Highlights Climate & When to Go Itineraries
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
© Lonely Planet Publications 126 lonelyplanet.com LIBYA •• Highlights 127 HIGHLIGHTS HOW MUCH? Libya Leptis Magna ( p134 ) Tread softly through one of the world’s best-preserved Roman Museum admission US$2.40 cities, with exceptional bath complexes, theatres and forums in a stunning seaside Tripoli–Sebha flight US$30 location. Colonel Qaddafi watch US$4 to US$32 Tripoli ( p131 ) Lose yourself in the delight- Internet connection per hour US$0.80 ful, whitewashed medina replete with 4WD hire per day US$71 Libya is a crossroads of history, continents and ancient empires. Home to the Mediter- Ottoman mosques and houses and the ranean’s richest store of Roman and Greek cities – Sabratha, Cyrene and, above all, Leptis world-class Jamahiriya Museum. LONELY PLANET INDEX Magna – each of which is overlaid by remnants of Byzantine splendour, it’s a place where Ghadames ( p137 ) Find the oasis town of history comes alive through the extraordinary monuments on its shores. Every corner of your imagination in the labyrinthine, 1L petrol US$0.10 palm-fringed old city and the most en- cosmopolitan Tripoli resonates with a different period of history. It’s where the Sahara meets 1L bottled water US$0.80 chanting caravan post in the Sahara. the Mediterranean. Jebel Acacus ( p137 ) 4WD through the Bottle of (nonalcoholic) beer US$1.20 striking mountain range which is home Souvenir T-shirt US$9 Libya is also home to Africa’s most exceptional and accessible desert scenery. The Sahara to the indigenous Tuareg and magnifi- Shwarma US$0.80 engulfs over 90% of the country, offering up vast sand seas the size of small European cent 12,000-year-old rock art. countries. Visit the enchanting oasis towns of Ghadames and Ghat, where the caravans once Waw al-Namus ( p138 ) Marvel at the remote showcased the riches of Africa. Marvel at palm-fringed lakes surrounded by sand dunes in volcanic crater, off the beaten track in the heart of the Sahara, with black sand and ning and another at the end of your trip), the desert’s heart. Be bewitched by extinct volcanoes, such as Waw al-Namus, where black red, green and blue lakes. with a further day each for Leptis Magna sand encircles multicoloured lakes. Go deeper into the desert and experience Jebel Acacus, ( p134 ) and Sabratha ( p134 ). You can see one of the world’s finest open-air galleries of prehistoric rock art. CLIMATE & WHEN TO GO the best of the Jebel Nafusa ( p136 ) on Libya is at its best in November and from Feb- a long day en route to Nalut ( p136 ) or LIBYA LIBYA One important point to note is that visits to Libya can only be made as part of an organised ruary to April. Summer (June to September) is Ghadames ( p137 ); you’ll need at least a tour. While those of you accustomed to travelling independently would probably love the generally very hot with average temperatures minimum of a good half day for the latter. LIBYA LIBYA chance to do so in Libya, remember that Libya is a vast country and on a tour you’ll be able on the coast around 30°C, often accompanied Crossing to the Ubari Lakes ( p137 ) takes to cover so much more territory than you otherwise could. Remember also that organised by high humidity. Don’t think of going into a minimum of two days. Allow a few days the desert from mid-May until October, when for the Jebel Acacus ( p137 ). Flying back to groups can be as small as a party of one (plus guide) and with most tour companies you temperatures reach a sweltering 55°C. Desert Tripoli saves a full day’s journey by road. can design your own itinerary. nights can drop below freezing. One Month With a month you could see eve- rywhere covered in this chapter. Adding ITINERARIES Waw al-Namus ( p138 ) and Ghat ( p137 ) to FAST FACTS Two Weeks Two weeks is the minimum the two-week itinerary is a must, while you time required to get a real taste of the could also spend more time exploring the Area 1.8 million sq km country. Tripoli ( p131 ) deserves at least Idehan Ubari and Jebel Acacus. A week ATMs One, but likely to be more soon two days (preferably one at the begin- in Cyrenaica visiting the ancient cities of Borders Tunisia (Ras Adjir) and Egypt (Amsaad) open; Algeria, Chad, Sudan and (usually) Niger closed to non-Libyans VISITING LIBYA Budget US$50 to US$100 per day Since late 2000, visits to Libya have only been possible as part of organised tours and visas are only issued to those with an invitation from a Libyan tour company. The official reason for such Capital Tripoli a rule is that freewheeling European tourists were caught red-handed trying to take priceless Languages Arabic, Berber antiquities and prehistoric rock art out of the country. Money Libyan dinar (LD); US$1 = 1.3LD You will at all times be accompanied by a guide from the Libyan tour company who organised your visa and is responsible for you throughout your stay. Discuss your itinerary in advance with Population 5.5 million the tour operator, although most likely you will have little choice when it comes to hotels and Seasons Hot (June to August), wet (March and October), dry restaurants. All your transport while in Libya will be similarly organised by the tour operator (rest of the year) and, apart from domestic air travel, it is highly unlikely that you will travel by public transport. Telephone Country code %218; international access code %00 For this reason, we have covered sleeping, eating and transport options only in brief throughout this chapter. Time GMT/UTC +1 For a full list of Libyan tour operators, see p141 . Information on obtaining visas can be found Visa Arranged as part of organised tour; can be picked up on arrival on p140 . 128 LIBYA •• History lonelyplanet.com lonelyplanet.com LIBYA •• History 129 0 100 km LIBYA 0 60 miles queathed the region of Cyrenaica to Rome in 75 BC. Ras Adjir Meanwhile, the fall of the Punic capital at Douz Medenine Apollonia Ras al-Hillal Bu Kammash M E D I T E R R A N E A N S E A Tolmeita Carthage (in Tunisia) prompted Julius Caesar Ben TRIPOLI (Ptolemais) Susa Guerdane Zuara Al-Garabuli L'Atrun Al-Khoms Cyrene to formally annex Tripolitania in 46 BC. The T U N I S I A Sabratha Tajura Derna Surman Shahat Sahel Leptis Magna Tocra Al-Bayda Umm Irrizam Pax Romana saw Tripolitania and Cyrenaica al-Jefara Aziziyah G u l f o f B o m b a Bir Ayyad Tarhuna Zliten Misrata Al-Marj Akhdar become prosperous Roman provinces. Such Geush G u l f o f S i r t Jebel Nalut Jadu Gharyan Benghazi Qasrὄ Libya Tobruk Wazin Tauorga Al-Makilli Yefren ὅὅ Bernina Al-Adam Al-Burdi was Libya’s importance that a Libyan, Sep- Qasr Kabaw Amsaad al-Haj Ban Walid Qaminis timus Severus, became Rome’s emperor (r Mizda Zawiyat Masus Jebel Nafusa Abugrin Suluq Bir Hakim Sallum ὅὅ Sirt Medinat Sultan (Dry Well) AD 193–211). Bir-Alagh Fassanu Nisma Sinoun El-Fuchia Siltar Tiaret Wadi Burj Kbir ὅὅAjdabiya Great Man-Made River Messouda As-Sidrah (Under Construction) Islamic Libya Abu Nijayn Burj el-Khadra Ras Lanuf Wadi al-Hamim Al-Qaryat In AD 643, Tripoli and Cyrenaica had fallen Derj Brega ὄὄὄὄὄὄὄὄὅὅGreat Man-Made River ὄὄὄὄ to the armies of Islam. From 800, the Abbasid- Ghadames Deb-Deb Ash-Shwareef Sahabi Hamadat al-Hamrah Sahel as-Sirt (An-Nahr Sinai) Wadi Hasi Al-Jagbub appointed emirs of the Aghlabid dynasty re- Bu Miras Huseim Wadi paired Roman irrigation systems, restoring Awjila Sokna Waddan Siwa order and bringing a measure of prosperity to Houn Jalu the region, while the mass migration of two Jebel (Under Construction) Great Man-Made River as-Sawda tribes – the Bani Salim and Bani Hilal – from Zellah Libyan Desert the Arabian Peninsula forever changed Libya’s Wadi ὄὄὄὄὄὄ In Amenas ash-shatti Idehan Ubari Al-Fogaha demographics. The Berber tribespeople were E G Y P T (Ubari Sand Sea) Bargan Brak Ownsrik Ashkada displaced from their traditional lands and Idri Qardah Samnu the new settlers cemented the cultural and Ramlat Assayef Haruj al-Aswad Tekerkiba Sebha linguistic Arabisation of the region. Ubari Great Man-Made River ALGERIA Al-Ghoraifa Lakes (Under Construction) The Ottomans occupied Tripoli in 1551. Ubari LIBYA Germa Fjeaj The soldiers sent by the sultan to support Zueila Tmissah Al-Aweinat the Ottoman pasha (governor) grew powerful LIBYA LIBYA (Serdeles) Wadi Murzuq and cavalry officer Ahmed Karamanli seized Methkandoush Tazerbo Awiss Kaf Ajnoun Msak Settafet Waw al-Kabir power in 1711. His Karamanli dynasty would (1281m) Waw al-Namus Tassil (538m) -n- last 124 years. The Ottoman Turks finally AjjerGhat Al-Qatrun Idehan Murzuq Ramlat Rabyaneh reined in their erstwhile protégés in 1835 and Jebel Acacus (Murzuq Sand Sea) Djanet resumed direct control over much of Libya. Msak Tajarhi Mellett Al-Kufra On 3 October 1911, the Italians attacked S A H A R A Tripoli claiming somewhat disingenuously to be liberating Libya from Ottoman rule. During almost three decades of brutal Italian S A H A R A rule, a quarter of Libya’s population died as a Tumu result of the occupation. Jebel Uweinat (2000m) With the onset of WWII, devastating fight- Mountains Al-Aweinat ing broke out in the area around Tobruk. By N I G E R Uzu January 1943, Tripoli was in British hands Tibesti and by February the last German and Italian Bardai soldiers were driven from Libya.