Lebanon

Lebanon is a small country in the Middle East. It borders to Syria in the north and east and with Israel to the south.

Hitchhiking in the mountains and near/towards the beach might be quite easy, while hitchhiking inside cities (like in Syria) is definitely not possible.

Border Crossing
As of 2010 passport holders of many countries enjoy visa free entry. There are three border checkpoints with Syria. One in the west of the country (towards Damascus) and two in the north.


 * Aaboudiye checkpoint: Checkpoint in the north of Lebanon and north-west of Syria, might be a choice if you come from Tripoli going towards Tartus, Homs or Aleppo. The bus from Beirut to Aleppo goes this way. Small border checkpoint, very bad condition of the roads, mostly taxi's and buses around here. Not much traffic at all. Take care!

Platschi recommends to take the Masnaa checkpoint, which in fact is much further away (if going to Hama/Homs or Aleppo), but also possible to hitch in one day from Beirut. If you're lucky (as many tourists are, as there are in fact not many traveling this checkpoint), officers might give you even a 30 days visa for Lebanon for free.


 * Masnaa checkpoint: The only open checkpoint with Syria on the eastern border. It is located directly on the highway Beirut-Damascus and is very easy to hitch. Get a ride to the border, where many cars will wait to get over the controls. Just talk to people who have an empty car and get a ride to Damascus, where nearly everyone here goes. The passport checks are in a nearly collapsing building on the right side (if coming from Lebanon).     There is no bank around, so make sure you have some Lebanese Pound with you in advance, or at least to know the latest exchange course to change your money with the strange guys on the street in the no-man's-land between the two countries.

There is also a checkpoint to Israel, but it's not open. And considering the tense situation between the countries it doesn't like like it's going to be open to travelers any time soon.

Note that the border with Israel is closed - and will be for a while to come. Make sure you don't have any evidence of a past visit in Israel (e.g. stamp in your passport or books in Hebrew). When hitchhiking in Lebanon chances are high you will be picked up by someone from the Hezbollah. It's highly recommended to avoid mentioning any plans of visiting Israel.



Cities

 * Beirut
 * Tripoli

isin: Middle East

Lübnan