Coach-loads of tourists are again rumbling into Baalbek in Lebanon - once deemed the bastion of the Shia fundamentalist group Hizbullah - but they rarely stay for more than a few hours, so that one of the world's most spectacular ruins is usually deserted by late afternoon, when the ancient stonework is enhanced by the angle of the lowering sun.
The temple complex was built by the Romans in the second and third centuries AD, although the site had associations with the cult of Baal long before that. The six remaining columns in the largest of the three temples, the Temple of Jupiter, are immense, towering 70 feet into the sky.
The artificial platform on which the temples stand comprises some of the largest stone blocks ever hewn.
"I feel that it must be difficult to convey, even with a pencil, any idea of the magnificence of this ruin, the beauty of its form, the exquisite richness of its ornament, or the vast magnitude of its dimensions," wrote David Roberts, the 19th century traveller and artist whose lithographs made innumerable ruins throughout the Levant and Egypt well known in northern Europe.
After soaking up the historical and aesthetic delights left behind by the Romans, it is with something of a jarring sensation that the visitor re-enters the world of present-day Baalbek. To say it lacks charm is an understatement, with its dusty streets, kebab stands accompanied by dangling carcasses, and dour inhabitants. The place is a bewildering mixture of Syrian posters of President Hafez al-Assad of Syria, Shia clerics including Ayatollah Khomeini, and flags and logos of the rival Shia factions.
Syrian military checkpoints are positioned on all main roads out of town. The Syrians who helped end the Lebanese civil war in 1991 still have 35,000 troops stationed here.
A couple of foreigners wandering round attracted curious stares. Souvenir shops are scarce, and a stationery shop in the town centre displayed 30-year-old postcards on a stand. The cards included a selection of Lebanese beauty spots, an Islamic shrine in Medina, but not a single shot of Baalbek's famous temples.
The incongruously named Le Coin restaurant in the town centre was empty at 6 p.m., and in fact appeared empty at any hour of the day. The Syrian waiter was drawn irresistibly to the table, politely longing to practise his English and clutching a miniature Oxford English Dictionary. Cans of beer could be seen in the fridge, despite the reputation the town has acquired of alcohol being banned by over-zealous Shias.
Until recently it was difficult to find an establishment serving alcohol, and there is still a lack of restaurants. This partly explains why tour operators whisk tourists off to nearby Zahle, a pretty town nestling in the foothills of the mountains with an abundant supply of hotels and restaurants, and plenty of government money.
But the tourists who remain in Baalbek so fleetingly are missing out, as a night's accommodation at the Palmyra hotel provides a rare chance to return to the Middle East of a bygone age. Built in 1874, it has played host to a long list of eminent personages - from Kaiser Wilhelm II to Gen de Gaulle, Ginger Rogers and Herbert von Karajan. George Bernard Shaw stayed here in 1901.
These days the hotel is faded, as are its elderly staff, but the genteel aura of the place is endearingly authentic. An aged retainer called Mohammad sits in the dim recesses of the cavernous lobby perpetually warming his hands over the glowing embers of an Arabic mankal, a brass four-legged holder in which he also heats pots of thick, black Arabic coffee. He has done this for the past 36 years. A younger Mohammad - in his 60s at least - also on the staff for almost four decades - serves dinner in a plum-coloured waiter's jacket.
"It's the high season," pronounced Nicola Saliba, the manager. Yet only three couples appeared to dinner. "Oh, there are other guests," he waved a hand enigmatically. "But they are sleeping."
The present - young - owners of the hotel, Ali and Rima Husseini, chatted at the bar. The conversation ranged from the state of local politics to illustrious guests in more recent years such as journalist Robert Fisk, and last November, Prince Albert of Monaco. They bemoan the dearth of tourists, blaming the government for failing to invest any money in Baalbek, and the media for putting out stories of no alcohol, and Israeli air raids.
The Israelis do carry out bombing raids on Hizbullah targets around Baalbek - most recently last February when they hit a disused hotel on the edge of town. Hizbullah used to have a large base on a hill above the town, now occupied by the Lebanese army. Usually, the Israelis carry out raids on targets elsewhere in the Bekaa valley, but none of this military activity helps local tourism.
Perhaps in an effort to keep out those exaggerated media reports, the Palmyra has no television sets. Nor does it have any light bulbs of more than 30 watts. A rare concession to the 20th century is a stereo in the bar which kept playing Welcome to the Hotel California.