Ylliks

The opinions I had about Lebanon were mostly formed in my childhood with newscasts full about the raging civil war. A guy I knew went there as a peacekeeper for Unifil and came back with all kinds of horror stories. The region has always been a hotbed and just a few years ago things headed up again between Lebanon and Israel. But when 2 friends of mine went there to live for a while I decided to go and visit. Not only to see my friends, but also to see for myself what the country is like. Here are some of the things I noticed.

As it was the first time I visited the Middle East I had some predispositions about the region and Lebanon lives up to a few of them: regular power failures, chaotic traffic that seems to have no laws, not the best of roads, constant haggling about prices with vendors and taxi drivers and no “green thinking” whatsoever. But there’s also the friendliness and hospitality of the locals, the slower pace of life and the beauty of its nature. As with many countries it seems the politicians and its opponents create a unfriendly atmosphere (as is portrait on the news) while the local people are great to interact with.

Lebanon seems to be a place that want to gets back to its former glory with Beirut sometimes looking like a giant construction site. But it’s not trying to get away from its (sometimes horrid) past (the Hilton Hotel in Beirut which was completely shot in the civil war still stands untouched), preserving archaeological sites and I got the feeling people are proud to be Lebanese.

Especially in Beirut perception is everything. There’s a large difference between the haves and don’t-haves and the haves want to show it by buying big cars, flashy jewelry and designer clothes. Plastic surgery is also commonplace with women leaving the bandages for their nose jobs on even after it’s healed, just to show they can afford it.

Then there’s this thing that in my western views almost looks like modern slavery. Those who can afford it get nannies/maids from Bangladesh or the Philippines who have to take care of the household/clean/look after the kids. There seem to be agencies around Beirut where you can look in a brochure, pick the one you like and “order” one and pay them about 200 dollars a month (I’m told minimum wage is about 300, but for those women it’s a huge sum of money and for instance pays for the education of their children). I’m sure not all are treated like crap, but one time we were in a large supermarket getting some groceries for dinner and I saw this woman, maid/nanny with large cart and 2 kids in tow, who just pointed at the items and signaled the quantity. When it took the maid (this was a petite woman) some time to put 4 large 5 liter water bottles in the cart (balancing one kid on her arm no less) she definitely got an earful from her, well let’s call her employer. It was something to behold.

The countryside in Lebanon has beautiful mountains, valleys and various colors. Some of the sights are quite spectacular. Some of the historical venues in Lebanon are definitely worth seeing, especially the ruins in Baalbek.

Despite having soldiers with guns on almost every corner and having my passport checked at various check points, I felt completely safe there. Even in Baalbek, which is Hezbollah’s (now a legal political party) capital (again, some predispositions there) there was nothing to worry about. The southern part near the border with Israel can be somewhat scatchy, so make sure to check the safety advisory for the region.

All in all I had a great time there. Of course this has much to do with my friends Mark and Laura who have been the best of hosts. But Lebanon is a great place to stay with its friendly people, great atmosphere and interesting sights and sounds. It’s surely worth a visit.

For some impressions of my holiday you can also check out my Flickr photo set.

In this article Carissa Bluestone talks about ways to make voluntourism (in short: travel combined with volunteer work) more responsible. She also briefly touches on the subject of ego-tourism: people who travel somewhere to brag about it when returned home. Should you be envious of them?

Even in this recession people are still traveling places with exotic names like Malaysia , Bora Bora, Seychelles or Antigua. And there’s nothing wrong with that: people should travel wherever they want. But shouldn’t it be more about what you do on your holiday than where you do it? Sure, it’s nice to lay on a beach in Spain, but why do it for 2 weeks and not take in some of the beauty of the inlands? Why stay in a resort for a week in Egypt when you’re so near to the pyramids? Same goes for a stay in a resort in Costa Rica when nature’s beauty is just around the corner. Or those who go out and get drunk every night in Greece and lay around in the shade all day with a hangover.

Laying in the sun or going out and getting drunk is something you can do at or close to home. You don’t have to sit in a airplane for 10+ hours for that. Sometimes it seems that people just want to brag about having been some place, without actually experiencing it (although there’s always a question about how you can really experience a place when you’re only there for one or two weeks, but that’s a different discussion) or get a real feel about the country.

You shouldn’t be envious about those travelers.

Maybe a little envy should go out to people who travel and have the best of experiences. People who do and see things they can’t at home. Who take themselves out of their comfort zone. Those who have taken the effort to go outside of the mainstream places and try to get a feel about the locals and their way of living. The ones who try to get the most out of their travel and succeed. They not only show you pictures of beautiful places but tell you stories about how it felt to stand there or have a funny anecdote of what happened there. The kind of stories that make you want to go there.

And the thing about it is, is that you don’t need to go far to get those experiences. Sometimes you can even have them in your own country. It’s true what they say: travel is about the journey, not the destination.

Last week I took a city trip to the Irish capital Dublin (see pictures here). Here are a few things I noticed there.

• A lot of people I met were friendly and helpful. Whether it was the taxi driver from my drive to the hotel who gave me tips on what to see, where to get great deals or where to eat or the locals who saw you standing with a map in your hand and gave directions or people offering you a (albeit free) newspaper on the bus.
• Gaelic Football is a bit of a strange sport, but enjoyable to watch (especially in a bar with some Irishmen).
• If you’re not into meeting drunk/loud people: don’t go to the Temple Bar district in the evening/night. If you don’t mind it’s a great place to spend an evening enjoying yourself.
• Despite the smoking ban in places like restaurants, pubs, governmental buildings and the like, there are still a lot of Irish who smoke. Not just adults, but kids in their early teens as well. Maybe it’s more apparent because they smoke outside, but the smoking ban doesn’t seem to have the desired effect.
• Dublin bus timetables are more of a suggestion since the city is so jammed with traffic. It’s not a real problem if you’re not in hurry, but if you rely on it to get you to a certain place on time you could be in for some trouble.
• Also on the Dublin bus double-deckers: when you get up to the upper deck be sure to duck if you’re taller than 6 feet (1.83 m) or you’re gonna hit your head on the roof. Trust me.
• You have to be some kind of daredevil (or have a dead wish) to go biking in Dublin’s rush hour.
• People hold their mobile phones. They don’t put them in their pockets or bags. They just hold them.
• Not surprisingly: souvenir shops in Dublin have an abundance of green items.

Every countries’ inhabitants have their own unique characteristics and in Dublin that’s no exception. Experiencing those differences in cultures and habits is what makes traveling worth while.

Like many travelers I didn’t know any better than lugging my heavy suitcases around while traveling, packing things I didn’t even use during the holiday (just in case I “might” need them) and waiting and standing around for my bags to come from the conveyor belts in airports. Then I read this post on Tim Ferriss’ blog and I figured it was time for a change of habit. And my recent trip to London would be my testing case.

So in stead of my usual suitcase I decided to take a large messenger bag and packed it according to tips provided in Tim’s post and from this site. So what did I pack?

• 1 pair of jeans
• 2 white plain shirts
• 1 sweater
• 4 pair of boxers
• 4 pair of socks
• zip bag containing razor, deo, toothpaste, toothbrush
• adapters for mobile phone and camera
• international socket adapter
• camera
• MSR towel (yes, I’ve read Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy way too much)
• Pacsafe security mesh
• 2 books
• day bag (my usual smaller messenger bag)

All in all still a pretty substantial list, but small enough to fit comfortably in my messenger bag (but to be honest big enough to stop those “Man-oh-man I should pack more”-jitters) and weighing in at just under 6 kg.

My “one bag”-approach was vindicated about 10 minutes into my travels. Because of the early hour of the morning the escalator to the stations platform (I went by Eurostar; I think the pros to this way of packing will be even more evident if you travel by plane since you can take it with you as carry-on luggage) weren’t operational yet. In front of me was a man hauling his suitcase from step to step while I walked passed him with my bag comfortably over my shoulder. People had the same problems with their suitcases getting into the train and storing them in the front of the passenger cars while I just swung mine in the overhead storage above my seat. For me a bag/suitcase is just a vessel for storing your stuff during a stay in a hotel/hostel. It didn’t feel any different for me having the bag in stead of the suitcase. And since I did bring a day bag, I could happily trot around London, using it to store my map, coat (the English weather was unusually kind), bottle of water etc., etc..

There were some little difficulties to overcome. To give an example: I got a rather large stain in my sweater and had to find a way to remove it. Thanks to the very helpful hotel staff this was done rather quickly, were usually I would’ve thrown it back in my suitcase to take care of it at home after my trip was over.

Overall my experiences with this new way of traveling have been very favorable. There still are some things to iron out for next trips before I can be called a “One bag”-master but if it has taught me one thing it’s this: I’ll never travel another way again.