Has a whole week really passed? It's my last night in Beirut and I've enjoyed every minute of it, except for the bit where I had a bit of a stomach bug. Last night I did a walking tour which was a great insight to the city's history. Everything that I had been looking at all week finally started to make sense and I already want to come back to Beirut. There's a lot of construction going on, so it feels like a city which is still developing, but it's rebuilding after the war. There's high rises being built next to abandonded homes. This new vs old is very alluring to me, but kind of sad at the same time. The same can be seen on the roads with beat up renaults next to flashy mercedes and bmws, and that's just the taxis. My first taste of the traffic was in a taxi from the airport. It was the type of taxi you read about that you shouldn't catch. It was the middle of the day so I felt safe enough and I'd managed to bargain down the price! With my english map, and instructions of where to go from his boss, my arabic (only) speaking taxi driver managed to get to downtown without too much trouble, but after the fifth lap of the block he muttered something in arabic which i took as "this is as far as I'll take you"! So down the street and around the corner, I found my hostel. As I'd read, the people are really friendly in Beirut, I felt safe the whole time and it's just all about being sensible, knowing what's happening in the news and knowing when to put your camera away! With three hours of the day of no power in Beirut, the internet connection speed isn't high on their list of priorities so photos will have to wait until I get back to Istanbul. High on the list of priorities for the people of Beirut is going out late and partying all night. The area I stayed in was like the High St Northcote of Beirut with a mix of cool bars, restaurants and shops all within walking distance. So while I've had a great time, I'd be interested to come back and see how the redevelopment changes life in Beirut - for the better I hope!
