In the Chouf Mountains near Syria lies the grandoise ruins of Baalbek, the scale of which needs to be seen. Towards Israel, Sidon and Tyre are cities mentioned in the Bible, with history way beyond even then. These places can be visited from Beirut, itself a city with much to offer.

The green line which divided the city of Beirut saw too much fighting for too long. Even today, bullet marks are visible inside the National Museum, near this building.

The bullet-ridden Intercontinental Hotel contrasts with a flash billboard, Beirut.
The two soldiers in bottom leftwere suspicous of my photographing, exlaining politely, "we've had a few problems." Talk about understatement.

As war raged in Lebanon, a Druze general rescued these masterpieces. Similarly, Beirut's National Museum staff rescued a priceless collection.

Beiteddine Palace. William Dalrymple tells the story of the mosaics here in his early book "From the Holdy Mountain."