Libya

Africa-Libya-Tripoli  After my concern about Yemen , I later made my way to Libya . I had thought it would have to change and some time and I wanted to get there before it did.  This was March 2010. Maybe I should have been a fortune teller as soon after these two countries became part of the "Arab Spring " revolution in one way or another.  Libya was very enjoyable. At the time I was here European visitors were  banned from entering with the exception of Irish and UK. So not many tourists about at all. Tripoli was very different then I had expected. Electricity worked and all key roads had full street lights , the shops were open late and full of activity. The city was in much better condition then what I had seen elsewhere in many parts of Africa. Much to see here and excellent food . 

Postage stamps from Libya were on sale in many locations in Libya. From Museums to tourist shops.. However no one would sell you them at face value. And that includes the Post Office. I visited the Main post office and apart from  a few drab stamps they had little to offer. But then in another book they had these and many others stamps. Some were very recent . But they were all "Extra ". But in reality it was very little extra to pay to get some amazing stamps on ones postcards. The Postcard never did get a postmark. Not entirely surprising as the Post office in Tripoli was not exactly customer friendly. 

Africa-Libya-Sabratha  This area is a World Heritage site. It was a car ride out of Tripoli. The taxi drivers here you had to take your life in your hands. They were all mad drivers. Once they got out of the city they even went faster , like over 100 miles per hour. Formula one car racing must be popular to watch here. This was a great site and no one about. Visiting Libya at this time you needed to have a guide with you at all times when going to a Heritage site. Apparently tourists had been found at the airport with artefacts from these sites. 

Since every where I went I seen large posters of Gadaffi it was only right that he appeared on some of the stamps. When I talked to the taxi drivers they would only talk when they were driving and out of the city. They all had the same story. They were tired of Gadaffi and they ignored him. I asked them about the crowds that turned up to hear him speak. They all said that if you went to a speech you got paid to sit and listen. I do like the dark green postmark , the same colour as the flag at that time of Libya.