Beirut or bust today. We really don't know what's going to happen. We do know for a fact that people are refused boarding at the boarding gate because they have an Ecan stamp in their passports. We don't have an Ecan (the TRNC airport that is considered an illegal entry port by Greek Cyprus) stamp, but Anne and David have them aplenty.
We drove out of the "Dark Side" down to Larnaca Airport. This embargo is one purely instigated by Cyprus Airways and is nothing to do with Lebanon immigration policy.
So we park up and proceed to check in, where we immediately run into problems. We are OK but phone calls are being made about Anne and David. Anne counters this by threatening to phone the British High Commission, the UN and God. I'm not sure which threat carries the weight but the boarding passes are issued.
We're not out of the woods yet because remember it's the boarding gate where the problem may occur. Look at the picture below and you can see the end of the Karpass peninsula, ergo we are on the plane to Beirut.
The next picture shows the first of Lebanon
Our nice new only a quarter full aircraft landed on time at Beirut international airport. Immigration proceedings went smoothly (we were lumped in with Foreigners and Arabs) and then it was off to collect the hire car. After a bit of a wait they handed over a brand new Kea saloon. I signed that I understand the cost of repairs (scratches $65 plus the same for labour etc etc) and with some trepidation I drove out into the city.
So you can see what I failed to find in all of Northern Cyprus was available in the first place I went into in Beirut. In case you can't read the bottle, it's 0% beer.
Above is the restaurant where we ate on the first evening. It was in our somewhat superior sister hotel that the taxi man took us to by mistake. The food was expensive and not really what our western palates were used to. An elegant ethnic experience but not one that we would care to repeat.
Below is the foyer of the same hotel.
This is our hotel and shows a nocturne study of our infinity swimming pool reflecting on the city skyline.
The next morning dawned bright and for the first time we were able to take in the view from our balcony looking north towards the sea and harbour area.
This half empty block is across the street from our hotel. It's worth expanding the picture to see how the building is being used. I don't know the history of it, but it may well have been started as the 1975 civil war broke out and has remained this way ever since. This is certainly the case in a number of the buildings near here and were used as sniper locations for various militia forces. Some are still occupied by the army.
Hookahs are ubiquitous in Beirut's cafés as they are throughout the middle east, however it is only in Beirut that you will find your hookah stand is a gold-plated Kalashnikov. It's plastic really, not a Kalashnikov and in a one dollar shop.
We passed the shop on our way down to the promenade hereabouts called the Cornishe.
Helen looking elegantly alone on the prom, prom, prom.
There are some attractive survivors. Here is a handsome gothic villa from the end of the C19.
And some which would like to rise again. You are looking at what is left of the St George's yatch club. A landmark building constructed in the 1920s and destroyed in the civil war. The assassination of Prime Minister Hariri in 2005 further damaged the building. There is a statue of him close by. It was his vision to create the Solidere company to reconstruct downtown Beirut. However, as you can see there is considerable disention twixt club and company. All our friends thought that we were a little mad going on holiday to Lebanon and Beirut in particular. The standing joke was don't forget your bulletproof vests.
The truth is Lebanese people are very friendly and go out of their way to be helpful. I felt safer in Beirut than I have done in most European cities. Beirut is a trilingual city, ie Arabic, French and English so communication is easy.
The only way to really see Beirut is by sea. So we chartered a very natty vessel from the marina and sallied forth. Passports had to be shown to the Harbour Master before we could get out of the marina, but after that, well you can see for yourselves.
I rather like this picture of Helen with the north coast of the peninsula and the Cornishe running round.
We are rounding the corner and sailing down towards Pigeon rocks, where our pilot Ali and does his trick.
Here is Ali, showing off his much admired assets and driindr the boat towards Pigeon Rocks. The youths will dive from them to show their bravado and the likes of Ali will zoom through the narrow cave. I put it down to the practice he gets on the roads.
David checking for bandits off the port now.
The Skipper took the team photograph on our return.
After a good walk back up to the hotel and a stop off for a late Lebanese lunch, it's time for a little down time before venturing out to the Bagatelle Restaurant for dinner.
We drove out of the "Dark Side" down to Larnaca Airport. This embargo is one purely instigated by Cyprus Airways and is nothing to do with Lebanon immigration policy.
So we park up and proceed to check in, where we immediately run into problems. We are OK but phone calls are being made about Anne and David. Anne counters this by threatening to phone the British High Commission, the UN and God. I'm not sure which threat carries the weight but the boarding passes are issued.
We're not out of the woods yet because remember it's the boarding gate where the problem may occur. Look at the picture below and you can see the end of the Karpass peninsula, ergo we are on the plane to Beirut.
The next picture shows the first of Lebanon
Our nice new only a quarter full aircraft landed on time at Beirut international airport. Immigration proceedings went smoothly (we were lumped in with Foreigners and Arabs) and then it was off to collect the hire car. After a bit of a wait they handed over a brand new Kea saloon. I signed that I understand the cost of repairs (scratches $65 plus the same for labour etc etc) and with some trepidation I drove out into the city.
A word about driving in Beirut. On a scale of 1 to 10 I would rate Delhi at 10 and Reykjavik at 1, I would rate Beirut at 8. More than half the streets are one way and always not the way that you want to go. Signposting is minimal, streets are rarely named and the traffic flow, which is continuous, comes from all directions. The usual arrangements for giving way and priority don't exist. However most drivers are considerate and do their best to avoid collisions. So I managed to drive nearly to the hotel several times, I think. We had two street maps with directions written on them, but when the ground and the maps don't agree, you're in trouble or at least not where you thought that you were. In this kind of situation there is really only one thing to do and that is to agree a price with a taxi to lead you there. This we did, the only snag being that he very efficiently took us to the wrong hotel. Unfortunatley we didn't discover this fact until we had unloaded the cases and were trying to book in. Fortunately the one we had booked was left, right and right again. Easy.I was ready for a drink.
So you can see what I failed to find in all of Northern Cyprus was available in the first place I went into in Beirut. In case you can't read the bottle, it's 0% beer.
Above is the restaurant where we ate on the first evening. It was in our somewhat superior sister hotel that the taxi man took us to by mistake. The food was expensive and not really what our western palates were used to. An elegant ethnic experience but not one that we would care to repeat.
Below is the foyer of the same hotel.
This is our hotel and shows a nocturne study of our infinity swimming pool reflecting on the city skyline.
The next morning dawned bright and for the first time we were able to take in the view from our balcony looking north towards the sea and harbour area.
This half empty block is across the street from our hotel. It's worth expanding the picture to see how the building is being used. I don't know the history of it, but it may well have been started as the 1975 civil war broke out and has remained this way ever since. This is certainly the case in a number of the buildings near here and were used as sniper locations for various militia forces. Some are still occupied by the army.
Hookahs are ubiquitous in Beirut's cafés as they are throughout the middle east, however it is only in Beirut that you will find your hookah stand is a gold-plated Kalashnikov. It's plastic really, not a Kalashnikov and in a one dollar shop.
We passed the shop on our way down to the promenade hereabouts called the Cornishe.
Helen looking elegantly alone on the prom, prom, prom.
There are some attractive survivors. Here is a handsome gothic villa from the end of the C19.
And some which would like to rise again. You are looking at what is left of the St George's yatch club. A landmark building constructed in the 1920s and destroyed in the civil war. The assassination of Prime Minister Hariri in 2005 further damaged the building. There is a statue of him close by. It was his vision to create the Solidere company to reconstruct downtown Beirut. However, as you can see there is considerable disention twixt club and company. All our friends thought that we were a little mad going on holiday to Lebanon and Beirut in particular. The standing joke was don't forget your bulletproof vests.
The truth is Lebanese people are very friendly and go out of their way to be helpful. I felt safer in Beirut than I have done in most European cities. Beirut is a trilingual city, ie Arabic, French and English so communication is easy.
The only way to really see Beirut is by sea. So we chartered a very natty vessel from the marina and sallied forth. Passports had to be shown to the Harbour Master before we could get out of the marina, but after that, well you can see for yourselves.
I rather like this picture of Helen with the north coast of the peninsula and the Cornishe running round.
We are rounding the corner and sailing down towards Pigeon rocks, where our pilot Ali and does his trick.
David checking for bandits off the port now.
The Skipper took the team photograph on our return.
After a good walk back up to the hotel and a stop off for a late Lebanese lunch, it's time for a little down time before venturing out to the Bagatelle Restaurant for dinner.
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