We went just for one night, since it's only a short distance from Damascus. However, this was our first border crossing experience by car and despite leaving home relatively early and travelling on a relatively quiet day, it still took us about one and a half hours and $US 100 to cross. Not only do we have to buy our exit visa and purchase our entry visa for Lebanon, but we also have to export our car out of Syria and temporarily import it into Lebanon. This process is not helped by the fact that our car has tax free license plates and the associated paper work is different to the majority of local cars, which only serves to confuse the boarder guards (although it does give them the opportunity to ask for a higher "facilitation" fee).
Once across the boarder, it is apparent that Syrian driving is actually pretty good in comparison to Lebanese. The route from the boarder to Beirut crosses the Anti-Lebanon mountain range, a twisty road made even more dangerous the day we travelled by a thick fog reducing visibility to 20 meters, is mostly single carriageway with a continuous game of chicken being played out by the overtaking cars. Contrary to Europe, the Lebanese prefer to use their hazard warning lights in poor visibility conditions rather than "fog" lights.Still, we made it safely across the mountain range and the view down to Beirut is a stark contrast to the countryside in Syria... much more green vegetation with a wonderful blue backdrop of the Mediterranean Sea. Driving in down-town Beirut is a nightmare though, particularly without the assistance of a good street map. The traffic is terrible and the plentiful one way streets make it even more difficult to get to your destination. As much by fortune than anything (and after taking a detour with the wrong co-ordinates in the car's sat-nav system) we stumbled across our hotel for the night... Le Bristol.
The stressful journey was made worthwhile that evening as we met up with some friends and colleagues who had also made the trip over from Damascus that day. It turned out that the restaurant we intended to eat at was closed that evening due to a wedding function, so we ended up taking taxis to the pedestrianised downtown area to see what was on offer. This part of Beirut is almost too good to be true... it's akin to the nicest streets of Paris (complete with Buddha Bar) and we'll definitely return here in the summer to sit out and sip some coffee and absorb the atmosphere. We stumbled across the Japanese restaurant Shogun and decided to give it go (since we were all missing our fish quotient living in Damascus). We weren't disappointed... the sushi in this restaurant ranks amongst the top I've ever tasted and I subsequently discovered that the owners fly fresh products across from Japan twice a week to ensure that their reputation as the best Japanese restaurant in Lebanon remains unopposed.
The following morning we went along to the hotel's buffet breakfast and Beatrice ended up being entertained by a couple from Bahrain sat at the table next to us. Although we're still getting used to this sort of behaviour, it seems that it's quite common in this part of the world and Beatrice certainly seems to enjoy the attention!
After breakfast we stopped off at a shopping mall to get our retail therapy. Shops in Lebanon are pretty good and the shopping malls certainly as good as European ones, which helps explain how the Lebanese manage to look so well dressed and manicured. However, the prices in the shops are very expensive, noticeable more so than back in the Netherlands. For a country that does not have a great deal in the way of natural resources, it makes you wonder where the inhabitants get their money from? It was at the mall where we indulged in a couple of great coffees.
Before departing back to Syria, we popped into a supermarket to stock up on items that are difficult or expensive to find in Damascus (mainly pork products and alcohol... Lebanese beer and wine are both pretty good). The journey back was uneventful and the return boarder crossing went smooth, taking less than half an hour. I'm certainly glad that we visited Beirut, but given the stress of the boarder crossing and the drive (and the cost) I'll want to stay for a few nights next time. It will be nice to return early summer and sit on the beach and there are plenty of nice places to visit outside of Beirut, with great walking and cycling opportunities.
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