Rally Cruising Logs: Notes from participants
Escape Key
Moonraker
Moonraker
Captain's Log & Levante Rally notes- Year 2005.1
Dear family and friends:
This cruising season will be quite different from previous ones since we are traveling as part of the Levante Basin Rally, a group of 12 yachts composed of Americans, Brits and Canadians. We are traveling as a group to facilitate visiting places such as Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Egypt where visas, travel permits, organized tours and other logistics are best handled as a group. We would not be making this cruise on our own. For more information about this rally, including photos, participant's profiles, progress and much more, visit our web site at www.dakare.com/levante/rally.htm .
Monday April 11 - Marmaris Yacht Marina, Marmaris, Turkey (3649.2 N, 2818.6 E) Arrived here today, having departed Dallas on April 6. Arrived in Istanbul (earlier Constantinople) on the 7th, via London, and spent 3 nights there getting over jet lag and touring the city. Quite a fascinating place, strategically on the shores of the Bosporus and the entrance to the Black Sea, it is the crossroad between East and West civilizations. Hope to go back and spend more time there
As in the past, we do not particularly look forward to the first few days aboard Moonraker after she has spent the winter on the “hard” (dry dock). Staying on board while we clean her up and get her ready for launching is not fun. Boat yards are fine for storing the boat and doing repair work but nasty otherwise. This yard has excellent hauling facilities with 3 travel lifts (300, 70 and 30 tons capacity) and 2 slipways. A 180 foot yacht under a large plastic “bubble” is getting a paint job and is quite a sight to see. The weather is very pleasant, cool and dry.
Tuesday April 22- Marmaris Yacht Marina. Happiness is (among other things such as health and well being of our loved ones) being back on the water. Moonraker was launched today and we are all smiles once again. We still have lots of work to do to get her ready for the Rally but no more climbing a ladder to get on and off the boat.
Wednesday May 4 - Anchored in Fethiye, South Coast of Turkey (3637.4 N, 2905.6 E) Arrived here yesterday after a day sail from Marmaris. Last Friday we took Moonraker out of bond and cleared out with Customs & Immigration as well as the Harbor Master. Although not necessary, this time I used an agent to save me time and grief.
Barbara is now a real “salt”. On an e mail to our daughters last night she didn't even mention the gusty and heavy winds (up to 35 knots or about 42 miles per hour) which we had during our sail yesterday and
how busy we were tending to the sails due to the shifty wind conditions. Nor did she mention the few other mechanical problems we had (such as a broken mounting bolt for one of the alternators), not totally unexpected since the boat has been in hibernation for 5 months. Fortunately we are now anchored in a much protected bay, the winds died down in the evening and we had a wonderfully quiet and restful night last night. It is the same tonight. The boat is so still you forget you are on the water.
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Four of the 12 boats going on the Levante Rally are already here. Today, several of us checked out the neat vegetable market and fish market where we bought fresh salmon steaks and shrimp, and had it cooked at one of the many restaurants surrounding the fish market. For 5 YTLs (Turkish Liras, about $3.50 USD) per person, they cooked what we bought and gave us a salad, bread and coffee to go with it. The salmon was OK but the shrimp was excellent. Late this afternoon took a taxi to the Sinai (industrial district) where I found a long alternator mounting bolt to replace the one that broke on the way here.
Friday May 7 - Anchored near Kas (3510.4 N, 2939.0 E) in company w/ Dakari, another Levante Rally yacht. Dan and Karen are the ones who developed and maintain the Rally's website.
We had to postpone leaving Fethiye yesterday to complete replacing the alternator mounting bolt, as well as performing other engine maintenance chores.
Today the winds were rather strong (20 to 25 knots) and "on the nose". Not a good choice to leave Fethiye this morning. We motored the whole way (10 hours). No need to do this. Kinda of embarrassing since I am one of the "weather gurus" for the Mediterranean Cruisers Net and in fact gave the forecast this morning. Rather complicated to explain but we left early, and by the time I downloaded the short term Navtex weather forecast (which is not part of the forecast which we read on the Net) we were underway w/ little wind and not concerned about the weather. By the time I re read it, we were too far along to return. It said the winds would shift and increase later in the day. And it did. On travel days, we need to get up earlier to get the weather forecast for THAT DAY AND READ IT before we leave.
Sunday May 8 - Anchored in Kekova Roads, on the way to Finike (3611.7 N, 2950.8 E).
Moonraker "slogged" into strong winds AGAIN yesterday. Can't quite understand why we keep doing this. We had the accurate forecast before we left this time. I guess we rationalized that it was a short trip and we didn't want to stay where we were anchored since the winds shifted during the night and we had to adjust our anchor @ 3:30 am. The boat swung too close to the rocky shore and our anchor alarm went off. Or perhaps our short time memory is getting worse and we forget that even "only" 4 hours of "motoring" into 25 knots of wind and 2 meter seas is not fun. It doesn't seem to bother the Co Captain as much as it does me. After she is through with her "watch" she simply looks at me, shakes her head a couple of times, curls up like a cat and goes to sleep. Anyway, we got here about 11 am in time to go to shore for a nice lunch with Rally friends. This is a great anchorage, well protected with a neat village (mostly restaurants and a convenience store) very close to the anchorage. This early in the season this place is very pleasant with just a few "day trippers" (small, picturesque ferry type boats) bringing tourists to eat or sightsee. There are a few of the ubiquitous "gullets", the smaller variety, anchored nearby waiting for their guests to arrive. Brother Joe saw them in Greece Aegean. These are beautiful, wooden motor sailors w/ 2 masts, lots of varnished wood and colorfully painted hulls. They are for charter to smaller groups as compared to the larger 3 masted ones which you see in Turkey and the Aegean Islands. Most of those have their hulls varnished as well.
Six of the 12 Rally boats are "holed" up here waiting for the weather to improve (meaning winds to shift back to the west, where it lives)
Our last stop in Turkey is Finike, about 15nm and we'll go there tomorrow. A couple of the Rally yachts left today. The activities in Finike have expanded so we are staying there 2 days longer than planned. We now depart at mid day May 12 for the overnight passage to Greek Cypress. Then we'll spend about 2 weeks in Cypress before jumping off to Syria.
Monday May 9 - Med Moored at Finike Setur Marina, Turkey (3617.6 N, 3009.0 E) - This is the rendezvous place for our rally and our point of departure from Turkey. All 12 boats are now here. A large number of the EMYR (Easter Mediterranean Yacht Rally) yachts are here as well. Our rally is an off shoot of that rally which has been an annual event for 16 years. It is a much larger group with about 80 yachts participating this year. Their pace is much faster. The route of both rallies has many ports in common but we chose the Levante Rally because of its slower pace.
While here, most of us gave the Hamam (Turkish Bath and Massage) a try. We wouldn't mind doing it again but at a more upscale place.
Thursday May 12 - Underway from Finike to Lachi, Cyprus, an overnight passage of 134 miles. After a long day touring and partying yesterday, we are taking it easy motor sailing in a light breeze. Yesterday the group did a bus tour of the Lycian Way. Highlights were the cave tombs of the city of Myra and the church and sarcophagus of Saint Nicholas. How he became Santa Claus and took up residence in the North Pole is beyond the scope of this narrative.
Also of interest was a stop for tea in the authentic 500 yrs. old Gokbuk village where very old village gentlemen gave up their seats on the park benches to accommodate our group. Last night we partied with the EMYR group at a get together sponsored by the Setur Marina. A good time was had by all. The EMYR group departs tomorrow.
Sunday May 15 - Med moored in Lachi Marina, Southern Cyprus (3502.4 N, 3223.8 E) - All arrived safely on Friday and moored without much difficulty in a cross breeze. Looked like we knew what we were doing. Officials were expecting us and check in went smoothly.
Cyprus has a rich history but is politically, religiously and ethnically divided. It became a Republic in 1960 but its constitution proved unworkable and the Turkish Cypriots minority responded with rebellion against the Greek Cypriot majority. In 1974 Turkey occupied North Cypress to protect the Turkish community there and the country has been divided ever since with Greek Cypriots fleeing to the South and Turkish Cypriots going North. Not many foresee unification anytime in the near future although admission of Cyprus to the EU community last year gives new hope. We shared a rented car w/ Bill and Jacqueline of S/V Sea Swallow to tour the majestic Troodos Mountains, Paphos and the wine country and a few archeological sites.
For the 5 Scuba Divers in our group, including myself, one of the highlights of our visit was the dive to the wreck of the roll on-roll off ship Zenobia, which sank in 40 meters in its maiden voyage in the 1980s. Trucks, tires and other debris are scattered around the wreck which lies on its side. On our first dive, using flashlights, we went through what appeared to be a covered cargo area and were guided by the light through a small hatch on the far side which we used to exit the ship. Others tried an introductory dive in shallow waters and Patricia on S/V Equus and Elaine on S/V Ginny became certified after 3 days of intensive training. Quite an accomplishment.
Wednesday May 25 - Moored in Delta Marina, Girne, North Cyprus (3520.4 N, 3319.9 E) - Arrived here May 18 in time to freshen up and don our pirate's costume for the much awaited Pirate's Party, held jointly with the boats or so of the EMYR. This will be the last time we socialize with them since they will be moving much ahead.
Friday May 20 was a banner day for group touring by bus. The highlight of the tour was the visit to St. Hilarion Castle, built in the 10th century as a lookout post. It was built integrated among the rocks of a group of steep cliffs and is very well preserved. There are several levels accessible by trail and steps which allowed us elderly folks to slowly hike to the very top and join the others. The view was spectacular. There should be great photos of this tour posted to the website by the time you receive this log. Also of interest were: the visit to The Church and Monastery of Saint Barnabas (son of a Jewish family who worked w/ St. Paul to spread Christianity and was killed by fellow Jews), originally built in 477 AD and rebuilt in 1756 during the Ottoman rule, now a museum, and the visits to the ancient ruins of Salami and the Soli Theater. The weather has been great, cool evenings (requiring light jackets) and pleasant days for touring.
Earlier this week we took a Dolmus (7-8 passenger public transportation) for the 30 minute ride to Nicosia, the divided capital of Cyprus. There are several “gates” where you can walk across by showing proper documentation (passports) to respective authorities on each side of the Green Line. The UN had jurisdiction of the buffer zone between the two sides. A sad situation. We chose to not cross over but several of our friends did w/o incident. The south side was reported to be more modern and affluent.
Thanks to our cruiser friends in the Levante Rally, yesterday we celebrated Barbara's birthday in grand fashion with an excellent covered dish supper which caught the Co Cap by surprise. The feast included a cake and candle. Even though the wind blew out the candle before she could do it, she claimed she managed to get her wish in.
This evening we took the short ride to the picturesque village of Bellapais, nestled in the nearby Finger Mountains where we enjoyed a North Cyprus International Bellapais Music Festival chamber concert of 2 clarinets and piano. It was held in the magnificent medieval Bellapais Abbey. A great evening for all.
Sunday May 29 - Anchored, NE coast of Cyprus (3540.4 N, 3430.9 E). Usually the coastal waters of North Cyprus are restricted and on occasion used for naval exercises by the Turkish Navy. Bill and Jean on Solei sans Fin, the leaders of our expeditionary fleet, obtained dispensation from the Coast Guard for us to stage here for 3 nights in preparation for our crossing to Syria. The anchorage has proven to be quite nice. For fun, we raft up all our dinghies for a Happy Hour (or 2) late afternoons. The water temperature at 71 F is still a little cold for pleasure swimming but makes it very pleasant day and night.
And tomorrow the fleet departs for Syria.
Stay tuned……
Captain's Log, S/V Moonraker Year 2005.2 -
The Syrian Adventure
Tuesday May 31 - Syria Yacht Club, Lattakia, Syria. (3532.6 N, 3545.8 E) Arrived here yesterday afternoon after sailing most of the way from North Cyprus. Immigration authorities were waiting and cleared us in without a hitch. Passports were returned today with visas for 14 days. Lattakia, founded in the 2nd century BC by the Seleucids, is the 3rd largest city in Syria and its largest seaport. The Yacht Club has its own basin just outside the port and a few kilometers from the city which makes it very safe and quiet. The preferred currency here is the USD. Prices for tours, dockage & fuel are quoted in USDs and must be prepaid. Fuel can only be paid in USDs. Taxi rides to town cost 1 USD and the “herd” immediately headed for the few ATM machines in town. These were recently installed and are still a novelty here. A brief tense moment the first time a passerby, wearing an Arabic tunic and a grin on his face, stopped to peer over someone's shoulder while using the ATM. No harm intended. Just being curious.
Approaching Syria:
The ritual of changing courtesy flags is performed at a convenient time upon arrival in the territorial waters of a new country. The yellow quarantine flag also goes up and will stay up until the yacht clears customs.
Here the flag of North Cyprus (notice its similarity to the Turkish flag) is being replaced by the Syrian flag.
Wednesday June 8 - Syria Yacht Club -Returned here last night after taking two tours of Syria by bus. It was quite a pleasant and educational experience which exceeded our expectations in every way.
The first tour was an overnight trip to Aleppo which included visits to the following places:
UGARIT - A small town just north of Lattakia where in 1926 a peasant farmer unearthed a few slabs of stone which were determined to be from a settlement dating back to the 7th millennium BC. More recently, it became the site of the historic Canaanite Kingdom of Ugarit which gave civilization the first 28 letter phonetic alphabet, preserved in a stone tablet from the 14th century BC. This alphabet is believed to be the ancestor of the Phoenician, Hebrew, Latin and Greek Alphabets.
One of the many underground tombs in the ancient city. In contrast to other countries with important archeological sites, many of Syria's sites are of recent discovery. There are many more discoveries yet to be made. Indeed a fertile ground for archeologists.
SALADIN CASTLE - An impressive medieval castle named after Sultan SALAH AL-DIN, a Kurd born in Takrit, current day Iraq, who in 1187 led the armies of Allah to defeat the Christian Crusaders and take over the Holy Land and Jerusalem including this “impregnable castle”. (For more details, please watch the excellent recent movie “Kingdom of Heaven”) Afterwards, he successfully defended the Holy Land and Jerusalem when the 3rd Crusaders, led by Richard the Lion Hearted, attempted to retake Jerusalem. The fighting ended with an armistice in 1192 which allowed all Christians to visit the Holy Land. King Richard departed in disappointment without laying a foot in Jerusalem or the Holy Land.BASILICA OF ST. SIMEON - St. Simeon, the Stylite, lived and prayed for 32 years atop a 60ft. column. The Basilica was subsequently built around the column.
The gang gathered around the remains of the base and column where St. Simeon prayed.
Two friendly “wannabys” sailing dogs wanted to join our expedition but there were no takers.
ALEPPO - Syria's second largest city, where we spent the night at a nice and convenient hotel. Before returning to Lattakia, we toured the Archeological Museum, the Citadel castle, a huge Souk (Bazaar) and a “Caravanserai” which in the days of travel by camels were used as “motels”. The entrance arch is quite high to allow camels & riders to get through. The center area was used as the parking lot for camels and surrounding it were the guest's rooms which were part of the protective walls. During lunch we met a group of young Iraqi businessmen, smartly dressed, who spoke a little English. They indicated a hopeless situation for them in Iraq and have come here for a better life.
From Aleppo's Citadel, which was constructed during the Crusades, there is a very good view of the city. If you look down to the street level, you see an endless river of yellow taxis scurrying around for fares.
The second tour took 4 days and 3 nights. The highlights are as follows:
PALMYRA - The jewel of Syria's antiquities, it is the 3rd largest city in Syria and was permanently inhabited in the second millennium BC. Located in the center of the Syrian Desert at an equal distance from the Mediterranean and Euphrates River, it benefited from the presence of subterranean springs (Oasis) which made it a convenient passage point from the river to the sea. Under the Seleucids, it became a first rate commercial power. Marc Anthony's soldiers arrived in 41 BC and final annexation occurred during Emperor Tiberius reign early 1st century AD. Unprecedented prosperity followed in early 2nd century AD. The sprawling, well preserved ancient city, dates mostly to the roman period and is certainly a site not to be missed on a visit to Syria.
Touring Palmyra by camel turned out to be major attraction. Here Barbara demonstrates the cross legged, two handed approach to “hanging on”, while at right, agent 007 demonstrates the “cowboy” style
From the Citadel in Palmyra, the gang eagerly awaits the sunset while sipping some Syrian wine, which, by the way, is quite good and inexpensive.
The impressive Sanctuary of Bel(their main God) is the most important monument of the city. It was built over a Hellenistic temple dating back to the 3rd millennium BC. Bel was the supreme deity of Palmyra. He was the unchallenged master of the cosmic order and was later assimilated to Zeus (God in the Greek Mythology) of the Greeks and Romans.
CRAK DES CHEVALIERS: The most famous castle of the middle ages, it was built on the site of a volcanic crater and has been damaged many times by earthquakes. It stands 2,300 ft. above sea level, overlooking the strategic valley connecting the East with the Mediterranean Sea city of Tartus and Tripoli.
Originally built in 1031, it was the headquarters of the Kings of St. John. It tells the story of two centuries of bloody and wild struggles between the Arabs and the Christians. Never taken by force, it was surrendered to the Marmeluke sultan Baybars in 1271 who rebuilt it and added parts.
DAMASCUS: The oldest continuously inhabited city in the world. For centuries the city was under the thumb of various Muslim dynasties and empires, including the Ottoman Turks. During WWI German and Turkish armies used Damascus as a base. Afterwards, the French gained control of the region. With Syrian independence in 1946, Damascus became the capital. We spent two nights here and included visits to the National Museum where we admired the collection of writings in Ugarit (the first alphabet dating from the 14th century BC, and in Aramaic (the language that Jesus spoke) and a visit to the Umayyad Mosque during prayer service.
UMAYYAD MOSQUE:
One of the oldest and grandest mosques in the world, it's built on the site of a religious temple built over 3000 years ago. It was first Armenian, then Roman, eventually became the Church of John the Baptist in the 4th century AD. Following the Islamic conquests in 635, Muslims & Christians agreed to partition it and perform their rituals side by side. When Al Walid decided to erect the current day Mosque at this site, he negotiated and agreed with the Christian Community in Damascus to construct a new church for them and donate several plots of land for other churches.
When the old church was demolished to make room for the new grand mosque, the only relic that survived was the head of St. John the Baptist which now rests in its own shrine in the mosque's prayer hall.
The shrine is a site of worship for both Christians and Muslims.
In order to enter the Umayyad Mosque, the ladies had to cover themselves completely. The mosque conveniently lends proper attire for visitors.
After witnessing the Muslim Prayer Service at the Umayyad, a juice break at one of the gates is called for.
Thursday June 9 - Syria Yacht Club- Now back to our work routine. The fuel truck came in yesterday as scheduled to refuel our boats. We had been alerted by other cruisers of their suspicion regarding the inaccuracy of the fuel truck's gage. So the first 10 liters pumped went into a 10 liter container….and only 5 liters were actually delivered. Caught them red handed. A second truck was requested and that one had an accurate gage. A 50% error. Arrangements for the fuel were made through the marina so no telling who all were involved in this rip off. Eventually the refueling was completed to our satisfaction.
Every one is busy doing boat chores and preparing for tonight's progressive dinner among the 12 boats.
Saturday June 11 - Syria Yacht Club - Shortly after our arrival on May 30, 3 of us took a taxi to Lattakia looking for an Internet café. Being a Friday which is a Muslim holiday, everything was closed. That's when we met George, a retired Syrian engineer who lived nearby and spoke good English. He made arrangements to have an Internet place open for us. He and the people whom we met that morning couldn't have been nicer. We promised to stay in touch and try to get together with our families. Finally last night, five of us on Equus, Kelearin and Moonraker went to visit and have dinner with George and his family at his apartment in the center of Lattakia. It was a delightful visit with his wife, 3 of their 4 teen aged boys and their charming next door neighbor who also spoke English. Her little boy acted as if the older boys were his brothers. We freely discussed politics, religion and Syrian culture and were immensely enlightened by these discussions. All the residents in George's building are Orthodox Christians but they live in a predominantly Muslim neighborhood. In contrast to other countries, they have lived in peace and with mutual respect for each other's way of life. This visit was one of the highlight of our stay in Syria.
Monday June 13 - Departed late afternoon for the overnight trip to Lebanon- Customs and Immigration Officials arrived as scheduled to clear us out of Syria. They were very courteous and friendly and we had an uneventful departure. Our stay in Syria exceeded our expectations. We found the Syrians to be very friendly and helpful. Tourism is not well known here so their friendliness was genuine. We were often asked what we thought of their country. We felt very secure everywhere and never saw soldiers with weapons. Most of the police we saw were the traffic type. Syria is a poor country with limited facilities outside the major cities. We stayed in very good to excellent hotels in Aleppo, Palmyra and of course Damascus. The prices for everything we needed were significantly cheaper than even in Turkey. Food was good. Syria has a rich history and possibly the best archeological sites in this region. Our tour guide and the land tours were excellent. We would highly recommend touring Syria to anyone interested in this sort of thing.
We had a great 15 day visit.
Moonraker moving right along to its destination in Syria. All hands in the cockpit enjoying this beautiful day. Temperature still very pleasant.
Next, LEBANON. Stay tuned…
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Captain's Log - S/V Moonraker Year 2005.3
The Lebanese Experience
Wednesday June 15 - Aqua Resort Marina, Jounieh (near Beirut), Lebanon. (3400.9N, 3537.9 E). Arrived here yesterday from Syria after an uneventful over night motor sail in light winds. The Customs & Immigration offices are located at Jounieh Marina, about 2 miles across the bay from here. The marina staff there was very accommodating, allowing us to go in 4 boats at a time to check in. After check in, the boats immediately headed for the Aqua Resort. The Marina here is quite small and with the help of the Aqua Marina staff, we managed to moor them all safely in very tight quarters.
Underway to Lebanon we watch the Dawn of a new day. This morning it was hazy and sunrise was not particularly spectacular but it is always a sight to see. Also, sunsets can be quite spectacular. Sailors watch them closely hoping to catch a glimpse of the Green Flash. Although I have never experienced such a phenomenon, many people including the Co Cap'n have. They claim that at the instant when the sun sets, there sometimes is a bright green flash of light over the horizon and the sky
Shortly after sunrise, as we approach Lebanon's territorial waters, we switch from the Syrian to the Lebanese courtesy flag. Please note also the yellow “quarantine” flag which indicates that we are a foreign vessel and have not yet cleared through Customs.
The Aqua Resort consists mostly of privately owned condominiums. It has many amenities including two swimming pools, one of which is Olympic size and the small marina mostly for small boats. The 12 boats from our Rally can be seeing moored close together, in Med.fashion.
Jounieh is located about 15 miles north of Beirut, in what the locals call Christian Country. Its casinos, clubs and luxurious resorts make Jounieh the capital of Lebanese hedonism. Public transportation to Beirut is reasonably good after you get the hang of it.
In contrast to Syria where Christians and Muslims have lived together in same neighborhoods peacefully for many years, in Lebanon Christians and Muslims pretty much stay segregated in their own communities.
Lebanon's population is around 4 million (including a very significant population of Palestinians Refugees from Israel), 70% Muslims and 30% Christians. Since the end of the seventeen year Lebanese civil war (1975-1992) which left the country in ruins, much progress has been made in the political and economic areas. Significant reconstruction has allowed Lebanon to reclaim its cosmopolitan atmosphere and welcome back tourism, an important source of income for the country. In the political arena, many reforms have given the Muslim majority more of a representation in government which was one of the reasons for the civil war. An explanation of the Lebanese Civil War is very complicated and certainly beyond the scope of this narrative. Suffice it to say that many atrocities were committed by the various groups involved including the ruthless Israeli military, which in turn led to the formation of Hezbollah (Party of God). Hezbollah is now the most prominent political force in the country. To date there is no peace treaty in sight between Lebanon and Israel and there is no direct travel between the 2 countries..
Sunday June 19 - We continue to enjoy our stay in Aqua Marina. The weather is now warm and very pleasant and we are enjoying the swimming pools and other amenities here.
There is a dive shop on the premises and a few good dive sites nearby. The prices are unbelievable low and the divers in the group got to do some diving. The first one was a wreck dive in about 100 ft. of water and was very pleasant. The second one was to be a cave dive but the seas were rough and the group got separated on the surface. By the time we joined at the meeting point, we didn't have enough air left to enter the cave.
Oh what fun it is to dive! The ocean water is still quite cool so we needed to wear 5mm wet suits. The wet suits have different buoyancy depending on how thick they are so we carry extra weights to add if needed once we check our buoyancy in the water.
Three of the ladies in our group are also divers. Two of them are beginners who just became certified in Cyprus.
We all had a great time even though we had to abort the cave dive.
On Thursday, the group took a bus tour to the Shouf Mountains south of Beirut stopping along the way to visit the Moussa Castle & Museum, built mostly single handed by Moussa over a 35 year period.
The museum has a wonderful collection of wax statues and artifacts depicting rural life in ancient times. You can also stop and share a cool smoke from a water pipe offered by a “typical” street vendor.
The Beit al-Din palace is a magnificent example of 19th century Italian influenced Baroque architecture. This is the summer residence of the Lebanese president. The Bet al-Din festival held every July and August attracts thousands of visitors and features international renowned musicians. Elton John has performed here.
Last night the whole group had a great dinner and show at the Al Bakawat restaurant in downtown Beirut much of which has been reconstructed in good taste to appear as it was before the civil war. Before dinner we strolled around the Place d'Etoile and as usual browsed in the many shops in the area. Also visited the burial site and Memorial of Rafiq Hariri, the ex Prime Minister assassinated in February.
The billionaire former Prime Minister brought economic prosperity to Lebanon. Up until the late 90s he was a strong supporter of Syria as a true friend who helped Lebanon in time of need and an ally in Lebanon's struggle with Israel. More recently, he advocated for Syria's military presence to end. He was well liked and respected across political and religious boundaries and his assassination sparked massive protests that hastened Syria's plans to remove their military presence in Lebanon.
Monday June 20th - Hired a tour bus & driver for a one day tour of the Beka Valley, the beautiful, fertile valley north east of Beirut, located between the snow capped Mt. Lebanon Range and its arid counter part, the Anti-Lebanon Range mostly in Syria. This area remains the bread basket of Lebanon and the home of many wineries. It is also “Hezbollah Country” and predominantly Muslim. Photos of Ayatollah Khomeini and many Hezbollah martyrs are not hard to find. Hezbollah's flags are everywhere. The temple complex of Ba'albeck, one of the wonders of the ancient world, is located in this valley.
Cruisers enjoy wine and never pass up an opportunity to stop and sample the wines at the many fine wineries in the Beka Valley. Here Barbara and the crew of Wayward Wind, Larry & Ellen Murphy prepare to enjoy one of the vintage red wines offered by this vineyard.
Dan of Dakari,
Bill of Sea Swallow
And Steve of Equus carry their loot to the bus. And this was only one of the several wineries visited.
The weather continues to be nice and dry but “summer is in the air”.
No visit to the Beka Valley is complete without touring the magnificent Temple Complex of Ba'Albeck, known to the Greeks and Romans as Heliopolis City of the Sun). Construction began in the 1st century BCE and the surviving temples today represent the single largest congregation of roman architecture in the world.
The Levante Rally explorers/cruisers pose for a group photo. Two couples are absent and Jim on Kelearin stayed home in bed with a back injury.
This is a view of the lower level of a few columns of the Temple of Jupiter. These columns are the tallest ever erected for temples and stand 76 feet tall. The temple of Bachus nearby, the “small temple” of the complex is larger than the Parthenon in Athens.
Every summer, the Ba'albeck Music festival is held here at the Great Court of the complex. Performances run the gamut from traditional Lebanese music to French Operas and Western pop music. Mansour Rahbani and Sting performed back to back in 2001.
Wednesday June 22- Some of the ladies traveled to a Palestinian Refugee Camp near Beirut. These camps (or ghettos) house refugees from land now occupied by Israel. The men are unable to get work so the Palestinian women earn money by selling their needle work. A lot of it is cross-stitching such as purses, cushions, vests, scarves and items to wear. The designs are derived from distinct patterns found on traditional wear associated with particular villages in Palestine.
The Association for the Development of Palestinians Camps has as one of their goals to improve living conditions in Palestinian Refugee Camps. One of their many projects is the Embroidery Project to create jobs for women living in the camps. The project provides financial support to needy families and helps women reach economic independence. At left is the “shop” where the women sell their products.
The pathetic situation of the Palestinian Refugees throughout the Arab world and the continued occupation by Israel of territory set aside for Palestinians (the West Bank) is the root of many of the problems in the Middle East. Most of the world and the UN recognizes the seriousness of this problem and there are UN resolutions addressing this issue which Israel has ignored. The US stands alone in their irrational support of Israel's behavior towards the Palestinians and occupied territories. This is probably the main reason we have become so unpopular in the Middle East and many parts of Europe and the World. The average American is very poorly informed on this subject.
Thursday June 23 - One of the cruisers in our group, Dr. Salah Yashouty is a Palestinian born retired Physician from Seattle, WA. In his youth he lived in Beirut and attended the American University of Beirut. His ancestors were very influential in the region and founded the Muslim Sufi (sect) called Shazolya Yashouty. His brother is the Inman or leader of this Sufi. Because of Salah, we were invited to share their congregation's weekly dinner and prayer service. This was a unique experience which left the group much enlightened and appreciative of their devotion.
Dinner is prepared by the ladies and served by the men. As guests we sat on the outside of the U shaped dinner table while the hosts, at first mostly the men, sat on the inside. Since there was limited room at the table, the hosts would vacate their seat as soon as they ate to make room for others. Social conversation was difficult since the average Lebanese speaks only Arabic. The leaders spoke English and we communicated
After dinner came the prayer service. Men and women pray in separate rooms. The women's room has closed circuit TVs which allows them to follow the men's service. In contrast to the Sufi Whirling Dervishes who are well known for their trance like whirling dance during their prayer service, this Muslim Sufi chants with a cadence leading to somewhat of a trance.. It is a very personal & moving experience. We were grateful and felt privileged at being invited to attend their dinner and religious ceremony.
Friday June 24 - Quite often the Marinas where we have stayed have hosted cocktail parties for the group. Aqua Resort is no exception. Here the charming owners of the Aqua Resort hosted an excellent get together in their luxurious penthouse apartment, overlooking the Marina and Resort complex.
The city of Jounieh can be seen in the background, across the bay. Beirut is out of the photo, about 15 miles south of here.
Lebanon appears to be recovering verye well from their devastating civil war. The Christian area around Jounieh is quite prosperous. However, we understand that Muslims are quite affluent as well and control most of the wealth in Lebanon. We were impressed by the friendliness of the Lebanese people, regardless of their religious or political affiliation. They are learning to coexist with each other if the Palestinian Refugee issue can be satisfactorily resolved, Lebanon will once again become the jewel of the Middle East.
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Our group with the hosts at the center and Ms. Odiel Daccache, the very helpful Marina Manager on the far right. Missing is Equus' Patricia who took the photo.
Sunday June 26 - The two of us traveled by bus to Beirut for a last visit before we leave Lebanon.
The photo above left was taken from the barricade preventing access to the site of Hariri's assassination. The St. George's Hotel is the building on the right.
The photo on the right was taken with a telephoto lens from a different angle. This whole area has been cordoned off and left as it was when the incident happened. Nothing has been touched, not even the automobiles parked there that day. A huge Memorial is planned for this area.
We visited the beautiful campus of the American University of Beirut (AUB) in the Hamra District of West Beirut. AUB has long been the intellectual center of Beirut and much of the Middle East. A place where Western and Middle Eastern thoughts and culture fuse together. Its campus flows down a lush cliff full of flowers and greeneries. It overlooks the sparkling waters of the Mediterranean.
Tomorrow evening we depart for the overnight passage to the port of Haifa in Israel. So we'll say “fair winds” for now. Stay tuned for the report from Israel.
The crew of Moonraker
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Escape Key
On the Road Again, 9 May 2005
Our 18-month stay at the lovely Marti Marina ended last week. We are now under way to what should be an adventure, the Levant Basin Rally. The rally is made up of twelve boats cruising from the S coast of Turkey to Egypt via Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon and Israel. Since in that region everybody pretty much hates everybody else and they all hate Israel, some care is needed to avoid stepping on overly sensitive toes. Our rally shirts have a circle of flags each representing the countries we are visiting. The Israeli flag is not so popular in part of that region. In Turkey and points W we proudly display our Stars and Stripes. Once we leave Cyprus, we'll find some way to make this less obvious. To say that the US stature in this part of the world - Israel excepted - has been completely, but needlessly, destroyed is an understatement. We are mirroring the Eastern Mediterranean Yacht Rally (EMYR), a flotilla of close to 100 boats that goes from S Turkey to Egypt. They do this in 5 weeks, we in 3 months. Yesterday morning at 0630 we were sitting at anchor in the lovely anchorage of Kekova Roads. The wind was blowing at about 10 knots. The wind is not supposed to blow at all at 0630, it's supposed to be dead calm until around 0900, then the wind comes up slowly, reaches maximum around 1500, usually about 20 knots, then slowly abates until the glorious sunset in dead calm. The last forecast we'd heard was for the usual: force 4-5, higher gusts. The EMYR was scheduled to travel from Gocek to Kekova Roads, a 75 mile day; that's a long day for a sailboat that travels at 6 knots.
The previous day we'd had lunch in the village with friends and I remarked that Escape Key had never dragged anchor (hitherto true). It came up in a manly conversation about anchors. Over beer. Conversations about ground tackle, where bigger is always better, are always manly. Beer is an appropriate accompaniment. Yesterday just before we were sitting down for breakfast, the wind was up to 20-knots in this protected anchorage, I noticed that the boat anchored behind us had started to move forward. To avoid hitting him, we upped anchor and moved toward the windward end of this mile-long narrow anchorage and dropped the hook in front of the most expensive boat there, a 55-foot Oyster. I'm always conservative in selecting a spot and in the amount of rode I deploy. So 10 minutes later we were set hard and, because it was very windy, we'd planned on boat chores (reading, sleeping, etc). Fortunately we'd gotten all we needed for lunch the prior day, so around 1300 we started eating in the cockpit, in the lee of the dodger. I admired the Oyster. It seemed to have gotten bigger. It continued to grow bigger. It, too, seemed to be moving toward us: time for another anchor drill. This time we moved all the way to the head of the bay where, in theory, it should be calmer. The wind was now gusting at close to 40 and steady at around 30 knots. We'd never seen this much wind in an anchorage in the Med before (but we've not anchored in the Gulf de Lyon when the Mistral is blowing). This time 40 meters of chain in 4 meters of water, set with 35 knots of wind and 2000 RPM of reverse. Our friends on IWANDA in the EMYR were constantly on our mind: if we were getting gusts of almost 40 knots, it would not be pretty “outside” and they had to round the notorious “7 Capes” where catabatic winds and crossing currents made conditions even worse.
The VHF rang out “Escape Key, IWANDA” at around 1500. They were entering the outer bay. Jane commented on the radio that it was uncomfortable in the anchorage. Radio silence, then “Jane, Jane, Jane, you don't know what uncomfortable IS in here!” They claim to have had 50-knots and 3-meter steep seas. That's only fun on the QE2 or to certain psychologically unbalanced persons. And that is the reason why, since we insist that we do not belong to the latter grouping (despite some contentions to the contrary), we participated in the Levante Basin Rally and not in the EMYR.
We are now under way, the day after the blow, motoring in dead calm seas to Finike, our starting point. There is still about a 1-meter swell, but it's comfortable enough to be below writing this. Jane is reading above deck and Halifax is crashed on the settee below. Currently the forecast for 4 days from now when we cross overnight to Cyprus is good. But weather forecasting is an inexact science.
Jane and Fred, Finike, Turkey
Goodbye Turkey! Thursday May 12, 2005, 1900 hrs, 86 NMs from Lachi, Cyprus
The 12 participants of the Levante Basin Rally all made it to Finike, Turkey, for the May 10 start of the activities. The marina is the host of three rallies: the EMYR (run since 1990 and limited to 80 boats this year) from Turkey to Egypt; the Vasco di Gama Rally in November that links to the EMYR and goes from Port Said down to Thailand; and our rally that has the same approximate track as the EMYR. The EMYR was at Finike with us and the marina management placed both our logos side-by-side on their activities announcements - not bad for a flash-in-the-pan rally. They threw a big cocktail, barbeque with a number of sponsors (vineyard, beer, Lipton iced tea,…). We felt a bit outclassed and we were certainly outnumbered. The EMYR gets a Turk Coast Guard escort, we don't. Finike Marina proposed to sponsor us next year: free dockage, t-shirts, et al. The legacy begins!
This morning the painstaking process of checking 12 boats out of Turkey took place (the EMYR visits a few more ports before crossing to Cyprus). Officialdom is the same everywhere, but when checking boats out, it's worse. One of our boats is flagged in Belgium with US corporate ownership and with Yugoslav guests. Escape Key passed with flying colors (Marti Marina had done our paperwork).
The first Levante boat moved out at around 1100, only about a half hour later than anticipated. Weather forecast was for NW 3-4 going to SW 3 overnight. It's 1900 and the wind is SW 3 (7-11 knots). An astounding feat as (a) it means the weather forecast is correct (so far!) and (b) it means we can sail, albeit not too fast. The sun is lowering, we have about an hour of daylight left, the waves are about 1 meter and we are moving at about 6 knots. Our destination when we left was 132 miles.
Our destination of Lachi, Cyprus, has a “new” marina and we are its first formal arrivals. The mayor is expected to greet us when we arrive and TV cameras will record the historic event. We were told to arrive at 1000, just about perfect if we can continue at this pace. One of our participants produces film segments for the Travel Channel show “Distant Shores”, our trip will be well documented. Plus we are all taking too many pictures that we will have to consolidate at some point (read: a terrific amount of work).
Friday May 13, 2005, 0300 hrs, 35 NMs from Lachi, Cyprus
The SW wind turned light SE around 2300. We started the motor, furled the genoa and left the main sail up to stabilize the boat. A sailboat cannot sail directly into wind. The seas were surprisingly lumpy considering how little wind there was and had been. We sail fairly fast for a boat our size and motor very fast, over 7 knots in most conditions. We had seen freighters and container ships on the horizon in the shipping channel we were about to cross. Once darkness fell, we didn't see a single ship - that's a good thing.
Friday May 13, 2005, noon, Lachi harbor, Cyprus
We arrived here after having the best sail we've had in the Med. We motored for about four hours before the wind came up again and continued at about 14 knots on the beam. As we approached Cyprus it strengthened. The last 7 miles would be sailing in the lee of the N coast of the island. The lee side of high islands either have no wind or have stronger catabatic winds. The latter was the case and we were soon seeing mid-20's wind. I reefed the main and replaced the big genoa with the small staysail trying to keep our boat speed below 6 knots to avoid arriving before the harbormaster arrived at 0900. We've not worried about going too fast before.
Escape Key was the first boat to cautiously approach the area where the new breakwater was supposed to be. About a half hour away a large RIB with a radar arch (not a private dinghy!) approached, had to be the police or coasties. We waved, they waved back. Good sign, friendly natives. They then proceeded to lead us into the “marina” (Greek style). A Turkish marina has marineros that lead you to your slip in a Zodiak, act as tug boat should you have trouble backing in, hand you the “slime line” that you tie the bow to and take your stern lines. The facilities are marble and slaves stand by to keep them clean. In Greece a “marina” has a solid quay with bollards to tie your boat to. As we were led into Lachi harbor by the police boat, there was a crowd of a dozen folks awaiting us. They all has uniforms on! The entire bureaucratic machine of the republic of Cyprus (Greek side) was awaiting us.
Southern Cyprus is Greek, northern Cyprus was Greek until 1974 when Turkey decided that it deserved at least part of the island and invaded. There were serious hostilities and in the end the island was divided with a closed border between the N and the S. Now that S Cyprus has joined the EU and Turkey wants to join it, the animosity has been reduced. In the past the Greeks had huge fines on the books for any yacht arriving from N Cyprus and did not permit boats leaving S Cyprus to travel to the N. Now it's permitted, but it's not a way to make friends on the Greek side. S Cyprus, having a British past, uses Cyprus Pounds for currency even though it is an EU member, has UK-style license plates and drives on the left side of the road. They also share the UKs paranoia over pets. While Halifax is chipped and EU certified, rumors had it that Cyprus was still no place to take your pets. So I planned on going bow-first to avoid having our cockpit and Halifax the cat visible to passers-by, for example a port policeman. At this point Halifax had been incarcerated in the guest cabin to avoid an unlikely appearance. Any sign of unusual activity she goes into deep hiding, but being a cat, she might just come on deck because that's what we want her NOT to do.
There was only one other private boat at the empty quay and we were instructed to moor next to it. It was stern-to and it looked suspiciously as though it was on its own anchor. Sure enough, this “marina” required you to med-moor on your own anchor. The uniformed folks took our lines and several welcomed us to the harbor with big smiles. The official “How To Be a World-Class Bureaucrat” guide specifically prohibits making any ingratiating comments to victims. There is no electricity or water and no facilities. But there will be. Stavros, the harbormaster, said that with a smile.
When first checking into the EU by private boat, paperwork is checked, passports are (sometimes) stamped, but it's pretty straightforward and, by EU law, no fees may be levied. Greece, a country with a profound tradition of bureaucratic excess, not only set new standards for paperwork complexity but also levied a permit fee (30E) and a quarterly tax. We had an oh-dark hundred departure from Greek waters a few years ago to avoid the $250 tax. The EU courts have reportedly stopped this recently. Cyprus, a new EU member, while charging no permit fees, does still have the full compliment of forms and officials with stamps. It seems to taken the basic Greek model to new levels of complexity. I had to see four different functions and at least 15 different pieces of paper were generated. One had to make several phone calls to somewhere to ask for interpretations of the forms. At the end of the process this stack of paperwork seemed to end up on the desk of a girl who was entering the data into a computer. This is an alarming development for those of us who sometimes take liberties with formal channels.
The Health Department stop was the one I was concerned with. Form number one: The Questions. “Has anyone aboard died on the way to this port and are you planning to land the body in Cyprus?”. Let me think.. “Are any passengers or crew infected with the Plague?”. (I'm not making this up). There were about another half dozen or so questions of a fairly diabolical nature, but nothing about Fifi or Tabby. So once again, the veterinarians win: we get the papers in order and nobody cares. Despite the convolutions, it didn't take that much time, all the officials were friendly and spoke workable English and I didn't feel put upon.
Late in the afternoon the group had a dock cocktail party that belied the fact that none of us had had too much sleep the previous night. It's a hard life, but somebody's got to do it.
Jane and Fred, S/V Escape Key, Lachi, S Cyprus
Cyprus Divided, 18 May 05
Cyprus in dua partes divisa est. Julius Caesar might have started his “Cypriot Wars” that way. Of course it wasn't divided when he was there, that's more recent. Cyprus was ruled by the Assyrians and some other eastern tribes before being annexed by Rome in 58 BC. The Romans installed indoor plumbing, fountains and proper shopping. The fall of the Roman Empire caused all of the latter to fall into disrepair as was the tradition in the Middle Ages. The island was captured by Richard Lionheart in the late 12th century, who sold it to the Knights Templar. The Knights then sold it to Guy de Lusignan, who, having recently lost his job as King of Jerusalem with an apparently significant separation bonus, was looking for new employment. Later the Venetians moved in and started building defensive walls too late to stop the Ottomans from capturing Cyprus. The Ottomans immediately converted the churches to mosques and built hamams (Turkish baths). Shopping improved again as covered bazaars flourished (though actually buying things became much more time consuming since every purchase required lengthy bargaining and consumption of at least one glass of tea). After the fall of the Ottomans, the Brits gained control of Cyprus in 1878 and Cyprus later became a Crown Colony. The island population was 80% Greek Cypriots, 20% Turkish Cypriots and 0% British Cypriots. The Greeks tried surreptitiously to get Cyprus to join Greece, the Turks were not amused and the Brits got out. The government in Ankara saw a need to protect the Turks and invaded Cyprus in 1974, seizing the northern one-third of the island and established the Turkish Republic of Cyprus that the Greeks call the Occupied Territory. Subsequent attempts at reunification failed and the island is now still divided. Turkey would like to join the EU and Cyprus (the southern “official” country) already is. Turkey has no hope whatever of joining as long as Cyprus is a point of contention. The amount of bitterness, often based on twisted facts, that still exists between the Greek and the Turkish Cypriots would seem to make reunification highly unlikely.
(Warning: political statement follows). There is a very visible and prolific military presence in N Cyprus. We saw several exceptionally large statues glorifying the soldiers who partook in the 1974 civil war. Homo sapiens' claim to fame is the ability to reason. We have the gift of intelligence that permits us to solve problems, be they of an engineering or of a cultural nature. When we invoke the military, this is a sign that we were unable to act as reasonable beings and hence that we have failed. Statues commemorating those who perished in such actions are reminders of those failures and urge us to learn from history, statues glorifying the combatants send the wrong message and we find this deeply disturbing. (E. o. p. s.).
Interestingly, going by boat from the Greek side to the Turkish side has not been a problem, the other way has until recently been impossible. As a consequence, when checking out of Greek Cyprus, giving a Turkish Cyprus next port is the wrong answer. There is, of course, nothing wrong with having a change of heart about destination once under way.
Greek Cyprus police take your passport when you check in, stow it and the stack of forms that are necessary for entry in one envelope per boat and issue a landing card. When you check out they trade the landing card for the passport. Last night's checkout was marked by a short heart-stopper when Escape Key's envelope contained only Jane's passport. They assured me that they'd find it as other passports were matched with boats. The last envelope did indeed erroneously contain my passport. A missing passport would not be a good thing. A fellow boater waiting to get his gun back and I were the last ones in the office. The port police asked me, as I was leaving, what our next port was. If it was a trick question, it didn't work.
Escape Key and the 11 other boats in our rally had a marked effect on the local wine trade as this is the last stop with affordable wine until we return. Small delivery vans from vineyards were dropping cases off at the dock on our last day. I bought around 50 bottles and/or boxes (gasp!) and Jane doesn't even drink wine. The boxed wine is actually quite drinkable and I need to balance refinement with economics.
We set off at 0700 for the 150 nm day to Mersin on the Turkish mainland. A captains' meeting once under way decided that actually Girne, 58 nms away in Turkish Cyprus would be a better destination. This especially since we had reservations at the marina there and were expected to partake in some yachty festivities there that evening. The weather forecast called for wind of around 15 knots from the WNW, ideal for our trip. Rarely have so many people been paid so much money to be wrong so often. The westerlies decided to be easterlies and we had an apparent headwind (from the pointy end of the boat) of 10-15 knots. Good thing we left relatively early!
Delta Marina, Girne, Cyprus
Delta Marina is a new marina (it said in the brochure) with all sorts of facilities (it said in the brochure). The other rally heading into the Levante basin, the EMYR, had filled the marina docks and we would be relegated to some make-shift docks until the EMYR boats left the following day. Docking (Med-style, stern-to) was exciting as it required dodging some under-water obstructions and tying up entailed a snorkler from the marina attaching ropes under water to a facing railroad track used to haul/launch boats. Fortunately there was little wind and therefore the pandemonium that so often accompanies this type of mooring didn't happen. In a departure from normal bureaucracy, four customs officials had come to the marina and were drinking tea at some tables at the end of our dock. In blatant violation of the “How to be a World-Class Bureaucrat” manual, I was greeted with “Welcome” when I arrived with my papers and was invited to sit down. I had to sign one document (that we were in good health) - it all took about two minutes. This was our best country check-in by boat to date. The “Q” flag came down and now the hard part began: how to plug in and replenish the water tanks.
Cyprus was British, so the power grid is a third world variation of the British model: huge plugs that only Brits carry adaptors for. None of the docks has power boxes, the actual plugs are on land at the end of the dock. The marina arrived with a 200-ft extension cord (Brit plugs) and the dock became a myriad of extension cords. Escape Key has a very, very long substantial shore-power cord and with on-board pig-tails and a cannibalized UK plug, we were able to reach the on-shore power box directly. Reason this is key: laundry, you can't run a washing machine (and we have one aboard) on a shared extension cord.
Water is charged for at 6E/hour ($9). So if you can fill your tanks in 30 minutes, that's 3E. It's interesting that all prices are quoted in stable currencies (E, $) and collected in local currency at the daily conversion rate. One minor drawback is that the water is non-potable. One of our boats topped up his tank before being made aware of this and so polluted his existing water. We're told that, until Israel, this is the norm. We drink bottled water and make tea and coffee from filtered tank water. Now we'll make coffee from bottled as well, not a catastrophe.
We'll be here for about 10 days as we cannot arrive in Syria before 30 May when our visas begin. We'll do some island touring in N Cyprus and just generally act like folks relaxing in the sunshine. The daily temperatures are quickly rising, good preparation for the countries to follow.
Jane and Fred
S/V Escape Key
Girne, Cyprus
Saturday 18 June - Beirut, the quest for comfort via public transportation
We've passed the denial stage: it's mid-June in the Middle East and it's hot! It's not that nice dry desert heat, it's the heat that's accompanied by westerly winds blowing humid air in from the Mediterranean. The solution: air-co on board. Except that we have none. We had a similar situation years ago when we had to spend 6 weeks in a marina in central Florida in July. I took a road-trip to Walmart and bought a window a/c unit for the companionway (the “door”). We could easily step over it and, for about $120 we had comfort on demand. If it worked in Florida, then why not in Beirut?
Step 1: get out to a home appliance store that I will call Circuit City because I can't remember its name, but like most modern stores here, it has an English-sounding name. This required the use of the public transportation system.
Financially secure Lebanese drive their cars, poor people take public transportation. There are no other criteria, such as environmental concerns or parking. The former isn't even a blip on the horizon and the latter is taken care of by whomever you visit: even the downtown McDonald has valet parking. Public transport comes in three main flavors: private taxi, shared taxi and bus. Private taxi is usually a late-model Mercedes with its paint intact and a sign that reads “Taxi” on the roof. The service or shared taxi is usually a more classic Mercedes that appears to have limped away from a demolition derby and was then vandalized. It also has the same “Taxi” sign on the roof. Finally, buses range from small 15-seat jitneys to larger commuter busses.
Fares for bus rides are either US$.50 or US$.35. The higher fare gets you about a half-hour ride. In my experience so far it's impossible to tell a private taxi from a shared taxi for certain other than asking “Servees?” The service taxis have fixed rates, about double that of buses (still a bargain) while private taxi fares are by agreement.
There does not appear to be a schedule or map showing bus routes, although it's doubtful that the routes are totally ad hoc. The service taxis need to be asked if they wish to go where you want to go. Depending on whether he already has passengers and, if so, if those passengers are going near to where you wish to go, the service taxi will take you. This assumes that you can express your destination in Arabic. We try to get our destinations written in Arabic on a notecard to show the driver. Getting from the marina to Beirut is no problem; any bus that passes by the marina goes to the central station in Jounie where the connection is made. It's coming back that's the trick.
Rush hour in Beirut is from 0700 - 0300. Rush means just that. An hour as a passenger in traffic here is enough to show that it's but a small step from vehicular kami-kasi to urban terrorist. The bottom line is that the road belongs to the car, all others are trespassers whose rights end when they approach the curb. Traffic lights are relatively scarce, for good reason. The Lebanese driver has carried the dictum that considers it unsportsman-like to stop for a light when there is little or no traffic from the “competing” side to it's logical end: if we don't stop for pedestrians, why on earth stop for an inanimate signal?
The Circuit City store was about 200 meters back from the bus terminal in the town of Jounie. I hopped on a jitney bus in front of the marina, only later finding out that they don't all go to the terminal, but this one did. The terminal in Jounie is not a formal affair. It's the intersection of a number of main arteries where a bewildering number of buses and taxis are randomly parked along the several roads. The stopped vehicles cause a natural traffic jam. Our bus stopped on the right side of the road, dropped off the passengers, then made a u-turn to park somewhere pointing back. I wanted to stay aboard so I'd see where to find this bus to go back. The driver asked me to get off (I think). I've learned to read Arabic numbers and this was bus 750, so I thought I could find it again.
Crossing the four-lane road to walk back to the store was a challenge. There are no crosswalks, lights or police to help, you have to simply pick your moment and make a dash for it. Religious conviction may be of help.
The most important component of a Lebanese (Mid Eastern) vehicle is the horn. As soon as you approach the edge of the road, the nearest cars honk their horns. This is simply to let you know that they are there and that crossing would not be such a good idea. They also honk their horns for no apparent reason. Often. I finally managed to get across and walked between the waiting buses, jitneys and taxis back toward the store. Every taxi asked if I needed a taxi - after a single honk of the horn. I've not yet mastered the Arabic “no” done by quickly lifting the chin and clicking with the tongue. In my zip-off long pants, bush hat and white polo shirt I was obviously a tourist, so they figured that the only reason I was there was because I was lost. An agitated young man approached me and asked me where I wanted to go. I said I was walking.
The door at Circuit City was opened by a burly man in a bullet-proof vest that read “Security” on the back. The store is modern-looking on the outside and is bright, clean and air-conditioned on the inside. It has three floors of the latest high- and low-tech appliances. To my pleasant surprise, there was a Radio Shack store within the store. With the exception of taxi and bus drivers and police almost everybody can communicate in English or French, there doesn't appear to be a rule as to which.
The salesman explained, to my deep disappointment, that window a/c units used to exist but have now been replaced by the more efficient split units. I lingered, as I'd not been in this type of establishment since France, but I couldn't think of anything to buy.
I walked back to the buses and it seemed that those that had numbers were 750 or 500. This was because 750/500 was the fare, not the bus number. Silly me, why would a bus have a number? I asked for “Aqua Marina Hotel?” and was pointed to a bus that seemed ready to leave. The driver acknowledged my question in a quasi-affirmative manner that didn't give me that warm and fuzzy feeling that he had any idea what I was talking about. He put the bus in gear. An animated man came running over and a discussion between him and the driver ensued at full volume. It wasn't clear what the disagreement was about or even if there was a disagreement, for Arabic sounds confrontational. The exchange did not end in hugs and kisses, men cheek-kiss here, but neither participant seemed angry. Achmed, the driver, departed in a cloud of dust and smoke, showing no mercy for the bus' drive train. A few seconds later the young man who had approached me earlier stepped off the curb to summon our bus. He now had custody of a half dozen tourists whom he herded onto the bus. He then walked around to the driver side and the latter slipped him some money. I'm sure that this is not a legal practice and it made me wonder where the bus was really heading.
Achmed, who had an almost full bus, dove into traffic with reckless abandon. The horn was almost constantly proclaiming his presence, but most drivers have been desensitized. Sitting directly behind the driver gave me a good, but discomforting, view of the potential carnage ahead. Achmed had several horn options, the standard horn, the ah-ooh-gah horn and, in an imaginative twist, an ambulance siren. Once traffic started to move slowly he used the siren with some success. Of course, should you be in a real ambulance minutes from expiring, traffic will be indifferent to yet another siren. At intersections Achmed always took the right of way. On several occasions he came within inches of a crash, but the other driver always yielded the last second.
When I asked him to stop (there are no actual bus stops) in front of the marina hotel and coolly handed him the 1000 LL note, I felt like a seasoned traveler when he handed me my change and we wished each other a nice day.
Jane and Fred Hoette
S/V Escape Key
Jounie (Beirut), Lebanon
July 10-12, Jordan
Israel is surrounded by countries, that to a greater or lesser degree, would prefer it were not there and have made a number of unsuccessful attempts to put those feelings into practice. Jordan and Egypt have normalized relations, while Lebanon and Syria have not. In fact, an Israeli stamp in your passport will prevent you from visiting Lebanon or Syria at all and maps that are found in those countries will show Israel as Palestine.
We planned on visiting central Israel and Jordan from Hertzliya, Israel where the marina is very good and relatively inexpensive. The border between the adjacent cities of Eilat, Israel and Aqaba, Jordan at the northern end of the Red Sea has been open since 1994 although, as a general rule, only to pedestrians. We took a bus from Tel Aviv to Eilat, then a taxi to the border, then walked the hundred meters from the Israeli side to the Jordanian side. Shopping carts were provided free for luggage transport, a nice touch since it was 45C/114F. Finally we taxied to our hotel in Aqaba. Buses and rental cars cannot cross. The Israelis charged us about $10 pp to leave and the Jordanians about the same to check in. One of my third world identifiers is a border charge for the privilege of spending money in the country being visited. When one country charges the citizens of another, the other usually reciprocates.
There is a distinct difference between Israel and most Arab nations. Israeli streets are generally clean, public transport is coordinated and you can walk through a shopping area without being accosted. This has not been the case in any Arab countries we've visited so far, though Lebanon had conventional western malls. Aqaba is a respectable city where we had a very nice, air-conditioned hotel whose price was actually $3 less than we'd been told by the travel agent. But it was an Arab city nonetheless. Appearences of some of the people notwithstanding, we have never yet felt personally at risk in ANY Middle East city.
Our agenda called for two days in Petra, a natural wonder and an important city in antiquity with many ruins; then an afternoon riding 4x4 vehicles across the desert in Wadi Rum and, finally, dinner and a night at a Bedouin desert camp.
Petra is Jordan's most popular and perhaps the world's most expensive attraction. Two-day tickets cost $40 pp! Petra has a number of trails, all of which entail climbing. The long trail takes five hours return. This means that, unless you are an early riser and in control of your transportation, you cannot do this without being there in the mid-day heat. Hence July and August are low season. You normally hire a guide on the first day, do the long trail and do short trails yourself the second day when you have a feeling for the lay of the land. Our group was eager to go and all but two of our 12 completed the long trek. The natural rock formations are breathtaking and the Nabateans (an ancient people) carved graves into the sandstone rock, several immense with columns, that were later used by the Romans and the Byzantines for other purposes. During the five hours, Bedouins, who are permitted to exploit this site, offer horse, camel and donkey rides; there are endless tables with the same trinkets for sale and dark-skinned children peddle junk-jewelry and postcards. None of it is terribly annoying and the prices are so low that you can't help but buy a few things. Ibrahim has a lunch truck near the gate where he makes delicious $3 burgers served on picnic tables among pine trees behind his truck. The second day our previously ambitious group withered down to five as many were wiped out from day one. Jane and I, who were there for the duration, scaled our day two program from “The Sacrificial High Place” to the less ambitious “Tomb Alley”.
The Wadi Rum Bedouin experience was presented as sitting around the campfire eating interesting food and experiencing the lifestyles of centuries ago.
There is another way to look at this. I have some personal hygiene phobias that years of therapy would not have alleviated: I cannot deal with being sticky for any period of time, let alone overnight. Water is a valuable resource in the desert and we were told that showers were not an option. When I add up the image of a caravan of open Jeeps, with me in the last one absorbing the clouds of dust kicked up by the lead vehicles driven by wild-eyed lunatics at unconscionable speeds while baking in a relentless sun, then it doesn't look so inviting. No inch'Allah here, I would deal with this. Not only were there supposed to be no showers, but no towels either (silly me) - it's a camp, not an Inter Continental Hotel. I attempted to purchase a small towel at the last hotel before the desert experience (I prefer not to steal things in a foreign country, especially not in a Moslem country). The hotel owner, claiming his towels were from Turkey (despite the tag “Made in Jordan”) demanded the equivalent of $45. Not too much room to negotiate as I had $3 tops in mind. Paper dinner napkins were as close as the nearby mini-market came to towels (using a dirty t-shirt hadn't occurred to me). We set off to the Bedouins with 200 dinner napkins and 3 2-liter water bottles reserved for my shower. I had a bathing suit in case privacy was an issue.
Wadi (valley or dry river bed) Rum is a desert with beautiful rock formations. The protected area is about 25 by 25 miles and can only be negotiated by camel or 4 x 4. The Bedouins, nomadic people, have encampments in the park and are the only ones permitted to guide tourists. We were to meet our two Jeeps along the main road; they would take us to drop our luggage at the camp and then for a 4-hour run through Wadi Rum culminating in a sunset over the beautiful moonscape.
The two 4 x 4's arrived and, to our satisfaction, they were of the Toyota Land Cruiser variety, enclosed vehicles with seats. The similarity ended there as, especially the one I was to ride in, seemed to have suffered greatly, first as an Alamo rental vehicle in a prior century, then as a much-abused Bedouin support vehicle. We noted that two of the wheels were only held on by three of the seven lug nuts, the front of the dashboard was completely open with a myriad of exposed, apparently unnecessary, loose wires. The back seat was held up by the spare tire. The add-on Salvation Army cassette tape player was balanced on the sheepskin covering the top of the dashboard playing through speakers, one of which was held up by its feed wires. The tape player was playing a tape of what sounded like tribal chants based on a three-note progression and suggesting that the lead singer was in great pain while his entourage commiserated. This monotonous droning continued throughout our journey as Saba, our driver, flipped the same cassette (perhaps “Ode to a Goat”) over about a half dozen times. Later inspection would show that some technical liberties had been taken under the hood as well.
We set off in a cloud of dust. Saba, whose English was limited to a few words, had to be reminded to keep his distance from the lead car so we would not be suffocated. This had the unfortunate effect of separating us from the more recent vintage lead vehicle so that later they did not see that we were disabled by a flat tire.
Looking for Rocks
Since there was a spare, there would have been no problem had there been a jack. It's not clear whether this deficiency was an economic issue, an oversight or “the Bedouin way” for it turned out later that neither vehicle had a jack. This is how you change a tire in the desert when you don't have a jack: fetch some large stones - this was not trivial as we were in the middle of a sand flat; pile them about a foot high (30cm) in front of the flat tire; drive the car up onto the stones; pile more stones under the axle or other sturdy support point; remove the hub lugs and pop the wheel off (this may require some jiggling) - the car should now be supported by rock pile #2; dig a hole where the replacement tire goes so that it fits and replace the tire; back off the rock support. It all took less than 10 minutes, most of which was spent looking for rocks.
The rest of the drive went without incident, the sunset was glorious and we returned to the camp covered with less dust than expected and without sunstroke. The temperature was 41C/106F, but it was dry.
Wadi Rum was a seabed and has fresh water at a depth of 20m/70', sometimes much less. The Bedouin camps are all located near wells, water was not a problem and there were two showers of sorts. I can report that it takes about 20 dinner-sized napkins to dry off from a shower (without washing hair). Our Bedouins were modern nomads and our meal was clearly brought in from somewhere else as there were no women and men don't cook in this part of the world. The meal went fine, no one objected to clandestine wine being consumed (most of our group are consummate wine drinkers who wouldn't think of traveling without taking a bottle along and sharing - I assumed that alcohol would be off and brought none).
We assumed that we would get less than a perfect night sleep and we were not disappointed. One of the two camp dogs decided to do a credible coyote impersonation and serenaded the full moon. There was talk of dog-sausages for breakfast, but while there were suspicions, no one seemed to know for sure which of the two canines was responsible so the perpetrator was saved by that shadow of a doubt. The trip back went without incident (see also “So Who Says Karen's Squeamish?” below) and we found Escape Key's cabin cool and comfortable as the A/C worked its magic.
Jane and Fred
Hertzliya, Israel
July 11, 2005 Wadi Rum: So Who Says Karen's Squeamish?
Women are supposed to be frightened of spiders, snakes and creepy-crawly things. We were walking around the Bedouin camp not as far into the desert as we thought we were, but still not within walking distance of a Motel 6, to pick out the tent that we would be sleeping in. Twelve of us had booked a trip into the Jordanian desert that included a night with the desert people followed by a morning caravan on camels to see the sunrise.
As we walked around to select our tents, a beetle about the size of a small chicken egg was hurrying in the sand, presumably looking for a large rodent or small household pet to attack. One of the ladies gasped and was less than enthusiastic about spending the night in the company of such creatures. I believe in being supportive and suggested that surely we were sharing the geography with many varieties of multi- and no-peded creatures. Karen, another cruiser who by her own admission, is not into roughing it, seemed like a good candidate for that little push that sends people over the edge. She and her husband own the largest and best-outfitted boat in our little group and she was already quietly bemoaning the fact that, unlike the builders of her yacht, the Pakistani makers of our tents had omitted the air-conditioning. I pointed out that surely the holes in the sand were bored by cold-blooded slithering vertebrates and that dangerous spiders and scorpions might be lurking in the dark shadows. Jane, who had earlier stomped on the unsuspecting aforementioned beetle in an act of kindness, accused me of being malicious and cruel. I continued my diatribe about spiders and snakes; Karen smiled and didn't seem to be near psychological collapse just yet.
We all retired to what would be a night of fairly cool temperatures considering that the afternoon high had been 41C/106F. Our sleep was frequently interrupted by one of the two camp dogs doing an excellent impersonation of a coyote at full moon.
At breakfast I asked Karen about whether she'd been bothered by any creepy crawlies overnight and she said, with a straight face, that the only thing they'd had in their tent was a scorpion. Conversations stopped. She said that he was still there; did I want to see him? OK, I'll bite (so to speak). She said he was under the floor pad and led several incredulous campers and me into her tent. When she lifted the floor pad, a scorpion, which did not enjoy its sudden fame, ran up the inside of the tent and stopped about halfway up. Karen was matter-of-fact about having shared her sleeping quarters in the dark with a scorpion. I need to be more careful about selecting my victims, because this was surely my match. Hopefully the Bedouins who clean the tent will notice the little rascal since no one remembered to tell them and, these days, few people can take a joke.
Jane and Fred
Hertzliya, Israel
Sea Swallow 6/23/05
This is an email I sent my family after my 60th birthday experiences in Lebanon:
Dear Family,
Thank you, thank you for sending birthday wishes! I really would love to have a birthday with each of you, so I really appreciate your greetings. This is the first chance I've had to receive sailmail, now that we are at sea, so have just received your greetings.
So here I am turning "sixty at sea"! Well, that sounds a little dramatic and not quite how it was! We are at sea at this moment, on the way from Beirut to Israel, sailing at night because the Israeli government will only check us in between 10 AM and noon and that's only the beginning of restrictions we will encounter there. But that's another story.
So allow me a few words about turning 60 in Beirut, mostly on terra firma. I started "the" day the day before, going into Beirut with the ladies. We went to several Palestinian "associations" where the refugees make and sell special embroidered things, from little change purses to lovely camel hair shawls that carry a price tag of $350. While I didn't do the $350 thing, with each shop I added to the bags I was carrying. The trip into Beirut was a little daunting from our marina in Jouniah, with two different buses to negotiate. After lunch and ice cream and lots of looking we headed home. I knew Bill was planning a "surprise" supper for me because the group had plans the next night (more about that later). At last we reached the marina gate at 6:15, for the party at 7. Barbara and I had been talking about being able to act independently of our husbands (possible of course, but sometimes not what happens!). We stepped off the bus and I counted my packages. Oh, no! My main bag, ie with the important cards etc., was not with me. I ran to the guard-“can you call ahead etc etc etc??” Blank looks. You have to understand the bus system. At each stop two or three ramshackle buses zoom in, hoping to take the customers; the real bus is a little better organized, white with a red stripe and real tickets. But who knows what bus we were on. And where was that husband of whom I could act independently? So I handed over all my packages to my lady friends and just looked around; then I calmly walked up to a car or the side of the road; “do you speak English? Yes, My story, Yes, I will help you” the man said and I entered his air-conditioned Mercedes and off we went. Our bus was in first place so it was not going to tarry. Fifteen miles and four busses later (Peter stopped all the busses saying he was the secret service!), I found my black bag right on the seat where I had left it!! With joy and renewed concerns, I returned to the car, which could now go towards its original direction, back to Beirut. Bit by bit Peter told me of his work with Christian TV, time in Italy and the US and all over. Well, it turns out he's a priest--I called him St. Peter! When we returned, all six of the gang were by the gate waiting for me; they didn't dare tell Bill I had vanished in a Mercedes as he was preparing my party!
And the party!! Our marina was across the bay from Beirut, on a beach. Bill had ordered grilled chicken for all, an exquisite cake decorated with fresh fruit, and a full moon. Under twinkling lights I received a spangly dress and a picture of myself dressed in Arab garb. It was a magical night. I felt I had arrived at 60 with a dear husband and an angel on my shoulder in the midst of a lively and loving group of cruising friends. I was also wearing the beautiful gold necklace Bill had bought for me in Syria.
In the morning of the birthday, Salat, our Palestinian surgeon who spent his practice years in Seattle, was visited by an old friend on another boat; the friend learned it was my birthday and insisted we drink chilled champagne from his stores. So after having champagne at 11 AM, Bill and I set off for Byblos, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world and one of those Phoenician cities I've been looking for, also the city whose name and the Bible are relatives. We had a fish lunch on the old harbor, next to Arab women covered head to toe. They told me the more beautiful the woman, the more she has to cover! A group of young Lebanese sang happy birthday to “tante Jacqueline” and said thank you George Bush. We returned to the boat to be met by St. Peter knocking and making plans to return the next day with his cousin; she had been in the car behind him when I abducted him! He was so shocked he forgot to tell her what was going on!
We knew the real birthday was dedicated to a dinner with the Sufi Muslim group. Salat's family left Palestine after 1948, settling in Beirut; his brother, father, grandfather etc are in a long lin
Moose's Nightmare in Egypt (ESCAPE FROM PORTO MARINA)
On the Road Again, 9 May 2005