This is The Khums Page of Libyan Travels

We had just left the the circus and amphitheater two miles east of Leptis Magna and were looking for a hotel in Khums which is only a couple of miles from the  Leptis ruins. Khums is 115 kilomtres east of Tripoli, the capital of Libya and is the nearest town to Leptis Magna. On our way to Khums we had already looked at one Hotel, the Funduq Naggaza a few miles west of Khums. It was pleasant, spacious, airy and modern and set the off road surrounded by forest groves and meadows but not only was it expensive at 50 Libyan dinars a night, about 35 US dollars, it was too far from Khums and Leptis as we had planned for our driver to return to Tripoli in the evening and for us to walk to, and around, Leptis the following day We eventually chose the Funduq Andalucia as this hotel is only about a mile from the Leptis site and was 30 dinars a night. Also I had had many pleasant times in Andulacia over the years so it seemed a good omen. It was OK by the standards of North Africa, relatively clean but noisy as it was on the main road. Checking in proved be as complicated as usual because as independent travelers we break the mould. Most travelers in Libya are part of an organised tour group.  Also without passports, which were in our employers' offices, we provided the reception staff with the challenge of recognizing and accepting their own government issue internal passports used by foreigners. It got sorted out eventually.

The downstairs lounge area was inhabited by the usual cast of characters:Bored, bearded lethargic men smoking cheap cigarettes and drinking sweet watery tea: sullen and staring blankly at a badly tuned raucous TV. is unclear if they are hotel staff, friends or relatives, or who knows: maybe xxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxx As is often the case the door keys didn't work properly and there were problems with the lighting in the rooms resulting in the bedroom floor being sprinkled in a fine layer of sharp broken light bulb glass.  I got a brush to clean it up properly myself as cut feet and a walking holiday don't mix.  Then to kill time we took a walk to Khums to look for a place to eat and to mooch around the town and see the sites: there were no sights, nothing of interest and no restaurants whose squalor level was tolerable.  The general stores, filled with dusty imported goods from China and Tunisia were a shopaholic's nightmare and the streets were inhabited by xxxxxxx dispirite xxxxxxxxxx Of course the news that the Americans and British had decided to start invading Iraq probably did nothing to increase their optimism or their attitude toward us.  Any initiative has long xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx and is axxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx word. 

Having seen enough and had our fill of shopping for such exotic produce as bottled water and oranges we decided to leave this slough of despond to eat at the hotel figuring nothing could be as dreadful as what was on offer in the town.  We eventually found a beat up old Peugeot taxi cab that appeared to be for hire.  After having waited several minutes for the driver to show up I started to ask around and realized the myopic driver, wearing cartoon style glass bottle bottom spectacles, was in the middle of an eye test and wouldn't be ready for half an hour.  Then miraculously as often happens here a smart young man in a very modern car offered us a lift.  He seemed uninterested in bargaining over the fare but on the journey to the hotel chatted in reasonable English.  By his sudden appearance, modern car and demeanor I would estimate him to have been a xxxxxxxxxxxx of some sort. 

We were soon back in the hotel expecting the worst from the restaurant but  we were pleasantly surprised by the food  which was prepared by Algerian or Moroccan staff.  We dined on Chorba, a thick Libyan soup of mutton, spices and rice shaped grains of pasta.  Shorba is one of the commonest dishes in Libya and we thought this one was one of the best we had ever tasted. We also ate squid in batter and beef shiskas known in the UK as shish kebabs. The food was hot, well prepared, tasty and tender. It was an unexpected bonus. We retired early and lthe following morning we set off walking the couple of kilometers to the Leptis Magna ruin

Recently, there have been some new discoveries at a Wadi in Khums consisting of perfectly preserved Roman Mosaics. It is unclear when the general public will be able to view these.

Brega, Libya, North Africa.