May 2009 Archives
Spent yesterday pottering, and avoiding starting to work through my Libya photos on my frustratingly slow eMac. The time is fast approaching when I'll need to spend a relative fortune on a new Mac.
The day's successes included buying two "Moneymaker" tomato and a "Red hot chili" plants from the Barbican greengrocer, and Simon's 40th birthday celebrations plus my first Pimm's of the season. I had a lovely evening, and I think my liver's survived relatively unscathed.
I also really enjoyed catching Inside the Mediaeval Mind: Belief on iPlayer. Rather annoyed that I missed episodes 1 and 2 of the series and that these aren't available but episode 4 on Power is in my diary.
But now, back to lounging on the sofa watching Sharpe - the final two DVDs in the box set....
Slowly digesting my 14 days in Libya courtesy of Peregrine Adventures.
The highs were:
- drinking in the Milky Way in the desert silence of the Tadrart Acacus
- walking around the empty streets of Ghat's old medina (although the absence of our local guide contributed to the experience)
- Pippi, Lois and Sybl
The Greek and Roman ruins of the coast were almost too impressive in their extent and had benefitted from rebuilding/restoration by the Italians. Similarly, the rock art in the Tadrart Acacus is in an amazing condition considering that some of it is 14,000 years old. Ghadames felt like a dying town - a very melancholy place. At least Ghat had been put out of its misery.
The lows were:
- the unprofessional behaviour of Peregrine's local guide
- ending the trip feeling that it has been overpriced and that I'd got extremely poor value for money
Lessons for me:
- avoid local leader-only tours
- trust my gut instincts on value for money
I'm certainly not travelling with Peregrine/Gecko's again. Libya's worth visiting though, especially if you liked Syria - it has a very similar feel.
Here's an Excel spreadsheet showing what I actually spent in Libya, on top of the cost of the tour, flights and getting a certified Arabic translation of my passport details for the Libyan visa.
And, our reading list.
(And finally - July - the photos.)