Winter in Lebanon: The Cedars

This past weekend, I decided to go with a couple of my cousins on a quick drive around the beautiful Lebanese North, which happens to be where I’m from.

The area in the pictures below is about a thirty minute drive from my hometown in the Batroun caza and the road is paved with gorgeous scenery as well. I had wanted to post this yesterday but the Telegraph article took precedence. Check out my commentary on that article here.

So in a way, this post will serve as further proof to what I presented in my commentary yesterday. Perhaps what was very surprising to me was that, despite it being a very sunny Saturday, the number of people hitting the Cedar slopes was very little compared to how popular Faraya seems to be even though this is a much nicer area to visit.

Moreover, while driving around these mountains, your mind is taken out of your car and to a whole other place altogether. You cannot simply drive around without forcibly stopping to try and take a picture that barely encompasses the beauty in front of you. They call the Cedar forest in North Lebanon: The Cedars of God. I think I know why it’s called as such: if God wanted to choose a place to live in (during winter), it’d be this.

It’s absolutely breathtaking.

The view from a town on the way: Hadath El Jebbe

Entrance of Bcharre, the city.

View from Bcharre, the city

Church in Bcharre

The Cedar Mountains as seen from Bcharre

Another view of the Cedar Mountains from Bcharre

Leaving Bcharre towards the Cedar Mountains

Note to self: Converses are a bad idea in such circumstances

Awesome house. Can you imagine living here in winter?

Your visit to the Bcharre region won't be the same without 2145 posters of gorgeous Setrida Geagea

The Cedars of Lebanon

The Cedars of Lebanon - again

The snow on the Cedar Mountains

Another view of the snow

The Cedar Forest from afar

 

And then, just before leaving, my cousins decided to remember my brother, Joseph, who happens to be in the US as a foreign exchange student. So this is to Joseph:

All these pictures were taken with my iPhone 4S and were not modified in any way.

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17 thoughts on “Winter in Lebanon: The Cedars”

  2. Sadly I dont have much exposure to snow where I live but have spent a couple of winters in edinburgh and sweden. As much as I was miserable about the cold, it was hard for me to be immune to the the beauty of the snowy landscapes around me 🙂 Your pics are beautiful and they bring me the satisfaction of having visited those places in person !!! Thanks.

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    • If by hols you mean holiday, then no.
      Honestly, I barely have time for this. I try to have one post published per day to keep the blog updated but with med school, it’s proving more difficult than expected.

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  5. Yep, I meant holidays. You are doing a wonderful job esp. given your med school committments. It is also interesting to see someone not yet desensitised by med school 🙂 and still having an avid interest in things happening around.

    Have a nice day !!!

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  10. Those are beautiful pictures, thank you for sharing them. Even though I’m an American of Lebanese decent on my Father’s side, I’ve been told that I’m not allowed to enter Lebanon because I’ve been to Israel. That’s a real shame because I would love to see those awesome cedar trees in person.

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