Good morning, guys from the 14th day. 14th or 15th day already, time has been flying
by in Lebanon that just goes to show you it is an amazing time out here. When I
first got here I was thinking that I was only gonna stay maybe for two weeks. Then
it turned into a month and now today I just booked my return flight because I
gotta leave in a couple weeks to go to a friend's bachelor party, and then I’m
gonna come back to Lebanon because I’ve been loving it so much and there's
so much to explore in this city. So, speaking of exploring today is a sad day
first of all because now it's only the duo. Before it was the trio, we lost Luke
yeah, but we still have Fuad here, and we're very excited because we're going
to be heading up to Bsharri which is about 40 minutes or so. Yeah maybe 40
minutes and one hour. From Batroun, where we're at right now. And so,
good news is we had to make a quick little pit stop got some more Hilmi’s
lemonade; the famous lemonade from here in Batroun, and we're gonna have that as a
nice refreshing cruising beverage on our way up. And so, I can't wait to show you
guys this place, it's our first stop into the mountains, and probably if I went
through all of my comments on TikTok, the most amount of comments were like
get to the mountains, and explore it. So, I’m like super, super excited for that. So,
we'll see you guys once we get a little bit closer, probably show you some
mountains on the way.
So, we just made a quick pit stop over here to look out into the mountains. You
can actually see where we're going way- way up there at the highest part of the
mountain. I believe that's what Fuad was saying is Bsharri.
So, we just actually entered into the Bsharri state.
And so, as you can see, it's stunning like just
we had to pull over, just to see some of this terrain here, the mountains, the
landscapes just- just phenomenal. And, it's very hot, so I have a feeling it's gonna
be a sweaty day today but let's keep this road trip going.
So, we're doing a little pit stop on our way to Bsharri. We're in Hasroun
downtown, as you can see here's some of the local travelers. We got the boys here
cruising on the tractor, and what’s like the population of this place is
like more of like a small town like what like couple thousand people live here?
Well yeah, it's like a small town in the province or the state of Bsharri.
Yeah, yeah, okay 10 minutes away from Bsharri, yeah.
Yeah oh, it's only 10 minutes from there? Yeah.
You know it's like- they're all like villages next to each other over here.
Yeah, they're all kind of connected, basically.
You see over there, I think it's the Bsharri. Oh yeah, wow. So, we're super close to the
Bsharri. Yeah, and there are like cafes, and in Hasroun,
there's a good nightlife over there, and also delicious food over here. Oh wow,
nice.
Alright, so we have found a coffee shop right here, Cafe Trottoir, looks like they
have sandwiches, coffee, fresh juice, ice cream. So, let's see if we can get
ourselves a little snack here, maybe some coffee. Yeah.
Merhaba
He’s coming-- and just now every to every time. How nice it is everywhere
Yeah, everything's nice. Yeah, yeah well, I think but-
I’m enjoying really. Yeah, it's beautiful up here my first time in Bsharri.
Yeah, yeah. That's me too. Yeah, oh your first time? Oh no, the third
time in Lebanon. The third time, yeah. Baskinta, Barouk, and Zahlé.
I’ve heard Zahlé is nice. Yes.
Yeah, we'll have to go there bro. Yeah sure yeah. Yeah you like Zahlé, you been?
Yeah. It’s beautiful. Yeah sweet. We'll have to do it. Do you want some coffee?
Lebanese coffee. Is- the one that's strong, that'll wake me up.
Are you sleeping? Yeah. So yeah,
something that's gonna get me going. I got a full day of making YouTube videos in Bsharri.
Our man is gonna be hooking us up
with a very strong espresso to get us going, get the day going. Have a nice day.
Nice to meet you. I got the feeling that Lebanese
cooking is very good but they eat too much.
Yeah exactly, I put on like 10 kilos since I got here. Yes. Yeah, oh you have to
go by bike and then it's okay. Oh yeah exactly burn some of the calories down.
So, are you biking around all over Bsharri?
Yes, I was in-
I tried to go by biking but only one, two, it's too far
and it's very hot. Yeah, that's true.
At least, it's not as humid up here in the mountains as it is near the beach.
I don't- I don't love the- the beach and the water,
it's enough if I see anywhere the water, okay but I like the mountains yeah. Yeah
exactly. Alright, have a nice one, enjoy your
ride. There we go.
That is a nice- nice strong coffee here, ready to get us going, definitely put a
little sugar in there. Oh yeah, look at that. Thank you.
That’s gonna be good too.
Here we go, first coffee here. Down where people are proud,
the heritage they grow out of the-
That’s amazing.
Very hospitable, very generous. Yeah You go anywhere now if you're in
lunchtime anyone's having lunch they'll force you to death.
Yeah, yeah, exactly. I’ve learned that from this guy, yeah
always time to eat with him. Yeah so, we just finished up a nice coffee over here
with our man Tony, super- super hospitable. He is an
Australian slash Lebanese, really appreciate the time here. Yeah, it's a
pleasure he- he gave us a bunch of recommendations as you heard, and he's
helping us find some accommodation. So, right now, we're gonna go check out a
couple different options, and show you in just a little bit where we're gonna
be staying tonight. So, make sure you come over here to Cafe Trottoir is that
French. Yeah, there we go Cafe Trottoir.
Ah perfect, perfect. Shisha here too nice little bit of everything, so maybe
we'll come back here later for a shisha then.
So, to tell you a little bit more about the accommodation options, Tony; the
really nice Australian guy we met, his brother Australian brother has a guest
house which is somewhere in this area right down in the downtown area of
Bsharri and it's about 700,000 Lebanese lira per night which is roughly like 30,
35 dollars for us to stay per night.
And so, the other place we're gonna go to is a little bit closer to the cedars
more up in the mountains, and I think it's more of a hotel is that what
What’s his name again?
Yeah, I don't know if it's a hotel, we'll check it out yeah. We're
gonna check, we don't really know exactly anything about it was just a
recommendation from one of our friends that we met down in Batroun. So, we're
gonna cruise on up there now, and we'll show you the accommodation options
once we get closer.
So, we're on our way up to Misho's place but we had to make a pit stop because
look at these views all out here. You can see way- way out into the mountains, we
got some ATVers coming by. how are we doing?
Marhaba amigos [Hello friends]. And yeah, look at this so you can see
way- way- way out there. I’m just absolutely blown away, and I will say
after being down by the water, the last two weeks or so it's so humid there
and out here we have nice and dry heat. So, even though, it's
probably like 80, 75 Fahrenheit so I don't know maybe 25 Celsius that
calculation is probably totally wrong. It’s just amazing to be outside right
now. So, I can't wait to show you more of this place, I’m so excited. We're only
gonna stay for two nights and we're here for like two hours and we're
already planning the third night to stay. So, it's gonna be great guys, let's do it.
Alright, so we just made it up here to this area right next to the Alpine Hotel
and it looks like this is where we're able to meet Misho and talk about
accommodation options. It looks like he's got a bunch of other
things here for potential things to do in this area.
So, that is pretty cool. This is Misho. Welcome home. Thank you so much brother.
Oh, so good, so good brother. It's so good. Yeah, they have you around to Lebanon
bro. Yeah thank you so much. I’m loving Lebanon. Come on, this is- this one
camping service, and the hiking tools and everything else. You can go more roughly.
Oh yeah. If you like paint you can go for -- This is the paintball. All tactical gears and safety and so on.
The arena is on the next side here. The rock climbing is down to --
A little bit of everything here, he's got everything. So, my question is, can we rent-
It's like pepper. Oh, I got pepper yeah. Is it possible to rent paintball guns and
buggies and go shooting stuff in the mountains? Honey, you can do whatever
you want man. Yalla Bina.
Guys, are you staying here for 48 hours?
So, any schedule any preparation before like you have put down the bullet point,
what to do, what's the morning hike, the afternoon, the site touring,
educational tour, agritourism, what so? A little bit of everything. Yeah well,
I don't plan things in detail usually. Usually, we'll just like stumble upon
places and- And there's a pit stop there. Yeah, yeah
Exactly. Talk to locals hey where's the best
Lebanese food all that stuff, yeah, yeah. We can do with everything here we can
start by the- the market upstairs, there's the souvenir places you can see the
carving, carving your name, especially the calligraphy, and what so on. Yeah, it's
on the cedar's wood it's a must. Secondly, we can go to the cedars forest, we can go
to Kadisha Grotto passing through a little valley of
Kadisha. The world heritage sites it's a must and
little bit of hidden gems. Ah sweet, sweet. Like hidden parts. Yeah, yeah. And
jumping in the water. Oh sweet. Pulling off. Yeah, yeah, it's like walking
on lava during the cold. Yeah, perfect. That sounds great yeah. So, we've got a
whole bunch of options. We're probably gonna need more than two nights in
Bsharri probably three maybe four. Maybe, we'll end up staying a week who knows.
Who knows? Yeah, yeah, maybe you're gonna get the Lebanese nationality at the end.
Yeah exactly, I know. Yeah, I know a year from now, I’m gonna be like never left
Bsharri. Guys,
it took us like about eight months. Oh, here we are. Just to organize what does it
mean Cedarzing it was started in 2013. Event planner, outdoor only musical.
We switch it like later on 2015 in ecotourism. We do the hiking, the camping
services with paintball. It stands for community, eco-tourism, development, this
is the CED the ARZ one. It means ARZ the Cedars, the Cedars of Lebanon.
ING; informational natural growth related to CED, this is how to support
the local community. This is the rural tourism, we have to stand for. The compass
it means we operate in our region. Beautiful. North east west and what so on. Beautiful.
So, come here to find all of the things to do here in the Bsharri territory of
Lebanon. We are so excited after giving us the full run-through of everything I
can't wait to get started. So, ironically the- the same place that he's
recommending was also what Tony recommended which is to go stay in the
guest house so I think- It’s beautiful yellow pot the homestay. It's the most- Yeah, yeah,
so that's where we're gonna find amazing views for sunset, sunrise, and then we're
gonna get started exploring this place. It sounds like number one on the
list is gonna be checking out the amazing cedars. So, that's what we're
gonna be doing. Guys enjoy it. Merci Habibi.
Alright, so we are arriving here, we got a tight little road we're driving down.
So, we found the place, we've just pulled up. Oh my Gosh, look at these views right here.
This is what we're gonna be staring
at for the next couple nights. Let’s go check it out. Beautiful stairs.
Yeah, look at these stairs leading right down into the place.
Bonjour, Kifak [How are you?], Habibi
Hi, hello how are you? Thank you. Thank you.
Alright, we have made it. So, this is the place- oh,
downstairs yeah.
Wow, look at this
amazing spot, viewing deck of Bsharri too. Wow look at you can see everything all
out here. The valley over there,
this looks like the spot to be. Yeah, it's beautiful. Beautiful. Beautiful, like a
place to chill here in the morning yeah have some coffee. Oh yeah.
I’ll never wanna leave here.
You wanted a bedroom with two beds, no? Yes.
Perfect, perfect. That’s beautiful,
Awesome. This will work well,
views of the city too. That is a nice way to wake up. That's
called the sobia, when it begins it's cold. Oh, wow cool drinks. It's like- put
some blocks in there? Yeah. Yeah, sweet. Yeah, let's take it.
That’s the bathroom, shower, toilet. Kitchen too. Looks fantastic. Yeah. Yeah
Amazing. Let’s do it. Okay so-
So, we're paying in advance. It's up to you.
Yeah, yeah, let's do it. You're going hiking today?
No, not today. We're gonna the cedars forest, and we're gonna a place called
lugete, it's like a beautiful scenery over there for sunset. That's where they
used to hang people. Oh, wow geez, alright so now you know lugete, that's
where they hung people. Yeah, people used to commit suicide. Oh
wow, that's scary. So, seven hundred thousand a night. A
night? Yeah. Yes, yeah perfect. And what was your name? Joe. Joe, Mac, nice to meet you.
Pleasure. Mr. Joe can you count them in case
No, I never count. But really count--
In case-- In case you made a mistake? Yeah Less or more?
Yeah, exactly. Recount it, okay. I don't count.
If it's less I’ll take it, if it's more, I’ll take it.
I’m so sure Fuad's good at counting. 12,
13, 14. Here you go sir, thank you. Thank you.
Alright, guys so that was a quick tour of our place. We're kind of just in a
rush right now because it's already 4:30 p.m. and we wanted to at least fit in the
cedars today. And, it sounds like they closed around 6 p.m. So,
when it hits sunrise, and sunset I want to show you maybe in another video not
in this one today. What it looks like because these views I
mean this is right outside the place you can just see all of the Bsharri, you got
the clouds way up there. It's just an absolutely stunning sight.
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