The outdoors’ beauty and scars

For hundreds of years, travelers have criss-crossed Lebanon’s mountains and valleys in search of ancient mysteries and hidden treasures, or just to marvel at their majestic splendor. From Alexander Kinglake and Lady Hester in the mid-19th century, to H. V. Morton and Colin Thubron a century later, the mountains of Lebanon have held an allure for many intrepid travelers. It was Thubron’s book, The Hills of Adonis, that first led me to discover the Lebanese mountains. His four-month journey, which began just prior to the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, is no typical travel journal. Rather, he weaves an intricate story which looks at the terrain, the people, the myths and legends that once dominated this land. His ultimate mission was to discover the cult of Adonis. The first time I read Thubron’s book I wanted to retrace his exact footsteps and see for myself the country he describes. Unfortunately, I read