The Dip

“You’ve got four months of holiday this summer. Do something, go somewhere, travel. You’ll never get an opportunity like this again in your life.”
These were the words my father told me, April 2010, Thailand. Four months, 120 days...I thought. A boundless pool of freedom.

I felt a rush of excitement, a distinctive sort of happiness, a mood I only recall feeling as a little boy, opening presents on Christmas day. I’m standing at the gate as a queue slowly starts to form, the plane is boarding. A friendly middle aged white woman smiles at me from the corner of the room. I wonder, is she as eager as I am, what is her reason for boarding this plane, what is her story? I’m curious.
Middle Eastern Airways Flight: ME202
departing to Beirut 13:00 June 2 2010


“What? You’re going to Lebanon? Why?”
“Alone?!”
This was probably the reaction I most frequently faced from friends and family. But who could blame them. It was both random and spontaneous; completely out of the blue.
It was in April that I had decided to go to Lebanon, a place that to me seemed the perfect introduction to the Middle East. The capital, a place full of contradictions, would be the base for my travels. An inviting city with a mix of Western and Eastern cultures and a lively night scene, but also a place with a dark past that could still be seen along the bullet torn buildings scattered around the city. The consoling familiarity of Beirut’s liberal values acted as a portal through which I carefully dipped my toes into an ocean of alien cultures and customs, skimming the surface of a historic yet by no means static civilisation.

Thus it would be from Beirut that I would head north to trek in the Bekaa valley, south to dip in the Mediterranean Sea, and east to explore the archaeological ruins of Baalbek. This was not to say I wouldn’t pit stop at Jeitta Grotto, Byblos and Tripoli, all places I consider major highlights of my trip.