Beirut – Ksara – Baalbek - Syria

The next morning we happily checked out of our crappy hotel and went to the bus station (which turned out to be an intersection) where we caught a mini-bus headed over the mountains to Zhale. From there we took a taxi to the Ksara Winery. The winery is unique because the wine is stored and matured in a series of underground caves. We dropped off our packs then enjoyed a tour and tastings! The winery was a fun, picturesque stop.
From there we continued onto Baalbek in Eastern Lebanon. My Lonely Planet Book sums Baalbek up very nicely: “Baalbek, the ‘Sun City’ of the ancient world, is home to the most impressive ancient site in Lebanon and arguably the most important Roman site in the Middle East. The ancient city has long enjoyed a reputation as one of the wonders of the world and mystics still attribute special powers to the courtyard complex. Its temples were built on an extravagant scale that outshone anything in Rome…” After reading this you would assume this site to be a “must see” tourist attraction, right? Well apparently TJ and I and one other tourist thought so! It was really amazing and a bit eerie to have the entire complex to ourselves! Or maybe I only felt a little sketchy when I heard the gunshots going off somewhere in the distance… Anyway, the site was really impressive and we enjoyed wandering around for a couple of hours.
Our accommodation in Baalbek was really cool. When we checked in we were the only guests at the hotel so the cute little manager gave us a wing that had a cozy room with an attached kitchen, bathroom, 2nd bedroom and a roof top terrace with stunning views of the ruins. It was a cool spot to watch the sun set over the city while glowing on the ruins. The only bummer was that I was starting to feel the onset of sickness here with the symptoms of a sore throat, stuffy nose and being freezing all the time. Fortunately our room had a black pot-bellied boiler to keep me nice and toasty.
From Baalbek we took a taxi to the Syrian border, walked across, took a mini-bus to Homs, a city bus, then another mini-bus to Hama and a taxi to our hotel. I will sum up our crossing the border experience by saying I highly doubt they get many tourists there.