Day 11: Libya - Leptis Magna

Leptis Magna was pretty mag! If you’re a fan of climbing through Phoenician-Greco-Roman ruins with next to no tourists around, Libya is the place to be!

Leptis Magna was first established as a Punic settlement around 500 BCE, but went through significant expansion during the reign of (Libyan-born) Roman Emperor Septimius Severus. After being abandoned at the time of the Arab invasion in the 640s CE, it was covered over by dunes which kept it well preserved until the Italians uncovered it in the 1920s. The great arch is a monument to Septimus Servus. The amplitheatre was the third largest in the Roman Empire.

We had a professor from the local university guide us through the ruins and explain how everything worked. My favourite tidbit is how they built the first row seats just high enough so that the lions couldn’t leap into the stands.

This is a wrap for Libya. It exceeded my expectations. The people were friendly, kind and hospitable. The food was good. The history and culture of the country are fascinating. I know it’s a Level 4 ‘’Do Not Travel’’ country but with the right arrangements it was perfectly fine.

I have a 4:30 AM wake-up call to get to the airport to fly back to Tunis. I’m having a bit of trouble booking a car pick-up because the flight and the airport don’t register in the international flight databases, but I guess I’ll grab a cab when I get there. I’m looking forward to a few glasses of wine before I leave for dry Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Sunday.

My Libyan photos are here (Opens in new tab.)

Ali’s Qaddafi connection

Our local tour leader Ali was an amazing guy with a big(!) personality. If waitstaff or bureaucrats were causing issues, he'd go (verbally) break heads. At 71 years old, he could do the splits and two-knuckle push-ups. It took a while to find out his backstory, but once we showed interest, he opened up. When he was younger he trained Qaddafi's bodyguards in judo and other martial arts. He also competed all over the world in martial arts competitions. One of our conversations went like this:

Ali: Where do you go next?

Me: Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Ali: Oh, you're going to Hajj, right?

Me: Right. Just after I have a few glasses of wine in Tunis

Ali: Just don't stagger around the Kaaba, okay?

Both: *roars in laughter*

Day 10: Tour of Tripoli

We started off today visiting the National Museum of Libya which just reopened in January after 16 years, in brand new digs. It’s one of the most impressive museums I’ve seen in a long time. The Phoenician-Greco-Roman floor has more recovered statues and mosaics than I have seen anywhere. And the rest of it could match anywhere in the world. (Okay, the genetic mutations section was really, really weird.) Everything (except the recent history floor) was in Arabic and English, including all the multimedia exhibitions. But if you’re looking for anything about Qaddafi, it’s not there. The current government wants everyone to move on.

From there we walked onto the Red Castle, the Roman fort that the Libyans used to defend the city (and help capture the USS Philadelphia) from the Americans in 1803. They see it as a great victory over the US; we remember it in ‘’…to the shores of Tripoli’’ in the Marine’s Hymn.

Then we walked around the city: Martyr’s square, the souk, the old city, the King’s palace, and the Anglican Cathedral of Christ the King, which is still functioning. There isn’t much of a British/Commonwealth ex-pat community in Tripoli but the cathedral serves many of the migrants from sub-Saharan Africa who are trying to get into Europe. The Dean of the Cathedral is Nigerian.

Even though there isn’t much left from the Qaddafi era, I did manage to find a Qaddafi clock (which I chose not to buy), and some Qaddafi stamps and notes which I bought and plan to turn into refrigerator magnets.

Libya doesn't get a lot of tourists so unlike places like Morocco, Egypt and Tunisia, you can walk through the shops without being approached, much less harassed. I even tried to walk into a touristy shop and the owner said ''We're done for the day'' and kicked me out. One of the wonderful things about Libya is that when locals are being kind (which happens often) it's not for payment. They're just being kind. One of the (minor) drawbacks is how often locals want to take selfies with you. It's great for the first couple days but then one starts to understand how celebrities must feel. It can be exhausting.

Tomorrow is our last full day in Libya. We’re off to Leptis Magna which is reputed to be the largest and most impressive of the ancient Roman cities in Libya. Then I fly back to Tunis and onto Saudi Arabia the following day.

My Libyan photos are here (Opens in new tab.)

Day 8: Libya - Back to Tripoli

Heading back to Benghazi today to catch the return flight to Tripoli. At the tea, bread and honey stands along the way you occasionally see posters of young men killed fighting the Islamic State in Libya (ISIL) or other jihadists. I thought the Russian hat on this man was interesting.

The flight back to Tripoli was less interesting than the flight to Benghazi. No friendly cats or interesting locals to talk to this time, sadly.

I admire the committment local Libyan airlines have to serve a meal, even on very short flights. It's great to get the food and it's usually pretty tasty, but there's little time to eat it before everything is collected again. I ended up shoving much of it into my backpack.

My Libyan photos are here (Opens in new tab.)

Day 7: Libya - Cyrene and more Greek cities

This day was spent winding our way down the coast exploring the Greco-Roman cities and their churches. Many of these cities were established around 500 BCE and thrived until the 3-4th Century CE. They really give you a sense that the Mediterranean was actually the middle sea. There was one culture that existed on both of its shores.

The site tour was led by a local archeology professor, Dr. Ahman Abdulkariem who completed his Ph.D at the University of Exeter in the UK. He now teaches Omar Al-Mukhtar University nearby. I found him very interesting and engaging. Beyond telling us about the history and usage of the sites, he helped with mundane things like translating menus, ordering food and other things. Great guy!

Sadly, some of the church sites have been vandalized by the Islamic State in Libya (ISIL) who held this area from 2014-2016. There are a few articles by Africa-focused think tanks warning about ISIL regaining a foothold in Libya as the governments in Tripoli and Benghazi continue to bicker. However the biggest danger of a resurgence isn’t in this area, but in the far south near the Chadian border.

My Libyan photos are here (Opens in new tab.)

Google Translate’s Arabic to English is wild, man

Day 6: Libya - Cyrene and the ancient Greek cities

We spent the day driving north and east of Benghazi into the green, verdant countryside that you’d probably associate more with Provence in France than in Libya. We stopped along the way to Cyrene to try some bread and coffee and then we met some locals celebrating their football team on a bridge (not sure why) before stopping at the ancient Greek city of Cyrene.

Cyrene was established in the 6th Century BCE by the Greeks (who are only 200km away) and grew into a huge city before being occupied by the Romans, the Byzantines, Italians and others. We spent most of our time seeing the Temples of Apollo, Artemis and Zeus before heading off for dinner and an early night. It’s been a tremendous day, but we’re all quite tired from all the flying and driving. There are more ancient Greek cities to see tomorrow.

My Libyan photos are here (Opens in new tab.)