Formalities leaving Egypt were easier than expected (bearing in mind it took two days to get in!). Getting into Libya was not so straightforward! Our guide was late and immigration were very slow with our passports, we suspected that they didnt trust the paperwork from the agency we had supplied them with and without the guide to back it up they simply kept us waiting for around an hour. In the end they stamped the passport with an entry stamp but we never got a Visa in the passport at all (after all our endeavours to get one!).
We had to get a Taxi 10km away from the border to get number plates and change some Dollars (on the black market as it was Friday and the Banks were closed). Ironically we had a policeman with us who waited until the money had been changed before appearing so he didnt put the money-changer off! The Policeman wandered around with a huge bottle-brush but then Libya is a strange place after all so this may well seem 'normal'! When we returned to the border our guide Mohamed had arrived so plates were fixed to the car and all formalities were resolved. At each checkpoint, hotel and historical site our guide gives them a photocopy of our details so the state knows where we are! Our guide Mohamed was a very good and kind man if a little tardy but I fear this goes with the territory.
We visited the ancient cities of Apollonia and Cyrene. Also the perfectly preserved mosaics at Qasr Libya dating from AD529.
We visited the amazingly well preserved city of Leptis Magna. It is often lavishly decorated with buildings of huge proportions and is a showcase for Roman town planning.
The drivers are completely insane in Libya and there is sadly rubbish just everywhere which is disappointing. With their oil wealth they sadly dont seem to bother too much about Tourism.
We only spent 5 days in Libya because of the cost of taking a guide (you now no longer have to take a policeman as well!!). As independent overlanders the whole experience seemed very restricting as we are used to total freedom to do what we want. The cost was around €1,100 for the 5 days (could be done cheaper as hotels were generally 4 star and all meals, entrance fees [and sheeshas, thank you Mr Mohamed!] were included). We used a company called Bright Focus email info@brightfocus.com.ly.
Album of Apollonia, Cyrene and Qasr Libya Mosaics OR Slideshow
Album of Leptis Magna OR Slideshow
