From Saida we keept on towards the central valley of Lebanon. Of course whenever you do not cycle right beside the coast you will have to get up the mountains. This time we chose a route only bringing us to 1800mosl. so it was not to bad. (Well we could not have gotten any higher in the south but of course 1000m lower.
To be fair this was not Carlos' wish but mine. I wanted to travel trought the Chouf. This is the biggest national park in Lebanon protecting 5% of its landmass. It is the home to Wolfes and many other cool animals but more importantly to the Cedar trees. It was spectacular. We only did about 60km that day and it was hot but we went via Beit en Din which was the former Mameluks capital city and some spectacular buildings remaind, we also passed the most expensive hotel in Lebanon and went on another hill through a beautiful valley with oaks, chestnuts etc in colors towards Masser al Chouf where we find a really nice hotel /hostel for the night managed by the national park authorities. I went for a stroll through the tiney village and went to the Nationalpark office where we met Massimo. A italian professor of Agriculture who is now doing a lot of PS and GIS work and who offered us his latest map of the CHouf with a route which he also loaded on GPS for us to have a dayhike there. Thank you so much Massimo this was generous of you. The next day Barbara his girlfriend (and a ex italian Slalom skiracer) drove us up the hill to the starting point of the hike and then we went on for the next 4h. What a beauty these forests are! ANd the Oaks were turning color. We also saw wolfpaw prints and a woodpecker. Carlos then decided to walk downhill, whereas I hitched a ride with the park wardens (and got invited to coffee, homegrown apples and a place to stay the next time). In the evening we finished off our bottle of Lebanese wine which needs a little more work for my taste and had another goooood dinner at the hotel.
Then it was time to tackle the last big mountain in Lebanon for us and to dropp into the famous (or infamous) Beka Valley. The uphill was ok, just long the downhill was thrilling and the heat in the Beka more than on the other side. We bought another bottle of wine in one of the wineries in the valley but the further north we rode along the valley the less wine there was growing and more wheat, Olives, apples and mandarine orchards were visible. ALso you saw many more tents some of the seasonal workers picking the fruit some from the refugees etc. Headscarfs got more and more usual and the green banner of Hizbollah more and more visible. But the people got more and more friendly and it was a joy to be back in the muslim area. We were invited for Lunch by some nice ladies one covered one very hip and her brother who lives in Luzern Switzerland. The invitation to stay the night followed but we declined. We arrived to Balbek and went straight from the hotel to the ruins because it was nearly time for the sunset.
It was great. Sacsayhuaman in Cusco cannot compare to the stones the Romans used to build this. Huge is the wordfor it. I wonder how they could move it. Coloms 40m high and even though probably 3m in diameter still looking elegant. It was outstanding! and all was redish and in perfect evening light. But unfortunately by 6pm it was dark. So we had a stroll through the city trying to find something to eat and drink. There was not too much choice and shops closed early as there were the usual power cuts. A Lebanese told us, the Lebanese people are rich but the government is poor and I think in general that is very true.
The next morning we left. We made the decision not to go to Homs and Hama in Syria but to go to Damascus. This was based on me not wanting to ride the bike to Palmyra and Carlos not wanting to transport it by bus. So back south in the Beka Valley we went again. Visiting Anjar but not stopiong in Zahle the food capital of Lebanon. IN ANjar we visited the Umayad palace and found a Chameleon.
Then up the hill we went and crossed the Lebanese boarder with no problems. Then we had to cross at least 5km of no mans land between the two countries before we reached... no not the boarder but a huge dutyfree shopping center on the syrian side including a Dunkin' no Donughts (which was closed down).
After a coffee crossed into Syria with no problems. By that time I was very tired we had done more than 80km and most of it was either uphill or flat (but Carlos had the pedal on the gas even on the flat nothing with gently rolling). Carlos tried to goad me with saying now it is all down hill, well it wasn't. So we decided to do a detour through the Barad valley and maybe we could camp there somewhere. That was quite something, There are really old remains there. Caves in a sandstone valley very narrow. AN old railway line going up the mountain beside the river gorge. But we did not stop for camping and then it became really poblated again and the chance was gone. Before we knew and after a exhilarating downhill we were on the outskirts of Damascus where a friendly local onbike showed us the right entrance to the City.The only problem were the many steep uphills along the way. Then we hit Damascus center and a sign pointing up another hill for the center and one down. SO we asked a local which way to take and he said down.... After 3km the road stopped and turned away from the center and only a one way road came up the hill from the center. This was the ugly bit. we had to ride on a narrow sidewalk with trees obtrusing our way and the sun had set and it got dark. After 5km that way and many swearwords we hit a twoway road again and a very bussy round about.Only by that time it was pitch dark and heavy traffic was sourounding us. We were fairly lost and had problems to figure out where to go. Finally the police was able to point us in the right direction and on we went. We hit the right spot and only had to find the hotel. A friendly local tried to divert us to his hotel but the price was a little to much for us. Finally he relented and showed us where to go.We entered a ally (on foot) of the souqh and where stopped by two travellers who could not believe we travelled by bike. The anounced that the hotel is just around the corner but there was only one room left when they arrived, so we hurried along. Shortly after we found the hotel and a room for us in the AL Saada hotel. A friendly hangout.
We then went back to the Souqh and the first time in nearly a month had something with potatos to eat. It was pricy (3dollars hehehe) but tasty.
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