Last weekend we did a trip to the South of Lebanon, discovering a completely different country. First, we visited Tyrus, a city that dates back to Phoenician times and we had a look at the ruins there. Today, Tyrus with its Souks in the old town looks a lot more oriental than Beirut.
The rest of the weekend we spent in a Christian village close to the Israelian border, one out of three in the area that is otherwise inhabited by Shiites and mainly controlled by Hesbollah.
A local youth organization took care of us and the young people gave us very interesting insights in their daily life that is shaped by their position between Israel, Hesbollah and the UNIFIL.
The UN-troops are very present in the region, located there to maintain the fragile peace after the 2006 war and the respect of the border, but without a real competence.
The youth organization tries to stop the increasing Christian emigration from the region that is considered to be part of the Holy Land by supporting the families, developing new agricultural opportunities and other forms of income.
The trip opened our mind to the problems that Lebanon still faces, and to the completely different life conditions within this little country.
The road marks the border between Israel and Lebanon
UNIFIL soldiers from Indonesia ... who is the tourist now?
A crusader castle that was used as a Hesbollah base and then destroyed by Israel
on the way home - after an inspiring and exhausting weekend! :-)
