About 1 km east of Mount Nebo, you can see the spring of Prophet Moses, the road is torturous and steep the area is dotted by Eucalyptus trees, it is said that In need of water, Prophet Moses struck a rock with his staff and 12 springs emerged. Named Uyun Musa (Moses' springs) which are located near Madaba. We also encountered a fresh water crab living in the vicinity of the spring.
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On the highest point of the mountain, Syagha, the remains of a church and monastery were discovered in 1933. The church was first constructed in the second half of the 4th century to commemorate the place of Moses' death. The church design follows a typical basilica pattern. It was enlarged in the late fifth century A.D. and rebuilt in A.D. 597. The church is first mentioned in an account of a pilgrimage made by a lady Aetheria in A.D. 394. Six tombs have been found hollowed from the natural rock beneath the mosaic-covered floor of the church. In the modern chapel presbytery, built to protect the site and provide worship space, you can see remnants of mosaic floors from different periods. The earliest of these is a panel with a braided cross presently placed on the east end of the south wall.
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Departure 9:00am this morning from the SAS Radisson in Beirut. the weather has cleared up, destination is Amman. 80km to the Border, the procedure went pretty smooth, i decided to break away form the pack today, 65 minutes and 150km later I was at the Jordanian border. I sat at the border and waited for 90 minutes till everyone arrived and then we headed to Amman. Total kilometers covered today 333 on the dot.
In my younger year we used to spend 5 weekends a year in Sannine, the last time we stayed there was prior to the Lebanese war in 1974. Sannine as a summer resort has been superceded in the past years by more sophisticated locations such as Fakra. Going to Sannine brought lots of memories from yesteryears. The Hotel had 4 rooms, waking up in the morning we used to watch the bucks fighting for territory on the flank of the mountain. Today the area is rundown and looks like a ghost town, its a shame that such a nice area never blossomed, as it has the potential of a great outdoor activity destination.
Throughout this Journey 2 of my buddies are hardcore chicha smokers. I don't mind the occasional chicha, but not at 11:00 am. In any case we have been in and out of chicha places on a daily basis, the most authentic and interesting place was in Dinneyeh, it reminded me of a lost era where time stood still.
I am not the superstitious type, however today I feel a bit awkward, about us staying in Beirut. On the 13th day of the trip we have been confined tour rooms, due to extremely poor weather conditions. Some of the guys went to see a movie, I opted to catch up on some work and much needed sleep. I am longing to hit the open road and head to Jordan, as I hate confinement and unplanned surprises. I will use this time to catch up with some more friends this never ends when you are in Beirut, you keep bumping into people you know. Tomorrow definitely we are out of here!
Its 11:00am in Beirut, we are still stuck at the hotel, due to some unforseen events. The weather over the last 24 hours has been disastrous, I am still hoping we will make a move towards the border today. It has been raining cats and dogs all night, and the thunder is triggering off the car alarms every 10 minutes or so. This is the view from my hotel window.
Its been a great 5 days in Lebanon, although the situation is a bit tense these days due the election fever. We leave Lebanon in the morning with some unforgettable moments. There was not much to write about the nightlife as we did not have the chance to experience it. The streets were practically empty at night and we were too tired to venture out, after 8 hours of riding . As for the Radisson SAS Martinez I never got the chance to see the swimming pool, the only thing I did enjoy is my bed and my complementary Internet Connection, to keep this blog alive. Hellraiser signing off from Beirut. Tomorrow is another great day and another great destination.
I have been longing to have a day off from riding. During the last 11 days we have covered over 3900km and the weather lately has been rainy and gloomy. Some of the guys decided to go to Baalbeck for site seeing, I opted to stay behind with Abdullah while 3 of the gang chilled at the Hotel. I started the morning on the wrong foot by getting a
5:00 am wake up call by mistake.
7:00am went to the lab and got some blood taken to test my levels of Trygliceride & Cholesterole, the result were within the limits, probably too much sweets and Mashawi.
10:00am Went to nearby car electrician to fix my fog light and my headset.
11:00am Went to ABC Mall, managed to loose 50$ after withdrawing them from the ATM
13:00 Went for a Lahm B3ajeen at my favorite shop.
13:30 Went to the Harley Davidson Dealer
15:00 Went to visit a buddy of mine
16:00 Went to the Barber to trim my Beard
16:20 Stop at Scholl to fix a toe nail
16:30 Went to visit my aunt
18:00 Back to the Hotel
18:30 Fixed the Highway pegs on the Beemer
20:00 Light Dinner
21:00 See my Brothers
22:30 Pack my Stuff
And I call this a day off?
Owned and managed by Marwan Tarraf, Bikers Inc. is a non offical dealer for Harley Davidson, I had the pleasure to meet Marwan in 2003, while riding with the Saudi team in Lebanon. Marwan is an avid biker and a Harley aficionado, irrespective if you are into Harleys or not, Marwan is a great guy to meet and he is more than happy to give you tips on where to go in Lebanon.
Bikers Inc
Chian Street - Kantari
http://www.bikerzinc.com/
