A North African equivalent.

As the Collective have spotted, I’ve been away for a while in The Sahara Desert. I have the great and unprecedented pleasure of bringing you the Libyan equivalent of Queens Road. This is Idri, slowly festering at N 27º 29’ 37” E 13º 04’ 25” if you fancy a look on Google Earth. Idri was out first tarmac since Derj 600 miles further north and a chance to refuel and pick up supplies from the local shops. The local petrol station actually had fuel which is suprisingly unusual in a country that produces the stuff. Electricity is still something of a novelty and the Libyans have not quite mastered the ability to do a neat wiring job, seeing nothing at all wrong with the ‘twist them together’ method. A request for electricity will often be met with the proud presentation of two bare wires and who can argue with them. The litter bin is still regarded with suspicion and largely ignored, rubbish being someone else's problem. Wade through the mess and dust and you find a genuine hospitality in rural Libya and a great desire to practice spoken English with a native speaker.