Beautiful Lebanon!

Lebanon is an amazing country.  It is so beautiful!!  It has certainly had its challenges but like a Phoenix it keeps rising from the ashes!  It is heart wrenching to think of how much has been destroyed by war.  I think now the purpose of war is to destoy the soul....to take away the old and ancient things that have been so much of a country's heritage.  Still the Lebanese people love their country and continue to rebuild.  Beirut was especially hit hard and you can see the remains of conflict though contrustion is taking place everywhere!


My first day here we went to Cedars, Becherrah and Kozhaya.  It was very tricky getting through town because the president of Iran was visiting.  Once out of Beirut it was a pleasant drive along the coast and into the mountains.  I was impressed by the houses and buidings built on the mountains.  They really are living on the edge!!  Each place has a view of something beautiful so I see why they do it...as well as there doesn't seem to be any flat land except along the coast!  The Kahlil Gibran museum was amazing!  They had many of his books there as well as his art.  It is said that he stated "Had I not been born in Lebanon I would have chosen it" and he is buried here at his request even though he did much of his writing while he lived in the US.  It was a beautiful and peaceful place to visit.  The churches on the mountain tops reminded me of Europe a little.  There is a strong French influence here and French is another language spoken fluently in Lebanon.  Many of the street names are French as well a stores etc.  We found more French influence when we went to the Cedars as the French contributed greatly to the preservation and rebuilding of the Cedar forest.  The cedars were fabulous!  It was overwhelmingly gorgeous there!!  So peaceful and quiet.  I could only imagine what these >1000 year old trees might have seen.  They have planted more but we were told it would be at least 700 years before they were as tall as the others!  There was an early Christian church at the top of a hill we hiked.  It was all made of stone and the inside very rustic but it was great to sit in a church over 1000 years old!  A little father on we cam to a place where there were carvings in the trees near the top.  One was of the Crucifixion.  There were imagesof monks and a face in the center that may have represented Christ.  The French were very instrumental in preserving this project.  We then visited a couple of old monasteries!  We were told about the Hermits that lived in the caves in the mountains.  It is amazing to me that anyone would want to be a Hermit.  We visited a hermitage.  Many of these monasteries could only be accessed by foot!  I'll bet the monks were very fit!  The mountains are very steep!  At the monastery of St. Antoine (a Maronite monk) I could see the buildings were built incorporating the local caves.  In one cave we saw the place where many miracles have ocurred.  On one side there were upside-down pots.  We were told women who have trouble becoming pregnant bring their pots and place them there then walk around three times and pray so they might have a child.  It is still an operting monastery and many weddings and baptisms are performed there.  Again...it is built right on the edge of the mountain!  This has been a great opportunity to learn more about the early Christian church and its struggles and eventual triumph!

The Lebanese people have been very friendly!  I feel well taken care of!  My hotel is very comfy and I can see the harbor from my window. It is nice to watch the ships coming in in the morning.  My friend, Judy, was amazed at how inexpensive this leg of the trip is! 

More later!

Christine