It’s hard these days to get excited about seeing yet another site of ruins, we’ve seen so many so far on the trip. But they say Leptis Magna is the be all and end all of Phoenician/Roman ruins and after being there, I’d probably agree.
It’s massive – the usual array of bathouses, amphitheatres, markets, forums, etc. You’re apparently not allowed in without a guide (which I think is silly and another money grab). Hardly anyone there, on the ocean (Nigel wanted us to swim, but way too cold); about 70% is still unexcavated, and the 30% that is is HUGE.
Saw everything to see, camped in the parking lot, and drove over to the amphitheatre to look at it during sunrise (probably turned out to be one of my favorites so far). Was interesting to see a photo of the arches before it was excavated; probably 5 stories of sand were removed (there are actually old train tracks all over the place that the Italians put down to excavate).
After the amphitheatre, hit the road to start the 2 day trek to Ghadames… at about 5 at night or so, found a decently sheltered spot at the side of the road to stay for the night. Turned out to be not so sheltered (and damn cold) in the middle of the night with sand blowing up and under the fly and through the window. Yuck. Drive was quite neat though; many would classify it as “boring”, but I enjoyed it a lot… driving across these massive distances is one of the only ways a person can grasp it’s vastness. Miles and miles of flat desert landscape, sometimes a little rocky outcrop, sometimes a small shrub, lots of powerlines… pretty much exactly what they look like on tv 🙂
Arch
Reflection on pond
The forum
The church
The market
Theater
Amphitheater
Couple shot
Bush Camping on way to Ghadames