WLE Day 10 (08-16-2011): Falougha - Ain Zhalta - Barouk
Length: Aprox 27 km, 6 hrs
Difficulty Level: Moderate
I woke up at 5:30 am eager to get the day going. I still had a couple of hours before the car ride up to Falougha, so I decided to blog and check some e-mails. The plan was to have Karim drop me off in Falougha, right next to a water plant by the name of Soha, where I would be meeting Chamoun for the hike. It was Samer’s day off. I was happy for him, but also missed him. This is as much his expedition as mine, but I also understood that after such a long absence from Lebanon, he needed to catch up with his friends many of whom were calling and wanting to see him.
The hike today would take us from Falougha through Ain Dara to Ain Zhalta and finally to Barouk. It was interesting because I had never been in this part of the Chouf mountains before and wanted to see it.
Karim knocked on my door at 7 am and was ready. There were some clothes of mine that had been washed (thank goodness for that) but still needed drying. So Karim helped me by putting them in the dryer for a few minutes. In the meantime, we had a light breakfast of Lebanese black and green olives, cheese, and some marmalade and tea. The house was buzzing with Karim’s brother and father wide awake as well as some of the kids- nothing more blessed than a nice open family environment. We left Dhour by car at around 7:45 and reached Falougha at around 8:15- it took a bit longer than expected because Karim was not familiar with the road. I had hiked this area a few months earlier and liked its vast pine forests. I was glad to be back.
When we arrived, Chamoun was waiting and ready to roll. We began the hike around 8:30. The hike took us downhill over Dahr el Baydar, which is apex of the main road that connects Beirut to Damascus. This part of the country has seen military presence since time immemorial, with Ottoman, French, and Syrian remnants including bunkers and some rusted ammunition still lying around. Once we had crossed Dahr el Baydar on foot, we saw to our left a huge mountain being torn apart by bulldozers and trucks carrying away sand and rocks. Supposedly it is legal. I can’t see how making the land ugly like this can be legal. There must be an organized way of doing it.
On we went in a southerly direction walking in relatively mild terrain, until Ain Dara appeared to our West. Soon we stopped at Boulus’ orchard (Am Boulus is a friend of Chamoun’s) and he offered us some of the best nectarines and plums I have ever tasted. We stayed for a little while, and he told us about his family. His son who has been very unproductive and with little ambition. “Fortunately, I just got him married,” he said.
We soon bid him farewell still licking our lips from the delicious nectarines we had tasted; and we headed towards a water well a few hundred meters away. As we were nearing the well, all of a sudden we heard two consecutive gun shots. We looked up and saw a big black bird falling from the sky. One of the two hunters had managed to make a hit. Unfortunately, as we neared the well we saw a large and deep water storage tank next to it with the bird- a dark black vulture- still alive, fluttering with one wing trying to fly, but unable to get out of the water tank. “How could these people do such a thing to this animal?” asked Chamoun. ‘They are the animals,’ I thought to myself.
We passed Ain Dara on a trail, which for the most part was barren with a few orchards here and there. They were apple orchards for the most part and grown in dry land. “They are trained to need much less water,” explained Chamoun, “and once picked they can last months in a fridge without becoming overly ripe. One farmer we passed along the way showed us a new breed he had transplanted in the trees. “Do you transplant by injection?” I asked innocently. “No he said even easier, you just bring the donor branch, and attach it to the truck. With time it transplants.” Yet another thing I learned on this expedition.
The day was cool and every now and then we would get a nice breeze, which helped keep us cool. We kept a good pace and rarely stopped except for me to take photos. Chamoun walked fifty meters or so ahead of me, which suited me fine as it gave me some time to think and reflect.
We reached the protected forest of Ain Zhalta about a couple of hours later and skimmed it, but did not go in. Chamoun figured it would be best to visit the one in Barouk the next day on our way to Maaser el Chouf. From the outside, however, the forest looked full of lush green Cedar trees, and very nicely organized. We did talk to the ranger who told us that he had had only 4 visitors on this day and they well all foreigners. “The Lebanese do not like to bring their cars to gravel roads,” he said.
The trail from the protected forest to the town of Ain Zhalta was relatively flat but thorny. This generally means shepherds do not pass through here with their goats (who eat the thorns) or that it is not that travelled by hikers. At this point we were still around 1400 meters altitude, and slowly but surely we began to descend (Barouk is about 1150 meters altitude). As we were heading to Barouk, we skimmed the mountain barely getting a glimpse of the town of Ain Zhalta. What was very apparent in this area was all the pine trees with the staple hissing sounds than indelibly accompanies them. Once we rounded this mountain, we started getting a glimpse of the town of Barouk in the distance with its stone houses and orange roofs. It would take us about a couple of hours to get to the town, and as we neared the entrance of the town, pine trees lined paved road to our left. Some of these trees had their trunks peeling and showing a deep red color, giving the impression that tree was bleeding. I had never seen anything like it before.
Paulette met us at the entrance of the town. She had come to pick up Chamoun and take him to visit his mother again at the hospital. I stayed at the guesthouse, and met Ziad its owner. Through funding from USAID, Ziad had managed to fix it very nicely. On the inside, it had traditional Lebanese arches made from old stone. The guesthouse fit around 6 people and had a nice dining room. I highly recommend it for anyone hiking in these parts that needs a place to stay. More impressive still was the fact that the public library (with an Internet connection) is right next door to the guesthouse. Can’t ask for more- well a nice Shawarma to cap the evening, perhaps.
WY
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