Waking in such a heavenly setting, we ought to loll for the better part of the morning. Then, a contingency during prep delayed our start even longer. While cleaning them, Sophie dropped her transparent teeth aligners in the stream. Since she feels for them particularly strongly, we made an effort to search. There was a chance, however slim, they got stuck someplace downstream. We even used twigs to simulate their course along the water’s surface. But it was futile. At last, we set out at 10 am.
The trail led us back to the main valley and up toward its head, where the Tannourine Cedar Reserve luxuriated. One of the entire trip’s most memorable highlights, this forest comprises the largest concentration of Lebanon’s national tree and flag emblem. Towering rigidly through space and time, green amid an arid desolation, rustling whispery tales of eternal mysteries, fragrant with primeval life essence, crooked by the gales of centuries, these majestic trees are among the oldest living organisms on the planet. The age of some surpasses 2,000 years!
This story is an excerpt from my book "Backpacking Lebanon", wherein I recount my one-month journey around this fascinating country. Check it out if you like what you're reading.
In profound wonderment, we unhurriedly climbed our way through the mesmerizing forest. A magnificent panorama of successive mountains appeared beyond the treetop canopy as we gained height. A small viewpoint kiosk was on the top, where we paused to savor a last sighting of this astonishing landscape. The quietude was interrupted by a military helicopter. It thundered its way above the forest at an altitude so low that, had it passed a few minutes later, it would have been on a collision course with our drone.
A short way down the other side, we reached the forest’s eastern verge where stood a ticket booth. As far as I recall, this was my first time paying an entry fee upon exiting a site. Then we proceeded along the dirt road that led there until it converged with the main road.
Meanwhile, the puffy cumuli that were accumulating since the morning had—for the first time since we came to Lebanon—fused into an overcast sky. This made the deserted resort and the lone food corner at the junction look all the more forsaken. The latter was open, and we walked in for lunch.
The interior was much homelier than the exterior suggested. There was a petite seating area with a cushioned banquette and a couple of tables bedecked with elaborate napery. Conveniently, it even had several power outlets all over the wall. While a soft drizzle broke out but never quite took off—just enough to add to the atmosphere—the gentle and blithe lady owner prepared us an exquisite and inexpensive meal which, among the typical Lebanese delicacies, included her specialty goat-cheese pie. With full stomachs and my thumb hurting after spilling hot coffee on it, we resumed our way.
A bit later, as we had just left the main road and were starting up a trail, a car pulled up behind us, and the couple inside called us to come back down to them in urgency. We did, and the man asked us to go around and open the trunk… This has got to be when a gory corpse lies inside in a horror story; or when a berserk, naked Chinese man jumps out in a raunchy Holywood comedy; but in this travelogue, it was full of cherries. He passed us a bag and requested we fill it up. Lacking sufficient backpack space, we had to carry it in hand.
Pleased by the clouds, we began ascending the arduous trail. It led to a dirt road that circumvented the mountain along its contour. Around the edge, the great Qadisha Valley came into view.
Defined by near-vertical cliffs often taller than 1,000 meters, this massive canyon stretches for 35 km between the foot of the country’s tallest summit and the coast. We stood high above its deepest part and stared at the opposite side, where we’d arrive after a three-day circuit via the valley’s head. Scattered throughout the smooth slopes above the cliffs on both sides, towns and villages glowed in the golden afternoon sunlight that reached them but not the cloud-laden mountain of our whereabouts. More brilliantly glowed a distant, narrow patch of the Mediterranean Sea that we could now discern for the first time during our trek.
We continued until we found a proper camping spot beside a clump of cherry trees and near an open-ended irrigation pipe. The only botheration was the hardy, thorny weeds that infested every bit of the flat ground. Lest they pierced our tent’s floor, it was necessary to eradicate them. It took me a good hour of laboring with the knife on my knees to clear a sufficient area. I earned the cup of tea Sophie made for me, which I now sipped while sitting on a rock and admiring the vista, unaware that we were not alone…
A loud footfall and slobbery panting sounded suddenly from behind. In the two seconds it took me to react, I envisaged a rogue shepherd dog and got mentally prepared to find out what a pair of canine jaws tearing your flesh feels like. When my reaction transpired in turning around and starting to stand, instead of a dog, I faced a charging boar a mere meter away. At the same moment, perhaps figuring that it had misjudged my size, it pivoted and scooted off at a similar pace to my racing heart. Satisfied with all my ribs and vertebrae intact, I went back to my tea until night fell.
Photos
View (and if you want use) all my photographs from Tannourine Cedar Reserve.
Accommodation and Activities in Lebanon
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