Landscape in Tannourine
Tannourine, Lebanon
After spending the Finnish juhannus of 2007 with friends in Beirut, I went trekking with two local nature-lovers on the mountains near Tannourine – Christian mountain areas of northern Lebanon. Here’s a typical landscape. Many birds like Short-toed Eagles, Rock Thrushes and Sardinian Warblers were encountered. We also met an old man with an ancient gun and huge moustache. He told the only time he’d left the mountains was during the civil war when they marched down to fight the Palestinian militia. Moreover, he started telling stories of djinns (ghosts) guarding a hidden treasure somewhere in these gorges and sometimes appearing to people in the form of a beautiful girl, boy, snake or animal.
On the map, Lebanon looks small, but it’s very mountainous and the countless slopes, valleys, gorges and ridges hide all kinds of things, obviously.
