Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Day two & three:Shahat(Cyrene) ,Susa ,Ras Elhelal..And the dust storm


I started my walks a little late on the second day,,at noon..I drove to Shahat..I didn't visit the ruins of Cyrene ,,i had visited the archeological site so many times ,i almost memorize every stone there:)....
I took some pictures of the graves (or at least what i believe is gaves) that are situated in the margins of the ancient city...Cyrene is a rich archeological site that still needs a lot of work to bring the cultural treasures out...Originally built by greek colonists and then -centuries later-was taken by the Romans....More details about its history is HERE.
Back to me,leaving the Greek and the Romans to rest.
Here is some of the pictures of the area surrounding Cyrene...
...............................................................................................................
Then I drove to Susa..Which is about 16Km(10 miles) from Cyrene,and it is located at the mediterranean....I didn't take pictures in the town it self(Whose residents are mainly fishermen),,but I visited some area around it,,and here they are..
These wild berries are well known in the Green Mountain, They called (Shmari) in here ..They usualy ripe in the Winter months.....They become deep red when the do..
Between Susa and Ras Elhelal lie many beutiful beaches,,,I liked this one..Amazing!!!Then i drove up the mountain to the Valley of Ras Elhelal,,I decided to go down the valley-a little risky and rocky-and i decided to follow the stream up....As expected,it is almost a jungle down there,All i need now for the picture to be complete,is a dinasaur to feel like Jurassic Park..Some body wrote this in 1974.I don't think this will qualify the spot to be declared an archeological site...I had to leave Ras Elhelal valley after almost 2 hours when wind got stronger..A gust of dusty wind almost knocked me down in the bottom of the valley....So i drove again up the mountain on the road between Ras Elhelal and Elqubba (القبة) town..It was a very long,almost deserted road,with dangerous curves.So you do have to drive slowly and carefully... I saw these ruins ,apparently a tomb of some kind..PErhapse belongs to the Roman era..Unfortunately i didn't find any writings on it..It is beutiful,,but I was amazed that there was no other ancient structures around it..but few miles after that i saw more ruins,and those were protected with a fence..I didn't take pictures for them.
After that,on my way to Derna City,weather got really ugly..My eyes started to itch and tear..So I called my last day tripping off...Drove back to my hotel-That meant i had to drove 100 Km to go back there....

I got to my hotel after dark,slept..On the next day i was on my way home with good memories and beutiful pictures to show...

I really hope you like them..

Till next time...Be safe.

Regards

Benghazi Citizen

7 comments:

ibeebarbie said...

Salam Benghazi Citizen,
Great narration of your vacation. Thank you so much! Fantastic photos.

dusk till dawn said...

salam bro

what abeautiful pics and a lovely post.i can see u did enjoy every part of ur walk.and hard challenge , the nature is a free soul. we all love to live wt its beauty,u did hurt a nerve i been there few times camping 4 few days, the place now looks realy deserted and its a cry out for help.hope u feel stress free now and u charged all ur batteries ,abt the fruits (ashmari) was pleasure picking it up.well done matety.

Omar Gheriani said...

Just wonderful, Doc. The rooms engraved at the hillside facing north are houses of the dead, the Greeks like the ancient Egyptians were building their Houses of the Dead, in Cyrene, they were engraved in the rock. Once north of Al Ghobba, I found some strange unidentified graves engraved in huge rocks and situated at hill tops, may be before Greek times, like Slonta ancient temple? I notice that shmari is close to ripe, may be one month?
Thank you for the sharing.

Benghazi Citizen said...

ibeebarbie :glad u liked the post..It is always inspiring to walk through the nature..I just love it..
Dawn till dusk:It looked deserted,but to tell u the truth ,i prefer it this way...Unfortunately some times we don't appreciate mother nature and we do her much of harm..Some campers are crazy,,and i just hate what they've done to it..Any way...It is priceless to be there,don't u think?
Gheriani:Thank u for the info..Cyrene has a rich history and it still has many things to tell us..I hope that the state will take more care of it,to reserve it for the coming generations..
Thank you all
Regards

Unknown said...

I couldn't leave without some comments, really refreshing words and pcts, I touched the green and respired the fresh air , I had never been in those places but I wish if I could visit them one day ... thanx for sharing ur trip.

Benghazi Citizen said...

Thank u enlightened spirit for dropping by..I'm glad u liked the post..Believe,,u won't regret visiting the area..Beutiful and refreshing are the right words for it..God bless u
Regards

cialis said...

Hello, I do not agree with the previous commentator - not so simple