We continued our backpacking trip to Lebanon on 8th of April 2010. We moved out from Al Balad Hotel at 07:20 hours. Amid the chilly morning of Dimashq, Ahmed had waited for us with his Hyundai H1 since 07:05 hours. We arrived at the Syrian border around 08:40 hours after a brief stop at the tomb of Habil. Actually, from Dimashq to the Syrian border through the Mezzeh highway is about 30 kilometers away or about 30 minutes drive. Alhamdullillah, the weather was on our side and all of us were zealously excited to see what Lebanon has to offer.
We spent or rather wasted about 50 minutes of our time at the border merely because of the unorganized implementation of processes. I believed there are systems and good processes in placed, but because of the poor management and attitude of people, time was wasted, customers grumble and tarnished the image of their beloved country. What had agitated me most during the 50 minutes was; we were ‘kicked’ from one counter to another, etc. and at one instance, there were group of people who came later immediately entertained simply because of ‘felus’. It was a matter of principle. I’d prefer to stay hours in the queue rather than denying my dignity.
We left the border at 09:30 hours and arrived at Lebanon border 15 minutes later. As we approached the border, we were a little bit worried by the presence of fully equipped masculine looking army and police officers. They were however, very friendly and kind to us. It was more organized here as compared to its neighbor. While waiting for Azmi to settle the immigration matter, amid the freezing weather, we had good sips of tea and coffee at the nearby kiosk. Amir helped me to change my USD at one of the money changer 50 meters away from the Immigration office next to the well-maintained public toilets. Despite many cars and people, it took us about 30 minutes to clear up all the necessary things.
After happily crossing both borders, we went through Baalbek, but we decided to go straight to Jeita Grotto and skipped visiting the historical spots of Baalbek, which mainly are just the ruins or remnants of the old castle and palace. At a glance, the scenarios at the border town and other suburbs were more happenings, modern and serene as compared to Syria. Nevertheless, that was not what we were here for!.
Lebanon or Lubnan in Arabic or Malay is officially the Republic of Lebanon. Located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea, Lebanon is bordered by Syria to the north and east, and Israel to the south. Lebanon's location at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian hinterland has dictated its rich history, and shaped a cultural identity of religious and ethnic diversity.
The distance between the Lebanon borders to Beirut is about 60 km. However, we spent almost 2 hours crossing the mountain range before arriving at the coastal region of Lebanon mainly due to heavy traffics on the narrow winding roads. This was one of the things that Lebanon needs to look into seriously – the road system.
We continued our backpacking trip to Lebanon on 8th of April 2010. We moved out from Al Balad Hotel at 07:20 hours. Amid the chilly morning of Dimashq, Ahmed had waited for us with his Hyundai H1 since 07:05 hours. We arrived at the Syrian border around 08:40 hours after a brief stop at the tomb of Habil. Actually, from Dimashq to the Syrian border through the Mezzeh highway is about 30 kilometers away or about 30 minutes drive. Alhamdullillah, the weather was on our side and all of us were zealously excited to see what Lebanon has to offer.
We spent or rather wasted about 50 minutes of our time at the border merely because of the unorganized implementation of processes. I believed there are systems and good processes in placed, but because of the poor management and attitude of people, time was wasted, customers grumble and tarnished the image of their beloved country. What had agitated me most during the 50 minutes was; we were ‘kicked’ from one counter to another, etc. and at one instance, there were group of people who came later immediately entertained simply because of ‘felus’. It was a matter of principle. I’d prefer to stay hours in the queue rather than denying my dignity.
We left the border at 09:30 hours and arrived at Lebanon border 15 minutes later. As we approached the border, we were a little bit worried by the presence of fully equipped masculine looking army and police officers. They were however, very friendly and kind to us. It was more organized here as compared to its neighbor. While waiting for Azmi to settle the immigration matter, amid the freezing weather, we had good sips of tea and coffee at the nearby kiosk. Amir helped me to change my USD at one of the money changer 50 meters away from the Immigration office next to the well-maintained public toilets. Despite many cars and people, it took us about 30 minutes to clear up all the necessary things.
After happily crossing both borders, we went through Baalbek, but we decided to go straight to Jeita Grotto and skipped visiting the historical spots of Baalbek, which mainly are just the ruins or remnants of the old castle and palace. At a glance, the scenarios at the border town and other suburbs were more happenings, modern and serene as compared to Syria. Nevertheless, that was not what we were here for!.
Lebanon or Lubnan in Arabic or Malay is officially the Republic of Lebanon. Located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea, Lebanon is bordered by Syria to the north and east, and Israel to the south. Lebanon's location at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian hinterland has dictated its rich history, and shaped a cultural identity of religious and ethnic diversity.
The distance between the Lebanon borders to Beirut is about 60 km. However, we spent almost 2 hours crossing the mountain range before arriving at the coastal region of Lebanon mainly due to heavy traffics on the narrow winding roads. This was one of the things that Lebanon needs to look into seriously – the road system.
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