City of Wine & Poetry

Zahle, Lebanon, is only a few hours by bus from central Beirut, but it's much cooler as it's at a higher elevation. The city isn't particularly famous, although according to the tourist brochure Omar Sharif and Shakira's grandparents are both from Zahle. I stopped for one night on my way from Baalbek to Beirut and found it to be a pleasant enough place, full of fancy clothes boutiques and also some decent Lebanese restaurants. The Akl Hotel, where I spent the night, is right across the street from a large hospital and I swear while sitting on my balcony I heard someone cry out in pain from one of the hospital rooms, but that could just have been my imagination. In any case, the hotel is an ideal location if a guest falls off a balcony or has some other sort of hotel accident.