WLE Day 12 (08-19-2011): Niha (Hike) - Jezzine to Jisr el Khardaly (by Car) – Marjoyoun (Hike)
Length: Aprox 35 km, 9 hrs
Difficulty Level: Moderate to Difficult
Samer rejoined us the previous night and I was very happy to see him again. We met at Nader’s, the local Internet Café /Bar in Niha- an open friendly and busy place. Nader himself, the owner, introduced himself as a Lebanese-Belgian who had come back to live in the town after some 30 years of living in Belgium. “Can you believe that before I came back, there was no meeting point in the town for people to just hang out?” he said. The place was buzzing with patrons coming in and out. At one point there was a group of people led by Nader organizing the town’s festival. This was a quintessential example of the direct positive effects Lebanon’s Diaspora can have on Lebanon.
In the morning, Chamoun woke Samer and I up with a surprise. He had heard that the Lebanese army was discouraging any hiking between our next stop Jezzine and the penultimate at the Khardali bridge on the Litani river. Due to land mines, cluster bombs, and roaming paramilitary presence, it was advised we would need to cross by car.
As we had decided to circumvent Rachayya and Hasbaya in the East and head on a south easterly course straight to Marjoyoun, it implied we could actually finish the expedition today as opposed to the next day as planned.
After a hearty breakfast of Ijjeh- a Lebanese omelet with vegetables- we departed at 8 am. Bidding us farewell was the owner of the guesthouse whose scars of war (no upper body limbs) served as an ominous warming of taking unnecessary risks.
From Niha it was a straight climb up to the temple. It took us about 1 hour and 20 minutes to reach the top. The terrain was steep and the bag weighed heavy. Once at the top, it turns out the temple honors the prophet Job- I guess it does take a certain degree of patience to reach it. The view from the top was of the entire Shouf area and quite spectacular.
After a short rest at the temple, we stoically carried on knowing we needed to round two mountains before our descent into the town of Jezzine. The trail was meadowy offering views of beautiful green mountains, which we were told are not very safe. I wasn’t sure, which was more unsafe- the paramilitary presence of those mountains or the bees in the meadows we were walking through. Things would not get any better as we began our descent and Chamoun told us, “Guys, this area was demined but we need to stand in a straight line and try to maintain a single trail following goat shit.” Never in my life have I been as appreciative of goats or their crap!
After a seemingly interminable descent, we began getting a view of the town of Bkessin surrounded by one of Lebanon’s largest pine forests. To its East, one could view the edge of Jezzine. It would take us another hour or so to reach Jezzine passing a well along the way and arriving around 1:30 pm some 5 and a half hours after our departure. The town of Jezzine was smaller than I expected, but had one of the most imposing municipality buildings we had seen so far. The town seemed well organized, although water mismanagement had dried its waterfall. To compensate and keep the restaurants around the waterfall in business, the town had creatively decided to recycle water by pumping it from the valley all the way up and keeping a constant water flow.
In Jezzine, Samer got a well-deserved rest, while Chamoun checked to see how we could get transportation to the Khardale bridge. I took advantage to check the Internet and make reservations in Beirut for the evening and to change our airline reservation advancing it by a few days. Both operations proved amazingly easy over the Internet; and I still found some time to enjoy some ice cream and chit chat with Samer.
Chamoun finally found us a car and what a car it proved to be! A turquoise Renault 12 with grey repaired doors, and a misaligned engine cover. The wheels seemed to hardly hold the direction of the steering; and every time we crossed a bump in the road, one of the spark plugs would come loose, forcing the driver to turn the car off, get out, open the front cover readjust it, get back in apologize for the hassle, and drive on. The experience was harrowing especially on the narrow curves, but memorable nonetheless!
A short distance out of Jezzine we came to an army checkpoint at Kfarhouni. It would be the first time we were asked to show our documents. The officer in charge took Samer’s passport and started asking us questions. After checking our story, he confirmed that it was strongly advised that we not walk in these parts; instead that we go to the river and then hike up to Marjoyoun. We were now in the South of Lebanon. Surprisingly, the drive showed very little war damage. On the contrary, the roads were quite well paved and clean, and towns nicely organized with nice houses- many of which were quite large. “African Lebanese wealth,” explained the driver.
We reached the Khardali bridge which crosses the Litani river about thirty minutes later. After a brief cool-off in the famous river, we proceeded with the climb. It had turned into a hot day, and there were very little trees or construction to offer any shade around. It would be a long climb. While the gravel and paved roads made it a bit easier, the dust and heat reflected from the road made it hotter. And still we climbed … We were about to reach our objective, and nothing would stop us. At this point, something strange happened to me. I looked at my brother, and I saw the effort he was giving- he was giving it his best and that made me very emotional … The years had not been very kind on our family, but Samer had carried on. He had done the same on this expedition; and I was proud of him. In these moments, I looked at my brother and saw that the man in front of me was still the baby I had carried so many years ago, the young boy I used to take to my soccer games, and the handsome young man who tried to find his way in his own way. Life can be harsh some times. It takes heart, effort, and determination to overcome difficulties. On this trip, my brother proved once more he had all of them.
We reached Marjouyoun at 5:05 pm- some 12 days 8 hours and 35 minutes since our expedition had begun.
This expedition was meant to introduce us to our country of birth, Lebanon, its beauty, and people- all of which we had left many many years ago. It did all that and a lot more … It proved that all this time, the country had not left us. Perhaps most importantly, it was a long overdue expedition by two brothers … While its true meaning may yet be too early to understand or explain, its memories for sure will last us a lifetime.
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