Tin Tin in the Philippines "Alone"

til now, i always got by on my own. i never really cared until i met you. and now it chills me to the bone. how do i get you alone??

if there is a philippines national anthem i think that may be it. Heart must be making bank off that song just in the philippines alone cuz i hear "alone" every where i turn. i hear small children singing the song. large bus drivers passionately belt out the song as they are driving. old women perform it while doing videoke. it is ubiquitous and i want to block it out but i have succumbed to the lure of Heart.

there are many funny things about the philippines and philippinos. foremost is their passion for love songs, slow sappy love songs specifically from the 80's and 90's. when they rock out, it is to a power ballad possibly from bon jovi or that ilk. celine dion is a favorite here and it is a mystery to me as to why. any one of her songs runs a close second to "alone". i asked a driver why philippinos love slow songs so much. "we are a tender people" he replied. then he changed the subject. i think there needs to be a study done on this phenomenon. it is mystifying and baffling to me. having said that, i was on a ferry and i heard a hard core rap song very explicitly discussing blow jobs. i hadn't heard it before in the u.s. probably because it went into great detail about the various qualities of hos and how he don't care about the face all he wants to see is yo azz. immediately following this song was wilson phillips. i just don't understand...

speaking of "Alone" everyone asks me, "where is your partner??" after i reply, "i don't have one" they say incredulously, "you are ALONE??" like the phils are the most dangerous place on the planet and only a madwoman with nefarious intentions must want to travel on her own. according to them i should be married with 5 children right now. something is obviously wrong with me. if they only knew... they travel in large family packs and they travel all over the phils. over the Easter holidays i have met so many local families enjoying a break with their families and even their co-workers. they seem to be a wandering breed and i love that about them.

another oddity is their food. they like ice cream with everything and the cat thrown in. halo-halo includes a dollop of ube ice cream (a purple sweet potato kind of thing), crushed ice, milk, assorted jello, granola, red mung beans, i want to say there's pumpkin in there too, jackfruit, and other unidentifiable edibles. it sounds gross and IS, upon first taste anyway. second taste, it gets better. still wierd but better! by the end of the bowl (i ate the whole damn thing) it's actually pretty tasty! it's not something i want to make a habit of but it was pretty good nonetheless.

they loves them some fat here too! fatty pork and fatty chicken are staples and from what i hear it's really delicious. i gnawed on some pork fat unintentionally and i can't say it was pleasurable for me. chicken gristle same thing, i just can't get used to it! i'm sure i'm missing out on some fantastic local cuisine but i just can't do the fat, bones, and other parts that just aren't in western food. i'm not that big of a fan of meat in the first place so i'm mostly sticking to fish and shrimp this trip. and the way they prepare those are outta this world! sauteed in coconut milk or spicy or with calamansis (like a tiny lemon-orange). and spicy gambas? i can eat that all freaking day!

but the oddest thing about philippinos is how freaking kind they are! i mean, you think they want something from you, they're just THAT freaking nice! everyone talks to me, wants to help me, or wants to take a picture with me. it's totally safe here, no one tries to steal your bag or take advantage of you. if you ask how much something is, that's how much it is for everyone, not just tourists.

i feel like the phils are what thailand must have been 20 years ago. people aren't jaded here, they're genuinely happy to have you in their country. there's amazing beaches with affordable diving and boat trips and astounding limestone cliffs, there are mountains to escape the heat and get in some local culture while you're at it. there's a big city to shop in and check out the nightlife, and there are lots of places that are a good hybrid of city and country. the phils deserve more tourism. not the drunk assed euro trash or americans looking to pick up hookers and drink cheap beer kind of tourism reminiscent of the thailand of late, but the kind that can respect the people, soak up the culture, and really see the diversity of this country. it's not too expensive: hotels on average have cost me between $15 and $30, meals are usually under $10 and mostly under $5, flights are about $70-200 booked last minute one way.

so tell me...what the hell are you waiting for?!?!

tin tin and the mystery of siquijor

last night the power went out in my area. i put down the book i was reading and stepped off the stairs of my cottage. the sun had only recently set so the sky held the remains of the light. i walked down to a chaise on the beach and laid down. the moon was vibrant and threw ghostly blue shadows on the sand in the shape of palm trees.

as i lay there the stars started to reveal themselves. a very bright one continuously winking overhead, the palm branches playing hide and seek with it. within a minute or two, more showed me thier faces, some bolder than others, very few shy ones. i could still see the silhouette of the sliver of land to my right. the left fell into darkness.

in the distance a boat shone its light. the sound of civilization hushed. the karaoke had died and my soundtrack for the moment was the tiny waves lapping at the shore and the wind in the trees.

then the power came back on and the dream escaped.

i've been on the island of siquijor (with the unfortunate pronounciation of "sickie-whore") for the past 3 night and have one more left. this island is by far my favorite here. the people are astoundingly kind and everyone has a "hello!" for me when i pass them by. i have learned to keep my hands on the bike and just yell "hello!" back. the first few times i tried to wave and nearly drove my bike into a cow.

i rented a scooter and have been running wild around the island just smelling the air and avoiding potholes. it's quite the way to get around as it's a small island with few roads. my 2 favorites are the ring road that follows the ocean and an interior road up and over the central mountains. it's incredibly lush and green here. on the sides of the road lay rice from the paddies drying in the sun, copra drying, and coconut meat doing something. it's laying there in various stages of decomposition. new white meat, and brown older meat. no matter what the shade it smells heavenly and i get as close as i can so i can get a good whiff as i pass.

i came in on the night boat and had a tricycle driver (a motorbike attached to a metal passenger sitting area kind of thing, looking something like the autorickshaws of india, but not) take me to a guesthouse. we went to 3 of them. it was like the 3 little bears: one was really cheap ($10), one was just right ($20), and one was a bit too expensive ($30). the first 2 were fully booked so i ended up going with the pricy option. that might have been the best thing i could have done. in the dark it looked nice but i really couldn't tell. come morning, i saw the Charisma Resort in all it's splendor! there were manicured grounds, the ocean was clear blue and fringed by palm trees with hammocks nestled between them, and...A POOL!!! good god, a pool! and the owner keeps these gorgeous parrots in this huge enclosure so you can just watch them all day. today the couple that owns it showed me the 3 baby parrots. i died. i held one and thought i might have to stash it in my backpack and bring it home. i have a cottage that i want to move into. there's a huge front porch on it with 2 day beds and white sheer curtains ringing the porch. the whole place is a thing of beauty and the thing that is breaking my heart is that i have to leave this paradise tomorrow.

today i went to the festival of healers. this island is known as the island of healers, or "the island of witchcraft". even though witchcraft has nothing to do with it, some jackass thought it might be good for publicity. anyhoo, it was a small affair on top of the highest peak of the mountain. there were masseuses, healers, herbalists, and some uber hip local kids who made faboo jewelry. i got all of the above!

i just can't explain what a magical place this is. i could definitely retire here. i has the perfect mix of everything: kind people, a range of places to stay, decent food, easy to get around, and not very many tourists at all. but alas, tomorrow i move on to donsol on the island of luzon. i feel the need to swim with whale sharks again...

tin tin and the scuba lesson

this moment finds me in a fabulous town called el nido on the island of palawan in the philippines. the sky is temperamental as it is clear and sunny one moment and pissing down in a tropical torrent the next. i arrived in this wonderland after a grueling 23 hours of travel time (in business class mind you, no cattle class for this ho), overnighting in manila and flying out the next day for the main airport on palawan, THEN a 6 hour mini bus trip in a shuttle filled with the smelliest hippies i have ever encountered. when they boarded the shuttle i nearly gagged. they of the badly dreadlocked white man variety who seemed to revel in wearing clothing with gaping holes in the ass area (so not kidding) and various stains making a primitive map all over their shirts. welcome to the philippines...

after propelling myself out of the van as soon as we landed in el nido i proceeded to look for an idyllic hut on the beach. i soon found what i was looking for, dumped my bags, and headed out to explore the small town. it's very touristy but you can escape the throngs by merely going 3 streets away from the beach and there you can find traditional homes, children running amok, and women doing laundry in buckets outside their homes.

one of the things i wanted to do on this trip was to learn how to scuba dive. i fear the deep so this was a personal mission. i would like to conquer all my fears in this lifetime so maybe i can end my days being a fearless old broad with amazing stories. i found a dive shop i was comfortable with and promptly signed up to get my open water certification. the next day was filled by reading the book and taking tests at the end of each chapter. near dinner time i went to the office to watch the required videos and the dive instructor told me he thought i was ready to take the plunge. literally. shit.

the next morning i woke with the sun and boarded the boat with all my gear. i was nervous and didn't know what to expect for my confined water lessons. we got to a private island and unloaded on the sand. i suited up and we started the process. the clear water and surrounding cliffs allayed my nervousness and i was game for anything. i aced most of the lessons quickly. one snagged me: filling my mask with water and clearing it by exhaling. it took me about a half hour just to do that one but in the end i got it. you see, i never learned how to go under water without my nose plugged. as a child (and adult) i've always had to wear those hideous nose plugs whenever i go under water. i used to practice in the bathtub when i was older but never mastered the skill. it seems that no matter how much air i fill my lungs with, i always feel the need to inhale as soon as my nose touches the water. i'm always breathing in the water thru my nose. either i drowned or was a fish in my last life. i hope it's the latter!

the next step was taking off the mask completely in the water and breathing thru the regulator for a full minute, then replacing the mask and clearing it. needless to say, i had a problem or two. i tried for 2 days to do this. i tried just putting my nose in without all the gear, regulator in and plug my nose and then release, just regualtor no nose plug, taking the mask off, etc. NOTHING WORKED. i gagged, coughed water, nearly puked, cried numerous times, and snotted profusely. fuck me, i still breathe in. the instructor couldn't believe it. he's never seen anything like this. but he was kind, gentle and gave me all the time in the world to figure it out. really a great instructor, i couldn't have wished for anyone better!

the after most of the lessons the first day we did an open water dive together. i mean, it was lovely down there: pretty corals, nudibranches, multicolored fish, sheer paradise. but i couldn't WAIT to get the hell back to the surface and breathe real air. couldn't. fucking. wait. the whole time my instructor is keeping a dutiful eye on me, giving me the "ok" sign every 3 minutes. checking my air, showing me the splendor of the sea, going slowly, etc. i, however, had the alcoholics anonymous view of my situation: instead of taking it one day at a time, i took it one minute at a time. every minute that passed i had to talk myself off the ledge and get over my fear. in the end i was able to control my fear and kind of enjoy it but really, i just wanted some real damn air.

when we surfaced i was so grateful but didn't mention a thing about my thoughts to anyone. everyone thought me very brave and congratulations were heard all round. i thought i might puke.

that night i wanted to quit. i kept thinking, "i'm paying $400 to feel THIS freaking miserable??" i could have bought 40 hookers with that money!! but the AA motto kept playing in my head (i modified it to "one dive at a time") and i slept on it. before went to sleep i meditated, told the ocean how much i loved and appreciated it, and asked ganesh and durga for strength. i woke with renewed vigor and was determined to conquer this bitch if it killed me.

the day stared with me trying the maskless lesson and after an hour of trying i was done. couldn't figure it out. i had snot coming (seemingly) from every pore as the water just jetted up my nose every single time. i sobbed in a secluded cove and couldn't believe how absolutely lame i was. i do things most people can only dream of and here i can't do something everyone else can do. really disheartening. i just couldn't wrap my head around it, hell, i still can't! so it seems this will be the end (for now) of my scuba dreams. i may never complete the course or i may with time. now i know it's not a fear of the deep that i have to worry about, it's my own face...

dammit.

alone but never lonely

if i hear, "don't you ever get lonely traveling by yourself?" "isn't it all a bit sad to go to these great places all by your lonesome?" "it can't be safe traveling alone to all these countries!" one more time i'm gonna i'm gonna cut a bitch with my Hosteling International card!

the funny thing about traveling alone is that ironically, i'm never really alone.

living in los angeles can be incredibly lonely. my friends live at all corners of the sprawling city and just coordinating lunch can be a challenging endeavor. we all freelance in the film industry so none of us ever have a clue if we're going to get a call to work the day of the lunch or not. it's incredibly frustrating but you get used to it after a while. so i actually feel more alone in my own city than i do when i'm in a strange place in some far flung destination.

for example, the first day of my recent middle east trip in amman, jordan i checked into my hostel and entered an empty dorm. late in the night someone came in with a backpack and fell asleep. in the morning we both woke up and hit it off immediately. for the next 4 days we ventured around the city and braved the busses to small towns. we sampled new foods together and figured out that right now it's better to be american (god bless obama) than danish (the mohammed cartoons). this right here is the greatest thing about staying in hostel. you have a built in social network right when you check in. i like to stay in dorms because i can pick people's brains about where i'm going and they can pick mine about where i've been. where did you like to stay? where did you get bed bugs? wanna have some dinner tonight? my friend in amman, ann mai, became a good friend and when i went back through amman at the end of my trip we were able to catch up and chat into the night.

i prefer staying in female dorms as opposed to mixed dorms because the reality is, women don't smell that bad. i've walked into a mixed dorm and nearly been knocked off my (not so stinky) feet by some random dude's gnarly foot odor. or worse, those guys who wear their stank like a freaking trophy. you know the ones, "duuuude, i've just gotten back from trekking through the amazon for 10 days and it's crazy how like, you don't smell after a while. i feel like a real man, man" duuuude, the hostel will need to burn your mattress when you leave cuz like, man, you frickin REEK! damn hippie wanna-bes.

dorms are quite safe too, in the 12 odd years i've been seriously traveling i've never had anything stolen. most people don't want to carry anything more than what they have crammed into their own pack. and most travelers believe in karma, if i steal something from you, i'm gonna get hit ten fold. having said that, i usually look for lockers that lock in the room to keep my camera, passport, and other valuables safe cuz you just never know. some bitches be shady...

i have stayed in everything from hostels to guesthouses, b and b's to hiltons and even a private island. i have nothing against a nice splurge every now and again but i find that it's nearly impossible to engage any other travelers in a big hotel or resort. most who stay there are coupled up or with their kids or are there on business and therefore have no need to befriend you. even in b and b's and guesthouses it can be challenging to find like minded travelers. the quaint house in a neighborhood is great for getting the feel of being a local and sometimes the family takes you under their wing but there's usually very few other people staying there to explore the city with. but sometimes actually, that's the best thing about staying in one of those accommodations. there are times when i pretend that i've just moved to town and am renting this nice pad. i can shop where the locals shop, get my fruit from where my new "neighbors" get theirs, or just be solitary if i choose to be. and i get the low down on the local gossip from my hosts!

so please don't ever think that traveling alone is lonely. most of the time it's the polar opposite! in restaurants it's rare that the people next to me don't invite me to join. and it's way easier for someone on a bus to start a conversation if you're by yourself. and that's where the best adventures begin! when i was in rural jordan i was riding the local bus when a girl came up next to me and we started chatting. she was super nice, dressed in a pretty hijab and we talked for quite a while. after about 20 minutes she asked me if i would like to come to her family's home for dinner that evening. surprised by the invitation i quickly said yes before reason could take hold. i got off at her stop and we went to her parents house where they had made quite the spread on the floor in my honor! after dinner we started playing dress up with the girls in the family and they dressed me up in proper muslim garb. it was magical! they showed me how to properly do up a headscarf and i spent the rest of the evening feeling incredibly comfortable in my new look. at the end of the night there was hugs for the girls and simple "goodbyes" for the guys. this kindness probably wouldn't have been extended to me had i been with someone else. and it sure as hell wouldn't have happened if i was a man! all the men traveling solo that i met said that they had never been invited to a local's home but nearly all the women i met had been. it's good to be a girl!

and when you're walking on a nice stretch of beach at sunset there's always some nice locals playing soccer and you can join in. or if you're like me, there's usually a handsome young traveler walking down that gorgeous beach right next to me... ; )

don't wait for someone else to fit your dream into their schedule! just freakin' GO!!

Taking the Leap

after becoming inspired by "the happiness project" (a fabulous book by gretchen rubin) and meeting someone today that kinda kicked me in the arse, i have decided to attempt to post more blogs about being a solo traveler and the beauty and drama that goes along with it.

traveling alone is a gift. i'm able to decide where and when to do whatever i want, which is something that is exceedingly rare for most of us. it's given me opportunities to succeed in something i never thought i'd ever be able to do (white water rafting) and fail miserably and horribly, but in hindsight hilariously (thinking i had arrived at my stop in budapest way earlier than i had expected and lunging myself and heavy backpack off the then moving train only to kill my knees and realize it wasn't my stop after all, much too late).

traveling solo means you are exposed to the kindness of strangers in ways that you couldn't have imagined. it means relying on your wits alone when you are lost, night is falling, and you need to get back to the hostel and you seem to be in a sketchy area. it's the good and the bad and most of all, the beautiful. and it's a lot safer than anyone can imagine! so many women (and men) think that it's dangerous to travel alone. what if i get mugged or worse, raped? what if i lose my atm card and can't get money out? what if i'm followed? what if, what if, WHAT IF??? I live in los angeles and all of those things are more likely to happen in my own city than most other places in the world. i'll never forget how i met a swedish guy in fiji, he asked where i was from. when i said los angeles, he looked at me in horror and said, "but there's gangs and drive-bys and lots of murders there!" it just goes to show it's all perspective. not that i don't take precautions because i do. i take krav maga (israeli self defense) and i don't go out and get wasted in a club when i travel. to some that may sound boring but i like to wake up early and explore a town on foot before the local's work day begins. and since i've had my drink drugged before (in los angeles thank you very much) i don't ever want to feel helpless again, especially in a foreign country. so for me the benefits of not having a hangover and coming in safe far outweigh the bummer of not partying the night away.

my main goal with this new and hopefully improved blog is the show you that it's easy, fun, safe, and cheap to travel solo! don't be afraid to take off by yourself! never wait for someone else to fit your dreams into their schedule. take this opportunity to do what YOU want to do with no reservations or fear. it can be done. i'm walking proof!

The Love of Strangers

border crossings are usually a joyous thing for me. i love the ritual of handing over the passport, being looked at like i may not be the person in the photo, then them flipping thru the pages of my packed passport looking for a blank page. but this one was a little more stressful than the norm.
in the morning i flew from beirut to amman, then took a taxi 45 minutes to the jordanian border. after passing thru immigration there, i boarded a bus which drove about 15 minutes to the border of israel and i dove into the throbbing mass that was israeli immigration. after sweating it out and pushing my way to the window through what must have been about 200 people i was given the once over and joined another line which brought me to security, then another line brought me to israeli immigration. "where are you going in israel?" the girl said. having been briefed by other travelers to say that i was only going to the israeli side, i replied "jerusalem, tel aviv, haifa. the ususal!" she asked if i was going to the west bank. i said "oh noooo, my mother would kill me! ha!" she stamped me in and i went on my way to the busses to jerusalem. after arriving in jerusalem i hopped a bus straight away to ramallah where my friend moe was waiting for me!
jerusalem is a bustling city and through the kindness of strangers i found the old arab bus station where i caught the bus. the roads are paved well and traffic is orderly. but when we got to the qalandia checkpoint where you cross into the west bank everything changed. first you see the barbed wire. then you see the wall. a massive wall with circular towers looking like it's out of the movie "district 9" imposes itself on your field of vision. there are tanks and armed soldiers everywhere. it looks as if you're entering a prison, and in a way you are. they don't hassle you much getting in so i was thankful for that. when i rounded the bend at the checkpoint the road falls away a bit and there is graffiti on the walls: "free palestine". nothing is as nicely maintained as on the other side of the wall and i find out why later (palestine needs permission from the israeli government to build or maintain ANYTHING). when i arrived at the bus station i meet a man who moved back here from st. louis, missouri and he helped me call moe so i could tell him where i was.
when my friend picked me up, he took me to a hotel where i stayed for the next 3 nights. the hospitality of palestinians is legendary, the give and give, and just when you think there is no more, they give again. i was to learn this repeatedly for my stay. in the west we are unused to such unrestrained generosity, because usually there is an ulterior motive. here, there seems to be none. it's a very strange feeling and i never got totally used to it, i was always trying to pay my way. that's just our custom and as you know, i'm a very independent woman and don't like anyone paying for me. letting someone pay for me was incredibly hard and i always felt a bit uncomfortable about it.
but we had a great time driving around to nablus, bethlehem, jericho, and a million other places i can't remember the names of! the food was amaaazing as well, and the muslims know how to do juice so i indulged as often as i could. shisha was a nice way to relax but i couldn't do it very often as it made my head spin a bit!
the very best part of my trip was hanging out with moe's sisters and thier kids. nadia and i went to jerusalem for the day and ate my favorite food EVER, kneffe. we walked a bit in the old city then went to see al aqsa mosque and the dome of the rock. unfortunately they wouldn't let me in to either place so i had to stay out and admire the beauty of the tile work while my friend prayed.
we left for ramallah again, always avoiding the main checkpoints. sometimes what is 14 kilometers away takes an hour to get there because you can't go certain places, you have to drive all the way around them eating up gas and time. and by the way, gas is $8 a gallon here so you can imagine the cost of commuting. but we were excited because the other sisters were preparing something called "upside down" for me. i had never had it but the dreamy look in thier eyes when they described it clinched the deal. i was dying to try it! when we got back to their home i met all the girls in the family and promptly fell in love. these people have beauty, charm, and humor by the truckload. i was instantly in love with all of them!
when it came time to eat we went to another apartment (they have 3 apartments on the same floor and all live kind of communally, very convenient. although if i lived that close to my family i might have to kill them) and sat around the table. it's called upside down because in the pot the chicken is on the bottom, then the veggies, then the rice. you flip it over onto a big platter and then the order is reversed. it is flipped with a flourish! and the smell! good god it's like nothing else. it's spiced and prepared with love and i really think you can smell that love! they made a salad and an eggplant dish, a yogurt side, and pickled baby eggplants. it was a fabulous spread!
there was talk laughter and even a song. one of the girls, about 15 years old was coerced into singing and i really didn't expect much. most people think they can sing and really they are, at best, mediocre. this girl, this fabulous girl opened her mouth and sang a tune that sent chills down my spine and tears formed in my eyes. even now as i type tears well up in my eyes. du'a has the voice of an angel and i was honored to hear her sing. and another of the girls, rawan, might be a writer one day. she's an incredible girl and has so many talents she need only pick one and she'll be an absolute success. and the younger girls are just so stunningly beautiful i could not take my eyes off of them and so full of love i only hope that one day i can be that open and loving, so completely accepting of a total stranger. thier mothers raised them so well. if we all had mothers so caring and generous this world would not have an ounce of hate in it, the hate would just die out for lack of oxygen.
after we ate there was a surprise for me. the kids disappeared for a few minutes and when they came back they all had a little something in thier hands. i had told them my birthday was coming up and that was the main reason for my trip. it looked like my birthday came early this year! they all went into thier rooms and brought out gifts from thier own belongings for me. a hair clip, a watch, a necklace and bracelets, a pencil box, and a balloon. they presented all this to me and i burst into tears. this was the absolute best birthday i have ever had. these people are the most beautiful people i have ever met. this was the most touching thing that has ever happened to me. it is the very definition of love and i still cannot believe that i have been so blessed to recieve such kindness and love from such good hearted people.
when i left i hated it. i didn't want to leave this home, my new family, this womb of love. i sobbed uncontrollably in the elevator and nid'a held me as we went down. i miss them so much. i'm crying as i write this. i'm so afraid i will never experience this again. i love them all so much, my heart bursts with this love. it is for them that i hope palestine becomes an independent state. it is for them i wish those horrid walls would come down. it is for them that i wish the world would not view palestinians as bad people, as terrorists. they are humans, beautiful compassionate humans who are paying the price for a handful of extremists. they want what we all want: love, freedom, and happiness. i hope they get it. inshallah.

tin tin and the chic sheiks

beirut. lebanon. 20 years ago and also 4 years ago these were loaded words. back in high school and college "beirut", to me, meant bombs, violence, chaos and bodies in the street. i didn't know what they were fighting over but i knew it was bad and not someplace i would ever imagine going. i remember the holiday inn where snipers took position and just picked people off like it was one of those old time shooting galleries at an amusement park. boy, how things change...
today beirut is cosmopolitan and violently hip. the cafes are packed with women in heels and wearing the latest fasions from milan. the men define the word "metrosexual": sharp suits, expensive shoes and all driving either mercedes or bmw. actually the craziest thing is that even the taxi drivers drive new luxury cars! i climbed in one driven by an old man, a sweet new silver mercedes with black leather interior. i said, "this is your car?" and he said it was. i said, "you drive a fancy car like this as your taxi??" he answered yes. i told him, "if this was my car i wouldn't even let my friends sit in this car much less strangers!" he laughed and said if you are lebanese you drive nice cars, it's the culture. love it!
my first stop after checking in to talal's new hotel, (which is niether new or a hotel, it's a coming apart at the seams hostel but the staff make it like a 4 star hotel) i walked to the beirut souks. it sounds like an exotic place where you buy incense from men in robes but in fact it's a first class shopping mall with every label you can think of and more. levels upon levels of everything from designer clothes to h & m to cafes so chic they wouldn't let me in. it was brutally cool and i felt like the scrubby backpacker i was when walking around there. i decided to see something i hadn't seen a million times (meaning, a mall) and walked all along the corniche to the other side of the city. i didn't realize what a ginormous city this was as it took me a solid hour to walk just half way across. along the way i walked though a small pocket of town that hadn't been renovated, a small bit that was still shell shocked, albeit not as bad as sarajevo 8 years ago, but still noticeable. i walked past the holiday inn which still stands, but barely. the windows gape open and there are pockmarks from guns and what looks like missile hits on the side of the building. i don't know if it's a monument to the past or a neglected piece of real estate waiting for a buyer. smack dab next door is the uber swank Phonecian Hotel. it's shocking to see the war torn next to the posh but somehow bierut pulls it off.
lebanon has so much to offer the traveler. it's a tiny country and i was there for one week but it wasn't enough time to see everything i wanted to. i spent 2 nights in saida in the south and also went to tyre where there are lovely roman ruins. saida has a great souk and i wandered for hours eating sweets and sampling perfumed oils. close to beirut is the Jeita Grotto. it's a cave system of stalagtites and -mites and was so stunning and massive i stood with my mouth agape for a good couple of minutes just willing my brain to take it all in. it was so huge that even after being there for 45 minutes i still couldn't quite grasp the magnitude of what i was seeing.
my favorite, though, was baalbek. i thought it so nice i went twice (ha!)! baalbek is an impeccably excavated roman town in the bekaa region of lebanon. the area is best known as the stronghold of hezbollah and as fate would have it i was there for september 11. hezbollah may not be al qaida but it has a legacy of hate that makes them, to my eyes, quite similar. but even this is not so cut and dry: they also do great work for the poor of the region by building schools, creating opportuniies and giving food to the needy. it seems nothing is ever as clear as we would like it to be. but baalbek is clear! it's massive and everything is built on such a grand scale it's hard to believe that humans constructed it. the jupiter gate is a huge staircase leading to an inner temple area. words cannot describe the magnitude of this structure. and because it's in lebanon and not america you can climb all over the ruins, dart up ancient stairwells that lead to nothing but a better view of the area and sit on fallen columns that, laying down, are taller than i am standing up. my favorite was the temple of bacchus. again, this place must have intimidated the hell outta the local populace because while it was missing its roof, all of the other walls were left standing as well as some ancient frescoes on the inner arch of the entryway. it must have been at least 5 storeys high but there was just one level to it making me feel like i was an ant in a mansion. i have to say, i think that baalbek was better than epheses in turkey. and the kicker was that i had the place pretty much to myself. on both occasions there were maybe 30 people total at the site. and the crazy thing is, every site i went to had very few people in it. one had no one but me and the 3 people i was with. indeed it is a good time to visit the middle east. it's safe and the people are so friendly you think they have an ulterior motive, but they don't!
on the drive back from the bekaa region there are massive posters on every street of the hezbollah leader by himself or with local leaders. it's kinda spooky and my driver didn't really want to talk about it because he didn't want to waste his breath on such an idiot. i appreciated his view. no matter what good they do for thier own people, it doesn't make it right for them to go and kill other people. i'm sure somewhere in the koran it must say something to the effect of "love your nieghbor". i've certainly found that muslims are hospitable and caring to forigners and that thier generosity is unparalled. it's such a shame that some bad apples really must spoil the bunch in some people's eyes.
all in all lebanon was an incredible country. the people made it amazing and the delicious food didn't hurt either. if you're looking for a place that not everyone knows about and has loads of history, nightlife, shopping, and cuisine to die for take a look at lebanon. it will surprise you!