I love the nightlife, i like to boogie...
One of the more special things in Beirut is the nightlife. People here know how to PARTY...like seriously. Obviously I'm too pathetic to keep up, but I took it upon myself to make sure I went out, just so I could experience what it was all about.
Oddly enough, Ruby and I befriended the guys who ran the sandwich shop down around the corner from the hotel. They were incredibly generous, and basically took me out 3 nights in a row, paying for everything, and eventually I began to just eat for free. This was a relief, since Lebanon is considerably more expensive than all the other middle eastern countries (except for maybe saudi).
The first night out we went to Tempo, a fairly posh bar somewhere near our hotel. I never did catch the neighborhood name, but I know it was close enough to walk and we drove anyway. In fact, now that I think of it, it didn't matter if we were were just crossing the street, those guys always wanted to drive anyway!
the biggest difference between going "clubbing" in beirut and going clubbing in the US is that there is no real dedicated dance floor. You make a reservation beforehand with table service, and you basically just sit and drink with your friends and dance around the table. I asked the sandwich guys (Osama, Shirbid, and Karam) how they are meant to meet girls at a bar like that, but apparently meeting people NOT at your table just isn't done. and they can't go into the bar unless they have a girl accompanying them, which I thought was really interesting! and sort of difficult. but apparently they have normal dance clubs too.
Otherwise the music is predominantly house remixes of arabic music and some other american songs. good stuff. I got schooled by Karam who was incredibly impressive at belly dancing. Beirutis also party all night--we're talking 4, 5, 6 in the morning. When i got back to my hotel at 7 the all night bar downstairs was still thumping music.
Oddly enough, Ruby and I befriended the guys who ran the sandwich shop down around the corner from the hotel. They were incredibly generous, and basically took me out 3 nights in a row, paying for everything, and eventually I began to just eat for free. This was a relief, since Lebanon is considerably more expensive than all the other middle eastern countries (except for maybe saudi).
The first night out we went to Tempo, a fairly posh bar somewhere near our hotel. I never did catch the neighborhood name, but I know it was close enough to walk and we drove anyway. In fact, now that I think of it, it didn't matter if we were were just crossing the street, those guys always wanted to drive anyway!
the biggest difference between going "clubbing" in beirut and going clubbing in the US is that there is no real dedicated dance floor. You make a reservation beforehand with table service, and you basically just sit and drink with your friends and dance around the table. I asked the sandwich guys (Osama, Shirbid, and Karam) how they are meant to meet girls at a bar like that, but apparently meeting people NOT at your table just isn't done. and they can't go into the bar unless they have a girl accompanying them, which I thought was really interesting! and sort of difficult. but apparently they have normal dance clubs too.
Otherwise the music is predominantly house remixes of arabic music and some other american songs. good stuff. I got schooled by Karam who was incredibly impressive at belly dancing. Beirutis also party all night--we're talking 4, 5, 6 in the morning. When i got back to my hotel at 7 the all night bar downstairs was still thumping music.
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