Another Lonely Planet

Another Lonely Planet stored on the shelf and another one off the shelf and into the suitcase.....

In three years I've acquired lonely planets for:

Belgium and Luxembourg - 2yrs in Belgium

Egypt - 11 months in Egypt

Ethiopia and Eritrea - 4 months in Ethiopia

and now......

........Next destination........

LIBYA!!!!

So now I'm working on; finishing my work in Ethiopia,....seeing all I can see, ....and figuring out how I'm going to store/send all the things I've accumulated.

Although I don't really know much about Libya....... just like I was for Ethiopia, I'm really excited to move on to a new country and continue doing the job I am doing now......

Libya is one of those countries people also have many prejudices about.....embargo.... UN Sanctions.... Ghaddafi - the dictator with a touch of humour.... terrorism...... and just like Ethiopia totally untouched by tourism (obviously for different reasons).

Libya, only a stone throw away from my home country Malta, has, just like Malta, been cursed by its geography putting it in the path of the invading empires of Europe and the Middle East..... Libya boasts of an old culture and history created by the Phoenicians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Byzantines, Islam, Ottoman and finally the Italians.

Libya, which only recently relieved from its UN sanctions, hosts 5 UNESCO world heritages ranging from the ancient Roman and Greek ruins to the never ending charms of the Sahara.

Ahhh so loads of history and sites to see!!!! - Infact the first thing I did as soon as I cashed my salary in Egypt is bought a new modern digital camera...... my sony and I will be happily snapping away in Libya......

Malta and Libya have a history of strong economic ties. Malta helped Libya when she was in trouble, and kept on investing money into the country.

Building hotels, opening businesses, training people, and also owning Libya's only international bank.

When the UN forbade all international flights to Libya, the only way in or out of Libya was through the 50$, 14-hr boat ride to Malta.

When Malta entered the EU, the relationship was jeopardised due to the visa regulations. Malta and Libya soon got over the problem earlier this year by allowing Maltese nationals to get a visa to Libya upon request..... we don't get the usual one month single entry visa..... we get a 6month, multiple entry visa...... I'll so be going home at least once a month!!!

Malta also promotes itself as the stepping stone to doing business in Libya...

Can't wait to go..... I know that Libya will probably be more challenging than Ethiopia...... especially when Lonely Planet's introduction to Libya advises you to take as many books as you can as there isn't much to do!!!

The Libyan office is small, and the Maltese are well respected..... so I'm really looking forward to work there, fix the HR department, build competence and be creative...