“Welcome to Libya!”

Ever since we applied for the visas I had butterflies in my stomach from the idea that we would go to Libya. The media reports on Libya are not exactly positive. The revolution in 2011 has ensured that Gaddafi no longer controls the country and that Libya is open to the world now. However, the new government is not in full control yet and different groups try to disrupt things on a regular basis. Especially around Benghazi incidents occur regularly, of which foreigners have been victim as well.

The butterflies in my stomach steadily increased as we got closer to the Libyan border. Every day Peter and I would discuss the route that we could ride in Libya, but also alternative routes that we could take to avoid Libya and perhaps even Egypt all together. We followed the news about Libya closely and saw that mid-December a bomb had exploded at a police checkpoint just out of Benghazi.

The travel advice from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs was further tightened on December 23. They advised against traveling to Benghazi and against ’non-essential’ trips to other parts of the country. The travel advice of the British Government was even more negative, with almost the entire country coloured red and only certain areas along the coast where one could travel.

Peter felt OK about the challenge of going to Libya, but I did not really feel up for it. On 24 December on the island of Djerba in Tunisia we drove to the airport in the pouring rain to get information about flying to Egypt or Sudan. We would drive back to Tunis, have a crate made for the bikes and fly from Tunis to Cairo or Khartoum with the bikes. A long detour and a lot of hassle, but maybe a lot safer.

At the same time we had contact by email with our contact person in Libya, Masoud. He had helped to get the visas and could tell us more about the current security situation in Libya. He assured us that the media create a very negative image of Libya, but that life in Libya is normal as in any other African country. The disturbances were an internal matter and not aimed at travellers. He let us know that he was expecting two other motorcycle riders with whom we might ride together to the Egyptian border. He also referred us to the websites of other motorcycle travellers who had previously ridden through Libya. Each of them with very positive stories.

Our visas were valid until December 28. If we would to go to Libya, we would do so on December 27, so we would have no problems with expiring visas. We decided to drive from Djerba to Ben Guardane (Tunisia), from which town is would be a 30km (18 miles) drive to the border with Libya. In Ben Guardane a final decision would have to be taken.

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The sun is shining as we drive away from our hotel in Djerba on Boxing Day. There is a lot of wind and despite the sun is quite chilly. The intercom is open, but neither of us says a word. My thoughts are with the decision that has to be taken. I think about the list of “pro’s” and “con’s” that I had made the night before and hope that I will find the solution.

For the first time this trip we are stopped at a police checkpoint. We show our passports and answer questions about our itinerary and our stay in Tunisia. They let us through, but a few kilometres we are again requested to stop at a checkpoint\. This time the passports are not enough, they want to inspect our bags. So be it. One by one we both open our bags after which the police, boys in their early twenties, search our bags. If the bags with our clothes and our cooking pans are studied, they apologize: “Sorry, this is my job. Welcome in Tunisia, I hope you have a good time.” After fifteen minutes all the bags are shut and we continue our route to Ben Guardane.

Around noon we ride into Ben Guardane. We are looking for benzine, an ATM and a hotel. I am lost in my thoughts while searching for my wallet when I hear Peter say: “Look next to you”. When I look up there are two fully packed BMW bikes parked next to us with British number plates. The tough motorcycle goggles and helmets go off and we shake hands with Billy and Ross. They are on their way from London to Cape Town and want to drive through Libya to Egypt. These are the two motorcycle travellers about whom Masoud, our contact in Libya, had told us.

It is always nice to meet other motorcycle travellers, but this time my heart made a little jump. The idea that we could possibly ride part of the route together with them is strangely enough reassuring. When I look at Peter I remember the words of his father: “A solution will show itself.” When it turns out that Billy and Ross do not mind that we ride with them across the border and into Libya, the decision is made: We are going to Libya. I inform Masoud by SMS that we will cross the border that same day, together with other motorcycle riders. With new energy, we ride to the Tunisian-Libyan border.

It is not busy when we arrive at the Tunisian border early in the afternoon. We can immediately drive to one of the booths and before we know it we all have a stamp in our passport to leave the country. We then have to wait until we also receive a stamp to export our bikes again. Unfortunately It is lunch time, so only after more than an hour we get our passports back with a stamp for the bikes. We can finally move on, to the Libyan border.

On the Libyan side of the border, we are awaited by Masoud. He welcomes us warmly and asks for our passports. He will arrange for us to get the right stamps in order to enter the country. While we are waiting, a car stops next to us. An elderly man runs his window. He asks Peter where we come from and where we are going . Then he starts laughing and calling loudly “Hollanda? Welcome to my country! Welcome to Libyaaaa” Also from other cars that pass us it sounds “Welcome“, “Welcome to Libya, thank you for visiting.” A warm welcome!

On the Libyan side of the border the bikes have to be registered again. Masoud takes Billy and me in his car across the border to withdraw money and buy insurance for the bikes. In the meanwhile Peter and Ross stay with the bikes, which are parked in front of the office of customs. The office of the insurance company only consists of a counter, a desk with a computer and some chairs. Billy and I sit on the chairs while Masoud talks to the guy from the insurance company about the details of the bikes. The bank was closed and the ATM was not working, but Masoud came to the rescue by paying the cost of the insurance (40 Libyan Dinar per bikes) for us. We could repay him later.

With the insurance in our hand, we drive back to Peter and Ross. They have made new friends at the customs. Ross gets his first lessons Arabic from a man who points at parts of the bikes, then says the Arabic word, after which Ross writes down the words phonetically in a little brown book. Although we were told not to take any pictures at the border, the men want to take pictures themselves. Every one of them pulls out a phone after which an extended photo session follows. In the mean time Masoud is in another office trying to get us Libyan plates (which he also paid for). Our familiar yellow plate is covered with a white plate with green Arabic numbers on it.

After all formalities are completed, we ask Masoud directions to the hotel in Sabratha which Ross and Billy had already booked. A hotel is out of the question, tonight we are Masouds guests and we  will sleep at his house in Zuwara, at about 60km (36 miles) from the border. “You follow me” he says. At high speed and with his hazard lights on he rides in front of us to Zuwara. We can only just keep up with him. As the evening sets in, we park the bikes on a sandy area along the sea at a cafe. The music in the cafe is loud, in front of the window Christmas lights flash and in the back room a group of boys is playing pool. At the bar they sell coffee and in the fridge next to it is are only sodas. Libya is officially alcohol free, alcohol is prohibited. 
Masoud pulls some tables together and takes our order. We eat spaghetti, salad and a plate of fries. Meanwhile Masoud tells about the revolution, the current situation in Libya and the travelers that he helped with their route through Libya before.

After dinner we drive to the home of Masoud his family. The large metal door opens so we can park the bikes in the courtyard. It is a large house with a huge wooden staircase in the hall, a room for the male guests, several bedrooms, bathrooms and a kitchen. The house is empty. His parents and brothers live elsewhere and only come to the house for family gatherings. Masoud laughs at our stunned reaction and explains that Libya is a big country, so they build big houses, preferably more than one .

With the map of Africa on the floor, we discuss the route we want to drive with Masoud. The plan is to first ride through Tripoli to Khoms to visit the Roman city of Leptis Magna. After that we want to drive in one day to Ras Lanuf, so that we can pass Sirte (The town of Gaddafi) without having to stop there. Then we drive a short distance to Ajdabiya, after which we drive to Tobruk through the desert the next day. The latter mainly to avoid Benghazi and Damah because we those cities seem that have the most problems at this point. Masoud immediately grabs his phone to call contacts in Khoms and Ajdabiya that can help us to find a hotel there.

After we have discussed the route, we again talk about Libya, the revolution, the current situation and the future. It is clear to us that the revolution has done the country good, since the people are no longer at the mercy of the whims of Gaddafi. In the past it could happen that Gaddafi , if he had a quarrel with the U.S., would decide to ban all studies English and burn all English books. He could also decide to place a wall in front of the ocean if he felt that the people did not need the sea. Freedom is best seen in the fact that everyone has access to every conceivable news source now and thus to the rest of the world. It is extraordinary to hear how valuable that is.
Proudly Masoud tells us about all the wonderful things that Libya has to offer. Not only Leptis Magna is worth a visit. In the desert there are many special places worth visiting, including ancient rock art. Also Libya has some really well preserved pyramids. It is clear that he can not wait until he can show all that beauty to other tourists as soon as the country is safe enough to do so.

At the same time you can taste the frustration about the fact that it takes the new government a long time to organize the country. There is still no police force, which means that many rules are violated without any consequences. Things that seem simple to us, like having a bank account and transfer money are hardly possible in Libya. Everyone, including Masoud , carries a lot of cash on them. Because the banks were closed and many ATMs did not work, we exchange our dollars to him for Tunisian dinars. We pay him back for the insurance and license plates. If we want to pay for dinner he puts his hand on his hard and smiles: “You are my guests, it ‘s my pleasure. Welcome to Libya.”

We crawl into our bed early that night. Although we did not ride a long distance today, it was a tiring day, especially with the tension of the border crossing. Before we go to sleep, we talk about how special it was that we met in Ben Guardane that day. It Peter and I had not stopped to fill up, or had not been stopped by the Tunisian police, or had not turned left in Ben Guardane, we would not have met. It do not believe this was a coincidence, there is a reason why we had to meet Billy and Ross.

When we put our stuff on the bike the next morning, Masoud points us to the kitchen. The kitchen table is set for four with yogurt, fruit, olives, harissa, bread, cheese, milk and jam. On the stove a pot of hot water is boiling for tea and coffee. The hospitality of Masoud has no limits. After breakfast, he starts his car and escorts us to the outskirts of Zuwara to the road to Tripoli. Again at high speed and with his lights out, he leads us through the city. Just outside the city, he stops to say goodbye. It feels as if we say goodbye to one of our best friends even though we had never even seen him less than 24 hours ago. We promise to keep in touch and to call if we need anything.

We continue our way to Tripoli. It is a busy road where everyone rides at very high speed. We had already been warned for the poor driving skills in Libya and the Libyans live up to the expectation. I regularly hear Peter warn me over the intercom for ’low flying cars”.
The road is in good condition and we make good progress. Alongside the road we see a lot of building sites. Homes are repaired or rebuilt. Here and there an entire new neighbourhood is build. What is also striking is the huge number of flags. After the revolution Libya has a new flag, which you now find everywhere. Painted on walls, garages, street lights and traffic signs but also proudly flapping on buildings and cars.

The closer we get to Tripoli, the busier it is, until at some point we are stuck in traffic. We attract quite a bit of attention with the bikes. Everywhere we here “Welcome to Libya” while they gives us thumbs up of make a ’V’ for Victory with their hands. A car pulls up next to Ross. The driver asks him to stop. When all of us are alongside the road, the man explains that he would like to introduce us to the Chairman of the Libyan Motorcycle federation. We follow his big BMW-car to the centre of Tripoli, while manoeuvring between the traffic at high speed .

We stop in a residential area in Tripoli and are introduced to Masaud, “President of the Lybian Motorcycling Federation”. He talks to us about his motorcycles, the motorcycle club of Tripoli, the Libyan Motorcycle Federation and his visit to The Hague at a conference of the FIA. While we are talking, more and more people join. There is another photo shoot. They propose to contact people in the cities that we will still visit. Before we know it, they are calling their contact and have Ross talk to a Libyan motorcyclist who has just completed a tour through twenty countries in Europe.

They want to show us the city of Tripoli. We again drive back behind the large BMW, while one of the other guys stops all traffic for us by putting his car in front. We park on the main square of Tripoli. Masaud talks about Libya and the revolution. Once again it becomes clear how proud everyone is on their country and how much they want tourists to visit it. More and more people join us to say hello. They ask where we come from, where we are going and what we think of Libya. They thank us for visiting and ask us to come again.
When we are about the leave, Peter is stopped by a man who asks him to wait. He wants to give him something. He walks to his car and comes back with a Libyan flag. If he Peter hands over the flag to Peter he says: “Welcome to Libya my friend!”

We follow the BMW out of the city. They waive us goodbye only after we have promised to call it we need anything. With some delay we continue our route to Khoms. We still want to visit Leptis Magna before it gets dark. When we arrive in Khoms we call Salah. We had received his phone number from Masoud from Zuwara. Salah would be able to help us to find a hotel. We finally find him at the entrance of Leptis Magna where he had been waiting for a long time already. It appears now that, before he can brign us to a hotel, he will give us a tour around Leptis Magna. We park our bikes and follow Salah to the entrance. “Welcome to Libya and thank you for visiting” we hear from the booth after which we receive two free tickets.

For more than two hours, Salah leads us through Leptis Magna. He has over ten years as a guide and knows a lot about the site. It is beautiful. Especially the amphitheatre (which was built by Emperor Nero around 60AC) is incredibly impressive to see. It must have been impressive to fight wild animals and other gladiators on the floor in front of a crowd of 16,000 screaming spectators. Also the theater was very special. Everything had been preserved so good. The buildings were hidden for years under a thick layer of desert sand . Only in the early 20 of the nineteenth century the first structures were discovered, uncovered and restored . Up until now only the most most important objects have been uncovered More than 60% of the city is still hidden under the sand. Salah said that his biggest wish is that he is still alive as the rest of the city is exposed.

After a very special day in Tripoli and Khoms at Leptis Magna, we ask Salah for directions to a hotel. But again the Libyan hospitality is shown when Salah invites us to stay with him.

Part II on Libya, including the stay at Salah follow soon !

Click here for the pictures