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*