The fateful day eventually arrived, and I'm now back in Britain. Rajab and Mohamed took me to Benina at 5.00 am - and it's a good job that they were so punctual. Although the time of my flight was ticketed as 07.15, that was just Afriqiyah's little joke - the actual time for departure was 06.00.
The flight was fine and I was at Burj el Fatah by 8.00, waiting outside the BA offices. I had tried to find a hotel for the evening but all rooms were taken - there was a conference on in town - so I decided to fly a day early.
BA were happy to change my reservation, and there was no fee, so my flight out was booked for the afternnon. I met up with Khaled for drinks and a bite to eat, and we had an introductory lesson on email in an Internet cafe. Then he took me to the airport.
Having queued at the check-in for a while, I was then told I wasn't booked on the flight - BA had accidentally booked me in for the 17th October, not November, and the gate was about to shut.
Arrrgh - panic.
I quickly rearranged my booking, and slipped through emigration with seconds to spare.
Then I got on the plane and there was a big notice on my allocated seat saying 'Not to be occupied'.
Bummer.
So they upgraded me to First. Lovely. Champagne, caviare, china, the works. I think this will be how I always travel in future.
We flew over the Alps as the sun was setting - they were unbelievably beautiful. Ski-ing on Christmas Day? Yes, a definite possibility.
After a hugely expensive taxi trip home, it was into the comfort of Mother's home.
It's great to be back, but I shall miss Libya terribly. I have made more friends over my year there than I thought possible, and I am seriously thinking of returning at some point. There have been several offers of work in both Benghazi and Tripoli, so I shall have to consider my options.
My time, my photographs, my life in Libya, are safe in my mind, and on my computer. Now I need to share my experiences with other people, so I'm going to start presenting Talks to people near High Wycombe to encourage them to visit the Libya that I have fallen in love with.
Here endeth the blog
