Lebanon - Jeita Grotto & Baatara Gorge

One of the biggest attractions in Lebanon is Jeita Grotto cave. It has two levels and in the second level you have to go in with a boat and if you can go depends on the water level as very often it is closed during the winter. Luckily it hasn't been raining in Lebanon lately so the whole cave was open for visitors. We bought tickets and quickly went on the queue for the first attraction a gondola with four cabins that go back and forth and not in a circle as we are used to. This turned out to be very common in Lebanon as later on during the day we were on a lift that was going backwards - it was really fun actually and we felt like small kids.
But lets go back to the cave - very unfortunate but they gathered all our phones and cameras at the entrance as it was strictly forbidden to take pictures and it was so beautiful inside. I was speechless..For now Jeita Grotto is number one for beautiful caves for me especially the water part where the guys that were driving the boat were amazing, the literally past only a few millimeters from the walls.

The cave man in front of Jeitta Grotto

From under the ground we climbed quite high for the next attraction which we accidentally found out. While we were driving on something like a road through the mountains we saw a statue high up on the ridge of a rock and stairs leading to it. Of course we could not resist the temptation to check it out and started climbing the stairs. The heat was brutal and the stairs were never ending but finally after we were up. And it was definitely worth the effort as there was not only a statue with awesome view towards the whole valley but a small path carved in the rock with small sculptures of saints all the way to the end point which turned out to be a monastery. The name 'stairway to Heaven' that we gave to the staircase turned out to be quite exact. Unfortunately everything was is Arabic so we could not read any of the signs but we think that it is a Maronite sanctuary, one of the religions with the biggest number of followers in Lebanon. Maronite are Christians and it is believed that the name of the religion comes from St. Maron, a Syrian priest that lived during 5th century.

 Last part of the stairs - vertical

 And finally

The road is way down

The small path that leads to the monastery

And this is me on this amazing place :)

I almost forgot to tell you about the restaurant where we had lunch and that was one of the most authentic ones during the whole trip. It was right by a small waterfall by the road with huge terrace where a family of about 15 people were also having lunch. But they also had all their stuff scattered all over the restaurant, the kids we constantly running back and forth and on every table or chair there were wet towels, bathing suits or clothes. At first I thought that this is not a working restaurant but private house but when we sat they gave us menus, luckily with pictures, and took our order. Right behind us there was a goat that was just killed and while we waited for our lunch they put the body on a hook, skinned it and cut it into pieces. After this quite messy procedure one of the guys took a hose-pipe and cleaned the floor. Meanwhile the oldest man put his prayer rug on the floor, prayed and then sat with the rest to smoke hookah (or as they call it 'shisha' ) while the fresh goat meat was cooking. We could not have found a more authentic place than this and on top of this the food they brought us was unbelievably delicious. To be honest i think they just gave us from their home made food as we were the only 'outsiders' there.
After that colorful lunch we took off for the next attraction which was supposed to be a beautiful waterfall Baatara Gorge. As we ate quite a lot at the restaurant we felt really lazy and as soon as we saw that there is a chairlift we did not hesitate for a second but got on it to get us down to the waterfall. We thought that it is included in the price of the entrance ticket but when they started calling - Mister, mister, miss when we took off it became clear that we have to give some money. But it was not some money but whole 10 USD per person for 50m chairlift, pure robbery in my opinion but where else can we use a lift that is actually going backwards :)
Unfortunately we were not lucky with the view here as when we visited Jeita Grotto we were happy that it hasn't been raining for a long time but when it comes to a waterfall lack of water is definitely an issue - the waterfall was dry. Yes, it was beautiful again but compared to the pictures we have seen in internet this was just a bare resemblance
It was quite scary on the rocky brigde

With or without water we are still having fun.

Lebanon has been very famous with the cedar forests in the past but unfortunately almost all of them has been cut down and now there are just a couple of protected nature parks where you can see cedar trees. According to the GPS that Joro had only 7km away there was such park. Well 7km are nothing so we decided to go and check it out. Well after just a few minutes drive the road became very narrow and really steep with a lot of U-turns. I am not sure that anyone was using this road at all as the only movement we saw was a shepherd who was sitting on the road and did not even try to move away when he saw our car coming by so we just tried to pass by him without injuring him. A lot of turns later there was still no sign of park or trees or even civilization when Joro decided to mention that these 7km were straight line on the map but the actual distance via the road was completely different. OK, that would not have been a problem if our gasoline was not almost over and there was no mobile coverage. At one point we even had to stop and look if the road was continuing as the hill was so steep that you could not see the asphalt. Finally we reached the bottom of the hill and the next challenge appeared - the other side was as steep as the one we just passed but this time we were going up and i was really worried if our small Kia will be able to manage it. Well we stopped the air conditioner at one point in order to have all the needed power for the uphill and suddenly after a turn we found ourselves in some peoples backward. It was not our fault it was the road that was going through there and they were quiet surprised to see a car coming out of nowhere but at least the civilization was reached. Cedar trees we did not see but you have no idea how happy we were when we saw the gas station :)

the Hero:)

Almost in the civilized world.

Lebanon - Beirut and Harissa

Thanks to a friend of mine who was sent to Lebanon for a few months i got the idea to pay him a visit (thanks Vihren). Just when i found who will accompany me Bulgaria Air announced a direct line Sofia - Beirut. Well this was definitely sign from destiny. Everything happened really fast - we bought two tickets and a week later we found ourselves at Beirut airport. First impressions: 28 degrees at 4AM are a little startling making you wonder what is the temperature like during the day. Well it was the same during day but with shining sun :) During the next few days we discovered that the temperatures are almost the same 24h a day. 
As real tourists we started with a walk in Beirut. Vihren dropped us off on the alley by the ocean and said - wander around, there is a map in case you get lost. And we trying to feel the local atmosphere but besides feeling the pouring sweat nothing else happened as there were almost no other crazy people walking in the midday heat. When we were pretty close to having a heat stroke the main attraction Pigeon Rocks just appeared in front of us. and We managed to take a few pictures and hurried to find some cafe and a shade. This relatively easy task turned out quite difficult at the end. It took us almost an hour until finally - the place was found. It's not that we were picky just in Beirut there are neither parks no benches under a tree where you can sit and relax for a while.

 Very tall buildings on very tall rocks. Their favorite place to build was on the edge of a rock.

The Lebanon coffee and the relaxing shadow gave us some energy and we were ready for Harissa. The town was very close to Beirut but the time needed to get there was quite long due to the unimaginable non stop traffic. And as i said traffic i really have to mention a few things and explain the madness on the road:There are almost no rules or at least there is no one that follows them. The traffic lights are somewhat obligatory during the day but i really wonder why they still work during the night as nobody gives a sh** what color the signal is. The markings on the road are just for beauty as if they show three lanes this for sure means that there will be five lanes with cars, and if you have to go through a city then the sidewalk is the perfect place to drive and pass everybody else waiting in the traffic jam on the road. As far as for the motorbikes even the direction of the lane is of no meaning - you can drive in the opposite direction, perpendicular of the traffic or on the walking alley. And despite all this chaos i did not see a single driver getting mad, there was no beeping with the horns and everybody was driving really calm and looked relaxed

In order to get to the cathedral on top of the hill in Harissa you have to take the gondola and then just enjoy the magnificent view towards the bay. A huge statue called 'Notre Dame du Liban' with its arms reaching towards Beirut is also open for visit there. It is said that this statue of Virgin Mary is one of the most important sacred places in the world and is also a very famous place for prayers. There was a wedding when we went and we were wondering if we could stay for the party after the ceremony but i really doubt that with shorts and flip flops we would have blended with the guests :)

Somewhere there Beirut ends but where exactly no one can say

They gave me a scarf to put on my shoulders - we have to respect the sacred places

And the funny crew :)

The clouds and the sun made the view even more beautiful

I really wanted to stay for sunset up there but the gondola was closing before that so we had to go down


 

New Zealand - Auckland

It was time to part with our small car which did not manage to leave us on the road even though the strange noises coming out of it. We had rented it from Jucy as the other rental company had no availability (Apex Car rentals - we were really pleased with the car they gave us on the other island and wanted to rent from them again but... last minute option was not possible unfortunately) 
Jucy's office was a walking distance from downtown so we left the car and went looking for the hotel. Luckily it turned out that we have reserved a hotel right on the busiest street in Auckland - Queens Blvd. May be it is not that crazy usually but it was 'boxing day' or the day after Christmas when all stores have sales and all Chinese tourists and locals have decided to buy whatever they see. Even in front of the most expensive brands like Prada or Boss there were queues with people wanting to go in the store. I made a mistake to check a boot in UGG and one chinese girl literally took it from my hands and this put the official end of our shopping. After all on the next day it looked quite calm on the street so we decided to check what was all that fuzz about. The only thing left in the stores were the labels with the prices everything else was totally gone. So we just wandered around the streets enjoying the small cafes and checking out the city sights.
 In general Auckland reminded us for the States as everything looked so alike and we were not that impressed to be honest. They have great outdoor parks but surprisingly they were totally empty. The explanation we got was that the people there like to sunbathe on the beach instead of walk in the park. We went to Auckland's oldest park where they have awesome free botanical garden with amazing flowers and the biggest water lilies i have ever seen

 some street art

It was so nice in the park but a little bit lonely

After we checked the parks it was time for the city itself. Frankly the harbor with the amazing yachts was the most impressive part and it made me dream of having a boat for me to sail all over the world. But it was time for me to wake up as it was BBQ time with very interesting company -  the invite came from Rudy's co-worker who is Korean and the reason for organizing the dinner is to say Bye to us as we were leaving on the next day and welcome some German guys that had just arrived. The whole event is hosted in the flat in a girl from New Zealand with the best view ever. In order to get there we took a ferry from the harbor in downtown and 10 min later we were on the other side. The neighborhood is really nice with view towards Auckland's skyline and as they said with the best beaches in the city - well the last we take for granted as there was no time to check for ourselves :) We had a lot of fun on the BBQ, had some food, some drinks and unfortunately had to catch the last ferry back as our flight home was early next monring. After all, it was time to say Goodbye to Kiwi land :)

I was puzzled what that was..

so there is a picture of it :)

 This is what i want for birthday gift

 Nice view toward the volcanoes

And some more volcanoes...good that they are not active as i think they have about 40 in Auckland only

This is what i call a nice view.

And the ferry station

 Most photographed TV tower in the world

Well if you do not carry your tripod when you need it this is what happens

New Zealand - Rotorua and Hobitton

We spent Christmas in Rotorua, a town famous for its geysers and mineral water, full of hotels, SPA but with absolutely no people. There was no one on the street and all shops were closed even the gas stations. There was a slight movement in Chinese restaurants as they are not celebrating Christmas but even they were almost empty. We were lucky that on Christmas eve there was a holiday food market for about an hour so that we could kill some time wandering around. And as i mentioned food, we decided that even though it was just the two of us we should have a holiday dinner that was quite unusual for our country but really tasty. We got a lot of sea food and a bottle of New Zealand wine. The strange thing for me was that the sea food in the market was about half the price of the sausages. Kiwis live on an island and they barely eat sea food - strange paradox...The other strange thing was that they do not celebrate on Christmas Eve, but actually spend the whole Christmas day with their families and have the holiday dinner on 25th which explained the empty streets all day long
 All tourists that were in Rotorua - they were 98% Chinese and 2% maori -  spent the day in the park by the lake sunbathing or trying to pedal with the water wheel wearing a life-jacket even though the depth of the water was no more than a meter. I suppose they were instructed to pedal only along the shore as they looked so disoriented that if they were left to go wherever they wanted the possibility to get lost or drawn was huge. As there was nothing to be done we decided to go hiking and then spend the afternoon in the geyser park. The most famous hike was to the top of the 'Rainbow mountain' and it sounded really seductive with that awesome name so we did not think twice and climbed it. To be honest we saw neither rainbow nor the promised yellow-orange colors of the rocks but the view from the top was worth it. The paths were also really nice organized - if you are with a bike, then you climb up along with the hikers, but for the way down there is a one way strictly downhill route so that the possibility to run over someone is minimal :)

 Awesome view over the hills

We found something that looked like a really huge red dandelion :)

Absolute empty streets - very strange for us as usually in Bulgaria on Christmas everything is working and the streets are full with people

Next stop was the hot pools park in Rotorua. There are a few parks where you can see the geysers but as i said they were closed due to the holidays and even if they were not i doubt that we would have paid the money they charged for entrance as they seemed really a lot so we went to walk around in Kuirau (i have no idea how this name is pronounced, it was quite a struggle with the Maori names)  According to the legend in early 1800s the lake in the center of the park was cooler and was known as Taokahu. One day a beautiful young woman was bathing in the water when a dragon dragged her in his lair below the lake. The gods were very angry and made the lake boil so that the dragon would be destroyed forever. Since then, the bubbling lake and the streaming land around is known as Kuirau. If you want to feel like the dragon when the water started boiling there are some free foot baths in the park where you can put your feet in the hot water, and if you do not want to get wet you can have a picnic on the picnic tables or just walk around the paths and admire the bubbling mud

Picnic by the greenest lake i have ever seen

Mud bath anyone?

In the 'normal' cold lake there were about 10 black beautiful swans.

We woke up really early on the next morning as we had to travel to Matamata from where the Hobbiton tour was supposed to begin. Or at least this is what we thought but after we showed our tickets to the lady she said that our tour is reserved from the farm entrance and we have about 10 min to travel 20km if we do not want to miss it. Well with the awful speed limits in New Zealand we could not get there on time, actually we were only 5 min late but the bus was already gone so we could either cancel the tour or take one from 10.30. We rescheduled for 10.30 even though the agreement with the rental company was to return the car at noon in Auckland which was definitely impossible to happen. But it was better to pay an additional day for the car rather than miss Hobbiton. After we waiting for about half an hour i decided to ask the guide for the next tour if she could take us if there are some free slots. Fortunately for us, some people did not show up so we managed to hop on the 10 o'clock tour. Why didn't i think of this earlier....But anyway, all of a sudden the fairy-tale began and we found ourselves in Tolkien's Middle Earth. It was thousand times better that watching it on a movie, it felt so real that i was expecting to see a hobbit opening some door and walking out of his hobbit hole. It was awesome and was worth it every cent

 All flowers are real

 Please, come in for a tea

 Knock, knock, anyone home?

Green Dragon Inn where we got free beer

In my case - root beer