A day in Libya

We dock with our cruise ship at Tripoli in the very early morning: today we'll visit Leptis Magna and (but we'll only find out later) we'll also have time for a quick visit to the city of Tripoli. As soon as we get on the coach that will take us to the archaeological site of Leptis Magna, we meet our guide, who speaks almost perfect Italian, also because, he tells us, Italian TV is now clearly visible here too. Francesco and I were very excited to reach this country, which fascinates us greatly for its people, its landscapes and its beautiful desert — of which, however, we'll only hear talk.... today the visit will be only to the places I've already mentioned.

Yet, as soon as we get on the coach, something, or rather someone, reminds us that this country is still a dictatorship: along with the guide, two men identified as “government men” get on with us and will accompany us throughout the trip to safeguard our security. These words leave us a bit puzzled and frightened, though, thinking back in the evening, the presence of the two gendarmes didn't seem so much intended for our security (from what we saw, there was nothing to be protected from) as for controlling what the guide could tell us: indeed, at the first question from one of our fellow travellers about the living conditions the dictatorship imposes, our guide, who had always been friendly and helpful, stiffened a little.... as if he couldn't talk too much.

After this first impression, our coach journey sets off for Leptis Magna, a site built in Roman times and very well preserved because it remained completely covered by desert sand for a very long time. The journey to reach the archaeological site lasts a little over an hour and from the windows you can get a little taste of everyday life; today is Friday, so a holiday here in Libya, and indeed there are really few people on the streets..... in fact, men are scarce, since over the whole day we've only seen two women. Libya is a poor but developing country and, while in the countryside life still follows typically rural rhythms (from the window we saw a family with an Ape car and a camel sitting behind it.... beautiful!!!), cities like Tripoli are in some ways similar to ours a few decades ago.

Arriving at Leptis Magna we find other coaches of tourists and their guides, but there isn't that tourist-country confusion we'd expect to see: here tourism has only recently started developing, so we still feel among the first to be able to visit these fascinating places. The day is sunny, but although we're in Africa, the temperature is around 14-15 degrees.... and I have to cover my throat with a scarf... frankly I'd have expected summer heat, but here the great heat is felt around July and August, with peaks of 45 degrees! On the other hand, that's better: too high a temperature would have hindered our visit: the site is truly large and well kept. A great arch that served as the city gate welcomes us at once; the city has remained intact in some ways and its streets wind in a way still very similar to what the original must have been.

Leptis Magna stands on the seafront and also strikes you with the beautiful contrasting colours: the ochre of the stone, the blue of the sea and the fuchsia of the flowers that grow everywhere here, framing the ancient stones. The best part of the site is undoubtedly the ancient theatre: it is very well preserved and, once you've climbed the high tiers, you can enjoy a beautiful panorama of the Mediterranean. The basilica, the caldarium and the tepidarium also deserve a stop, and these monuments too have been very well preserved despite time and despite the raids of the Vandals, who came here to damage especially the statues representing human figures, whose extremities — breasts, arms or noses — were broken off.

We stay visiting the site until lunchtime, when our guide then takes us to the tents where a typical Libyan dish will be served to us: we eat in these very colourful tents, where the local people have laid tables and chairs for us, and where we can taste a delicious couscous, a spicy broth and then lots of sweets and fruit,...dates in particular, which I adore and which are truly delicious here!! In the early afternoon we go to visit the amphitheatre and the circus maximus, which are a few km from the site and both overlook the sea, and then return to the archaeological site to see, rather hurriedly, the Leptis Magna museum. A visit to the city of Tripoli wouldn't be included in our itinerary, but our fellow travellers insist on seeing it, so the time spent at Leptis is greatly reduced.

As we approach the Libyan capital we notice that there are no (and there weren't any near the port either) billboards or images of any kind: the only icon depicted is always and only that of Colonel Gaddafi, always portrayed with a victorious expression. When we reach Tripoli the bus stops in the square by the mosque, where there's a little bar and where our fellow travellers take the chance to drink and smoke the hookah (but didn't they want to see the city??...go figure!), while we wander off for about half an hour to discover the city.

There aren't many people around, but I, as a Western woman, feel particularly watched even though I'm not wearing any skimpy clothes, but rather long trousers and a light jumper...but evidently we stand out anyway and this makes me a little uncomfortable...so much so that we decide to stop at Green Square and not venture into the Medina, also because of lack of time. Green Square is typically Italian, surrounded as it is by buildings put up in the 1950s that strongly recall our architecture of that period: initially the square was called Piazza Italia, but then, after the revolution of 1 September 1969, its name was changed to Green Square, also because of the colour of the balconies, windows and flags overlooking the square.

Unfortunately our visit comes to an end: we only have time to take the last photos before returning to the coach that will take us to the ship: as a last message I'd like to leave what the guide told us as he left us: “The most beautiful gift you can give Libya is to go back to Italy and say that there are good people here”....... no sooner said than done!