It is one of the places in this world that I must visit. Alhamdullillah, with the wealth and health granted by Allah swt, my dream came true. I have read and heard lot of stories about Beirut especially its ‘involvement’ in the never ending story of Israel-Arab crisis. Even though, the ambience and the relationship are considerably improving, but some of the wounds are still bleeding. CNN and some other Western media persistently conveyed half cooked messages to the people around the globe and some (news) of the stories were fabricated. They were, however, had successfully convinced people with their ‘news’ that had created a negative perception about the Arabs in general. Ironically, the Arabs or the Muslims themselves (definitely not all) influenced by the propaganda merely to satisfy their desire and on the other hand, sad to mention, had disregarded the truth of the Qur’an and al Hadith.
Talking about Beirut, it is positioned on a peninsula extending westward into the Mediterranean Sea, about 94 km north of the Lebanon-Israel border. It is the largest city in Lebanon and accommodates more than 2.1 Million inhabitants. The city is flanked by the Lebanon mountains; it has taken on a triangular shape, largely influenced by its situation between and atop two hills: Al-Ashrafieh and Al-Musaytibah. The Beirut Governorate area is of 18 square kilometers, and the city's metropolitan area is of 67 square kilometers. The coast is rather diverse; rocky beaches, sandy shores, and cliffs are situated beside one another.
One of the most famous districts at Beirut is Raouché – a densely residential and commercial neighborhood. It is known for its upscale apartment buildings, numerous restaurants, cliff-side cafés and its wide seaside sidewalk, the
Corniche, where strollers and joggers crowd the pavements in the evenings and weekends.
During one fine evening, we joined the crowd at the Raouché’s corniche. We strolled along the corniche while enjoying the Mediterranean breeze and meeting people from various parts of the world. Fun and entertaining! We went to the sexy beach and climbed the nearby cliff – for photo shooting of course! It was awesome! Some Lebanese teenagers greeted us in Chinese and some smart dude politely asked us - “where are you from?” – A standard question we normally we received from Arab kids, and sometime – “what is your name?”
Off the coast of Raouché, there is a natural landmark called the Pigeons' Rock (also known as the Rock of Raouché). Located at Beirut's western-most tip, the two huge rock formations, which stand like gigantic sentinels, are a popular destination for locals and visitors alike. Unfortunately, the timing was not suitable to capture the uniqueness of these rocks. I was not actually satisfied from the result of my efforts – see top picture above. Anyway, taking photo at this popular spot together with other craze shutter bugs was indeed a very memorable experience.
One thing that I must mention here; while sitting and relaxing at corniche, you will be able to see many high-end charming cars driven by exquisites and gorgeous high class Lebanese. Masha Allah! I paused and recalled a famous analogy: A good ship is called a ship when it functions excellently crossing the wild ocean. It needs water to function, but if the water fills in the haulage of the ship, it will not be able to function and sink. Henceforth, we need the world for us to build ourselves for the life thereafter, but be careful ! …Don’t let the world enter in you.
It is one of the places in this world that I must visit. Alhamdullillah, with the wealth and health granted by Allah swt, my dream came true. I have read and heard lot of stories about Beirut especially its ‘involvement’ in the never ending story of Israel-Arab crisis. Even though, the ambience and the relationship are considerably improving, but some of the wounds are still bleeding. CNN and some other Western media persistently conveyed half cooked messages to the people around the globe and some (news) of the stories were fabricated. They were, however, had successfully convinced people with their ‘news’ that had created a negative perception about the Arabs in general. Ironically, the Arabs or the Muslims themselves (definitely not all) influenced by the propaganda merely to satisfy their desire and on the other hand, sad to mention, had disregarded the truth of the Qur’an and al Hadith.
Talking about Beirut, it is positioned on a peninsula extending westward into the Mediterranean Sea, about 94 km north of the Lebanon-Israel border. It is the largest city in Lebanon and accommodates more than 2.1 Million inhabitants. The city is flanked by the Lebanon mountains; it has taken on a triangular shape, largely influenced by its situation between and atop two hills: Al-Ashrafieh and Al-Musaytibah. The Beirut Governorate area is of 18 square kilometers, and the city's metropolitan area is of 67 square kilometers. The coast is rather diverse; rocky beaches, sandy shores, and cliffs are situated beside one another.
One of the most famous districts at Beirut is Raouché – a densely residential and commercial neighborhood. It is known for its upscale apartment buildings, numerous restaurants, cliff-side cafés and its wide seaside sidewalk, the Corniche, where strollers and joggers crowd the pavements in the evenings and weekends.
During one fine evening, we joined the crowd at the Raouché’s corniche. We strolled along the corniche while enjoying the Mediterranean breeze and meeting people from various parts of the world. Fun and entertaining! We went to the sexy beach and climbed the nearby cliff – for photo shooting of course! It was awesome! Some Lebanese teenagers greeted us in Chinese and some smart dude politely asked us - “where are you from?” – A standard question we normally we received from Arab kids, and sometime – “what is your name?”
Off the coast of Raouché, there is a natural landmark called the Pigeons' Rock (also known as the Rock of Raouché). Located at Beirut's western-most tip, the two huge rock formations, which stand like gigantic sentinels, are a popular destination for locals and visitors alike. Unfortunately, the timing was not suitable to capture the uniqueness of these rocks. I was not actually satisfied from the result of my efforts – see top picture above. Anyway, taking photo at this popular spot together with other craze shutter bugs was indeed a very memorable experience.
One thing that I must mention here; while sitting and relaxing at corniche, you will be able to see many high-end charming cars driven by exquisites and gorgeous high class Lebanese. Masha Allah! I paused and recalled a famous analogy: A good ship is called a ship when it functions excellently crossing the wild ocean. It needs water to function, but if the water fills in the haulage of the ship, it will not be able to function and sink. Henceforth, we need the world for us to build ourselves for the life thereafter, but be careful ! …Don’t let the world enter in you.
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