At land border crossings, there is always a little desperation (not all in the queue of hopefuls will pass), a great deal of filth (usually spewn and thrown from the convoys of tailbacked semis), and a fair amount of unscrupulousness (to be found in any ill-considered transaction with the money changing sharks circling the checkpoints). The Lebanese - Syrian border was no exception. I was pleased, however, to have the one-month visa stamped in my passport at no charge. Other than the free visa, my introduction to Lebanon was rather grim, with by far the worst stretch of road that I have seen since starting in Portugal last June. This was followed by a series of depressingly squalid Palestinian refugee camps that lined the highway. That sounds a bit like the imperialist traveller, doesn't it? Like, "Curse those refugees for spoiling my holiday merry-making!" In Tripoli I recovered from some food poisoning that I picked up in Syria - I'm very glad to have packed some powerful, fast-acting antibiotics in the medical kit. Wandering around the souq in Tripoli, a little kid wanted to try my camera, and he ended up taking a photo of these lettuce vendors, which I think is the best photo in the Lebanon album. (3/26/05)

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Lettuce Vendors, Souq

From:	Sarah	(Wed Apr 13 14:20:21 2005)
Yes, the boy took a good picture, but you have definitely become quite the talented photographer. You could have a show when you get back!
From:	Michael Kopp (mk)	(Thu Apr 14 00:40:28 2005)
That kid had an artistic vision - the composition of the shot, the ease with which he worked with and communicated with his subject, the organic textures of the freshly harvested lettuce leaves complimented by the vibrancy of the vendors - all exuding life and vitality. And placing the point of maximum luminosity at the top of the arch - that was his masterstroke. I am just crapping on. But the kid sure did take a nice shot.