I traveled from Damascus (Syria) to Beirut (Lebanon) today. The trip went fine with no incidents at the borders. Of course, the guy that changed my Syrian pounds to Lebanese pounds clearly tried to rip me off badly but my math skills did not let me down and I was able to get a better rate than he offered first.

Once at the hotel, I met with my old friend 🙂 Rod that had been in Beirut for some days already. We had a beer and decided to go walk on the cornice since the hotel is located close to the sea.

  

As we were walking, a young British guy came toward us and after some introduction, he asked us if we would like to be part of a British TV program that was formerly known as “Lonely Planet” but has been renamed since. Sadly, I do not remember the new name and Rod could not remember either so if by any chance you do, please let me know. The program is about backpackers traveling to Beirut and in the course of the program, they have some tips provided by actual travelers. And it is where we come into play :). We talked a bit with the director and came up with two good tips that we recorded. We sat on the fence by the water and I started first. Mine was about getting a up-to-date map of Beirut because there has been so much construction going on that some districts have changed a lot and it can be difficult to find your way with an old map. Then it was Rod’s turn. His was about using the service taxis to make traveling in Beirut cheap and easy.

We did three takes. After the first one, the director wanted me to explain why the need for the new map better. The second one was good but the camerawoman said the mic entered the field so it had to be redone. Nothing that special after all but it was fun to do it.

And who knows, maybe they will actually use the take and we will end up on TV :). I wish I had asked the guy for more information but I did not. If I get more info about it, I will update this post.