Libya

Thursday, February 12

An American can’t just come to Libya, you have to have a tour guide and 1 police for each person at all times. After that is arranged, then you can apply for a visa. We were greeted at the border by all three men and they made the crossing easy.

The air quality was an assault on my respiratory system.

One hundred km from the border, we arrived at Sabratha, an ancient Phoenician, Roman, then Byzantine city. The materials were reused from period to period so many blocks were out of place from their original spots and ISIS sadly damaged areas in 2013. A wedding party posed for pictures there but the main group who dominated the space was that of graduating men. It’s the university graduation custom to walk from spot to spot, setting off fireworks, playing traditional music, dancing, and general raucous celebration. A dust storm hampered our breathing and picture clarity.

Building name: Taj Mall. Brilliant branding.

We had a Turkish meal and then rested in our hotel room for a couple hours. A hotel with warm water, sheets, towels, and even Kleenex was a welcome experience. In the evening, we saw the Marcus Aurelius arch, walked through the French section, and spent a lot of time in martyr square commemorating those hung during the 1911 Italian takeover of the city.

Friday, February 13

At pre-dawn, we began our 1.5 hour journey to Leptis Magna, another Phoenician, Roman, Byzantium city. It was quite intact with a forum, market for cloth and produce, elaborate bath houses, and shops. It had been a rich city, with marble once covering much of the sandstone. The amphitheater and hippodrome were connected by tunnels and we explored the paths leading from one area to the next. The amphitheater stage had three different sized doors for the animals, the gladiators, and the chariots pulled by horses. The amphitheater held a place for the leaders to sit and cast judgement of life or death; think a yea or nay given by a thumbs up or down. Although the ancient port has been filled in by two millennia of sand, the entrance and docks of the port were still well defined, complete with control tower and light house on either side of the entrance, and boat ties and storage areas on the docks. This was a stunning site.

Back in Tripoli, we ate a Libyan lunch and visited the museum. In the museum, I was most interested in the works that had been removed from Sabratha and Leptis Magna so I could imagine what they would have looked like in situ. Some of the statuary was enormous! The museum was only open for 2 hours so we had to proceed more quickly than I’d preferred since I could have spent 2 hours on each of the 4 floors. We walked through the souk, closed since it was a Friday, and saw the Marcus Aurelius arch in daylight. Our last activity was a leisurely walk along the recently built corniche, filled with families and fishermen. Exhausted.

Saturday, February 14

Ready for a 650km car trip in a dust storm? Let’s go!

We stopped at Nalut and Castle Haij, both abandoned Amazir storage and fortification buildings. Their rounded doors and multi-story configurations looked similar to the Tunisian film set of Anikin’s childhood home. There was always an olive press and broken storage containers on the property. The fortified graineries were abandoned in the 1980’s when gadaffi built cities with water and electricity just outside of these structures and forced the inhabitants to move into them.

The dust was so bad that huge drifts covered parts of the road and I had to wear a face mask to filter the dust. The hotel we stayed at was, um, ambitious. The lobby was vast, the restaurant spacious, and the corridors were long with many many rooms with only a dozen people in residence. I think I got my steps in for the day just from walking from our room to reception, which was the only place internet was available. That evening, we ate pizza and drove around town.

Sunday, February 15

Ghadames is an unesco heritage site. It was similar to the fortified graneries we’d visited the day before but it was where whole families had once lived. When the families were relocated outside of their fortified city in the 1980s, the families didn’t completely abandon their old home and continue take care of their spaces. It’s a beautiful site that was ingeniously built to consider the heat, wind, and rain. Our guide for the day had grown up in the city and maintained his family home. He led us through the warren-like paths to his family home and we climbed to the roof where he explained that the roof top was the women’s domain. A home was multi-stories with the kitchen on the top floor for 2 reasons: if something caught on fire, the fire wouldn’t destroy the whole neighborhood and because heat rises so having the fire on the roof helped keep the heat out of the house. With the kitchen being the female domain, women ruled the connected rooftop, using the space to trade with each other and to socialize. Along the Ghadames tour, we stopped at a “cafe”, a farm, the school (which is featured on the 20 dinar note) and the watering hole. The tourist police asked if he could video us talking about our experience so they could post on their facebook page. Only in the last year has Libya been taken off a danger list and they are looking to increase tourism. Once again, we are the face of Libyan tourism.

In the evening, we drove out to an old watch tower where guards would look for attackers. After that, we drove to the dunes to watch the sunset but the dust made for a strange sunset. When the vehicle got stuck in the sand, there was much digging and verbal exchanges. I sat in the 4wd SUV and didn’t fret because there was literally nothing I could do about our predicament. The guide/police wandered off to pray about our stuck situation and DH2 suggested turning the truck off and on to reset the 4wd feature. Although the engine reset was the trick, the prayer was given as the real reason for the movement success. No shade.

Monday, February 16

During the return trip to Tripoli, we stopped at another three types of old Amazir dwellings. At least there wasn’t a dust storm! Exhausted, we arrived back in Tripoli for our last night in Libya.

Tuesday, February 17

Our entourage accompanied us to the airport all of the way through border control since they couldn’t join us in that section but they stood outside the area until we passed through to security. It was wild to have a posse wherever we went. Since we don’t speak Arabic, it was very useful to have them be our fixers on everything but it was odd nonetheless. Once in the waiting area, two young Nigerian children found great delight climbing on DH2. I was happy to board the plane to Egypt where we could turn on our data again.

Observations

I am so glad we did not drive ourselves here. Lanes and directions were only mild recommendations with many car interactions being a game of chicken. The concept of “yield” did not seem to exist in driving.
Although most women covered their hair, I did not feel uncomfortable since I was conservatively dressed and was escorted by the police.
Driving with no online map was a throwback to pre internet. I never knew where I was nor how long it would take to get from place to place. I did not like this but DH2 did.
It was nice for DH2 to have someone else carry the mental load for 6 days.
There was trash everywhere. I kept thinking about service projects to pick up trash.
There were so many abandoned buildings in the cities and in the desert.
I think you have really want to come to Libya to jump through so many security hoops and be limited in what you could do and see. Apparently, Libya had been living rent free in DH2’s head for decades so he was very happy to come here.
There was limited visual damage from the revolution and little police presence.
The people were polite and engaging. It feels like they’ve let their breath out and are starting to rebuild their country.