If a photo looks professionally taken, then that credit goes to Paul Woo or Francois DeAsis (check the @FJD in the bottom right corner)
It started normally just like any other monsoon: Get to JFK Terminal 1 early to check out all the lounges I can have access to, beginning with 10 minutes at the VIP One lounge on Priority Pass to skip the security line and have a quick lentil soup and salad there.
After security, I walked over to Lufthansa Business which access I had again after redeeming 80,000 miles from Chase Ultimate Rewards to United Airlines to acquire an Austrian Airlines Business Class flight (from JFK-VIE-FRA). Another salad and assorted veggies for dinner..
20 minutes later I ended at the Primeclass Lounge on my Priority Pass, which also happens to be located right by our departure gate. Enjoyed an assortment of dessert baclava before boarding.
Then after a half an hour delay we boarded for my first time on Austrian Airlines’ slightly renovated business class seat. My last transatlantic business class flight with them was probably 6 years ago.
AND THEN 8 hours later while catching up with Daniela in the 2 hours I had at Vienna airport (leaving my bags at the lounge across from the airport café we met up at) . . .
. . . this one deserves to be clicked on and zoomed in:
Did you read it all in the big photo above? A random lounge photo (the Primeclass one back in JFK) I had posted on Instagram leads to someone I’ve never met IN THAT PHOTO to message me about seeing himself on my social media …and this is crazy part if it isn’t already … LITERALLY MINUTES AFTER I had joked with Daniela in Vienna ABOUT HOW IT WAS GONNA HAPPEN IN MINUTES.
Sure people can accidentally end up in my photos, and sure these things happen all the time, but to chat with a serendipitously made friend about serendipities and how they’ve been occurring at a consistently more frequent rate, even half-joking how “like minutes after we say goodbye I might as well get a text about someone else running into me” …AND LIKE A SNAP OF MY FINGERS THAT VERY THING HAPPENS WITHIN MINUTES AFTER SAYING GOODBYE? WTF.
It gets wilder: Before all of this even happened, Daniela had pointed out in a study that had first been mentioned to me on my last monsoon 2 months ago in Hokkaido (I was bringing it up first and she interrupted me stating she already knew about it!) that there is already a science behind people who identify as “lucky”: they tend to be extroverted, make eye contact with strangers better, be optimistic, not identify as neurotic or anxious, try new things more, trust the unknown more, are open to “noticing” things in the periphery more, etc. etc.
…and I get that. But here’s some of the rub with this one: I’m from NYC; I don’t do eye contact with strangers. I also do identify as slightly anxious and neurotic as it’s part of my job as an ER doctor. I’ve been equal introverted with extroverted these days (so why is it happening more frequently the less extroverted I get?). I definitely didn’t engage with the guy in the photo (his back was to me the whole time!). We also never made eye contact, and there was no basis between our “interaction” (or lack thereof) that would compel me to mention to Daniela how someone I never knew was going to text me in minutes. But yes, I do lean on optimistic, try new things all the time, and I do trust the unknown.
But still, Daniela texts me afterwards there’s a method to my madness that makes what I have been doing, how I have been living, and let alone monsooning…special. She’s an intrinsic part of that (which I guess also makes her biased). But if serendipity can be a choice and if it’s already happening over and over and over and over, why not choose to accept magic?
After Vienna, I landed in Frankfurt where I had 24 hours to myself and ponder all of this.
A whole long 24 hour layover because my noon onward flight to Tunisia would be delayed by another 4 hours where I’d depart literally the same time I had landed the day before. So taking off at 4:30pm, I landed at Tunis airport (good to back; exactly 7 years has passed since I was last here!) where I then hailed a cab with the Bolt app to a hotel Mihaela had booked.
There with a spirited walk from Tunis’ more modern city center into the deserted evening alleyways of the old medina, I finally met up with the monsooners who who have been here for a few days and hanging out without me. Leshawn got there first, then Mihaela and Letti, and then Francis. It’s a reunion!
Then as we were enjoying our evening in the Tunis medina, we got word from Paul that Corinna was about to miss her onward flight from Frankfurt to Tunis because of an initial delay with her London to Frankfurt flight. Using Francois’ Flightradar app to track her position and Paul already at the gate in Frankfurt ready to hold things up for her, we sadly were provided a real-time account of her missing the flight anyway by mere minutes. She would have to be rebooked the next afternoon on a 2:30pm flight to Tunis from Frankfurt, and then rebooked on a later 6:10pm evening LibyanWings flight into Tripoli.
With our local guide’s assurances that this was still okay and our group did not necessarily have to fly in together anymore (we had been told earlier that flying in and out separately wasn’t possible for prior tour groups visiting Libya), Corinna went ahead with the rebooking. She was about to change her plans to party in Berlin if the whole trip was going to be a sunk cost for her.
Letti, on the other hand, sadly still had not received her final approval for her e-visa into Libya, and therefore had to reroute to Malta instead for her 100th country. She was supposed to then reunite with us in Italy after we’d return from Libya, but then also changed her mind to add on Andorra after Malta before returning home. Never had a trip casualty like this before. 🙁 Libya tourism has its risks.
The rest of us with our fresh visas for Libya, headed back to the TUN airport at 7am to check into our LibyanWings flight at the counter. Paul, having taken the hotel Corinna had booked for them the night before, joined us shortly afterwards. As he was checking in for his flight, I sprinted to the LibyanWings sales counter on the opposite side of check-in and successfully moved Corinna’s LibyanWings flight from our 9:10am flight to a later 6:10pm flight for only 32 dinars!
After stamping out of Tunisia and entering international airside, we loaded up on coffee at the only open Priority Pass lounge at departures (where Leshawn also ran into a few mutual friends there!) before boarding the 9:20am Libyan Wings flight from TUN airport in Tunis.
As the capital city of Libya, Tripoli also has regular connections mostly from Tunis, Istanbul, and occasionally in Africa, Europe and the Middle East.
We began boarding on time at 8:50pm:
Embarking was relatively straightforward with nobody at the gate checking if we had the appropriate passports or visas.
LibyanWings quickly serves a banging egg-cheese burrito during its sub-hour flight.
Views of Tripoli if you sit on the right side:
Views of Tripoli if you sit on the left side:
We landed nearly less than an hour later at 11:30am local time in Tripoli (which is an hour ahead of Tunisia):
After disembarking we were corralled into a single bus to take us to the terminal.
Once we arrived at the terminal, we took a quick leak at the bathroom before committing ourselves to the long wait on the left side. There is no WiFi at this terminal so we had to enjoy each other’s actual, physical company.
And let the wait begin! As we had been warned by prior groups who had recent visited, foreign non-Libyan tourists would likely be left to the end and parted off to the side as they get all the local Libyans through (even those disembarking from other flights landing around the same time). Stick together as a group so it’ll be easier for them to process your passports.
Once you reach the desk where they then take your passports one by one, you wait some more as your tour guide will likely pop his head out to say you’re with them. Ours, named Badran, certainly did and right on cue once we reached the counters.
We then waited some more, as Badran headed into the office on our side of immigrations to process our tour permits.
After about 45 minutes we then were allowed through with our stamped visas, screening our carry-on luggage through an x-ray machine before reaching baggage claims.
As our prior payment to Badran’s company also included all food and meals, we eschewed changing our money and even getting e-SIM cards at arrivals in favor of Badran’s WiFi hotspot he’d provide us for the rest of our trip (to be fair, he didn’t leave much of a choice when asking).
As we left arrivals, we got onto our bus where we met our driver and 2 other minders for the week. One of them cheerily arranged a police convoy to clear traffic ahead for us.
With lights and sirens ahead and behind us to block off traffic for us, we took the brisk 15 minute drive to drop off our luggage and check in at Victoria Hotel, centrally located in the city with a splendid 8th floor rooftop restaurant and view:
After settling into our rooms, we returned to the lobby at 2pm for lunch at a nearby local fast-food restaurant. It seems only men dine here.
Once we picked out our dishes, we headed upstairs and hung out with the locals while waiting for our food to be prepared.
North African cuisine consists of mostly spicy sauces over couscous, vegetables, fish, lamb, and the occasional chicken.
After lunch we began our city tour and walk towards Algeria Square.
Every alleyway and intersection beckoned an invitation.
The square’s centerpiece is Algeria Square Mosque aka Jamal Abdul Nasser Mosque, formerly converted from what used to be the Tripoli Cathedral.
It has been open to the public since 2020.
This structure was originally constructed as a cathedral in the 1920s during the Italian Libya colonial era, and then converted into a mosque during Gaddafi’s rise to power in 1970s.
The local imam came out to greet us, welcoming us to Tripoli.
Right at the entrance, preparations for a wedding were beginning where we were each given boxes with a delicious array of chocolates, sweets, and an almond pistachio drink by the hosts!
There’s also an atmospheric café by the mosque you can enjoy a tea and shisha in.
Everywhere we walked locals took a passing curiosity to us as tourists in a country that haven’t had them in over a decade!
We then walked down the Italian quarter of Tripoli past ruins of places that could have belonged as a Galleria of Milan . . .
. . . to Martyr’s Square.
That white building with green windowpanes on the left is where Mussolini stood and and addressed the crowds.
Need some cash? They have a mobile banking van here. We don’t even have those!
Previously known as Independence or Green Square under Gaddafi, this square was built by the Italians during the colonial rule. But on the evening of August 21st, 2011, Libyan rebel groups took control of the area as part of the Battle of Tripoli.
Since then it has been renamed to Martyrs’ Square to dissociate the square from the Gaddafi government. Don’t miss the legendary fountain designed by an Italian architect at the centre of the square.
Martyr’s square lies outside not only the Italian quarter on one end but also the old city and medina . . .
. . . where the old city’s Ottoman style labyrinthine streets are filled with treasures and alleyways that recall the days of Roman, Italian and Turkish influences (or attempts at domination).
These streets run alive with history.
We came to the old city many times over the course of the next 4 days, even stopping by for coffee at a former hotel that has been converted into a café.
Also a great place to people watch.
The streets eventually come together at the “4 Columns” intersection, named after the unpreserved but still entirely intact (like you can touch them) Roman-era columns that remain here today, warts and all.
Turkey also has lent its influence in the many Ottoman-era mansions within the medina:
Namely one of those influences being the Karamanli house – built in the second half of the 18th century, during the reign of Ali Pasha Karamanli, and was used by Yousuf Pasha until his death. The house was restored during the early 1990s and became known as the Tripoli Historical Exhibition.
Can’t expect the UK to not also make a visit here? We then visited the Old British Consulate – originally built in 1744 as a residence for Ahmad al Karamanli. He donated it to the British Consulate, and it continued to serve that function until 1940. Since the 1990s it has housed a scientific library.
We then stopped at the Ottoman Clock Tower from the 19th century, which shares a resemblance of to the Dolmabahce Clock Tower in Istanbul.
It’s right next to the Libyan Central Bank where ironically all the black market money exchangers are situated. I was able to convert €60 to 480 LYD on the black market from a list price of 300 LYD — that’s a $30 USD bargain I just made from a single exchange!
With our new dinars we had 2 runs at shopping for local silver and gold at many of the souqs that are hidden in the old town of Tripoli. The trans-Sahara trading routes connected here within the Tripoli Vilayet and southern European Merchants ships.
It was also here when the jetlag began to set in.
There’s a converted hotel pool nearby that has now become a frat-style shisha café (imagine the possibility of jumping off its 2nd floor balcony into the pool):
We then stopped for another espresso at the Santa Maria church square, home to the Banco di Roma building:
The Roman Empire’s arch, namely the Arch of Marcus Aurelius, marked the end of our walking tour of Tripoli.
Built in 163 AD, the triumphal arch of Marcus Aurelius is Tripoli’s most impressive ancient monument. Best time to visit is sunset.
It is located at the intersection of the Cardo and Decumanus and marks the exact centre of the Roman city.
Even more remarkable is how there are no gates or admission fees; you can even climb on all the Roman ruins scattered around the arch if you wanted to. Or dance.
And to finish off our first night, we dined at the Turkish Sultan Ahmed for dinner while we waited for Corinna to fly in on her later flight to complete our group!
On our third day of the trip we were allowed inside the Red Castle, or the Red Fort of Tripoli, located on the waterfront of Tripoli and bordering Martyrs’ Square.
The castle is shaped as an imperfect square with sides of unequal length: 115 meters (north-east), 90 meters (north-west), 130 meters (south-west), and 140 meters (south-east) covering about 13,000 square meters. It housed a small village inside with buildings and courtyards within its walls.
Likely founded in the era of the Phoenicians in the 7th century BCE; excavations have discovered remains that hail all the way back to the Roman Empire.
Probably the only place outside of Babylon where you can find mosaics thousands and thousands of years old just lying there against the wall.
We then went upstairs to the top of the castle that overlooks Martyr’s Square and where Gaddafi and his sons made addresses to their people.
No better spot to discuss the current political situation in Libya.
It is also home to Libya’s Department of Archaeology and world-class National Museum which has been closed since 2011 and is about to reopen in 2 months from the date of this posting!
On our fourth and second to last day of our trip, we stopped by Tripoli’s fish market in the morning.
Like in Mogadishu, it had no shame in catching and serving up sharks.
But unlike Mogadishu it was extremely orderly and clean.
My favorite parts of Tripoli, however, were the evenings where we’d wander off without Badran and our minders, looking for desserts and tea in the vicinity of our hotel.
We’d enjoy the chagrin of countless bystanders seeing tourists for the first time in years.
- At time of posting in Tripoli, it was 20 °C - Humidity: 30% | Wind Speed: n/a | Cloud Cover: clear