Public transportation in Beirut and its Surroundings is
actually quite good, but does require a little bit of getting used to. The purpose of this post is to offer
the newbie to Beirut some useful information on getting around Beirut and its
northern suburbs.
How to get around
Beirut? You simply stand
on the side of the road (the busier, the better), and look to make eye contact
with drivers – usually they will have taxi signs visible, but many will not. DO
NOT WAVE YOUR HAND, that will indicate to the driver you are an idiot. JUST STAND, and make eye contact. The driver will slow down …you should lower your head a bit
and tell the driver where you want to go. Examples include: “Rawsha,” al-Malla,
Sodeco, Downtown, Cemayza, Hamra Mustashfa Rum, Mar Mikhail, Zarif, Sanayeh,
Saluumi, Sinn al-Fiil, al-Mathaf, Dawrah, al-Port, AUB,” and so on. These are all ‘nodes’ in the Beirut
sense. They are more or less
agreed-upon locations, that all drivers in the city will know about. You are going to want to tell them the
closest ‘node’ to where you want to go. You do not say “biddi aruu7 3 Sinn al-Fiil”… You do
not even say “a3 Sinn al-Fil” (to
Sinn al-Fiil)…. You just say “ Sinn al-Fil).
Thus, whenever you
go anywhere, always ask someone (what do I tell the driver to get to “X Y or Z”). This goes for getting to restaurants,
bars, archives, libraries, universities, and anything else you want to go
to. You need to know the ‘node.’ The actual name of place will only
become relevant if he asks you his next question (which he usually will, “wenn
biddak?”) where do you want to get off?
You could tell him something like “the Starbucks” or “bi-qalb Hamra” (in
the center of Hamra). Or he will
frequently tell you he’s only going to drop you off at the Mafraq (intersection), and you have to walk the rest of the way.
(This is common for destinations like Cemayza, where the drivers don’t like to
enter to due traffic.
The driver then
has a few options. Sometimes he
will drive away. Sometimes
he will say “itla3” or “tla3” that means the price is 2000 ($1.33), and
you get in the car. Sometime he
will just nod his head, and pull over, which also means he’s willing to take
you, and it also means the price is 2000.
There is no discussion over the price, it is a completely silent
agreement. For foreigners, this
can be a very strange thing, who are always trained to “agree” upon a price
before getting into a cab.
In Beirut, it’s exactly the opposite. If you ask qaddesh?, and try to “agree” upon a price, then you will almost
certainly get ripped off.
Essentially what you are telling the driver is, “I’m an idiot, I have no
idea how the system works, please take all my money.”
Always pay the
driver AT THE END OF THE RIDE.
ALWAYS. This avoids
confusion, insofar as sometimes, if you pay at the beginning, he’ll try to ask
you for money AGAIN at the end of the ride and pretend as if you hadn’t paid
him. Remember, Beirut taxi drivers
will always try to cheat you.
Always.
If the driver
accepts your offer, this means he’s obligated to get you within a block or two
or of the ‘node’ you mention.
But the driver is never on your team. He will always try to pick people up all along the way. Sometimes this can be frustrating for
you, especially if he picks up a few people, then goes quite far out of the way
before you get dropped off. It’s
fucking annoying. But that’s a
service.
Or, the other thing that can happen, is that you get into a car with people already in the car, who might be going in an absurdly out of the way direction for you, but the driver still wants his next service ride (i.e., the standard 2000) after he drops off his current riders. You get fucked over again, and miss your connection bus to Tripoli at 7:20. This can also happen and it’s fucking annoying.
But remember one
thing as well, the price for a standard ride is always elfayn (2000), which is
called a “service”. (1.33dolars). IF THE DRIVER WANTS MORE THAN THAT, HE
IS REQUIRED TO SPECIFY AT THE OUTSET.
If he tries to get more than 2000 from you at the end of your ride (not
having specified the amount AT THE BEGINNING), punch the bastard in the face
and stab his tires with you pocket knife and start cursing at him in
Russian.
Now, if the driver wants more than 2000, he can say
‘servicayn’ which means two services, which is 4000 (2.66dollars). He can also say Taxi, which is a flat
rate of 10,000 ($6.66). But
remember that the price is always negotiable, such that if you see he’s empty,
he rejects you, and starts to drive away, you can always shout out “servicayn”
or, if you are really in a rush, “taxi.”
Most drivers will always take a taxi, unless you have an absurd request
like take me from Rawsha to Mar Mustashfa at 5pm. If that is your case, then he might say something like
qaddesh? When the price is so high
as to be beyond the normal scale (2,000-10,000) – the driver will ask YOU how
much your willing to pay for that ride.
You can say 15dollars, you can say 15,000 (recall that there is a fixed
rate between dollars and Lebanese money, 15thousand = 10 dollars. And both are legal tender, always.)
You can always get extremely lucky, and be in Rawsha, trying
to get to Ashrafiyya, and coincidentally stop a taxi already going although
over there. But that’s rare. Often times you can walk for 10
minutes, get yourself in a good place, like at the bottom of Sanayeh – great place
to stand! Guys going everywhere
from there.
Now, that is how the taxis work.
You also have mini
buses. Mini buses take exact
routes. You don’t tell a mini bus
where you want to go, you ask him where he’s going . To be honest I didn’t take very many
minibuses, because they are not particularly convenient, and usually require
you to walk further distances, and they are crowded and uncomfortable, and, of
course, they are half the price: for only 1000, you can go very far
distances. Even you need to get to
dawrah, for instance, there are a great many services to go in that direction,
such as from Sanayeh, or mafraq cemayza, and many other ‘mini buses’ that go in
various directions to various places, such as one from Dawrah to the
Airport. You are thinking, Dawrah
to the Airport? That’s far. But that’s a minibus, and that’s a
lucratinve fucking business. Those
things will fill up instantly, one after the other, 9 people squished into a
tiny mini van, departing every few minutes. Mostly working class men going from North of Beirut, where
they probably work, to where they live, in the Palestinian camps by the
airport, an area popularly known as ‘dahyeh’
Getting Around
NORTH OF BEIRUT
Go to the Northern Bus Stop of the Beurt, Charles Hilu
[pronounced SHARL HILU, no S]. So
there are two lanes of traffic, as you can see in the photo. Each company will have there own slot
at the bus station. Note to all
travelers, there are no venders within a 5-10 walk of the bus station. They were al thrown out by the government,
so remember to bring a bottle of water, because, if you’re going to the north, Tripoli,
for instance, you’ll be without food or water for a few hours, depending on
traffic.
Each company has a guy who will sit on the cement railing
that divides the two sides of the highway. One lane is for local traffic, where fancy cars will roll up
and drop off entire families (seemingly Syrians). These guys who sit on the cement railing are paid, as
I see it, to do three things.
First, they are to prevent riders from getting snagged up by the other
companies. I saw this happen once,
and it’s not a pretty site. A
White Jeep with faint orange and yellow lettering will slow down as he passes
Charles Hilu. Obviously, he’s
trying to snatch up someone heading to Sham [Damascus]. The cement-sitter is guarding to make
sure this doesn’t happen. If the
White Jeep succeeds, the cement-sitters start cursing up a storm.
This is why, also, whenever they see someone, male,
youngish, carring a small duffle bag, with cheap or raggedy clothing, and some scruffy
facial hair [me for instance]--- walking towards the bus station, the guys at
Charles Hilu descend like a plague of locusts upon you: ‘3 Sham ‘3 Sham
‘3Sham?????? They are very
persuasive businessmen, but somehow
I managed to resist. So
demand for ‘3Sham is extremely competitive, as the drop in demand must have
certainly driven many drivers out of business. I’m sure this used to be a thriving business before Syria
descended into madness, but now it must be all but shattered. For who is going to Sham these days?
INTIHA
