Skipped Baalbek

Decided to skip Baalbek. Not because of the kidnapping incident of 7 Estonian cyclists last month there.

My initial plan was to travel to Baalbek, stay there for one day before heading to Bcharré but since the spectacular mountain road between Baalbek and  Bcharré is still closed due to snow and ice, I don’t want to back track to Beirut to make my way to the north. Back tracking is unacceptable!

Minibus from Beirut to Baalbek costs LL 5,000, entrance to the site costs LL 12,000. So total cost is LL 22, 000 including return bus fare. Since I don’t want to get in the site and the bus fare is so expensive, I decided to skip Baalbek. I don’t want to pay money to see stones(sorry for fellow archaeologists) and I don’t want to pay money for the bus which will eventually bring me back to where I’m now.

Miki from Japan just came back from Baalbek today. I browsed through his camera and whispered to myself, ‘Ya, Baalbek is done!’ A French girl in the hotel asked me, ‘If you don’t want to see the site, then what are you doing in your traveling?’

’I’m currently learning for hitchhiking and CouchSurfing.’

Note: RM 1 ≈ LL 480