BEIRUT in Capitals

Yes, I know I don't keep my promises. But I'm finally here, aren't I? Been back from Beirut for three days now. It's already Tuesday night and I haven't even written a word about it. But knowing me, you'll understand that when it finally comes to me I won't be able to stop writing. Trying to get there right now, but it doesn't really seem to work. As somebody in Beirut told me, intense experiences are difficult to express in words. So let's just take it step by step.

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A beautiful place hidden beyond barbed wire. A place where the thunder is louder than anywhere else, where rain stops any Internet connection, where lights go off every 4 hours, where people believe are less fortunate than others. Where traffic should have been worse than anything had ever seen. Hm, they knew I was coming from Bucharest, my daily Bucharest, hell on earth. Beirut, has great roads. No trains, no subway, not many buses. Just lots of taxis and a highway that goes along the seaside. And when I say lots of taxis I mean LOTS of taxis. There are two kinds of taxis in Beirut. There are the private ones, kind of expensive, but not much more expensive than Bucharest. The drivers would always speak either English or French, because most people who get into a private taxi are tourists. The really interesting things are the cabs called service. Most of them are old Mercedes, veteran Mercedes I might say. Cars that have been through a lot and have seen a lot.

The service cabs are everywhere and they would take you places for one or two dollars. You don't even have to call them. They call you. Cars stop while you walk along the road and you just get in and tell them where you want to get off. Difficult for a foreigner though. They will try to overcharge you for sure, as they don't have a counter. But it's fun. Because you get to share the cab. You don't know when somebody else walking along the road might get in.