Can anyone provide updates on Libya? Preferably those who have recently returned...

Can anyone provide insight and/or recommendations on the topics below?

- Hotel
- Travel Agencies in Libya
- English Driver/Guide
- Visa Assistance
- Attractions
- Do's & Don't
- Any addition information??

hi, when u say libya do u mean tripoli, or benghazi and other cities as well.
ill focus on tripoli, although i can give info on other areas if needed

if your looking for international hotels in tripoli, ur stuck with the corinthia and the radisson for now, although four points by sheraton will open in september

there are quite a few local hotels which provide what the internationals do at far more reasonable rates.

there are several travel agencies, the 1 i can vouch for is Matia tours, there are several others, but im not sure if they are active at the moment so soon after the war. if u go to http://www.yellowpages.ly u can search for travel agents etc

for visa assistance, generally the our companies can help you out with that, its quite a big business here in libya, but unfortunately they are mainly in libya, working for companies needing to bring people in, not generally accessible from outside.

attractions, i guess near tripoli there are a few roman and greek sites, leptis magna would be 1, i cant remember the other. a bit further out into the nafusa mountains you have the old amazigh(berber) cities, with there history. after this war, im sure the famous battlegrounds such as misrata may be included in future tours etc.

do's and donts? theres a saying here in Libya, "Libya Hurra" meaning Libya Free. there really isnt many donts anymore, feel free to publicly talk about anyone in the government etc.

on a serious note, it wouldnt be wise to praise gadafi or mock/question/belittle the revolution, you will be very hard pressed to find a single libyan who didnt lose a relative in the war. alcohol is still illegal, although available.
generally speaking its like most other conservative middle east countries in terms of dress and actions.

any additional info?? make friends with someone with weapons and go shoot some rockets, throw hand grenades, fire off some anti aircraft weapons.

lots of fun



hope this helps

Thanks, that was definitely helpful.

- Do you know the names of the local hotels that can provide comparable service as the international ones? preferably those with wifi or internet service?

- Do you know if Malta tours provide just visa services and/or a driver?

- Do you know the name of the others?

- How much should I expect to pay for a driver/car for the day? Recommendations?

- How accessible is it to vist the Gaddafi palaces and etc?

Cheers,

RJ

hey, i honestly couldnt tell you how much a driver and car would be for the day, maybe between 50-100 lyd, or about 70usd max, but quite honestly, you might be best off just taking a taxi, and haggling for a day rate with him.

most of gadafis palaces have been ransacked, destroyed, or are currently being used by the brigades as bases, i know his main compound, baab al azziziya was destroyed, but they left a small part open. ive been down there but couldnt find the house that wasnt destroyed. maybe further out of tripoli there might be some of his houses that werent destroyed, but im not sure

i just tried to search yello pages for libyan tours, and nothng came back for a search, so not sure what to tell you.