National Museum of Beirut and local taxis.

Up early to leave my cell and say au revoir to the night porter. Breakfast at Hallab, famous for Oriental sweets, onto Jounieh for Zacs dentist appointment and finally back home to Beirut after being away for two days.

Visited the National Museum of Beirut housing artifacts from prehistoric to the medieval Mamluk period. It is surprising there is anything left to see as the building suffered extensive damage in the war. Most of the artifacts were saved by being walled up in the basement and the mosaic floors were covered in a layer of concrete.

We did the travelling today around Beirut by taxis. Theses are usually beaten up old Mercs. There are no metres so you need to bargain before you even get in.

The first taxi of the day had a driver that said we can pay anything we like, then proceeded to show us all the medical bills he has to pay for his sick daughter. Our second taxi driver had many brothers in Sydney and wanted us to visit each of them on our return to Sydney. The last driver of the day drove at 100km an hour through side streets, up on the pavement and squeezed into gaps that could not house a cockroach. All the while followed by what seemed a very cool young dude, driving a brand new shiny black Merc. I think he used our taxi as a way of clearing a path for him.

Qadisha Valley, Bcharre the famous old cypress pine .....

A huge day. Up at 6am and off to Qadisha grotto, Qadisha valley, Bcharre, The Cedars, a church and a monastery or two and the Khalil Gibran museum. Finally saw a fabled Lebanon Cedar.

Picked an apple from a tree and picked up a old guy who supposedly had not spoken for twelve months. He had converted from from being a Maronite to a Muslim and wondered why in the little Christian village where he lived every one hated him.

The Lebanese take their confession very seriously. You can't even legally marry across the divide. Did see "Civil Marraige Not Civil War" in Beirut, so maybe thing will change. People seem very curious as to your religion and the rejection of belief in the existence of deities is hard for people to even contemplate.