The Sunday started off well. My friend and I met at the foot of the stairs in Mar Mikhael. We walked to Gemmayze, got some breakfast at Paul, a French bakery/cafe, then hopped into a cab bound for the Cola bus interchange.
That's where we hit the first snag. There were no buses in at the place we were dropped off. After standing around for a while, my friend (who speaks Arabic) approached a man who also appeared to be waiting and asked about buses to Chouf. He told her that the bus driver was on leave because it was a public holiday but maybe another bus might show up. Thankfully, a bus did come not too long later and yay, it was a bus heading to our destination.
The way public buses work here is they wait until they're full before departing (but for 3000 LBP, about US$2, you can't complain). Since we were among the first to board, it meant a wait of almost an hour before we got going. By this time it was past 11.30, so our plans of a visit to the Beitadeen Palace, lunch and and afternoon hike had to change. Coincidentally, one of the passengers was a friend of my friend, and she had brought a friend along too. The four of us decided that we'd just do the hike and skip the palace.
We finally arrived at the village of Barouk at around 1 pm. Barouk is a Druze town and we saw plenty of people dressed in traditional Druze dress. I did not take any pictures, but you can see what it looks like here. Wikipedia says that: "The Druze are a monotheistic religious and social community found primarily in Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan. Rooted in Ismailism, a branch of Shia Islam, Druze beliefs incorporate elements from Abrahamic religions as well as Gnosticism, Neoplatonism, Pythagoreanism, and other philosophies, creating a distinct theology known to esoterically interpret religious scriptures and to highlight the role of the mind and truthfulness. The Druze call themselves Ahl al-Tawhid "the People of Monotheism" or "the People of Unity" or al-Muwaḥḥidūn "the Unitarians". The Druze community played an important role in shaping the history of the Levant, particularly Lebanon. The Druze's social customs differ markedly from those of Muslims or Christians and they are known to form a close knit and cohesive social community but also integrate fully in their adopted homelands."
The Druze are a secretive bunch. While there is information on their history and communities on the internet, there is not much information on their beliefs and religious practices. It has been said that this secrecy is because of their traditional need to protect themselves from accusations of blasphemy. A Druze friend told me that in some areas, they claim to be are a sect of Shia Islam to escape persecution. Another Druze friend explained that most of them only begin to learn about their religion later on in life (40+) and it is an arduous process to earn the right to read their scriptures. Each Druze family has a copy of the scriptures in the house, but they are not allowed/able to read them. He said that Druze children are told to keep anything they learn about their religion a secret from outsiders. Because Druze children and young people receive so little religious instruction, he said that many young Druze see Druze-hood as their social identity and a way of life, rather than a religion.
So in Barouk, we found a taxi and haggled with the driver to take us to the cedar reserve and pick us up again at later for 60,000LL (US$40). It was a rip-off for the distance but all taxi fares in Lebanon are a rip-off and we didn't have a choice. Split four ways, it wasn't too bad so we agreed and off we went.
Barouk Cedar Forest may be so named, but there are many more pine trees than cedars. The Lebanon Cedar (Cedrus libani) is native to Lebanon (duh!), Israel, and parts of Syria and Jordan. The Bible is filled with references to the Cedars of LebanonThe seafaring Phonecians used them to build ships, King Solomon used them to build the Temple of Jerusalem, the Romans, Greeks, Egyptians, and Ottomans also used them, Its usefulness and fame has acted as a double-edged sword. The cedar is now endangered thanks to centuries of deforestation and well, cutting down the trees for its valuable wood. The cedar is a national emblem of Lebanon and appears prominently on the country's flag. In this diverse and disparate nation, it is said that the conservation of the cedars is the only thing the Lebanese can agree on.
We followed a road in the reserve up the mountains. About 10 minutes into our walk, and weary of following a road rather than a nice trail, we were lucky to run into a park ranger who showed us a turn-off to a hiking trail. It was pretty rocky (had to watch our footing) and uphill the entire way. Not having done much exercise since coming to Lebanon, I was soon puffed.
The weather was perfect (maybe a little too hot). While it was still quite green, the golden hues of autumn were emerging. Beautiful autumn crocuses were growing on and around the rocky paths, adding colour to the landscape. It was so nice to breathe the fresh mountain air and to enjoy the peacefulness of nature, away from the endless honking and vehicle fumes of Beirut.
The funny thing was we kept thinking the cedars were around each corner we came too. But each time, nope, the trail continued. After about an hour, the trail finally ended and we found ourselves... on the road again. We did finally find some cedars after following the road for a bit. In the end, conscious of time and shorter daylight hours (it was the first day the clocks went back), we decided not to walk all the way to the main cedar grove. We stopped for a quick snack, then decided to turn back.
While we were still on the road heading to the start of the trail, a flashy Mercedes drove past, reversed back to us and stopped. Turned out that the driver wanted us to take a picture of him and his girlfriend, which we did. He offered us a lift and the four of us squeezed into the backseat of the car. Within a minute of him stating to drive (remember, this was a windy mountain road), he pulled out a 1 litre bottle of vodka, took a swig from it and asked us "you want some". Another swig later and we asked him to stop the car so we could walk the rest of the way. We could barely hold hack our laughter until his car was out of sight. I do hope he got home safety.
By the time we got back to Barouk village, we were starving as we'd missed lunch. By this time I had a splitting headache and was feeling a tad lightheaded. After a late 4.30 pm lunch (chicken quesadilla sandwich for me), I felt more like myself again. It's amazing what a nice meal can do.
Then it was back to Beirut by bus. All of us promptly fell asleep once we got going. Once back in Beirut, I ended a satisfying day with drinks and dinner with some other friends.
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| Cedars! |
