Bluedome - Round the World by Bike

Lebanon

What do you know of Lebanon and Beirut? Let's be honest: you've probably only read this far because you thought the title was 'Lesbians'. What I knew (or thought I knew) was a place ripped apart by fighting - tanks and rubble in the streets, concrete shells of buildings Emmental-ed with bullet holes. Fanatics draped with AK-47s. And if you should be foolish enough to enter the country... well you are sure to be taken hostage a la Terry Waite and John McCarthy. More like Front Page than Travel Page. A travel page should be telling you about places like this:
A tiny nation combining natural beauty with some of the juiciest history in the world.

The best food in the Middle East. A buzzing, invigorated capital city. Skiing, sunshine and the ocean...
The history of Lebanon is jaw-dropping. Byblos is the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world (over 5000 years old). A beautifully preserved Roman street runs alongside relaxed cafes and restaurants in the heart of Beirut. In a nearby square are 2000 year old Roman baths, the under-floor heating system clear to see. The baths were built, in turn, on the site of Phoenician baths 4000 years old. Today they are smack bang in the middle of Beirut city centre.

And then there is Baalbek, a site for which the superlative must have been invented. Its construction was a startlingly ambitious political statement made by the Romans at the heart of the vital Fertile Crescent between the Nile and the Euphrates. The largest Roman temple ever constructed, far bigger than anything in Rome or Athens. The temple of Bacchus is the best preserved temple on the planet. The mightiest building block ever cut lies nearby. Measuring 20x5x4 metres it weighs 1500 tonnes. The 'vast monoliths' of Stonehenge are a mere 50 tonnes. 40,000 people would have been needed to shift the 'Rock of Fertility'.

The Lebanese are proud people. They are proud of their hospitality and proud of their food and rightly so. Pepe's 'Fishing Club' restaurant in Byblos is legendary, a frequent haunt of the likes of Brigitte Bardot, Frank Sinatra and Marlon Brando in the 1960's. Hundreds of photographs testify to its glamorous clientele. In restaurants you are bombarded with endless plates of mezze (starters): hummus, tabouleh and fatoush salads, spinach and cheese pastries, flat hot bread and the fabulous baba ghanouj - a smoky blend of aubergines, tahini, lemon and olive oil. And then they bring the main courses! Ouch. A cornucopia of decadently sweet pastries and cakes to finish with.

The wines of Lebanon are a hidden jewel. The vines of Chateau Kefraya, Chateau Musar and Ksara are beginning now to be praised internationally, for Lebanon has an ideal climate: both Mediterranean sunshine and 3000 metre mountains gathering snow and keeping the land fertile.

How about this for a day in a holiday? A morning's skiing at Faraya or The Cedars, the afternoon at one of the most exquisite and important ancient sites in the world, sunset in a café watching the sun slide into the ocean before strolling around beautiful and friendly downtown Beirut as you select the restaurant of your choice from the myriad of high quality options available.

And then, when your friends boast of Rome's history or Greek sunshine or skiing in Austria or Parisian cuisine, allow yourself a little smug smile at having found all that rolled into one special little country. Welcome to the horrors of Lebanon!

Daily flights from London to Beirut. 41/2 hours. Major carriers including BA. Flights approx £450. Trailfinders 0207 938 3366
Car hire available (though Lebanese driving is rather crazy!), including Avis, Hertz, Europcar etc. Europcar $180 per week upwards. International Driving License needed.
Many tour companies to Lebanon, including:
Cox and Kings (0207 8735003)
Jasmin Tours (01628 531121)
Bales Tours (01306 885 923)