April 01, 2012

Bisri Valley

On the way to Bisri


Sunday I went to a valley that I discovered last year; the Bisri Valley. It is on the same length as Sidon, but more inland. The Bisri river is locally better known as the al-Wali river. Only the upper part is called the Bisri. ‘It is 48 kilometers long, originating from the Barouk Mountain at a height of 1,492 meters and the Niha Mountain. The River has a discharge of 10.1625 m3/s, it forms a watershed that has an area of about 294 km2 . (source) I have no idea what that last bit of information means; watershed.

Bisri Valley

Cold cold cold water

The best part of this river is that the valley on its upper part is very difficult to reach, and virtually uninhabited. As a result, it’s very clean. The valley floor is wide and flat, almost like a plain, with some strawberry farms, orange groves, and pine and oak forests. The path along the river – formally a mule path - is unpaved, sandy, and runs through deep puddles and tributaries. All of this ensures that the place remains original.

Doesn't seem to bother them.

N. found a new friend

Hut  made of driftwood
 Bisri, where the road ends and the valley begins, is a very old christian village; the local church dates back to 1252 apparently. The crusaders were still in town those days, but their days were numbered.

The river was ice-cold- you can still see patches of snow up in the mountains, but for kids this is not much of an issue; we eventually had to pull ours out, all purple and blue. They built a hut from drift wood (with help from my SIL), while the adults hung around on a sandy river bank and did nothing. It’s amazing how slow my weekdays go and how fast my weekends. 

Through gullies

and little rivers

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Prachtig! ik geniet altijd enorm van je natuur-blogjes. Groet anna.

Anita said...

watershed in Dutch: waterscheiding, grens van een stroomgebied. Het gebied waarvan het water via deze rivier wordt afgevoerd.
Sorry, ik ben aan het afkicken van de Efexor en het lukt even niet om samenhangend in het Engels te schrijven...

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Anonymous said...

Thanks again for the very nice blog.You have a lot of fans all over the world,maybe it is time you starat thinking about a book.
warm regards
basket man

Sietske said...

He Anna, is dat mijn oom Hugo Anna? Wat leuk? Wanneer vlieg je eens op Beiroet? Slaapplaatsen zat.
Ja, Anita, stroomgebied, dat woord zegt me wel iets, ooit nog eens eindexamen in gedaan, aardrijkskunde was dat. Kreeg ik een 7.0 voor.
Basketman, are you THE basketman, the nice beige and green basket you sent me once to Holland, and which I drag with me on every picnic. That's sturdy stuff, you know!

Anonymous said...

Yes it is me,your Blog is one of the very very few I read.I came across it by chance and enjoy it a lot
Please keep writing.

basketman now in Japan

Anonymous said...

watershed is the land area that the river drains.

Anonymous said...

Hi Sietske,

Could you pls give an idea of how you reached there from Beirut, I'd really like to take the kids, it looks quite wonderful.

Lalebanessa

Sietske said...

Lalebanessa, send me your e-mail and I'll mail you the directions!
Sietske

Anonymous said...

Thanks Sietske, will do!
Lalebanessa

Anonymous said...

nee, hoor, ik ben geen familie. Gewoon iemand die ooit op je blog is gestuit. groet anna

Sietske said...

Goh Anna, wat apart. Leuk hoor! :)

David said...

Hi Sietske,

Not long ago i found your blog while roaming the web, and since then i check it every time i log on, thanks for such a nice page!

since i am a nature loving boy, i tried to locate Bisri on Google Earth following the rivers running down from Barouk and haven't succeed yet,

would you please let me know where it's located exactly? I'm planing on going there with some friends tomorrow,

Thanks a lot!

David

Anonymous said...

Wonderfull blog and so
interesting! Thank you!