From Tyre we wanted to drive east to see Beaufort Castle, and then turn north into the Beqaa valley. Beaufort Castle is a crusader castle perched on a cliff with a stunning drop of thousands of feet to the valley floor below. It gets virtually no visitors these days, as it is too close to the Israeli border. We reached the town of Nabatiye near the castle. There were black flags, yellow and green Hezbollah flags and portraits of the Hezbollah leaders and martyrs. It was like Northern Ireland during the troubles, easily recognisable to Elspeth and I.
We stopped to take a photo of the castle, and within seconds two cars stopped and made it clear that no photos should be taken in this area. Even the castle had a large Hezbollah flag planted on its highest point. Our attempt to get from there to the Beqaa valley was thwarted when we were stopped at an army checkpoint just short of Merjayoun and told we could not proceed without a permit. Merjayou is the closest town to the Golan heights and hence it is a sensitive area. The army were very polite and friendly - I don't think they get many tourists at that checkpoint, especially families with 4 young children! All of this meant we had to go back to Sidon and restart our journey from there.
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