8:12 pm, Tripoli
I'm losing track of what day it is.
Tripoli has been FUN. Yesterday we got to explore the city, which was not only a welcome break from hiking over ruins all day, it meant a change of SHOES. Hello sandals!
We started off as a group at the Jamahiriya Museum, the national museum of Libya. First few floors are filled with archaeological artifacts found from throughout the country from way back when to not so long ago. It's a beautiful museum, very well arranged and displayed. But all of the labels are in Arabic... As is everything in Tripoli, and most of Libya. One of Qaddafi's edicts I suppose. Keep out the Western influence.
Qaddafi's VW bug
We had a guide through the archaeological floors, then we were left on our own. I wandered up to the top floor, history of the military and Libyan Resistance. Our guide insisted on coming with, and I see why. Gone were the loafing college kid museum guards. Up there, it's men in suits watching your every move. I was too self-conscious to take a photo. We were greeted by a gigantic photo of Qaddafi at the top of the stairs, then taken through the resistance against the Italian occupation and the rise of The Colonel. Helloooooo propaganda. There are two galleries devoted entirely to gifts given to the man. The next gallery is full of photos of him shaking hands with various world leaders and fan letters from his people (wish I could read Arabic...). Then there's the oil room. It was a little creepy, to be honest. Even creepier is that those galleries share the floor with the taxidermy, so in my attempt to flee the Libyan SS guards, I run into a gazelle being chewed by a coyote or something. No happy nature scenes here, folks. Our guide made a specific effort to point out the oddities case: two-headed cows, three-legged chicken, a sheep with no eyes. No thanks! Ran back to the lobby.
Then the fun began.
We wandered through the old city, where all the suqs and shops are located. Not as chaotic as the one bazaar we happened upon in Egypt, but this was primarily tourist stuff; that one was actual functional goods for everyday people. I finally got to flex my shopping muscles. Mohammad, one of our guides (actually, our only since Linda fired the other guy) came along with me to assist with the pricing... We tore through that joint. My arms were full in about 15 minutes. Still need to get some gifts for people though.
Tripoli is a lot more, eh, advanced than I expected. People here are much more stylish than in the rest of the country, and Egypt even. The clothing is much tighter. Women still wear headscarves, though not as much as in Egypt, and almost all are drenched in makeup. The catcalls have resumed. Maybe I should wrap my scarf around my head instead of my neck. Thinking about looking into a fake wedding ring, too. After touring today, we had the afternoon off. I hung out at home, as I've taken to calling our hotel, then went back to the suq on my own. (It's really close to the hotel.) Of course, everyone else in the group had the same idea so I strolled around with a few people once I got there.
Oh yeah, touring. The reason I'm here. We went to Sabratha this morning, one of the sites to see in Libya (the other being Leptis Magna, tomorrow's destination). It's another huge site, very well-preserved, right on the Mediterranean coast, as all of these sites are. The shining star of this spot is the theater, which has been impressively reconstructed. Three storeys tall, beautiful carvings and reliefs still in tact. The weather was once again amazing, so the beige stone really popped against the sea and the sky.
Wall mosaic at Sabratha
Now, I've just returned from my urban exploration. Thinking about taking a bath and ordering room service. Why not?? I'm getting a little sick of being around people, which is not to say that I want to go home (though I am counting down the days... 11 to go), I just want some alone time.
Tomorrow we drive east to Leptis Magna, where we'll be all day. It's far enough out that we're staying in a local hotel instead of coming back to the palace. Bummer. But we'll be back here the night after, which is the last night of the "official" tour before the extension into the Sahara begins. Some people will be going home. The rest of us will be heading south in 4x4s over the sand dunes.
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