It's been over three months since we applied for our visas to Libya. The people in the Libyan Embassy in Addis are deflecting our calls and telling us to call back later. I spoke with the Ambassador once, but he has proven to be as ineffective as his staff. And his staff won't let us talk to him again. The Libyan Consulate General in Tunisia has a nicer receptionist, but her shortage of English and our shortage of Arabic mean that we have to talk with someone else who is less sympathetic and mysteriously almost never in the office. The three travel agents to respond to our initial requests (out of the 20 or so that we contacted) also stopped replying. The latest we have from them is that a visa for Jason would take 10 days, and one for me would take 20.

This is frustrating.

We're still on the ferry (which is running late), but are looking into other options... most likely flying our bikes from Tunis or Frankfurt to Cairo and continuing from there. Stay tuned for whatever comes next.

Alright, whining post is over. On to a few more photos from the trip prep, time in Munich and my birthday party in spitzingsee.

Parting shot...

My name is Mark. I was born near Chicago, have lived in the US, Germany and Nepal, and am starting a new job and a new adventure in Ethiopia. This site is a way for me to keep friends and family updated on my progress, share some pictures, and perhaps offer a bit of reflection along the way. Please look around, and enjoy the ride!

Herumwandernder Cavetroll... heisse Mark. Ich habe in den USA, Deutschland und Nepal gewohnt, und jetzt geht es weiter nach Äthiopien. Mit diesem Website halte ich meine Familien- und Freundeskreise informiert über wie es mir in meinen Abenteuern geht. Schau mal 'rum, und viel Spass dabei!

-Mark, September 2008