The Bekaa Valley is a two-hour drive from Beirut, depending on the mode of transport. Compared with Beirut, a cosmopolitan place with a Mediterranean, the valley is distinctly "Middle East".
The Bekaa Valley runs from Lebanon's north to the country's south. It's Hizbollah country. To the east is another set of mountains and then Syria.
Traveling north for a couple hours I reached Baalbek, home to the the world's second largest Roman ruins.
Yup, it's that big.
This mosque was right next to a restaurant where the shawarma sauce- chador took place.
Fact is, the Lebanese make some of the best shawarma in the world, along with great kebabs and awesome falafel.
I was enjoying a shawarma in a small restaurant. I had finished and crumpled up my wrapper into a small ball to throw away. Unfortunately for the chador of a woman customer, the spiced yogurt that had pooled somewhere in the wrapper exited out a small hole in a fine mist and onto the side of my garment.
There is a look on one's face what comes with the feeling of "oh my God, what did I just do!?!?!?" and a bit of a guilty conscience. My eyes immediately turned to the counter, as to convey with the shawarma- and falafel-maker "I didn't mean to".
His gaze didn't meet mine. Implausibly, nobody noticed, including the woman, who was standing less than a metre away. I was very surprised.
There was a quick decision to make: people here don't speak English. Should I point to her soiled outfit and make an "eek, I'm sorry face"? Should I bolt?
I tried to make myself as invisible and nonchalantly bolted. Into the mosque.
More pictures from the trip here.
