After our winery tour and wine tasting session, we continued our drive through the Bekaa Valley, notorious for the presence of the Shi'a militant group, Hezbollah. We passed many signs with the leader's face (Nasrallah) and his second-in-command as well as the party's yellow flags. Interestingly, there was a heavy army presence just as there is all over the country so we passed through many army checkpoints and I never felt unsafe.
The valley itself was beautiful and green. It's also the home to the "Stone of the Pregnant Woman" aka. the largest hewn stone in the world which resides in a former Roman quarry. It was originally going to be used for a column for Baalbeck that was never finished (for perspective on size, the picture below has our taxi driver's son in it, clutching a container of Pringles).
The valley itself was beautiful and green. It's also the home to the "Stone of the Pregnant Woman" aka. the largest hewn stone in the world which resides in a former Roman quarry. It was originally going to be used for a column for Baalbeck that was never finished (for perspective on size, the picture below has our taxi driver's son in it, clutching a container of Pringles).
Most importantly, however, the Bekaa Valley contains the ruins of Baalbeck, arguably the best preserved Roman ruins in the Middle East. I've seen quite a few Roman ruins during my Middle Eastern travels the past few summers and I have to agree with Baalbeck's claim to fame. Palymyra is the most-expansive and interesting for perspective on how a city was laid out, Bosra has the most impressive Roman theater, and Volubis is known for its mosaics. Baalbeck, however, really gives you a sense of what it would've been like to live within a Roman city with its high walls and numerous temples.
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