Hi Per, Roro and others
As promised, here are the details for getting a transit visa for Libya. We did this in Tunis and the process may be different at other consulates.
First, you have to write a letter to the Consular General. (Don't address the letter to the Ambassador, or they will reject the letter and you'll need to get it rewritten, which is what happened to us.) The letter must be written in Arabic. Getting a translation from French to Arabic is easy as most Publinet offices have a translation service for a dinar or so per page.
What goes in the letter:
* Introduce yourself (name, nationality, passport number) and who you're travelling with
* Explain why you want a transit visa (We said we needed to get to Cairo and wanted to drive directly through Libya on the coast road.)
* Provide details of the car you're travelling in and who the owner is
* Provide a contact telephone number and your local address (We gave our UK mobile phone number, which they said they wouldn't use to contact us, but we got around this by agreeing to phone the consulate 7 days after our application went in.)
* Attach a copy of your passport (We also attached an Arabic translation of the details page of our passports)
* Attach a copy of the vehicle registration papers (referred to as the 'carte gris' by the consulate)
Drop this letter and attachments off at the consulate (not the embassy) in Tunis, which is in El Menzah 2, a suburb of Tunis. They say 7 to 10 days to process the request. We called on day 7 and were told to call again on day 10. On day 10, they told us our applications were successful and we were to bring our passports in. Surprisingly, the visas were issued right then and there. (Originally, they had said we would have to leave our passports with them for 3 to 4 days for the visa to be issued.) We had to fill in a separate application form (with help from the consulate staff), provide one passport photo and pay 31 Tunisia Dinar. Et Voila! Visa issued and we leave tomorrow.
On the accommodation front, it seems the YHA is fairly well represented in Libya, which might keep the accommodation costs down as we travel across. I found the info on www.hihostels.com.
I hope this helps everyone.
Good luck and safe travels
Bel