![\"Baalbek\"\/](\"https:\/\/alastairhumphreys.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/2978335421_ff3e2b9ed2.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nWhat do you know of Lebanon and Beirut? Let\u2019s be honest: you\u2019ve probably only read this far
because you thought the title was \u2018Lesbians\u2019. What I knew (or thought I knew) was a place ripped apart by fighting, tanks and rubble in the streets, concrete shells of buildings Emmental-ed with bullet holes.
Fanatics draped with AK-47s. And if you should be foolish enough to enter the country\u2026 well you are
sure to be taken hostage like Terry Waite and John McCarthy. More like Front Page than Travel Page. A travel page should be telling you about places like this:
A tiny nation combining natural beauty with some of the juiciest history in the world. The best food in the Middle East. A buzzing, invigorated capital city. Skiing, sunshine and the ocean\u2026 Welcome to
Lebanon.
The history of Lebanon is jaw-dropping. Byblos is the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world
(over 5000 years old). A beautifully preserved Roman street runs alongside relaxed caf\u00e9s and restaurants in the heart of Beirut. In a central square are 2000-year-old Roman baths, the clever under-floor heating system clear to see. The baths were built, in turn, on the site of Phoenician baths 4000 years old. Today
they are smack-bang in the middle of Beirut city centre.
And then there is Baalbek, a site for which the superlative must have been invented. Its construction
was a startlingly ambitious political statement made by the Romans at the heart of the vital Fertile
Crescent between the Nile and the Euphrates. The largest Roman temple ever constructed, far bigger than
anything in Rome or Athens. The temple of Bacchus is the best preserved temple on the planet. The
mightiest building block ever cut lies nearby. Measuring 20x5x4 metres it weighs 1500 tonnes. The vast
monoliths of Stonehenge are a mere 50 tonnes. 40,000 people would have been needed to shift the \u2018Rock
of Fertility\u2019.
The Lebanese are proud people. They are proud of their hospitality and proud of their food and rightly
so. Pepe\u2019s \u2018Fishing Club\u2019 restaurant in Byblos is legendary, a frequent haunt of the likes of Brigitte
Bardot, Frank Sinatra and Marlon Brando in the 1960\u2019s. Hundreds of photographs testify to its glamorous
clientele. In restaurants you are bombarded with endless plates of mezze (starters): hummus, tabouleh and
fatoush salads, spinach and cheese pastries, flat hot bread and the fabulous baba ghanouche, a smoky
blend of aubergines, tahini, lemon and olive oil. And then they bring the main courses! Ouch. A
cornucopia of decadently sweet pastries and cakes to finish with. The wines of Lebanon are a hidden
jewel. The vines of Chateau Kefraya, Chateau Musar and Ksara are beginning now to be praised
internationally, for Lebanon has an ideal climate: both Mediterranean sunshine and 3000 metre mountains
gathering snow and keeping the land fertile.<\/p>\n
How about this for a day in a holiday? A morning\u2019s skiing at Faraya or The Cedars, the afternoon at
one of the most exquisite and important ancient sites in the world, sunset in a caf\u00e9 watching the sun slide
into the ocean before strolling around beautiful and friendly downtown Beirut as you select the restaurant
of your choice from the myriad of high quality options available. And then, when your friends boast of Rome\u2019s history or Greek sunshine or skiing in Austria or Parisian cuisine, allow yourself a little smug smile at having found all that rolled into one special little country. Welcome to the horrors of Lebanon.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
What do you know of Lebanon and Beirut? Let\u2019s be honest: you\u2019ve probably only read this farbecause you thought the title was \u2018Lesbians\u2019. What I knew (or thought I knew) was a place ripped apart by fighting, tanks and rubble in the streets, concrete shells of buildings Emmental-ed with bullet holes.Fanatics draped with AK-47s. And […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":323056,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11760],"tags":[14341],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-323055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adventure","tag-lebanon"],"yoast_head":"\n
Lebanon - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=323055\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lebanon - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What do you know of Lebanon and Beirut? Let\u2019s be honest: you\u2019ve probably only read this farbecause you thought the title was \u2018Lesbians\u2019. What I knew (or thought I knew) was a place ripped apart by fighting, tanks and rubble in the streets, concrete shells of buildings Emmental-ed with bullet holes.Fanatics draped with AK-47s. And […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=323055\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-11-28T10:40:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/2978335421_ff3e2b9ed2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"375\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=323055#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=323055\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371\"},\"headline\":\"Lebanon\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-28T10:40:43+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=323055\"},\"wordCount\":561,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=323055#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/2978335421_ff3e2b9ed2.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Lebanon\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Adventure\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=323055#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=323055\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=323055\",\"name\":\"Lebanon - Som2ny Network\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=323055#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=323055#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/2978335421_ff3e2b9ed2.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-28T10:40:43+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=323055#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=323055\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=323055#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/2978335421_ff3e2b9ed2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/2978335421_ff3e2b9ed2.jpg\",\"width\":500,\"height\":375},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=323055#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?bp_activities=1\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Lebanon\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"description\":\"Daily Deals\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":86,\"caption\":\"Som2ny Network\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Lebanon - Som2ny Network","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=323055","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Lebanon - Som2ny Network","og_description":"What do you know of Lebanon and Beirut? Let\u2019s be honest: you\u2019ve probably only read this farbecause you thought the title was \u2018Lesbians\u2019. What I knew (or thought I knew) was a place ripped apart by fighting, tanks and rubble in the streets, concrete shells of buildings Emmental-ed with bullet holes.Fanatics draped with AK-47s. And […]","og_url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=323055","og_site_name":"Som2ny Network","article_published_time":"2025-11-28T10:40:43+00:00","og_image":[{"width":500,"height":375,"url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/2978335421_ff3e2b9ed2.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=323055#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=323055"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371"},"headline":"Lebanon","datePublished":"2025-11-28T10:40:43+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=323055"},"wordCount":561,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=323055#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/2978335421_ff3e2b9ed2.jpg","keywords":["Lebanon"],"articleSection":["Adventure"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=323055#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=323055","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=323055","name":"Lebanon - Som2ny Network","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=323055#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=323055#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/2978335421_ff3e2b9ed2.jpg","datePublished":"2025-11-28T10:40:43+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=323055#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=323055"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=323055#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/2978335421_ff3e2b9ed2.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/2978335421_ff3e2b9ed2.jpg","width":500,"height":375},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=323055#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?bp_activities=1"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Lebanon"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/","name":"Som2ny Network","description":"Daily Deals","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization","name":"Som2ny Network","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","width":300,"height":86,"caption":"Som2ny Network"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/fivemor.com"],"url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=323055"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323055\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/323056"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=323055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=323055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=323055"},{"taxonomy":"dealstore","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fdealstore&post=323055"},{"taxonomy":"offerexpiration","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fofferexpiration&post=323055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}