Middle East - Anthony Ham [349]
The Mt Lebanon Range includes Lebanon’s highest summit, Qornet as-Sawda (3090m) and an example of the famous Cedars of Lebanon at the Cedars (Click here). The Anti-Lebanon Range marks the border between Lebanon and Syria. Its highest summit is Jebel ash-Sheikh (Mt Hermon), at 2814m.
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TRAVELLING SUSTAINABLY IN LEBANON
There are many simple but effective ways to have a positive impact while visiting oft-troubled Lebanon.
Engage the services of a park guide at nature reserves, whose fee goes toward preserving and enhancing the area.
Share the wealth among the lesser-known businesses: limiting your use of international chains will ensure a better distribution of tourist income.
Don’t stick solely to our Eating recommendations: you’ll be evenly distributing the tourist dollar, and embarking on your own adventure of the senses, if you go where you tastebuds take you.
Consider hiking with one of Lebanon’s many trekking groups (Click here) who have valuable insights into low-impact tourism.
If you’re renting a car, try to team up with other travellers to split the cost: you’re reducing the environmental impact substantially if you can cram four travellers into a Fiat Punto.
Look for recycling points for your plastic water bottles, which bob with the tide in alarming numbers along the Beirut seashore.
Take a registered guide to show you around ancient historic sites. In recent years, work has been sporadic for these invaluable sources of local knowledge.
Take a look at the Lebanese Greenpeace site (www.greenpeace.org.lb), the Ministry of the Environment (www.moe.gov.lb), the Society for the Protection of Nature in Lebanon (www.spnlb.org), or the UN site (www.unep.org/Lebanon) for more information on Lebanon’s environment.
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MEMORABLE MEALS IN LEBANON HEATHERPAVITT
Breakfast in Beiteddine Go for the Lebanese breakfast at the Mir Amin Palace (Click here). Fuul (fava bean paste); beans in lemon and olive oil; juicy mountain tomatoes; the tiniest sweet cucumbers; labneh (a thick curd yogurt); olives; the most delicious apricot jam and freshly made Lebanese bread. Sensational.
Lunch in Deir al-Qamar Ask for lahm bi’ajeen (meat pastry) at the small bakery opposite the main square in this picturesque 17th-century village (Click here). The baker makes them on the spot, and two of these delicious pizza-like delicacies will fill you up and taste a treat.
Dinner in Baalbek After exploring the ancient ruins, enjoy a meal at the Palmyra Hotel (Click here). For about US$15 I enjoyed shish tawooq (skewered, grilled chicken); fattoosh (a lettuce-based salad with Arabic bread croutons); hummus and a half bottle of local red wine. Sumptuous.
What’s your recommendation?
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Environmental Issues
Ravaged by more than two decades of war, anarchy, unfettered construction and weak state control, Lebanon’s environment remains very fragile, and some of the only areas to have escaped destruction are – ironically – the heavily landmined or cluster-bombed areas, still filled with unexploded ordinance.
The complete lack of basic service industries or infrastructure during the civil war meant that solid waste was dumped throughout the country, and many water sources are still polluted. Air pollution is another serious, ongoing problem particularly in Beirut, with a couple of million cars (many of them ancient, spluttering wrecks or petrol-guzzling SUVs) plying its crowded roads. Add to this catastrophic oil spills caused by the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war (see www.oilspilllebanon.org for details) and it’s not a pretty picture that emerges.
All, however, is not lost for Lebanon. A host of local and international NGOs are working to secure a better future for Lebanon’s environment, while the government