LIBYA

January 2012

Most information below predates the upheaval of 2011. Although the Libyan Sahara was never really a battleground, it was never won over either and for the moment re-establishing desert tourism is not high on the NTC's agenda. Even the coastal highway transit is said to be risky - no reports of an overland tourist driving Tunisia-Egypt yet.

Libyan dinar exchange rates
Pounds, dollars and Euros can be exchanged into Libyan dinars at the border or just use the ATM machine. There's no black market to speak of any more.
There's an ATM machine at the border and another one in the car park at Sabratha and all surplus currency can be changed back into Euros on leaving at only a very small penalty.

Price of fuel
Petrol is about 0.20D/litre dinars. Diesel 0.15 LD/litre.
Along with Egypt and Algeria, fuel in Libya is about as cheap as it gets in the Sahara but in October 2010 they introduced a fuel levy for foreign overlanders of around LD135 (€84). You pay at the border or your agency can arrange payment in advance.

Costs
With the visa/invite/entry costs and now the fuel levy, Libya is not so cheap and currently is very expensive as some take advantage . Notes come in 10, 5, 1, half and a quarter with the numbers written in English as well as Arabic.

Useful languages
Arabic and English. Road signs names are in Arabic but the distance numbers are in Roman ('English') script. Nevertheless it helps to learn the ten cardinal Arabic numerals (read from left to right, unlike Arabic script which is read from right to left).

Visas and regs

The following info may all look like a bit of a jumble because Gaddafi-era Libya frequently changed the rules and once the new government is established they may well change again. Here are regs as understood in February 2011. Check out this unusually clear website from a Libyan tour operator. I've not used them, but at times it may be more up to date than this page.

1) Passport with at least 6 months validity after the end of travel in Libya and no Israeli stamp.
2) Completed visa application form.
3) 4 passport photos.
4) Proof of travel Insurance.
5) Hotel reservation.
6) Return ticket and copy of Itinerary.
7) Letter from employer.
8) Bank statement for the last 6 months. Some may still ask for this
9) A Invitation letter from Immigration Office in Libya
10) Arabic translation of passport details (see below)
11) You must provide fingerprints at the embassy unless you have a biometric passport which has the following logo on the front:


The visa used to be authorised from 10 days after submission and were available at the Tunisian/Libyan Ras Adjir border, though it might be considered more of a 'collection' with an authorisation in advance.

The bilingual stamp in your passport, is no longer required as of 2010 for tourist visas, but they may change the rules back overnight and one reads it is required for transit visas (see below).

Getting a visa for UK citizens - right now your require an invite from the NTC
In the UK the Libyan Consulate is at 61-62 Ennismore Gardens, SW7 1NH. Telephone 020 7589 6120 Fax 020 7589 6087. Here's the form.

As a tourist you used to have to travel with an escort costing around €35 per day in your vehicle - at least twice that in their own car (but see below). This agency employee is an escort, not a guide - a term that is commonly used, but one which I at least have long distinguished. In the desert your typically northern-based escort will be inexperienced and will need you to hire a local desert expert at additional cost. This Temehu page is commendably transparent about the difference between escorts and guides.

An escort-free 7-day transit visa used to be able to be acquired in Tunis in 3-4 weeks (see this) and could get you between Tunisia and Egypt along the north coast highway without needed to go via an agency. You couldn't leave main coastal road and officially you can't stop at Leptis, as that would be classified as 'tourism'. You have to hand out photocopies of your documents at each checkpoint.

Border costs with vehicle in 2010
• €40 visa / person
• From 6LD a fortnight for insurance.
• 150LD' fixed charge' per car/4WD. Motorcycle 75LD.
• 16LD to rent an Arabic number plate with a 100LD refundable deposit
• To buy a local carnet is only €30 or US$30 for a motor bike and €50 or US$50 for a car/4WD (so clearly cheaper in dollars...)
• Around $45 / day for the guide in your car

Libya now accepts foreign carnets, but if you don't have one you simply buy the local permit which costs as above and is less than buying the smallest 5-page carnet just to cover Libya from the RAC/FIM in the UK for £185 (€225). Of course if you're going right across Africa you may as well get a proper FIM carnet. See this thread.

Finding a reliable Libyan tour operator used to be tricky but was getting better. www.fessano-w-tours.com have been recommended, as has www.almuheettours.net, and Temehu's transparent web page linked above seems to inspire confidence. In early November (ie: post liberation) Fessano reemerged under this website and claimed to organise visas within three days to collect from an embassy of your choice.

Border formalities
Show green form and passport. Rent number plate and buy local carnet in the hanger on the left and insurance at another hanger further up. Allow at least two hours. You can change money at the kiosk in the hanger or use the ATM. To get your own carnet stamped, see this.

Within 3 days (no great urgency but certainly before you leave) you must get registered and stamped at a police station in any town for a few dinars. Usually your agency escort or hotel does this for you. Leaving at Ras Ajdir for Tunisia, get your carnet stamped, fill out a green form again (in Arabic, you may need help), get a passport stamped and return the number plate and receipt for a 100LD refund (which you can change back into whatever). All pretty straightforward, even without a helper.

Leaving Libya for Egypt
About 100km from Tobruk, the road forks with English-language signposts for the first time. Take the right hand fork, signed Musaad (Ahsaad on the maps). Drive through Musaad (about 130km from Tobruk). Just before you get out of town, look out for a building on the right-hand side of the road with flags flying and several cars parked outside. You MUST stop here to return your Libyan plates and get back 100 Libyan Dinar. When you do this, give them the group of 3 papers that were issued with the plates on entry. They take the top 2 copies and you keep the bottom, larger copy. Nothing is stamped, but it was all accepted by customs at the border. Note that if you miss this, you may end up having to return after already being stamped out of Libya, which is what happened to us and another vehicle we saw. Outside of the town of Musaad, you have to drive along 2 stretches of ragged road before you reach a checkpoint. Stop before this checkpoint and get your Libyan local carnet stamped to export the car. Go through the checkpoint and the immigration kiosks will be obvious ahead of you (choose any, but it's worth getting out and asking at one of the kiosks in order to avoid getting stuck behind a taxi of numerous people). Get your passports stamped here and then go through the checkpoint where you'll need to produce evidence of your plates being returned (aforementioned slip of paper) and your passport. There is a second checkpoint after the 'Duty Free Shop on the right. Passports again.
Then you're through, into a short stretch of No-Man's Land before the Egyptian checkpoint (Sallum).

Desert pistes
The main area of interest is the fabulous Fezzan in the southwest, and particularly the amazing Akakus mountains east of Ghat (rock paintings - sadly nearly all vandalised in 2009). The engravings of the Wadi Mathendous are also worth a visit. The piste over to the mosquito-ridden crater at Waw el Namus is also popular as is a visit to the dune lakes in the Erg between Ubari and Idri.

The piste to Madama in Niger from El Gatrun was closed to tourists in 2006 although tarmacing commenced at this time too. Eastern Libya is a bit more off the map, less scenically interesting and in places with a risk of landmines. Jebel Uweinat on the Egyptian/Sudanese borders is the focal point here and well worth the visit, if it's allowed.