libya

[mickey76]

hi everyone,
i'm looking for local information about west Libya ( close to Tunisia ) borders are open or not , region under control ?
thanks

[PanEuropean]

Hi Mickey:

The UK Foreign Office, which is (in my opinion) a fairly neutral and trustworthy source of travel advice, recommends against all travel along the Tunisia - Libya border. See links below:

Tunisia Advice

In particular, they recommend against all travel to Libya:

Libya Advice

I've spent a lot of time in Libya in the past (back in the 1990s, and as recently as 2010), and I like the country and have always felt comfortable there, but I certainly would not think of going there now. The country is in a state of war, with different groups struggling for control. In principle, this means there is no "governance" in the country - it is effectively an anarchy.

I spent many years of my working career in the middle of other people's wars (working as an aircraft pilot for a humanitarian organization), and I can tell you from great personal experience that if you are working or travelling in a country that has a civil war going on, you need to have a very professional and very effective logistics organization behind you to avoid finding yourself "in the wrong spot, at the wrong time".

I'm going to Tunisia next week for a month of motorcycle riding, and I have no concerns about doing that. But I intend to stay away from the yellow and red areas on the UK Foreign Office travel map of Tunisia.

Michael

[mickey76]

thanks for the advices , i also will go to Tunisia in october , if you can tell me the situation around the djebel chambi who is known for islamic activities , that's what i was told by french tunisian , have a good trip and thanks again

[andrasz]

I don't think anyone has any reliable information on the western (or any other, for all it matters) part of Libya, due to the simple fact that nobody visited for the past 3 years. The last foreign visitor I'm aware of (flying in/out of Tripoli) was in early 2017, since then I have not heard of any other reports. The conditions in the country (and the lines of control by the different warring factions) change from day to day. While I do not hold the FCO advice to so high regard as some others here, and in many cases the advice bears no relation to the realities on the ground (they are not to protect travelers, but to protect officials who can always say later if something happens that "I told you so") I think as far as Libya is concerned, it is smack on.

[PanEuropean]

Originally Posted by andrasz

I don't think anyone has any reliable information on the western (or any other, for all it matters) part of Libya, due to the simple fact that nobody visited for the past 3 years.

By coincidence, I have been exchanging emails all week with a longtime professional friend of mine who lives and works in Tripoli. He is Libyan, born & raised in Tripoli. We know each other well, I've stayed at his home (back in happier days) and he has visited my home in Canada. We've also worked together in Libya in the same industry (aviation).

The gist of his comments to me this week is "No-one in the country goes out of their own neighborhood anymore". This makes sense to me, because it's consistent with my own experience working in other countries when they were in the midst of a civil war (Angola, Mozambique, South Sudan, Somalia... the list goes on).

Generally speaking, combatants don't want to irritate the local civilian populations - they want to retain whatever goodwill they can. But combatants get very edgy whenever they encounter someone who is not "a local". There are a number of other countries that have their finger in the Libyan pie and have boots on the ground there - the most recent of which is Turkey - and that means that anyone who is not a local will be viewed with great suspicion.

If my friend, who has lived in the same neighborhood all his life, is not comfortable going outside of his neighborhood, for sure anyone who is obviously a foreigner (i.e. someone who does not appear to be a local, and someone who does not speak the local dialect) would be at great risk if they were travelling around the country.

Michael

[mickey76]

thank you very much

[PanEuropean]

Originally Posted by mickey76

...if you can tell me the situation around the djebel chambi who is known for islamic activities...

Hi Mickey:

The attached screen-shot from the current UK Foreign Office Tunisia map (available here, or click here if they change the direct URL next time they update the map) shows the current situation in the Djebel Chaambi park area. It's red, which means "don't even think of going there".

Inch Allah, I will arrive in Tunisia next weekend - assuming no quarentines or other travel bans get put in place because of the COVID-19 virus. I'll let you know what my experience in the green areas of the map is like, but I have no intention of venturing into the orange or red areas of the map.

Michael

Tunisia (detail of north-west portion of the country)

[Budrina]

HY all I am Budrinna of past years , hope to resume travel activity , actually all closed but many libyans are now bikers and 4x4 lovers.

[Xenobian]

I was in Libya (west) in late 2017 and early 2020. On both occasions it is a hassle compared to before, and absolutely requires a business visa (obtainable in London, for a huge fee, assuming all the invitations are in order). There are definitely easier places to go to right now. What has changed since early 2020 is something I cannot speak for, but at least then, it was feasible. On both of those occasions I came in from Tunisia, and out to Tunisia.

In 2020 we drove to Sabratha, Tripoli, Leptis Magna and Misrata, and back. In 2017 we did the same + Sirte + Sabha + Ghademes.

[Ccandelario430]

Hello, everyone! I've just been informed by a Libyan tour operator that tourist visas are now being issued again! They've told me this change is so recent that they can't say yet whether it will be VOA or not and what the cost will be (though surely much cheaper than the phoney "business visas" that tour companies were charging some $350-$500 for).

I've also been told that the Tunisia-Libya boarder is confirmed to be open. Unfortunately, you still need to book a tour package and be accomanied at all times by a police escort, though. The tour operator tells me he doesn't see this changing anytime soon, as this was also the case for tourists before the war.

[PanEuropean]

Originally Posted by Ccandelario430

Hello, everyone! I've just been informed by a Libyan tour operator that tourist visas are now being issued again!

That's great news, but for those of us who are here on the HUBB forum looking for information about travelling on our motorcycles or 4X4s to Libya, take that information with a grain of salt.

It's one thing to travel to Libya as a tourist when you go in and out by air and stay at a hotel or (better even still) stay with friends or family. Those kind of travellers are the ones who can reasonably get excited about tourist visas being issued again.

It's an entirely different matter for those of us who are interested in doing a land border crossing and riding or driving 100s of kilometers across the country unaccompanied. There is still a civil war ongoing in Libya, different parts of the country are controlled by different groups, and there is no truly national police or military organization to provide security to motorists.

Libya is a great place, but until a single national government is established that is able to effectively govern the entire country, it's not a place to be doing individual unescorted motor travel in.

Michael

[CalDriver]

I have been experimenting with the Gaia GPS recently on their free trial. It seems Gaia has quite a following in SW Libya, with many tracks posted publicly. I suppose this doesn't mean much for the forum, but I thought people might find it interesting.

[netllama]

Originally Posted by Ccandelario430

Hello, everyone! I've just been informed by a Libyan tour operator that tourist visas are now being issued again! They've told me this change is so recent that they can't say yet whether it will be VOA or not and what the cost will be (though surely much cheaper than the phoney "business visas" that tour companies were charging some $350-$500 for).

Which tour operator is this?