My 13th rondonnee in the wild trails in the Metn district, Lebanon
Posted on: December 5, 2025
From the Monastery of Mar Youhana (John) to the town of Khonshara.
It is a Thursday November 26, 2025.
My guide Doudou picked me up at 8:30 because neither I nor her woke up at 7 to disturb our sleep.
We parked the car at the church and we met an older woman with a bouquet of green leaves to posit at the altar. Another woman by the last name of Maaluf came by, originally from Ain Kabo, and was going to climb the Abla staircase that leads to her home in Khonshara.
It is a harsh old staircase, high stairs and no less than 200.
More than a century ago, there was famine in Lebanon and Abla worked at the church stitching priests’ cloths. Abla used to collect a few breads of mankoushi during the priest breakfast and climb the stairs to deliver them to the children and then descend to resume her work. She did the same process for 103 years.
We took the stairs and the trail that USDP contributed to clear. We ended up at the ancient press for grapes (Al Ma3ssara) and up using more stairs to one of the side streets that lead to Khonshara.
The luxury Hillhoup was in front of us and we took time to visit it. Apparently, this is the first such kinds of parks that was emulated by scores of parks that cater to families and children to have access to all kinds of games.
We met a bus of school children (12 and under) that arrived from the Zrariyet town in south Lebanon. The leader of this group said that the school belonged to his grandfather, and he is currently living in Zahli, kind of preempting another wave of destruction of Israel to the south and Bekaa Vally.
The children were very happy and they surrounded me talking nonstop and curious. One of the young girls told me that the hajji is waiting for me: Doudou was actually waving impatiently for me to join her.
We paid a quick visit to the sculptor Tabsharani but he was hungry and left us, riding an ATV to a close by bakery.
We descended taking partially a few short trails that bypassed the same trail. We visited the vast church institution of Mar Youhanna that has a school, a newly opened big dispensary (mostawsaf) that would be constituted of 2 vast floors and in-house physicians.
We also visited the newly opened shop that sell the products of the church. The prices of wine and alcoholic beverages were reasonable. I bought 2 kilos of goat yogurt for $3.50.
We also visited Message de Paix and bought chickpeas and carrot with slices of meat. Side portions of rice, salad and two slices of cake we part of the order for $7.
We stopped at a sport shop in Bikfayat and bought a pair of ear muffler for cold days for $5 (The one$ shop sell them for $2). We stopped at the butcher in Beit Chabab and bought 4 slices of ribs.
I was home by 2 pm.
درج عبلة؟ درج قديم و عالي ؤ وصعب و اكتر من ٢٠٠ درج ب يوصل دير مار يوحنا بل الخنشارة. كانت عبلة تطرز عباءات للرهبان و الاساقفة.. تنزل من بيتها الى الدير و تاخد المناقيش للاولاد صعودا الى الخنشارة. كان في مجاعة. ثما تنزل . للعمل. ١٠٣ اعوام و ذات المنوال . لما منعت ماتت ب ظرف اسبوع.
ب ايجاز. صفينا السيارة في دير مار يوحنا. تسلقنا درج عبلة من ٢٠٠ درج عالي و قديم. وصلنا للمعصرة الاثرية و صعدنا المزيد من الادراج الى طريق فرعي ب الخنشارة. و زرنا luxury Hillhoup park ة و التقينا بوسطة طلاب من زرارية الجنوب و زرنا سريعا معمل النحت. و عدنا الى الدير و وزرناها…يلحق
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