It has been over one week now in Libya, which is also my first trip to Africa (no, I have not been to Tunisia, Morocco or South Africa before!!!). While I can not speak for the entire Africa or even for North Africa for that matter, I got pretty clear opinion of Libya by now. First of all:
  • Mobile communications here are crap, i.e. local mobile operators are pretty crappy and roaming works only for 2 minutes or so, then the reception disappears somehow
  • Internet is painfully slow
  • Good food as we know it in the west (or in the Middle East) is practically non existent. Local food is a bit bland. They try to make up for the blandness by using spices, but this is not like in Lebanese or Syrian cuisine, so either I don't get it or the spices are not really matching to the base and texture
  • Here is no alcohol and with it we have realized how much we rely on this social lubricant in our past time in regions without prohibition. It did take us quite some time to find something to do in the evenings without involvement of alcohol
  • DON'T GO TO THE MARKETS!
  • ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE A WOMAN!!!
Not everything is bad in Libya. In fact majority of the negative things aren't that negative, like with alcohol, for instance. On the other hand there are quite a few nice things about the country:
  • People are super-friendly and helpful
  • They don't bother you at all
  • Everyone is quite simple with straight opinions and no hidden agenda
  • If in business someone does have a hidden agenda, you can see it through instantly. If you play along, everybody is happy
  • Fish is extremely fresh (I can't look at it anylonger though)
  • Mediterranean Sea!
  • Sahara Desert!
  • Roman ruins!
The old town is worth walking around - it is not glamorous or anything, but it is so vibrant and some of the buildings there are over 700 years old. There are plenty of workshops, where guys are making textiles, bake bread etc. They invite you in, explain stuff (Arabic or at least French knowledge is recommended) and let you take pictures. I am obsessed with neatness, functionality and aesthetics of bathrooms, so I am having hard time in this department, since folks here don't pay much attention to this topic (unlike in Morocco, where even the simplest washrooms are done in a very stylish way). Neither attention to details seems to be of a priority here, but this is not the end of the world. Anyways, these are just the first impressions of the country and generally I am liking it a lot. More to follow...