temple of Bacchus were built be the Romans.  The Temple of Venus has a very feminine feel to it.  It was made in the shape of a horseshoe with tall columns and you can tell it was beautiful in its time.  The Temple of Jupiter is HUGE!!  I guess since he was king of the Roman gods he had to have the biggest!  When you look at my pictures on facebook you can see what the temple in its entirety looked like.  It is still very huge and I confess I had a bit of vertigo being so high and no railing to hold onto :(  Got a little weak in the knees.  The Temple of Bacchus is in a corner of the same grounds.  Apparently after the rituals and sacrifices they enjoyed (quite a lot) of the fruit of the vine!

We went to the winery of Ksara.  The intersting thing about this is the Romans found it and made a winery of it.  That is how old it is!  It is a labyrinth of caves and it goes very deep into the mountain.  Apparently because of this it is an ideal temperature and climate for making and preserving wine.

I am taking today off from outside tours today to rest up for the next three days.  Very busy days before I leave on Tuesday for Istanbul!  I will go out and explore more of Beirut this afternoon. 

Christine