Rather than waste a good day staying in Benghazi, I've been out to the east again, this time aiming for Qasr Libya to see the mosaics.
All was going well until I reached the Omar Mukhtar bridge, and realised I'd overshot Qasr Libya, so I thought I might as well carry on and see how far I got. Well, Tobruq was beginning to feel like a real possibility until I got to Derna, and by this time the sun was high in the sky and I was beginning to cook, so I refuelled, reoiled, and rewatered before setting off back, but along the coast road rather than through the mountains this time to see more of the sea.
Derna will, one day, be a lovely place to have a holiday, but it's very run down at the moment:
I accidentally turned left in Susa, where we'd been last week, so ended up going back into the hills - that means I have to go back to the coast road again some time to give it another try - but it did give me the opportunity to see the tombs at Cyrene again:
Using my infallible sense of direction, I headed north, hoping to get back to the coast, but I actually went west through Al Bayda - I realised this when I saw the OM bridge looming up around a corner! What luck, I thought, I'll get to Qasr Libya after all. I stopped to ask directions on the road, and a bloke in a truck said to follow him, and he'd show me where it was - only 20 kms. So, driving like a lunatic so I wouldn't lose him, we eventually fetched up in the right town. Then I had to somehow communicate what I was looking for: a Byzantine church with mosaics. He didn't speak any English, so I set out some stones on the road to explain what I meant. His eyes lit up, and off we went for another couple of kms. We turned off the main road, and went down a long and winding road till we got to my destination - a gravel depot!
Hmmm. What now? By chance there were some Moroccans living on site - building a road from Al Masr to Tobruq - 200 kms. They had some English but didn't know what I was talking about, but suggested I try the police in Qasr Libya. There was a village nearby called Olibia, and that might be the place. Before I left, they asked me if I wanted to have a sleep with them.....very kind, I said, but I had to press on.
Reaching the police station, they gave me directions to the Qasr - it was indeed just outside town. My Arabic stretches to a few numbers, left, right, and straight on, so I was able to follow their guidance, and there I was, bang on target. It was locked, but the caretaker, the local police major it turned out, let me in for my own private viewing:
Stunning. This country is full of gems that are just not seen in the normal course of travelling. I'm so glad I'm here before the tourist industry spoils it all!
After I'd had my fill of the mosaics and the basilicas, the major asked me if I'd like to have a sleep before I set off again. Yet another example of extraordinary Libyan hospitality - but no, I wasn't able to stay. I had to press on.
700 kms today, and I felt it when I got back - it's so hot now in the day. And it'll get hotter I'm frequently told. Just wait for the Ghibli!
