Riyaq

Rayaq - Haouch Hala (Arabic: رياق), also romanized Rayak, is a Lebanese town in the Beqaa Governorate near the city of Zahlé.

[2] In 1838, Eli Smith noted both Reyak and Haush Hala as Christian villages in the Baalbek area.

[3] Prior to 1914 there was a broad-gauge railway from Aleppo through Hama and Homs which reached the Beirut to Damascus narrow-gauge line at Riyaq.

On August 7, 1933, two French aviators (Maurice Rossi and Paul Codos), aboard a Blériot 110, broke the world record for straight-line distance.

During the Syria campaign in July 1941, the British bombed the French base and Rayak depots held by Vichy regime troops.

Hawker Hurricane of the Royal Australian Air Force at Rayak in 1942.