Hiking In The Kadeisha Valley

// December 31st, 2009 // lebanon

It’s New Years Day, and I have the afternoon free, so I thought I might as well talk about what I did last week.

The Kadeisha Valley is a small valley north of Beirut, and is rich with ancient history. In the rock faces of the sides of the valley, many old monasteries and chapels have been literally cut into the cliff face. Some of the things I saw were easily thousands of years old. Quite mindblowing when you’re next to it and absorbing the reality of it.

I joined a hiking team and we covered the valley, starting at one end of it, cutting down to the bottom and across to the other side, and finishing our hike at a village called Hasroun.

It’s supposed to be winter here, but temperatures soared on the hike. I’m willing to bet it was at least 30 degrees Celsius.

I found that hiking in general is a fantastic activity, but exhausting if you’re aren’t used to it (like myself). So hopefully I’ll get out into the countryside more often.

Hiking is great, but rock climbing, abseiling (there are some amazing rock formations that I will be sure to take pictures of, I recall seeing a massive stone arch at some point) and white river rafting are on the list.

It’s really amazing living here. The weather is fantastic and pretty stable, and the lifestyle you can have here makes it very hard to want to leave. Within a week or two, I will be able to snowboard on a mountain not far from where I just hiked.

Anyway, I took loads of pictures of our walk, and selected the best ones for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!

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