The Beirut rock.
When I was a little girl, my parents regularly took me to a family-run Lebanese restaurant. I looked at the pictures on the walls depicting a faraway land, was delighted by the warmth and kindness of the people who ran the restaurant, and enjoyed the flavors of hummus, pita, tabbouleh. This was my first taste of Lebanon and what planted the seed of a desire to one day visit this country.
I was thrilled to take the opportunity to embark on Simon Sako's cultural tour of Lebanon, his annual (and often bi-annual) tour where he takes fellow lovers of belly dance to show them his home country. This 9 day tour was filled to the brim with delicious meals, dance classes, live music shows, and breathtaking excursions. To any dancer looking to visit Lebanon for the first time, I highly recommend Simon's tour. He curates an amazing experience where we fit so much in, yet still have time to relax. He selects the best locations to stay and visit and the most essential cultural activities, while also reserving time to study dance with himself and local instructors.
Byblos
I took this from the rooftop of our hotel - looking out at the Citadel and ruins with the sun setting over the sea in the background.
We stayed in an Byblos, an ancient Phoenician city, throughout the tour. Out of all of the places we visited in Lebanon, Byblos was my favorite, so I was glad that that was our home base. Not only is it a beach town (we could walk to the public beach from our hotel) that features gorgeous sunsets on a daily basis, but it is filled with history and charm. The citadel and ruins are a prominent feature in the town, which we got to tour on our first day. Byblos is also linked to the origin of the alphabet. According to our citadel tour guide, the Lebanese do not consider themselves Arab; they are Phoenician.
Byblos felt like a small town, where I felt comfortable walking everywhere on foot, including the grocery store and restaurants. Throughout my time in Lebanon, and especially in Byblos, I felt like I was in an Arab (or should I say Phoenician?) Europe - the Mediterranean atmosphere and architecture made me feel like I could have been in a European country, but with the Arabic call to prayer occasionally wafting in through the open window of my hotel room.
The Cedars of God
One of my favorite excursions on Simon's Cultural Tour of Lebanon was the Cedars of God. Located in the mountains, where misty shrouds of fog drape over the tree-covered cliffs, the cedar forest was one of the most serene places in nature that I have been lucky enough to visit. As I walked the winding path through the massive and iconic trees, occasionally stopping to smell the fallen tree pods that emitted a refreshing aroma of cedar, I heard nothing but birds twittering among utter peace and solitude. I took a moment to imprint that image of being in the forest of cedars into my memory, whenever I want to return there in my mind and feel that sense of tranquility again.
Baalbeck
We also visited the ancient ruins in Baalbeck as part of the tour. After a long drive, we arrived in the heat of the blazing sun to explore the historical site. According to our tour guide, the alabaster pillars came from Egypt and was made from one single piece of stone. It remains a mystery how such immense pillars weighing literally tons were moved and placed here. Some people believe it was aliens, but our guide suggested that it was achieved through some sort of lever and pulley system.
Tripoli
Inside an ancient bathhouse in Tripoli.
Visiting Tripoli, Simon's hometown, was a little reminiscent of Egypt compared to the rest of the country. More conservative than any other place we visited in Lebanon, the city of Tripoli has the feel of an old urban center. We visited a fortress, saw a panoramic view of the city, and walked through the streets and the market.
Jeita Grotto
Our final excursion of the trip was visiting the Jeita Grotto. I had been in a cave like this in upstate New York - a cool, wet, echoey chamber dripping with stalagmites and adorned with stalactites (yes, one of the workers there explained the difference to me). A highlight was being able to ride in small boats through the cave.
The Food
Ghazliye.
Oh, the food. I do not think I have ever consumed so much bread in my life. But oh, was the food in Lebanon divine. As a pescatarian/vegetarian, I ate extremely well throughout the trip. Fattoush - a salad highlighted by pomegranate seeds and a distinctive herb - was a staple in my diet, as were hand-cut french fries dipped in toom (garlic sauce), along with fresh pita and hummus swirled into dishes drizzled with olive oil (I can't eat hummus again without having a pool of olive oil in its center). Olives and pickles were always served with a meal, and often complimentary. I was happily surprised to find vegetarian kibbeh, a fried ball that is usually filled with meat, available at a few different restaurants (I was able to try pumpkin and spinach kibbeh). Grilled halloumi cheese, zaater with cheese, and kishick were other delicious dietary staples for me. I wasn't wowed by knafe, a cheese and honey dessert that I actually tried between bread, but I loved ghazliye, a pudding-like and perfumed dessert with a delicate birds-nest sugar topping.
The Music and Dance
With some of the girls from the tour and Alexandre Paulikevitch, one of the dance instructors we had a workshop with.
As in Cairo, I was delighted to find myself in a place where I recognized familiar sounds of belly dance music wafting from passing cars and played at restaurants. At a local outdoor bar, the music playing sounded like the DJ had plugged in my iPod. Dancing with Simon and the other ladies on the tour to Zai El Hawa with our bellies full from lunch at a roadside open-air restaurant in the mountains was a moment on the trip where my heart felt so happy. Interspersed with excursions, we also took dance classes with Simon, as well as two Lebanese belly dancers, one female and one male. I loved the opportunity to study the dance from the source.
We had two nights out to see live music, which was one of the highlights of the tour. The first night out we heard two different singers, one female and one male, along with a full band that included drums, oud, and qanun. There was no dancer but the restaurant goers filled the dance floor by the end of the night (or early morning). On our second night out, we went to a restaurant that had two different singers, a band of musicians, and a belly dancer. Live music is always a treat, but as someone who loves and is obsessed with belly dance, live Arabic music is heaven.
The Unexpected
I have travelled to many countries in the world, but there were still unique and unexpected things that I encountered while in Lebanon.
First, I was very surprised to learn that I could pay for things with American money. The dollar is considered more stable than the Lebanese pound so American dollars were accepted everywhere. I found it very strange to use American money in such a faraway country. Also, at the time that I visited in June 2023, the exchange rate was about 1 USD to 100,000 Lebanese pounds. I was paying for things with 100,000 bills with each bill being roughly equivalent to $1. It was crazy and also made it strangely difficult to do math sometimes when trying to split the bill with the other ladies at dinner. One evening our bill was over 14 million Lebanese pounds. All those zeros got confusing. I never saw a coin while I was there and the smaller denomination notes were like the equivalent of pennies.
I was also surprised to find that many people in Lebanon speak French. French words were sometimes more used than Arabic words - I think I heard "merci" as thank you used more often than "shokran." I also found myself totally lost with the language, as I have studied Egyptian Arabic, and the Lebanese dialect is so different that pronunciation and even vocabulary is completely different. For instance, "what?" in Egyptian is "eh?" and in Lebanon they use "shoo?"
The first time the power went out briefly at our hotel and then kicked back on a minute later, I thought it was a one-off occurrence. But then I noticed that it happened daily, and I saw it happen at restaurants, too. It was explained to me that the government only allots so much electricity per day, and often backup generators will then turn on once the government electricity shuts off. It seems like this is a regular thing that happens on a daily basis. It made me feel grateful to have what so many of us in the states take for granted.
I am so glad that I fulfilled my dream of visiting Lebanon, and that I did it on Simon's tour. I highly recommend Simon's Cultural Tour of Lebanon. Many people have negative views of Middle Eastern countries, but I felt comfortable and safe the whole time I was there. Simon truly does a fantastic job of showing all that Lebanon has to offer, from history and culture, to cuisine, to music and dance. I hope to return to this beautiful country again one day.
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