We had some time in the evening after dinner at Mais Alghanim. I took a few more interesting shots which I’ll post later. Now it is way too late at night for me to not be asleep!!!
Month: October 2008
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Lebanon Photos
I might have some more stories later on the journeys but there isn’t too much to say. The travels out of Beirut were to the Beqaa Valley and Baalbek about a two hour drive one way and the other trip was to Byblos about half an hour north of Beirut.
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Baalbek Panorama
Panorama of Baalbek on CleVR.com
Baalbek is a couple of hour drive from Beirut. It has a very ancient history. You drive out of Beirut at (Mediterranean) sea level and climb quickly over the mountains reaching a high point of 1500 meters. Then you head down into the Beqaa Valley at around 1000 meters and proceed to Baalbek which sits at around 1200 meters. Baalbek is named after Baal the Phoenician Sun God. We arrived there at sunset and I took a rapid tour of the site in the fading light. Some of the largest ever building stones are in the site.
You can also see Machgara at the bottom of the map where we visited. More on that in future postings.
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Wind Tower on Old Building in Kuwait
In the old days before air conditioning they used wind catchers to get air to flow from the cooler parts of the building using the ever present winds being caught in the towers. This was a common Middle Eastern construction. See more here.
There are not very many old buildings left in Kuwait. Everything since the first Gulf War has pretty well been demolished to make way for the new.
Update:
You can also see a very interesting post on this and other old buildings in Kuwait here: http://intlxpatr.wordpress.com/2009/01/06/blue-skies-old-ruins/#comments The comments are very interesting. -
Bacteria amonst us
The human body teems with so many microbes that they outnumber our own cells ten to one. Vast schools of bacteria are in us and around us, like fish nuzzling a coral reef. “They are not simply along for the ride,” says Stanford University microbiologist David Relman. “They are interacting with us.”
Another reason to not use so many antibiotics. I wonder if the high diabetes incidence in Kuwait is at all related to this. I am certain that antibiotics are too available and too over-prescribed.
bookofjoe: BehindTheMedspeak: ‘Each tooth has its own unique bacterial colony’
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Lebanon
Here’s a sample from Baalbek. Now I need time to crank up the software and get more online. Baalbek is huge and the stones are huge. The pillars are over 2 meters in diameter!
