The skiing in Lebanon trip

Did you know you can ski in Lebanon and it’s supposedly pretty good? Someone mentioned this to me, and of course, I had to go and check out this novelty for myself. It’s not that I’m a big skier. Actually, I’ve never skied, but the exotic slopes of Faraya in Lebanon seemed like the perfect place to learn.

Beirut has been on my list of places to visit for years, but the whole war in Syria thing has made it a little off limits. I always assumed the war would be a little too close for comfort. But when I met other people from KAUST (where I was working) had gone for visits and said it was fine, I thought maybe it was doable. I’ve learned after I moved to Saudi Arabia and felt safer than I did in certain places of the United States that what you see on TV isn’t always reality. It’s generally better to talk to someone who has been there recently and get the real picture.

 

Also, I had two friends who thought skiing in Lebanon was a brilliant idea and were totally up for going.

 

 

 

We arrived on Thursday morning and it was raining. A storm front had rolled into the area which meant that yes, there was snow on the mountains, but what equated as a little rain in Beirut resulted in a blizzard in the ski area. No worries. We would spend the day exploring Beirut and could ski on Friday.

EATING OUR WAY THROUGH BEIRUT

Beirut is a confusing, but beautiful city. We tried to find our way on our own, but Google Maps didn’t quite get the layout of the area and had us walking everywhere. Thankfully, my girlfriend could speak Arabic and could ask for directions…a lot of directions.

And in truth, being lost made the adventure even more fun.

 

This is considered a road in Beirut. Really.

 Walking in the rain added to our experience in a good way. Because we were cold and wet, our day became an adventure in eating as we had to stop for coffee, snacks, lunch, coffee, snacks, ice cream and more coffee along the way. We ate so much I was beginning to worry that my newly bought ski pants were not going to fit. 

 

Best Lebanese food. So good.

 

One of the best places we ate at was nearly impossible to find. It was recommended by the hotel concierge as being the best place to get authentic Lebanese food (I can’t remember the name but it was like someone’s kitchen).

 

It wasn’t on the main street, but down a narrow alley with stairways that looked like it was more of a path than an official road. It’s then you realize how old Beirut really is and that it was built long before cars existed.

 

The location of the oldest ice cream shop.

After lunch, our quest was to find the city’s oldest ice cream shop, which was even more of a challenge than the lunch place. This one was located on a real road, but the building was so old and full of bullet holes, we thought it was abandoned. And of course, it was closed that day because who would want ice cream in the freezing rain? We did go back the next day and get some though.

SO ABOUT THE SKIING…             

So what about the skiing? We tried. We really did. I even had bought ski pants and a jacket for the trip. The rain continued into Friday so that day was out. But Saturday the weather cleared and we drove up to the slopes. And yes, there was an amazing amount of snow. 

More eating at a bakery

Unfortunately, there was too much snow so the police would not let us drive up to the actual ski area as we didn’t have chains on our cheap rental car. Yeah, the skiing in part of the “skiing in Lebanon” trip was a bust. But it was a fun trip.

 I guess my destiny will be to learn to ski in Switzerland.

 Funny how that all worked out - considering I'm now living and working in Lausanne.