Home  The All New Blog Lebanon: The Flight to Lebanon
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Lebanon: The Flight to Lebanon |
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Written by Stephen Baines
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Sunday, 05 March 2006 |
It's a while since I last went to the Middle East - some 18 months. Back then I was very scared of flying, and found the whole prospect quite daunting. Today it's quite a different picture; I wasn't especially nervous of flying, and not really that nervous of going to Beirut.
Sure I was worried a bit, but only the usual worries, really no more than the worries I get going to somewhere in Europe that I haven't been before - have I got the right money, do I need anything special, will be able to get an internet connection. The usual.
The flight was uneventful. The flight was almost empty. A huge plane flying from Heathrow to Beirut with barely 1/5 of the seats filled. There was plenty of space to spread out and relax, and the flight with Middle East Airlines had an experience I have never had before; food that had flavour, texture and was appetising. Full marks there to MEA!
I landed at Beirut, and had to navigate the passport control, which involved working out if I needed a visa stamp or just a visa, seeing if I needed to withdraw money, and then explaining to the fierce looking man that I was only staying till Tuesday, and that was less than 48 hours. Thankfully, he agreed, and I went to collect my baggage. Customs took great interest in the huge wooden box, but seemed incredibly dissapointed to find it filled with laptop computers and controllers, rather than crack cocaine and slaves. I was soon waved on my way.
My taxi was there to meet me, and take me to my hotel - The Safir Heliopolitan. I've found taxi rides an interesting way to get a grip on a country. I thought the trafic in Pisa was looney, but this.... This was a whole new league, which seems to involve lots of pipping of horns and almost but not quite touching every car on the road till you get to your final destination. What was clear on the drive was that Beirut is an amazing city of contrasts: magnificent soaring buildings, beautiful ancient buildings and ruins from the war that ravaged the country. In many places you can see where one building was destroyed, yet the neighbouring building remained intact almost miraculously. I really look forward to seeing the place in daylight.
I got to the hotel, checked in, and settled down for a short while. Shortly I received a call from one of the guys I'd be training inviting me to go out for something to eat, which I lept at. A short drive took me to the mall, and there we ate a quite European meal in a European mall transported to a Middle Eastern country. I look forward to getting real Lebanese food tomorrow. |
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