We continued our progress through the Bekaa valley and began the climb up Mt Lebanon. The valley was filled with beautiful vistas of rich colors. Along the way we stopped at a fountain supplying drinking water from the mountain. It was ice cold and tasty. Rob and I both filled bottles and drank them. We were delayed for a few minutes because a police truck was blocking road as they were stealing fruit from trees in a field next to the road. They told the driver that we should stop and that the fruit was tasty. The road was a very steep assent and had no safety rails. The drops were treacherous at points but, the views were amazing and even more so we climbed. In the winter it is closed due to the hazardous conditions when it snows. In a couple of places we actually passed drifts of snow left from last winter.
We made a stop at the top to look out over the Bekaa Valley on one side and Kadisha Valley (also known as Qadisha Valley) on the other.
The wind was incredibly strong even with a cloudless vibrant blue sky. We walked up to the highest point we could commanding the best view of both valleys. We could see…….for many, many kilometers. The clouds looked like they were on an even plain with us.
Back in the bus we headed on. Somehow a bee had gotten in and stung Rob. When we arrived at the Cedars, the people at a restaurant gave him a clove of garlic to rub on the sting and it worked. The stinging stopped.
We started our walk through the Cedars. They are extremely impressive trees. It’s not a large forest but, is said to contain 375 individual trees, two claimed to be over 3000 years old, ten over 1000 years, and the remainder at least centuries-old.
The Lebanese cedars are actually mentioned in the Bible. When fully mature the top forms a flat table like shape. In one area there were sculptures carved into a set of trees. It was amazing to see them and experience something that takes so long to create.
When we exited there were a couple of dozen souvenir shops. Most of them were selling the same things, stuff made from cedar. Anything you could ever not want was made from cedar and for sale.They would even customize it by burning your name into the item.
We got back on the winding and steep road and headed for lunch. Once again I had a lot of choices since most of the mezes were vegetarian. Rob was in heaven with all the choices. He did refuse to eat the raw liver, but tried he tartar. It was a great meal and we had great company.
