Anyone who’s travelled in the Middle East seems to come back with tales of the legendary hospitality that is engrained in the Arab and Muslim culture. I experienced this myself several times on my recent visit to Lebanon, especially in those little backstreets where there aren’t so many tourists.
I was visiting the southern city of Sidon, the nearest thing in Lebanon you’ll get to a sleepy seaside town, with a port and a Crusader castle. After visiting the ruined castle by the sea, my friend and I explored the small alleyways of the Souk and settled into a small corner café for a lunch of chick-peas, humus and salad. All was quiet at first in the narrow lane, but as we finished our meal, the Friday prayers finished at the Mosque opposite and all the men came streaming out.
I’d had my eye on the cake seller with his trolley all through my meal and soon my sweet tooth got the better of me and I stood in turn with the others who were waiting to buy their cakes from the round metal trays. The men standing by motioned to the cake seller to serve me first, and so I pointed to what I wanted to try – a couple of this, three of that, one for now, a few for the journey (I’m just so greedy that way). Uncertain of the cost, I held out a few notes, but he waved them away – ‘it’s God’s money’ he said. So I went away with a bag of free cakes, appreciating that on the holy day of Friday, outside the mosque, he wanted to show me I was especially welcome.
This sort of experience happened so many times – a couple of free biscuits here, a little extra there. It’s one of the reasons why, despite the political uncertainties, a visit to this part of the world can be so rewarding.
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Sea Castles, Souqs and Soap in Sidon - in Lebanon | Heather on her travels
Monday 2nd of May 2011
[...] also tempted and couldn’t resist a selection of sticky sweet cakes. You can read the story of my free cakes outside the mosque here. The Khan in Sidon We wandered back through the narrow streets and followed our noses until we [...]
Cedars of Lebanon, walking in the Tannourine Cedars Nature Reserve | Heather on her travels
Friday 30th of April 2010
[...] Mankoushe for breakfast in Lebanon Meet the winemakers at Chateau Musar in Lebanon Cake outside the mosque in Sidon, Lebanon [...]
A round-up of Heather on her Travels around the web | Heather on her travels
Tuesday 23rd of February 2010
[...] from Lebanon in his post about photos that encapsulate enspiring moments in travel - mine was the free cakes I was offered outside the mosque in the souk at Sidon in [...]
gasan
Friday 25th of December 2009
Interesting ! Love to visit Lebanon one day!
Mezze memories in Lebanon | Heather on her travels
Saturday 12th of December 2009
[...] My second and fondest Mezze moment was when we wandered into the Souk at the coastal town of Sidon, with narrow streets and old buildings. There were many small shops selling groceries and street stands with delicious sweet pastries, but then we spotted a small open cafe on the corner opposite the mosque. It had just a couple of formica tables, so we sat down, guestured and pointed to the steaming vat of chickpeas that were ready to be served. We got our bowl of chickpeas with the hummus on top and a swish of olive oil and sat down to enjoy our light lunch. But then the owner started to bring us lots of other small dishies to accompany our chick peas, some black glistening olives, some fresh green salad, some magenta pick strips of vegetable and flatbread to scoop it all up with. Suddenly our bowl of chick peas had turned into a feast. And all of this with a prime view of Lebanese life passing by our table, chattering groups of headscarfed girls, teenage boys playing with their mobiles and finally the men streamed out of Friday prayers in the mosque opposite. And when the bill came, I think we may have paid a couple of dollars each. I finished off with some cakes from the vendor outside the mosque - read about my free cakes outside the mosque here. [...]