I went on an organized day tour from Beirut to Baalbek - one that efficiently also encompasses the WHS of Anjar (and some wine tasting at Ksara, but I am not fond of that). We were a group of six, of which I was the only one having come to Lebanon as a tourist. The others were here for work or study.

Baalbek lies quite deep into the Bekaa Valley, which means that we first had to cross Mount Lebanon. It had been snowing until last week, and snow was still visible beside the road at the mountain pass. The road is not in great shape and is as busy with traffic as everywhere I have seen so far in Lebanon. The Bekaa is a fertile valley and the main agricultural zone of Lebanon. There were lots of fruit and vegetable stalls next to the road, as well as hanging slaughtered animals. Remarkable I also found the numerous tents of Syrian Bedouins, who apparently come here to work as agricultural labourers. The current city of Baalbek mostly has a Shi'ite population, and they quite recently built a glittering new mosque not far from the archeological site. In town, there also is a large Palestinian refugee camp.

We started the tour with a quick visit to a quarry for the Baalbek site, at which it becomes clear how big the monoliths were that were used for construction. The Baalbek complex begins with the Temple of Venus, just outside the core zone and mostly in the rubble. Then you enter the main site via an impressive stairway, the ceremonial entrance.

Behind that, the site opens up in all its splendour. The most impressive thing about Baalbek was the density of the remains and their height. The Temple of Bacchus looks almost complete (at least on the outside). There are finely sculptured details like the lion-headed gargoyles and the motifs on the side of the pools used for ritual washing.

The circuit ends at an underground passage. This holds the badly lit and moist Baalbek museum. I had a quick look but could not "warm up to it". The best parts are in the National Museum in Beirut anyway.