I spent a relaxing few days in Beirut after completing the trail. It was nice not to have a plan or a list of things and a schedule to stick to to see them all. I walked around seeing some art galleries and was impressed with the Marwan exhibition at the Beirut Exhibition Centre, see pics. It was nice just walking around and getting a feel for the place. I did a nice walk all the way from downtown west past the American University to the coast. It took me from so...

Today was the last day! This was a regular day on the trail through orchards, scrambling down terrace walls (for me anyway, the others took a more sensible route), spotting old trees, knicking fruit and enjoying the view. I keep saying we enjoyed the view, and I keep posting panoramas. It must be quite boring. Really you have to go. You have to see it, you have to walk through this place and earn those views, panting at the top of a climb seeing it all spread out...

Today I was sick, probably from drinking from a contaminated spring. Well, contamination is relative... I didn't have the required immunity ;-) I still had a lovely time walking around in Aaqoura. It was actually a nice change and my knees needed the rest too. There was plenty of exploring to do and after finding a convenience store to get some mobile credit and a can of iced tea I walked down the road to the foot of a cliff where there was a massive concrete...

Today's trail highlight was Tannourine Nature Reserve. I actually got cold here, and had to use my jacket! I enjoyed the thorough change of climate from Kuwait, where the searing heat of summer had only just passed. It's quite something walking outdoors and feeling like your eyes are burning, something similar to opening the door of the oven with your face too close. Here in Lebanon the weather was perfect for hiking, nice and cool. The Tannourine Nature ...

To be honest today was a tough day on the feet. I bought some snazzy, fashionable looking Otz leather boots at Avenues Mall in Kuwait and thought they'd be ok for the walk. They would have been, except they had these fancy soles like Birkenstocks with a ridge between the ball of the foot and the toes. Well, if they fit me correctly that's where it would have been but it ended up spending most of the day cutting into the ball of my foot. That's probabl...