It’s a later start to the day with the tour heading off into the ruins of Leptis Magna. The ancient Roman city considered almost second or third to Rome.
Arriving at the site we start with a tour around the museum, much to Mohammed Tabala’s frustration a few of the tour keep slacking, not sure what they are holding back from unless its their own personal time with the exhibits and photographs.
There is a huge two storey card effigy of the leader in the main foyer reaching from the floor to the ceiling with his outstretched arms. I am sort of admiring his principles and what he has done for his people. They are all treated equal both men and women and are working hard to create a better country.
Although his plans and ambitions to create the ‘man made river’ are of concern considering what will happen to the water trapped deep in the earth which he intends to pump out. This it’s claimed is cheaper than importing, setting up desalination plants for water.
The pipelines that are being laid are dug into the desert and four metre diameter pipes are being laid and joined. Apparently there is already problems with some leakage and spillage.
Entry to the ruins is by passing a number of tourist police and paying the prescribed 5 dinars for the permission to photograph.
Following in the footsteps of the great guide Mohammed we walk down the tree lined walkway that opens to a clearing with steps leading down to the triumphant arch. Set in a wide crossroads of the duco maximus and the cross equivalent is set with three steps and amazing detail with relief’s on the attico.
The three steps enabled the policing of stopping the chariots from steaming through and instead having to circumnavigate like a roundabout. It’s an amazing journey down through the ruins of the basilica to the temples and onto the forum.
Each has its own specific talking point and therefore I do not intend to re-write a guidebook. The streets are wide and where the colonnade progresses the street is at it’s widest down to the port. The streets are all paved with solid limestone with a central covered part slightly raised where underneath remains the sewer system. In some places the evidence of chariot wheels remains and at odd points there are makings of where the break was set into the road thus stopping. Around the main access areas there are remnants of a railway built by the Italians in the 20’s to renovate parts of the site. The Italians must have been here in their hundreds as they managed to remove thousands of tons of sand. Leptis was literally buried in the sand dunes and they have uncovered only about a half but probably the best half, from here they began the painstaking work of renovating the key sites and areas. Some columns had just fallen others were still standing. The only issue that Mohammed has is that they ignored or hid away signs pre or post the great city. Punic treasures were buried in the sand with signs from the Phoenicians and the latter Byzantine period.
One of the most interesting parts for me was seeing the Hadrian Baths with the amount of detail and marble used. This was a great feature of the city with its four major bath elements naturally all taken in the right order to ensure that they were acclimatised when they left the baths.
Street after street there are amazing sights off renovated houses and areas. Impressive is the forum with its huge open area and carved marble, even Britannica’s was carved into one of the strips of marble that would have edged the portico. So Britain had been conquered and immortalised in marble.
The basilicas create much debate with Mohammed and our resident theologian over the use of these as churches during the post Roman era when the Byzantine period is under full swing. All’s well and they are still happy.
I always find on these trips that there will be one in the group who is more than interested as they have a greater knowledge than the guide. I guess this helps build the knowledge with the guide and I know that based on the Uzbekistan trip, the guide loved having the extra knowledge.
Continuing down the main central colonnade and following the narrow gauge railway that the Italians laid we literally come to sand dunes and on clambering over we are welcomed with the view of the blue Mediterranean sea and the edge of the old port on the right.
The breeze is so welcome and the water looks so inviting but no let up Mohammed corals us through the dunes and onto the next site. We do get a break after the Hadrian Baths for lunch and drink and so we are moving at great pace as the site closes at 6pm.
It’s about 5pm when we get to the theatre the half circle auditorium with the slope and surrounding structure stretch high up out of the Leptis Magna site.
Spread around the theatre Mohammed delivers his oratory on the history and events associated with the site from the stage. As we face the sea the sound of it reaches us helped by the breeze from the sea. Finally leaving the site the gates are literally closed and locked after us as we are the last tourists.
So it’s back to the brown and gold hotel to partake in a shower and a rest before we are off again to a restaurant that Mohammed the organiser has sorted for us.
Most guidebooks have mentioned the basic elements of travel in Libya and to date all has been fine. The toilet out the back of the restaurant is basic, no further description required apart from flies, roaches and open sewer smells.
A few of us walk back to the hotel and John and I continue on to see if I can find an Internet Café. The one Mohammed had managed to find is already closed. We investigate the large group of men and cars that are at the end of the street just to see if we are missing anything. It appears to be just cars parked haphazardly with men talking and leaning against some of the cars. Eventually after two blocks I spot the neon ‘@’ (as in Microsoft exchange) which indicates Internet.
We enter a corridor off the street and head up the stairs and through a steel door to a well lit open area with 8 positions with PC’s. For half an hour I access mail or rather selected mail as most is junk and fire of two or three to let everyone know I am safe and well, almost immediately there’s a response from Simon. The half hour eventually costs a staggering ½ dinar, which is about 20 pence. I get to pick up a cup of Almonds from one of the shops for 2½ dinars, which is £1.00 and nibbling them we head back to the hotel. Late in the evening the hotel is teeming with Libyans drinking coffee and chatting, some out in the veranda others in the bar fully relaxed. A quick peppermint tea and Nescafe for John and it’s the slow climb up the four floors.