Day 27 – 1st November 2009 (Ksar Ouled Soltane, Tunisia – Sweiba, Libya)
With slight trepidation, we approached the Tunisia/Libya border at Ras al-Jedir. We had heard everywhere that this border can be a nightmare, with the Libyan customs searching every inch of your vehicle, mainly for alcohol – which is strictly forbidden in Libya. We removed the labels from our peppery pork salami just in case! Our fears grew when Farhat (our Libyan agent - you must have a local agent to arrange your visa and provide a local guide to escort you through Libya) phoned to say that they had changed the visa rules again, this appear to happen on a near daily basis in Libya, and he had to return to his office 60km away… we settled in for the long haul.
However, not 30 minutes later, a man approached William, introduced himself as Farhat and we were through – no search and, all in all, we were processed out of Tunisia and into Libya in less than 2 hours. Happy days! As Farhat sped off and poor William tried to keep pace, we realised that the Libyan’s were however, maniac drivers. When we finally caught up with him, we agreed our itinerary for the next 10 days (another Libyan visa requirement), our Libyan guide, Lutvi, jumped on board and we headed towards Ghadames – 650km to the south – breaking the journey by bush camping next to a petrol station… probably not the most picturesque camping of the trip!
Miles travelled: 280 miles (total 4,006 miles)
Highlight of the day: Crossing into Libya, hassle free
Comment of the day: The Libyan border policeman, when calling James over, James worried he was about to be subjected to an interrogation/cavity search “Here, have a pomegranate [pointing to passports] … 5 minutes”
Days 28 & 29 – 2nd/3rd
November 2009 (Sweiba – Ghadames (2 nights)) After a rather restless nights sleep on the side of Libya’s equivalent
to the A1/M1, we completed probably the most monotonous drive yet – almost 250
miles across baron desert, with only a few camels dotted along the way to break
up the journey. Reaching Ghadames made it worth it though – a Unesco World
Heritage listed old city and the home town of our Libyan guide, Lutvi – the old
city is a huge labyrinth of cool covered alleyways and three storey whitewashed
homes, dotted with open courtyards, mosques and communal watering/washing holes.
The Libyan government built new houses for everyone in the 80’s so the old city
is now deserted but most locals preserve their old homes still as retreats of
peace and quiet and a place to cool off in the summer – we had a guided tour of
Lutvi’s family home (still adorned with rugs, cushions, pictures and
ornaments).
Suitably relaxed, having spent most of the second day chilling in
Ghadames, we headed for the local sand dunes to watch the sunset. We sensibly
parked William on safe compacted sand at the foot of the dunes and took a walk
up, sitting ourselves down on top of the highest dune to enjoy the view. As we
waited for the sun to go down (thinking how nice it would be to have a cold
beer), we watched other 4x4s go zooming up and down the dunes … and that’s
where it all went a bit tits up for us! We decided it would be a good idea to
try and get a dune sunset photo with William … half an hour later, Ness was
madly running across (now very dark) dunes arms flaying in the international
sign of SOS whilst William and James (and a few other locals who, whilst being
very well meaning, James was about to punch) were up to their axels and knees,
respectively, in sand. Not the teams finest hour …
But with some help from a local passing 4x4, William was returned to
solid land … lesson learned, no more playing in sand for William!
Miles travelled: 241 miles (total 4,247 miles) Highlight of the day: filling William with diesel for £5 … oh, and
rescuing William of course!
Comment of the day: from the policeman in Ghadames when our guide
went to stamp our passports (obligatory within 48 hours of arrival in Libya) “the stamp has run out, we have to get another
one from Tripoli [650km away]”
Day 30 – 4th November 2009
(Ghadames – Gharyan, Libya) A long days drive for the team today, ending in a salubrious government
hotel 80km from Tripoli. Still, we saw a lot of camels …
Miles travelled: 362 miles (total 4,609 miles) Highlight of the day: William spanking out 362 miles without any
problems after his rather traumatic trip to the sand dunes yesterday
Tune of the day: too many to pick just one
Day 31 – 5th November 2009 (Gharyan – Leptis Magna,
Libya) We spent the morning in Tripoli, sorting out our Egyptian visa (all very
easy and ready within a couple of hours) and seeing the sights - we were most
upset not to see more large pictures of Qaddafi everywhere – there are a few
but nothing like Tunisia where you can not walk to the toilet without passing a
picture of the president in his latest catalogue pose. Then a short drive to
Leptis Magna – the highlight of our Libyan adventure …
Miles travelled: 149 miles (total 4,758 miles)
Highlight of the day: Lunch at “Kentucky Fried Chicken”, Tripoli,
Libyan style (Colonel Sanders would probably not approve) and meeting Kamil … Comment of the day: Kamil, the campsite owners’ son, “Hello, I hear you a lawyer? … I have a
problem in Britain” …
Tune of the day: Dream catch me, Newton Faulkner
Day 32 – 6th November 2009 (Leptis Magna – Sirt, Libya) In return for us trying to help him with a legal problem in the UK,
Kamil kindly arranged for a friend of his, Mohammed, to guide us around Leptis
Magna, once the largest and greatest Roman city in Africa – amazingly preserved
and restored, mainly by the Italians. The site is huge and a guide compulsory (usually LD50) but
Mohammed, a full time student but with an obvious love for and Leptis, expertly
guided us around with pictures and google earth images … and best of all, good
banter! Usually, we are “in-take-a-snap-and-out-quick-as-a-lout-in-stout”
tourist at these kind of sites but Leptis and Mohammed had us enthralled for well
over three hours!
On our return to the campsite, Kamil had made us bazin, a traditional
Libyan speciality of unleaven bread made from barley and flour so it is a
doughy consistency surrounded in a bowl of chicken and potato soup/stock. It is
eaten with your hands out of the communal bowl – actually very tasty!
After James had set up his office in the campsite, we waved goodbye to
our new Libyan friends and started out (about four hours late) towards Benghazi
… about 1000km away and nothing to see in between!*
* save for our constant amazement at the Libyans driving skills
Miles travelled: 217 miles (total 4,975) Highlight of the day: Mohammed bringing Leptis Magna to life for us
and Kamil’s kind hospitality
Comment of the day: James “Is that a Pan-Am flight?” / Petrol pump attendant whilst filling up William and standing in a puddle of diesel, to James “No mobile phones” … whilst also smoking a cigarette
Day 33 – 7th November 2009 (Sirt – Benghazi, Libya)
We woke up in a rubbish dump by the side of the road … and then drove … and drove … and drove. The Gulf of Sirt is notoriously windy and didn’t disappoint with about 8 hours of sandstorms.
Miles travelled: 403 miles (total 5,378 miles)
Highlight of the day: Driving through sandstorms unscathed and having
a bath at the end of the day!
Comment of the day: “are we nearly there yet?”
Tune of the day: Abba on the pan pipes in the hotel … pure class
Day 34 – 8th November 2009 (Benghazi – Cyrene, Libya)
Mr Aziz, friend of Lutvi’s, very kindly showed us the War Cemeteries in Benghazi. The first one was a small one for servicemen and their families who were killed in the 1950’s & 60’s. It being Remembrance Sunday, we were at the main Benghazi War Cemetery 1939-1945 for 11am for two minutes silence (we escaped Mr Aziz & Lutvi for 20 minutes). Amongst the graves, which included a triple MC recipient, were Lt Col Geoferey Keyes VC MC Croix de Guerre who led the failed fatal raid on Rommel’s HQ (amazingly he was only 24) and, tragically, two brothers (G.S and W.F Graham) in the Royal Artillery both killed on the same day … Christmas Day 1941.
Poignant stuff …
Miles travelled: 171 miles (total 5,549 miles)
Highlight of the day: Attending the immaculate and moving Benghazi
War Cemetery for two minutes silence
Lowpoint of the day: Going for a pee in what could probably win the prize as the worst toilet of the trip … we will keep you posted as there are sure to be other contenders!
Comment of the day: Mr Aziz “I like Cat Stephens”
James “ we don’t have any of that”
Tune of the day: Lionel Richie … with Mr Aziz singing along (he actually was a very good musician)
Day 35 – 9th November 2009 (Cyrene – Tobruk, Libya)
After a restful (and free!) nights camping in the grounds of the Cyrene Resort, Lutfi arranged a whistlestop guided tour of the Ancient Greek/Roman ruins of Cyrene – again amazingly preserved – and then we rushed off, trying to reach Tobruk before everything closed. After visiting Knightsbridge War Cemetery (the last resting place of 3,649 soldiers of the Commonwealth killed during the WWII fighting for Tobruk), Lutfi introduced us to Mohammed Hanesh, who does a truly amazing job as caretaker of the cemetery. Referring to the soldiers buried there as “my boys”, Mohammed inherited the role as caretaker from his father and, continuing the family tradition, his eldest son now takes care of a second Commonwealth War Cemetery on the other side of Tobruk.
Mohammed then kindly offered to show us the nearby trenches and about 3km along a sand track (I use that term in the loosest sense) later, with no signposts or indication that they had survived, we were scrabbling around the original WWII trenches and underground bunkers … carefully avoiding the unexploded mortar rounds still dotted around the place! When we returned Mohammed home to the cemetery, he insisted we pitch up our tents next to his house. In return for his kindness, we took Mohammed out for a slap up dinner of pizza and BBQ chicken! After dinner, Mohammed invited us into his home to show us his collection of photos, including one with Michael Palin during his filming of Sahara no less, and many that the families of the soldiers had sent to be kept at the cemetery. All in all, a very interesting last day in Libya!
Miles travelled: 222 miles (total 5,771 miles)
Highlight of the day: The trenches of Tobruk
Comment of the day: “Careful Mr James … please do not touch anything” Lutfi at the trenches
**Libya – Top Tips**
1. There’s no beer …
2. There is a lot of hype about rigorous searches of your vehicle at the Libyan border (mostly for alcohol) – we were not searched and we spoke to a Dutch overland tour guide and he had never once been searched (and had two weeks supply of beer in the back of his Mog!)
3. You can bush camp in Libya (apart from in Tripoli & Benghazi) despite what some guides say. However, the idea of bush camping seems to be finding the nearest petrol station/road side café and your guide asking them if you can park round the back
4. Even if you see nothing else in Libya, visit Leptis Magna, Knightsbridge War Cemetery in Tobruk and, if you can manage to spare an extra couple of days, Ghadames
5. There’s no beer …
6. … but it does have the cheapest fuel in Africa
7. Outside Tripoli, Libyan’s are the friendliest people – generally very pleased to meet tourists, we were given free food, free camping and if we asked directions, they would invariably jump in the car and guide you until you were on the right road
8. And now for the driving …
a. Libyan’s drive at atleast 80mph irrespective of road conditions or other traffic
b. Almost every car hoots or flashes you … we assumed they were just being friendly
c. Libyan drivers can join and exit motorways/dual carriageway from either the right or the left – this is most terrifying when you have to come to a sudden halt because there is a queue of traffic in the fast lane
d. When joining said motorways/dual carriageways, they seem to have a complete lack of awareness that there are other vehicles on the road
e. If a lane of traffic is going too slowly, the Libyan’s simply create a new one … either the hard shoulder, in the middle of two lanes or, my personal favourite, crossing over the central reservation and using the other side of the road. A particularly fine example of this was when we hit some roadworks requiring the dual carriageway to be filtered down to one lane … by the time we eventually got to the front, the helpless looking policeman was desperately trying to manage seven lanes of traffic into one
f. There are a lot of road renovations so be prepared test your suspension!
9. The road from Tripoli to Benghazi is long (about 700 miles) and very dull
10. You need to return your plates at an office on the right in the last town before the border - you will get LD100 back when you return them