Our first day in Lebanon has been amazing so far. We sorted out our transportation for the whole day and we left Beirut early in the morning. Got to Sidon, spent half a day there and after having the most amazing Falafel at Abou Rami restaurant in Sidon, we took a quick nap in the car on the way to our next destination of the day, Tyre ( Sour as locals call it ). Tyre, is one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world. Looking back in its history,this small town has been through a lot. The latest one was the south Lebanon and Israel conflict in 2006.
There are significant historic sites in Tyre but we only had half a day to visit Tyre and we were keen to see the daily life in Tyre rather than visiting the historic sites. Tyre is located 19 km north of current Israel-Lebanon border and you can easily feel the tension in the area, driving to Tyre, there are lots of military checkpoints. They are overwhelming at the beginning but you kind of getting used to them after the first few. It has a highest population of Shi’aa Muslim community along side christian community. Tyre is also located on Mediterranean coast and has a charming beach town vibe with cozy cafes and bars. All these facts made it an interesting destination, but of course won’t make it a popular tourist destination,. We only had few hours to spend but it definitely worth an overnight stay.
We got to Tyre early afternoon. Weather was extremely hot, so we decided to stop for a cold beer next to the beach. We divided in two groups, Amir and I went to walk aimless in the market and the old town and the girls went for a walk by the beach road. On the beach road you could find plenty of hotels, cafes, bars and beach clubs where you could enjoy the sun in your bikinis and shorts while having your cocktails. Few minutes walk from the beach, we walked into bazaar which wasn’t 100% live due to the heat but the atmosphere was completely different from the beach few meters away but definitely our kind of place where all locals hang out and all the action happens.
We walked through the market and ended up in the residential area with the old lime stone houses and french wooden windows with surprisingly pops of colors on the walls and doors. Streets were pretty much empty but charming. Walking through the old town, It was easy to wander around imagining life in the same streets for centuries under the influence of different countries, cultures and religions and how it shaped local’s life today. Impact of the french colony was obvious in the french style windows. All the trees and window flower pots were reminding you the Mediterranean beach town in Italy and south of France. The wall arts were reminding the presence of Islam and specifically Shi’aa community in the neighborhood and the conflict with Israel and all the memories of the civil war and the South Lebanon- Israel war.
Alleys were filled with the smell of Jasmine and lavender and from time to time, kids were running thorough the empty alleys and their laugh was breaking the silence of the lazy hot autumn afternoon. We haven’t seen many people out but had very interesting conversation with few kids, riding motorbikes. There were around 10 years old on the motorbike, enjoying the ride!! They stopped to stay hi and figure out what we are doing in their neighborhood. Amir noticed that one of the kids had some tattoo on his Arm. Being able to read Arabic, we could immediately figure out what was tattooed. It was the name of the first Imam of Shi’aa Muslims, Ali. Amir took his camera out to take a photo of his arm, and then all the other kids revealed their arm with the same or similar tattoos and stayed in a queue to have their photos taken.
There’s always mixed feelings involved when you see something like this. On one hand it’s shocking to see small kids riding motorbike with Tattoos on their arm and you start to judging their parents and then you start thinking it’s how they do things there and you have to respect it. The most important lesson is that sometimes you leave a place with some of your questions answered but you always come back with heaps more questions to think about than answers. That’s the best part of travelling, isn’t it? There’s always more to see, more to respect, more to think about and learn how to see the world and values through other people’s perspective before being judgmental.
It was getting dark and we had to go back to Beirut. We still had half an hour before meeting our Driver and the girls on the beach. Good excuse to find a cafe with AC to get away from the heat and get a cold drink before heading north. It’s roughly an hour and a half drive from Tyre to Beirut and it is relatively easy. It was a great decision to have a car for the whole day. We managed to see more with less effort. Ahmet our driver was great and we decided to go to few more places with him. But for the next day, we wanted to head north with the bus. Join us for our trip to Tripoli in the next post.
