29 october 2008, wednesday, Tripoli repairday

 Got up at 07.15 and had breakfast at 08.15 on the top floor in the open air with a fantastic view!. After that at 09.00 Hadi came to us, because we had to go to the Landrover garage. So Victor and I took the Landrover and followed  Hadi in his Discovery V8i. We went to the outskirts of Tripoli. A lot of car drivers were pointing at our left front wheel, which looks very odd because it makes a strange angle to the ground instead of almost beeing upright. Nice peope to make that clear to us. For the rest the traffic here means war. After we reached the garage behind a junkyard for cars, we had to wait for someone to open up. After all it was only 10.00. This is the time that everybody starts to work in Libya. Once it opened up we could see the garage: an open space with only shelter for the tools. A lot of motor blocks, axles, cars and parts of cars were scattered over the ground. There were a lot of eucalyptus trees, which give shadow and can hold lifting tools. But nevertheles it seems to be a good garage and the owner is related to Khalid our guide. After a while when everything was arrranged and the time scedule was set, we were brought back to the hotel. Hadi went to his office and booked our hotel for the second night. Tomorrow we will see. We did some email and went into town to the museum. That is only opened in the morning Victor heard from the tourist police. So we wandered through the city centre and had lunch on the Green Square. After that we searched for the Fergiani bookshop, which was wrong indicated in Loneley Planet. I bought a book about Libya. Then we looked at all the shops in that street: a lot of shops with clothes like mini skirts and evening dresses. Sometimes women come out of these shops, fully covered except for the eyes and jeans underneath their clothes. We had so many eye openers on this trip, that we had to change the picture we had from the country's we visited so far. Also when going to an ATM, to get some money, the people behind you come to stand besides you to help. Nothing criminal! We are not used to that. Stealing does not seem to be a problem here and you.can also park your car anywhere without problem.  We feel very safe here in this country. At the end of the afternoon we had something to drink on a terrace near the sea, where a lot people were smoking their waterpipe. It was against 18.00 that we went back to the hotel through the busy market streets for "normal" people. They sold everything: shoes, spices (very nice smelling), all kind of clothes, birds, watches, suitcases, etc. Victor bought a pair of shoes, the same as Khalid. We went to our room and hd a drink. After we rested a while we went for dinner on the 10th floor. Then it was time for the day report. Victor sleeps already.