01 June 2009
BEIRUT: Weaving around badly parked cars and frequent road works, groups of tourists have begun pounding the pavements of Beirut. A new company, Walk Beirut, is offering walking tours of the city. "Every city I have travelled to, I've been on a walking tour," says Ronnie Chatah, a founding member of Walk Beirut. "It's a great way to get to know a city."
Until now, however, visitors have only had the help of guidebooks in their navigation of the city. "You often see backpackers wandering around with the 'Lonely Planet' in hand," says Chatah. "However, the book doesn't offer a particular route."
"As far as I know, this is the only walking tour in Beirut," Chatah continues. "There are companies that take tourists to the mountains or to historical sites, but Beirut has been left out so far."
Walk Beirut's five-hour route covers Hamra, Clemenceau, Downtown, Tabaris and Gemmayzeh, finishing off on the Corniche. Regular stops are taken along the way as Chatah and his fellow guides, Maureen Abi Ghanem and Noora Estatie, explain the significance of landmarks such as the old Holiday Inn, or the Roman Baths near Bank Street. For Chatah, the purpose of the tour is as much to acquaint visitors with the history of the city as to give a sense of the geography. "We chose to cover areas where there are dense layers of history in a small place," he says. "Rouche, for example, is significant for tourists but not much has happened there. Likewise for other neighborhoods in Achrafieh."
Walk Beirut's guides are long-time residents of the city and all students or recent graduates of the American University of Beirut. However, they engaged in thorough research before taking out their first group on May 15. "We looked at authors such as Kamal Salibi to make sure we had all our facts and dates straight," says Chatah. "I spoke to Solidere about the different phases of their project. They also had information on the Roman ruins in Downtown."
The guides plan to operate three tours a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. Demand has already been so great, however, that last week an extra tour was offered on Sunday. "This summer there has been a noticeable increase in backpackers," said Chatah. "These are the sort of people our tour is aimed at. We're not aiming at the typical tourist."
The tour is not just for visitors. "It's also for foreigners who live here but might find themselves stuck in a bubble," says Chatah, "or the younger generation of Lebanese who might not know about the old Jewish quarter, for example, or the history of Solidere."
Chatah and his associates are relying on a stable political situation in the coming months. "Walk Beirut doesn't have a future without stability," he says. "We need backpackers to feel that Beirut is a safe place to come and visit."
Other initiatives are in the pipeline. The Walk Beirut team are working on a map with which visitors can guide themselves along the route if they can't make a tour. Beirut's pavements are set for a busy summer.
Copyright The Daily Star 2009.
