The Bombs of Beirut

After Syria, I jumped back in the car and drove across the mountains and into Lebanon, down to Beirut. To be honest Beirut was more of a mixed experience. It started well and ended well, but there was a shaky bit in the middle where I wasn’t sure about Beirut! When I arrived in Beirut I was full of the recommendations that Beirut was the “French Riviera of the Middle east” etc etc, and a modern, funky city. So with this in mind, I headed out to enjoy the sea. I was in a hotel right near the corniche (the esplanade along the Mediterranean), so I headed off the find the beach at the end of it. Most of the waterfront is of course not beach but rocks and rock wall, but according to the map there are were a couple of long sandy beaches at the end of the 5km Beirut Marathon route along the corniche. I decided it would be a nice walk and I would be rewarded with a swim at the beach at the end of the 5km. It was a nice walk and once again I found myself reflecting back to our beloved Gong… the cars lined up along the waterfront with young Lebanese guys gave me new insight to south beach! Anyway, I finally reached the promised beach and by this time was well ready for a swim, but I guess I made some mistaken assumptions about how modern and progressive Beirut was. It indeed was a nice long sandy beach, but there was barely a woman on it and certainly not any swimming, bar two women in full hijab in the shallows with their kids. Needless to say I realized the thought of ducking in for a swim was clearly a bit silly, so I decided to go back to the hotel “beach club” (aka swimming pool near the water). I got a taxi back and got a crazy taxi driver who when we got near our hotel pointed out oops that there behind that yellow tape on the corner is the bomb site where the former prime minister was recently blown up. Always reassuring to be reminded you picked a holiday spot where there have been a few too many car bombs lately. About this stage he starts yelling “Beirut no good! Very dangerous! You finish your business and GO! You understand me!? Finish your business and go!!”. He then proceeded to rip me off so I suspect he was the main danger…Anyway, never one to be deterred by a crazy taxi driver, headed off the beachclub anyway. Of course, it turns out also to be right at the bombsite, cos when I ask directions, they say just go around the police tape and under the bombed bit… which I do. Then I get in and they do have a lovely pool just behind the bombed area which appears unaffected, so I go in, but they don’t let me in because I don’t have the right voucher. I ask if they can just phone back to the hotel to confirm I am staying there, to which they respond “sorry, there are no phones down here. All the phones were destroyed by the assassination car bomb…” At this point I decided maybe it was a bit much for an R&R swim, so I retreated to the indoor swimming pool at the hotel proper before being brave enough to venture out again. Out of time, more on Beirut’s redemption later….