Beirut – the party capital of the Arab world

The thought of New Years Eve in Doha wasn’t very exciting with a handful of Western hotels, who are allowed to serve alcohol, providing the majority of night life. We wanted to take advantage of the festive season and celebrate the New Year somewhere where it isn’t just another day off, but where streets were full and people celebrating.

We went to an area we had previously walked though and had dinner, endless clubs and bars lined the streets. We started approaching clubs we liked but all responded with “do you have a reservation”. After half a dozen attempts we started to wander, what country do you need to prebook to have a drink? Apparently, in Beirut it was common to book dinner at a bar to minimise the time spent wondering around and waiting in lines. After trying some more bars we found Copper which offered us $120 for dinner and open bar, we took it.

With a party pack provided of poppers, mask and novelty hats we wished the New Year in. The night was fun with plenty of food and alcohol, and even some Arabic pop music mixed in.

Beirut Copper New Years Eve
Beirut Copper New Years Eve

Byblos and Tripoli, Lebanon

With only three full days in Lebanon, we decided to break it up into Beirut, North Lebanon and East Lebanon.

thydzikgooglemap(http://sonyaandtravis.com/maps/beirut-to-tripoli.xml)

Byblos

Heading toward Tripoli in the north is the city Byblos. Byblos contains a vast array of ancient ruins from the civilisations that previously inhabited it. One thing about Lebanon is that the ruins are everywhere, and as we drove into Byblos is was impossible not to miss the Crusader Castle in the background of all the modern buildings.

Towards the Castle is an old souk containing stalls selling all kinds of Arabic trinkets. The Crusader Castle offered amazing views of the archaeological site and the Byblos city. Whilst the archaeological site contained many theatres and temples, it was difficult to appreciate them looking at weathered rocks.
From the site we walked through the Old Town and towards the Old Port stopped at Church of St John the Baptist.

Entrance to the SouqColourful windmillsArabic trinkets sold at the Souq
Travis reading the Lonely PlanetSteps to the Crusader CastleSonya at the entrance to the Crusader Castle
Overview of the archaeological siteTravis looking at skyline of ByblosSkyline of Byblos
View of a Mosque from the Crusader CastleOld PortChurch of St John the Baptist

thydzikgooglemap(http://sonyaandtravis.com/maps/lebanon-byblos-2010.xml)

Tripoli

Tripoli was a quick stop, we wandered the markets and a Lebanese man even showed us how he made soap, which Tripoli is quite famous for. After picking up some sweets, we headed back to the car to find my first wheel clamp. Now, I was in a foreign country, nobody spoke English, the accompanying note was in Arabic, I thought we were done. After about 5 minutes of cursing a young Arabic man tried to offer his help, and though he was speaking in Arabic we worked out we should go in the direction he was pointing. Fortunately, the guy placing the wheel locks was only on a scooter and we managed to track him down further along the road, and 5000 Lira (yes $3.30) later we were back on our way.

When we hire a car I never like to travel back along the same route came, so travelling back to Beirut we decided to go through the mountains. Towards the mountains were scattered towns in the valleys and even snow on the mountain tips.

Mansouri Great MosqueEntrance to the marketsProduce for sale
Great Mosque doorZeitounEhdan mountains

thydzikgooglemap(http://sonyaandtravis.com/maps/lebanon-tripoli-2010.xml)

Doha Museum of Islamic Art

Situated on the Doha harbour with a spectacular view of the Doha skyline is the Museum of Islamic Art. The Museum houses a collection of Islamic artworks dating from the 7th to 19th centuries.

Sonya in front of the Museum of Islamic Art
Travis at the entrance of the Museum of Islamic Art
Inside the Museum of Islamic Art
Islamic trinket
Qatari admiring an Islamic scroll
Holy Quran
Collection of wax seals
Intricate wood tessellation
Qataris relaxing