Fanfare welcome for the Harley entourage in downtown BeirutBy Bizzie Frost Our group is put in a small hotel in Hammana which is like something out of “Fawlty Towers.” If you ring reception for housekeeping, room service or an electrician, Michel appears - and he also checked us in! We meet with the group again at around 9.30 A.M. and we are off in our groups of 60 by 10.30. We are still quite high up and it is a lovely, cool morning. Our convoy takes us on a narrow road that winds its way southward, hugging the edge of the mountains and taking us through small villages and towns, pine forests and olive groves. The road surface is still rough and broken up and we come across huge road repairing equipment – and queues of local traffic waiting for us to pass. There are about 100 women riding pillion, and also three who are riding their own Harleys. One is Indji Ghattas from Cairo who rides a Softail Screaming Eagle; then Diana Jarmakani who is Syrian, riding a Sportster 883 – she has only been riding for two months - and Tala Amhaz from Lebanon who has been riding for five years and owns a Fat Boy. We stop for a leisurely lunch in Jezzine at the Sakhret Al-Shallal restaurant overlooking a gorge and with a great view over the valley and mountains. It is then a beautiful ride down to the coast highway, riding through larger towns Anane, Deir el Moukhalles, Saadiat and Khaldeh. We pass a few bullet-ridden, derelect buildings, all symbols of Lebanon's turbulent past. We stop at 5 P.M. to re-group into Chapters for the final Parade into Beirut. It is a faster ride down the three-lane motorway. We ride through several tunnels, each about a kilometer long, concentrating the sound of about 60 Harleys into a very loud roar! It is exciting riding into downtown Beirut in the dusk, in our large convoy, and by the time we arrive at Martyrs Square, there is a crowd waiting to welcome us. They have heard the roar from a long way off! A stage has been set up with spotlights and band, and each Chapter is announced on arrival. The bikes are parked together in a huge group, and the Saudi flag can be seen waving above the crowds. We have had a wonderful tour all over Lebanon, at a leisurely pace, covering around 595 kms.
