Hello folks,
I haven't been in Beirut 24 hours and already my shoes have logged nearly 10
miles of urban exploration.  My feet still feel fine.

I am staying in a cheap hotel ($10 a night) about a block away from what
used to be referred to as the "Green line", the line separating
predominantly Christian East Beirut from mostly Moslem West Beirut.  This is
the area most affected by the war that carried on for 15 years between 1975
and 1990.  Many buildings still show the scars of
the war and are riddled with an amazing number of bullet holes.  Some appear
ready to collapse even though they house many people.

Something tells me that at some point early in the war it must have occurred
to many who were doing the fighting that this was all very crazy; but they
said to themselves "we're in it now, and there's no way out but victory".
It wasn't clear at whom one should shoot.  There were a half dozen Christian
factions and a several Moslem factions each vying for their share of power.
At times, it wasn't clear who was aligned with whom, as sometimes the
alignments would change 180 degrees.  Syria, for example, at first on the
side of some Palestinian groups, switched sides and supported one of the
Christian groups in an effort to force out the Palestinians.

Conflict continues in Southern Lebanon, an area mostly occupied now by
Israeli troops, but for the most part the war is long gone, and Beruitis
seem to have no appetite for conflict.

Redevelopment is proceeding frantically here, even on this Sunday when most
everything else is closed.  Most people that once lived in this area were
bought out for their portion of the property value for the entire
redevelopment area and given shares in a corporation performing the
redevelopment.  It seems to be working quite well.  Perhaps in the next
decade, this city will regain much of the luster it had when it was referred
to as "the Paris of the Middle East".

It's great to be back where the roosters sound off at about 4:00 AM and the
Moslem prayer chants start blaring over the loud speakers at 5:00 AM.  The
honking taxis almost never stop.  Nevertheless, I mostly slept like a baby
last night, thoroughly exhausted from jet lag.

People are extraordinarily warm, welcoming and helpful here.  Unlike some
other places I've traveled, the help that people offer is usually genuine,
rather than being a ruse for trying to sell you something.

There are tourists here, but certainly not in abundance ... mostly people on
package tours from France.  I've yet to see another backpacking traveler,
although I've received several responses to the message I posted on my
travel guide's e-bulletin board, so there are at least a few of us here.

The U.S. State Department says that the lifting of the prohibitions on
travel to Lebanon in June 1997 and on the sale of airline tickets to Lebanon
in July 1998 "should not be construed to mean that travel in Lebanon is
without risk".  They give various other cautions and warnings, as they do
for many other countries I've visited.  A book called "The World's Most
Dangerous Places", published I believe in 1996, gives Lebanon a rating of
four out of five stars for danger.  I think this assessment is a bit
outdated.  The two guide books I am carrying both call Lebanon "safe", and
the travelers I've heard from confirm this.  Statistically, it is probably
much safer than most major U.S. cities.  That's not to say one should ever
be complacent. Some of the folks that took hostages and caused other
troubles in the past are still very much at large, although they've been on
rather good behavior for quite some time now.  Nobody seems to have an
appetite for causing conflict at the moment.

There are plenty of ancient Greek, Roman and Phoenician ruins to explore in
this country, some of which are being uncovered in the process of
redevelopment here in Beirut.  Much care is being taken to preserve these
sites even as skyscrapers are being built on top of them.

As I flew across the Atlantic, perhaps I felt a little like President Bush
when he first discovered the bar-code technology that records transactions
at the check-out counter of a supermarket.  It was a bit of "Future Shock"
for me.  On a Boeing 777, I was impressed by the little television screens
at each seat that show 33 channels of movies, including one that has a near
real-time map showing the progress of the flight, the current elevation,
distances from the start and to the destination, and even the current air
temperature (minus 70 fahrenheit at 39,000 feet).  British Air seems to me a
couple of cuts above any other airline on which I've flown, right down to
the smelly soaps in the bathroom, the extra angle of recline in the chairs,
the eye covers that they give you to block out all light, and the free pair
of soft socks they give you to make your feet more comfortable (and to be
kind to other people's noses).

I've gottago...  My email time is up.

Happy November,
Deano

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