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July 02, 2006

Back to Britain

As you will maybe have realised, I am now back in the UK, just in time for the disastrous exit of England from the World Cup.

Tripoli Airport...again
The journey back was very long and tiring, with the connecting flight in Libya delayed by nearly 4 hours, giving me over 6 hours at Tripoli Airport transit lounge. As it is not much larger than our church hall, I am now pretty familiar with most corners of it. Sitting opposite me was an Arab mother fully robed in traditional Muslim clothes, with her teenage daughter in a tight t-shirt and combat trousers.

Tripoli Airport is definitely making an effort. There are now large flat-screen tv's (not yet working), and an internet cafe (also not yet working), some colourful plastic children's slides, display cases of cigarettes and perfume, a bar selling cakes and non-alcoholic beer (in support of Libya's anti-drug stance), and shops selling souvenirs and duty-free goods.

To bribe or not to bribe....again
I bumped into J, an old friend from Burkina, there. After one of my tours of the transit lounge, I came back to find him in discussion with a nervous young Chadian man in a red jumper. The man had apparently been travelling on a false passport, and had been arrested by the Libyan authorities. He had apparently spent about £200 for the false passport, when he could have had the real thing for £20 if he had been prepared to wait 3 months. Now he was facing being shipped back to Chad.

He was asking J whether he should try and bribe the Libyan police to let him go, or the toilet cleaners to help him escape. J assured him this would be about the worst thing he could possibly do, and the young man withdrew with a worried expression to consider his fate. The Libyan police were very friendly with everyone, and very matter-of-fact about the whole incident, but were keeping a close eye on the red jumper.

Cool Britannia
It's nice to get back to the relative coolness of the UK - only about 30C at the moment, which is very pleasant after the heat of Burkina. However, with 42kg of luggage, and having missed my train because of the delayed flight, I was pretty tired and probably smelly by the time I got here, and am very grateful to the friendly railway staff at Gatwick and Reading who made my onward journey so much easier. Thanks guys, if you read this.

Overall, this trip to Burkina Faso has been an excellent and successful time, and I am looking to forging ahead now with plans for the future. Please pray as I put things into place at this end. More details soon...

Tags: libya airport tripoli bribery travel north africa

Posted by Keith at July 2, 2006 07:47 PM