Epitome of Beauty - Lovely Lebanon

When I told people I was headed for Lebanon, their first reaction was: Oh, that's beautiful. You never know how beautiful any place is until you see it for yourself and it conforms to your perception of beauty. As a frequent traveller, I was a bit more sceptical. But hey, it was a truly pleasant surprise. Really pretty country, very chic, elegant, very European -- I could live there :) (In contrast, although I fell in love Syria, that's one place I wouldn't be able to live at).

If there was any picture which represented Lebanon (traditional Arabic name, Lubnan), it was this picture of a towering cedar tree with snow-capped mountains at its background. The Cedars of Lebanon.

Extremely challenging selecting the best photos for this site - as there are so many pretty ones during our four day stay. And to think I wanted to just take a peek at Lebanon -- war torn Beirut of course and then the ancient Roman ruin of Baalbek, which is a must visit for any history buff. Probably the best Roman ruin site for me in the entire trip.

Each place we visited probably deserves its own entry -- but some highlights will follow in the next entry.

Lebanon. If only it wasn't in such a bad neighbourhood. A couple of weeks ago, Israel & the Hizbollah based in Sidon (Saida), south Lebanon, were trading rocket fire. Missiles flying over your head isn't anyone's idea of security I reckon, and less so for a super Singaporean like me - this place affords me a feeling of protectedness which I get only in this sweet home of mine. God, do keep M safe.