Beirut

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Nargile, Beirut

Introducing Beirut

What Beirut is depends entirely on where you are. If you’re gazing at the beautifully reconstructed colonial relics and mosques of central Beirut’s Downtown, the city is a triumph of rejuvenation over disaster. If you’re in the young, vibrant neighbourhoods of Gemmayzeh or Achrafiye, Beirut is about living for the moment: partying, eating and drinking as if there’s no tomorrow. If you’re standing in the shadow of buildings still peppered with bullet holes, or walking the Green Line with an elderly resident, it’s a city of bitter memories and a dark past. If you’re with Beirut’s Armenians, Beirut is about salvation; if you’re with its handful of Jews, it’s about hiding your true identity. Here you’ll find the freest gay scene in the Arab Middle East, yet homosexuality is still illegal. If you’re in one of Beirut’s southern refugee camps, Beirut is about sorrow and displacement; other southern districts are considered a base for paramilitary operations and south Beirut is home to infamous Hezbollah secretary general, Hassan Nasrallah. For some, it’s a city of fear; for others, freedom.

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Throw in maniacal drivers, air pollution from old, smoking Mercedes taxis, world-class universities, bars to rival Soho and coffee thicker than mud, political demonstrations, and swimming pools awash with more silicone than Miami. Add people so friendly you’ll swear it can’t be true, a political situation existing on a knife-edge, internationally renowned museums and gallery openings that continue in the face of explosions, assassinations and power cuts, and you’ll find that you’ve never experienced a capital city quite so alive and kicking – despite its frequent volatility.

Last updated: Mar 24, 2009

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Thorn Tree forum discussion

Recent posts

  1. krish1971 avatar
    Overnight at DOH

    by krish1971 14 September 2011

    I will be transiting through Doha in November enroute from Dubai to Beirut. I arrive Doha around midnight and my flight to Beirut departs…
  2. gode avatar
    RE: Sticky post suggested: Syria travel warning

    by gode 13 September 2011

    So as I promised, I would try to shortly summarize my experiences with traveling through Syria to Lebanon, then going to and staying in…
  3. JQA550 avatar
    Re: Lebanon - Outside Beirut

    by JQA550 13 September 2011

    I had a huge headache figuring out how to get permission to visit the south and where exactly one must request permission. So, to save…

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