Libya - 5 October 2010 (3)

Al Khoms

The others returned at 16.30 and we headed back to the hotel at last.  We stopped on the way for Ruth and Mahmoud to carry out a “reccy” on a restaurant for that evening.  We were parked next to a double-fronted chemist.  One of the windows was covered with adverts for a type of sanitary towel, including pictures.  I was quite surprised to see that in such a male dominated place, but perhaps it was because most chemists are women.

View of Sea from Hotel Window

Back at the hotel, we pulled all the curtains and noticed that we had a view of the sea from both windows.  Caroline hung her washing up outside and it didn’t take long to dry in the gale force winds that whistled through.

At 19.00, we went down for dinner and drove to what was supposed to be a cheap and cheerful restaurant.  Ruth read out the price list she had obtained during the earlier “reccy” and was just taking our order when the waiters started bringing out salads, which included chips.  Then they brought out soups as well.  It was starting to get silly.  Some of the soups were sent back and Ruth took our orders.  Even so, there was a lot of confusion and an excess of food.  The chicken and chips, for example, came with salad and chips on the same plate as the chicken, plus a side plate of chips, some of which were cold.  Anne, who was sitting next to me, was definitely not impressed.  Caroline had a large bowl of rice and another bowl of vegetables, but mine did not come.

I had ordered a peach juice and this came in a can.  It took a while to discover whether it was fizzy or not, but Mahmoud said that it was safe to shake it, so I took the risk.  It was a bit disconcerting when the can hissed as I opened it, but there was no dramatic spraying of the contents.  Eventually my vegetables arrived following some prompting by Mahmoud, but it would probably have been better if they had not come.  I did not want to eat very much, even though I had scarcely eaten for two days, but there was a huge bowlful, mostly of onions.  I fished out the potatoes and the butternut squash and that was quite enough.  The sauce was quite spicy and not good for a dodgy tummy.  Later Caroline said that her vegetables had been in a meat sauce, which was why she had not eaten much.  Luckily, I had already been sick by then.

Afterwards, Ruth spent ages negotiating the bill.  They insisted on charging for more soups than we had eaten, but the water, salads and my vegetables were free.  Even so, when we had all paid what we felt was our fair share, there was only just enough to cover the reduced bill.

On the drive back, we had a problem turning left at one crossroads.  For some reason, all the traffic in the road we were turning into had decided to drive on the left and so we had to wait for them all to move off before we could turn.  I hope they didn't do that during the rush hour!

Back at the hotel, Caroline and some of the others went for coffee, but I went straight to the room.  It was an early start the next day because of the long drive to Benghazi, so I set my alarm for 04.40!