DAY 224 - Janusz Ratecki

One of the known Beirut grafittis. "Sabah" A Lebanese Pop Icon of the 60s & 70s Artist: Yazan Halwani Location: Hamra street.

DAY 224

06.08.2017; Beirut - Jounieh. After couple of days in Beirut it was time to leave the capital of Lebanon and march north, in the direction of the border with Syria. We decided to go along the coast as its considered as the safer part of Lebanon. The team that decided to march wasn't big - we were only 5 people, including two newbies: Ali and Hanadi, both from Beirut. 23km route in the hot Lebenes summer along concrete road was quite a experience. We arrived in Jounieh exhausted, with huge hope to rest. Unfortunately we had do wait until late evening to recover. Alex, Anna and Malika stayed in the logistics team. The next day me and Ismahan decided to take a short break from marching and recover on the cooler highland areas. GPS route: https://www.endomondo.com/users/13828223/workouts/1020494095

Jasmine (Switzerland), Ismahan (France) and Alex (Germany) in front of the accomodation place - Zico House, Spears, Beirut.
beirut lebanon august cmfa civilmarchforaleppo accomodation ismahan alex jasmine
Ismahan (France), Hanadi (Lebanon), Jasmine (Switzerland) marching on the Sunday morning through empty streets of Beirut.
beirut lebanon august cmfa civilmarchforaleppo ismahan jasmine hanadi flag
Hanadi (Lebanon), Ali (Lebanon) and Jasmine (Switzerland) leaving Beirut. Walking in Lebanon was not pleasant at all - all the time along big roads, full of traffic and noise. The space was hardly ever suited to the needs of pedestrians.
beirut lebanon august cmfa civilmarchforaleppo ali jasmine hanadi flag
Hanadi (Lebanon), Ali (Lebanon) and Jasmine (Switzerland) marching along busy road connecting Beirut with Jounieh.
beirut lebanon august cmfa civilmarchforaleppo ali jasmine hanadi
Ali (Lebanon) hectic student of the agricultural university, social volunaatry worker; peace cause supporter. Ali joined us in Beirut and stayd (with some breaks) until the very end of the march. He organised accomodation place in his house for the march. Respect Ali!
lebanon august cmfa civilmarchforaleppo ali running
Hanadi (Lebanon), Ali (Lebanon) and Jasmine (Switzerland) marching through Jal El Dib.
Jal El Dib lebanon august cmfa civilmarchforaleppo ali jasmine hanadi flag
Ismahan (France) exhausted by the heat, taking a 15 minutes break. Not long after the shot was taken we were forced to leave by a security guy; we were no match for an luxurious trade center (anyway closed on Sunday).
Jal El Dib lebanon august cmfa civilmarchforaleppo ismahan ali jasmine hanadi break tired
Ismahan (France) resting during next break in a juice shop.
lebanon august cmfa civilmarchforaleppo ismahan break tired
Jasmine following the "main" group in Dbaye. We were only 5 people marching at that day. In the background - Beirut's skyline.
Dbaye lebanon august cmfa civilmarchforaleppo jasmine
Hanadi trying to negotiate our pass through a private area. The whole quater was private and we found ourselves in a dead end. To return the same way meant additional 3km of marching in extreme heat. Despite of talks, we were not allowed to pass. Fortunately we hitchhiked to the main road. Arranging things in Lebanon, without knowledge of Arabic was sometimes difficult.
Dbaye lebanon august cmfa civilmarchforaleppo hanadi flag
Ismahan happy to go with the cable car (Téléphérique) taking visitors to Harissa. Its a key Christian pilgrimage site with a shrine dedicated to Our Lady of Lebanon (Notre Dame du Liban). We hoped to find accomodation place there, unfortunately without success.
lebanon august cmfa civilmarchforaleppo ismahan
Hosted by a cafe, we could stay there for a longer while and got some free drinks.
Jounieh lebanon august cmfa civilmarchforaleppo ismahan jasmine flag group hosts
Hanadi sleeping in the middle of Jounieh downtown.
Jounieh lebanon august cmfa civilmarchforaleppo accomodation hanadi
Malika (France) sleeping in the Jounieh police station garden. She commited to find an accomodation for this day but when the marching group arrived nothing was yet arranged. Besides of swimming pool in a 4 star hotel for the "Queen of the march".
Jounieh lebanon august cmfa civilmarchforaleppo accomodation malika
Jounieh lebanon august cmfa civilmarchforaleppo accomodation jasmine
Accomodation in Jounieh police station, in the middle of Jounieh downtown.
Jounieh lebanon august cmfa civilmarchforaleppo accomodation alex anna

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