Have finally arrived in the Levante, high humidity and temperatures during the days and only nominal lower at night and in the mornings. It is really sultry out there at times especially when there is no breeze. The months of Ramadan is ending during this week, and with that the beach revelers will reappear in Tyre on the weekends and roads are going to be crowded and clogged with undisciplined drivers on the days remaining during this summer season. Tourists are mostly local or local ex-pats returning for the summer from the far away places of the Lebanese diaspora, coming back to their ancestral homeland for a few weeks.
Visitors from others places like Europe or the Gulf states are rarer to come by these days, for quite some time now, with the happenings in the lands of the eastern neighbour as well as happenings here making people think twice before making the journey. Reports of foiled attacks in the past months in public places like malls and apparently ‘casino du liban’ are not really reassuring and encouraging for tourists. Every time I am asking friends or family to come for a visit, the first question is if I can assure them that nothing is going to happen. Well, no I cannot, the region is what it is, volatile and anything can happen at any time. Authorities in this country are trying their best, successfully most of the time, to ensure that nothing will happen, and thank god, in most cases they have been able to do so. A big thanks for that.

However it appears that until now the name ‘Beirut’ is still being associated with the carnage and mayhem of the 15 years of civil war in the ‘70’s and ‘80’s. Nevertheless, despite all of the above I still say that Beirut and many parts of Lebanon are worth a visit. Beirut is the third most expensive city in the MENA region and that is not without reason. It has lots to offer and has been rebuild very nicely and a charm that would surprise many of the sceptical visitors, who I am convinced would savvy a week or so in the city and country.
The streets of Beirut are currently still the main focus of my photographic activity, with old cars and graffiti the points of interest. Somehow I will have to produce something like a book or calendar to display the fruits of my countless kilometers of walking down the streets of the city. Recently the streets of the Hamra district have been quieter as usual, for sure one of the reason being Ramadan. Cafes and eateries are calm, only few proprietors frequenting these establishment in the morning hours. With Ramadan ending the usual madness will return quickly, especially the traffic.
As usual I am using my now trusted Fuji X100s and Olympus OMD for the main work. I just like their portability and the end results they produce, quality wise not necessarily the artistic results ;).
Window shopping Hamra - Beirut
Walking on my regular tour through Hamra, always interesting to see what is displayed in the shop windows these days. Of course not a real AK47 but an imitation, but the first impression is different. Certainly an eye catcher.
One of the old beautiful villas in Hamra, crumbling to pieces, possibly to make room for new high rise buildings and luxury apartments that only very can afford.
This is another one of the many old cars one can find walking in the streets of Beirut, hidden away in an alley.