Just below the perfumed cedar grove high in the Lebanese mountains, the
valleys rang with the song of nightingales, newly arrived from their spring
migration from Africa. Gilbert Mouhkeiber, a resourceful mountaineer and
long distance hiker shouldered his pack. “We have 140 kilometres (90 miles)
to cover in 8 days,” he said. “Let’s get going.”
Gilbert, with the 7 other members of the group had spent the last year
prospecting and laying out the Lebanon Mountain Trail, which now extends
north to south across the country for 350 kilometres (190 miles).
Funded by a grant from the American development Agency USAID, the Lebanon
Mountain Trail, known as the LMT, has been a long cherished dream of many
walkers. Joseph Karam, whose company ECODIT had coordinated the preparation
of the trail told us as we set out: “The LMT is unique – nowhere else in the
Middle East can you climb from the coast to the snowline in a few hours”.
Following ancient trading routes, shepherds’ trails and the occasional
metalled road, the LMT links Muslim and Christian villages passing through
farm land and high mountain terrain now covered in lush grass and wild
flowers.
Our first night was spent at the home of the Harb family above the small
mountain village of Tannourine with extraordinary views across steep
terraced valleys. Roused at 6 by the curious children of the house, we
breakfasted on Kiske – a traditional savoury porridge laced with goat cheese
and lamb, known locally as the knee bracer for its ability to sustain men
working long days in the mountains.
At two, after climbing along a river valley, we lunched high in the hills in
the shade of an old fig tree above the cave of Baatara. Here, an ancient
paved Roman road crosses a deep grassy bowl where water cascades for more
than 100 feet into a dark cavern below. Filling our water bottles at the
spring close by, we walked on into the heat of the afternoon, climbing
through orchards of flowering apple and pear trees in full blossom.
At four, the trail reached the col, still partially blocked by drifts of snow,
and we stood looking up to the high mountain flanks of Mount Sannine, a
blinding white mass in the strong sun above. Behind us shimmered the
Mediterranean and winding downhill the track led to the village of Accoura
where we would spend the night. The last kilometre followed a surfaced road,
and a series of smart off-road SUVs swept past on a rally into the hills.
Just below, by an encampment of makeshift tents, Bedouin women in
headscarves drew water from a spring. Migrant fruit pickers from the Bekaa
valley beyond the mountains, their lives and those of the jeunesse dorée
from Beirut in the four wheel drives seemed worlds apart.
That night we stayed with Sayed Hashem, who had recently returned from Boston
to his family lands in the mountains. Sitting out on his wide terrace, the
table piled with a vast Lebanese mezze, he toasted our arrival with arak,
the aniseed flavoured spirit he had distilled from his own grapes. “It is
good to be back," he said. “In the States all I did was work and sleep.
Life is not easy here, but God willing it will get better.”
Lebanon today is in a political impasse – the machinery of state frozen by
bitter internal wrangling between the western backed government and the
Hizbollah-led opposition which is supported by Syria. Yet one thing was
clear as we sat together under a sky full of stars. In our group of walkers
there were Muslims, Christians, atheists and agnostics. But here, the
troubles of this beautiful country seemed remote and distant. As Joseph said
when we went to bed that night, “In the mountains walking and nature are the
only things that really matters.”
For the next week we covered on average more than 12 miles a day, staying each
night in village houses. We fell into a rhythm of breakfasting early with
our hosts, and leaving with the children on their way to school before
climbing out of the village in the morning mists. Walking as the heat grew
in the mountains we would often meet shepherds, leaning on their crooks in
the deep pools of shade cast by juniper trees. Greeting us formally, they
would enquire after the health of our families before asking, slightly
incredulously: “ Where is your car – why are you walking?”
Local people would occasionally come with us to show the best paths. Said
Zaitr, elegantly clad in spotless keffeiyah, blue jacket and knee-high boots
walked briskly in the noon day heat. He told us that he was 87, recently
widowed and on the lookout for a new wife. He walked with us for half a day,
guiding us to several ancient Roman tombs in niches cut into a cliff face
with human bones still present. At three he bade us goodbye, gravely kissing
each of us before striding back along the trail.
In seven days we had reached the hills above Beirut, dotted with summer villas
and apartment blocks built by rich Lebanese and Gulf Arabs. The last night
was spent at the old summer resort called the Bois de Boulogne, owned and
run by George Jhosteen. “I have just refurbished the hotel,” he said
proudly. “I remember the good days of Lebanon - I am determined my children
will see the return of those beautiful times again.”
Our last day’s walk was a mere 8 miles and after climbing down through more
orchards we came to our final destination at the mountain town of Faloughra.
Here the mayor and his deputy had prepared a feast to celebrate our arrival.
We were thirty at table including the entire village police force of three
stout men in uniform. Deputy mayor Imad El Halibi raised a glass of arak. “I
drink a toast…” he said, solemnly, “… to you – the first walkers on the
Lebanon Mountain Trail. It is a happy day that lets us think there could be
a brighter future in these troubled times.”
Need to know
For the latest travel advice on Lebanon visit the Foreign
and Commonwealth Office website
For information on the Lebanon Mountain Trail visit its website
BMED fly to Beirut daily from £388.20 including tax. Tickets can be booked
through www.ba.com
The trail is best walked in spring or early autumn - I walked the route with the people who had prospected the route - we were the first do walk the whole section - there are to my knowledge no British companies as yet organising group walks. Contact the LMT via their website. They have a list of guides who can take walkers on the trail and can give advice on accommodation.
Nick Haslam , Saltash ,
Could you PLEASE put a bit more practical information in? You seem to have gone with a group? Who organised this? Was it a British tour operator? Do you have any details of organised excursions? Also, you photographs suggest that you went in Spring? Is that correct? Is that the best time to go therefore? I'm guessing that this time of year is a bad time to go because presumably there would be snow but it would be useful if you could confirm this?
I'm very interested in this trip but come on The Times, there are major flaws in this article that should have been spotted at the editing stage. I'd be very grateful if you could supply the missing information in the comments box here.
Sarah Davies, london, Uk