Day 4: Saida and Sour

Today we went into the South of Lebanon, first we drove out of Beirut in the direction of Saida [Sidon]. The town is along the Mediterranean and has an interesting crusader Castle which we stopped to visit. We also visited the souk which had no sellers because it was Saturday but had a stamp exposition in collaboration with the Turkish government that was open and free to visit.

After which we drove to Sour, to a nice villa owned by Souad's uncle where we spent the day's hottest hours. The house has a large outdoor living area near a pool on beautifully kept grounds. Other then a jack hammer who serenaded us for the first hour, there is such peace in the gardens, that you forget you're just 2 hours away [when there is traffic] from the chaos of Beirut.

This was my first experience main with Lebanese hospitality. [That is outside of Samer's family] We were treated to a feast, of which 6 of the 8 dishes I could actually eat. Several were fish dishes and I was made aware that the fish had been bought early the same morning from the fisherman, before it made it to the market. The food was just awesome.

We then went to visit the Al-bass archeological site in Sour [Tyr]. The site is impressive. I also saw probably the biggest aloe vera plant. Compared to my small plants at home!

We got back to Beirut it was dark.