Libya

These pictures were taken of the lost cities of the Roman Empire during a visit to Libya in November 2005. English is the second language of Libyans and they find tourists a bit of a novelty, with children waving and adults pleased to talk and wanting to be photographed. There was not the usual hassle that you find in other North African countries of people wanting to sell you items, which makes a pleasant change. There is no train infrastructure so the roads can become busy but a police convoy that took us to and from Sabratha ensured we could visit the site within a day. Hotels are being built in Tripoli and parts of the beach cleared so I expect that tourism is about to increase in Libya, if the rules around entry are relaxed. The Roman ruins lived up to the expectations and although we had an unexpected wet day at Cyrene, I did have plenty of opportunities for photographs of the ruins without hundreds of tourists, barriers, lights, signs and litter bins that you find at most archaeological sites these days.