My Place Guizo

I was supposed to be back in Libya right after Christmas vacation…but then plans changed due to some bureucratic inconveniences as usual so i ended myself instead back home to Cebu. HOME is quite confusing for me coz now more or less..i got three…so to say. But my house in Guizo…will always be the ORIGINAL…lol!

So i get this chance to live my life Guizohanon-Mandauehanon-Cebuano a whole month…wow and i promised myself to relive as much as i can the way i have always known my place.

A lot has changed of course not the Guizo i know of my childhood days but the spirit of it still remains at the hearts of the people i know! Family is always family and it warms the heart thinking and be with them specially as we stay rarely together.>

Neighbors are considered extended family and part of your day to day..they pass by and greet..asks how you are..tell you their worries..their lucks, their life. Everything is shared and for these exchanges we always have place we call “istambayan” a meeting place. Nabor’s store is the perfect spot..it is actually my old’s house spot..where we were born..but this is just only a detail. If you want the news of the day..just bring your cup of coffee…pick from the sari-sari store your breakfast and the news of the day will arrive via radio ba-ba..street news..hahaha! We cannot compare this to chic cafes in Europe but there is nothing like it as we are used. Jokes, the hot gossips, free and unsollicited counselling, politics, everything just like the store..pick your choice of topic. Going around my place brings back a lot of memories.

I can see a world around on this small corner! A part of me, a part of my past..relived with much pleasure and with a little twist of the heart. There’s no place like home!

Among Pharaohs

From the background i can hear the voice of Mrs. Gopo…centuries ago in the land far from us great kings called Pharoahs reigned the people of Egypt leaving us a vast legacy…

Dreaming? No..dream come true. i just remembered my dear high school teacher when she passionately describes us all these marvelous places and stories. I AM here.. Among Pharoahs…my teacher would be proud of me, i thought. To my beloved teacher, this is dedicated for you.

I felt great, i felt big…i am with KINGS!! Whew, this cruise along the Nile River really gave me this opportunity to live the pages of history i lovely listened to from the benches at school. I and two travel companions decided to book us a weeks cruise along the Nile and see on its course Abu Simbel, Aswan, The Kings Valley then coming to Cairo for the Pyramids..this was the etinerary.

The Nile.. it emotes way back in time..a story of a boy in a basket found along its banks..sound familiar?? The Pyramids with its mysteries, tombs, treasures, mummies, enormous statues, the land and its people. How can one describe centuries of incredible history a country full of magical mysteries in a weeks visit?? Impossible and not even my competency, for that there are myriads of books from real experts.

In my small way i would only be able to describe my personal feelings and appreciations. I can never forget this trip. I want to share to you by photos here… my perspectives of this great Land of Pharoahs.

Souvenirs

Always in a trip inevitably we search for something and bring it home to remind us of the places visited…souvenirs. At home i have scattered objects here and there some hung, some on shelves, on tables and others who knows where! Friends ask where you got them and you tell them instead a tale, episodes..emotions. It doesn’t limit to the buying itself, is it not?

It is actually a culture shop. You trying in a short period of stay be a part of the culture, the people and their ways practiced since the beginning of times in the most practical exchange created..buying it! Then you either keep it or give it away spreading like a bushfire the passion of the moment and the many happy events that goes with it.

Here in my trips of Libya i have had these several occassions…you haggle, exchange jokes with the merchants. Souks are splendid examples or the roadside tents or the slowly growing shops on the sites of visits…you cannot miss them. Colorful, noisy, busy as bees in full activity. You immerse fully in it bathing and soaking your soul! Enriching the mind and spirit..for me this is travelling!

Leptis Magna-The Roman Empire in Africa

Again!! It is not a complaint but an expression of awe. This is the second time i visited the site in two years time yet i never stop to be impressed of its grandeur. Places i’ve been ’til now traces of the Roman Empire can be found and Libya is full of sites rich of these wonderful cultural heritage…Leptis Magna is not just any!

The museum in the site is oozing with priceless treasures, sculptures,various artifacts of daily living found during excavation one more beautiful than the other…vases, coins, knives, units of measurements and every possible gadget one wonders what for. Then we went outside for the vast spread the archaeological site extends.

Leptis Magna as the word suggests itself is magnificent rivaling even that of Alexandria became one of the three most important cities of the Roman Empire in Africa. Manifesting its grandeur one is welcomed by the impressive triumphal arch, the paved colonnaded streets, temples, the amphitheater, the baths, market places and everywhere you turn your gaze one never stops to be impressed.

With this visit i accompanied willingly two friends as their “guide” so to speak……Al Khums 130 km from Tripoli lies Leptis Magna…it took us an hour and a half to arrive but worth every minute.

A beautiful day to relive the past!

Ghost Town Ghadames

Palm tree trunks, mud and lime this what makes up this UNESCO World Heritage. We arrived mid-day and entered the old town…an errie feeling of silence, an abrupt change of light and temperature, our voices echoing. Yet a unique place of its kind. An oasis from the desert’s harsh reality, protection of its people from the extent heat and most of all an integral showcase of a culture etched in the arhitecture and in the homes so lovingly created with grace, beauty and art despite the adverse environmental conditions.

I imagine it a bustling place with animals, merchants with their trades, people of various aspects…a picturesque scene vivid with colors instead now of a Ghost Town echoing of memories.

Present Ghadames population lives outside the old town with modern houses although during hot summer days they do return to their now well restored homes.

A marvelous place to be…!

Qasr Nalut

Although winter is well in advance in Europe, here seems late summer, our bus with the aircon running full blast saves us from the heat. It is actually crawling up hairpin bends up the slopes to Nalut.

Our local guide told us that it is worthwhile to stop in Nalut before we proceed to Ghadames and stretch our legs.

Worthwhile???See for yourself….

Qasr is arabic for “castle” but Qasr Nalut is not meant for defense but as “grainary storage”. Yes grains, oil and other agricultural stock, deposited inside cubicles closed by palm doors so important for the community`s survival that it needs protection.

Storage

Marami our guide explained to us that it works like a modern savings bank even for the owners own protection from excessive consumption and waste. The taxes collected in form of cereals and other goods are distributed to help the poor,, some are sold to finance the school and maintenance of the qasr itself. Old Mosque

Sabratha Between Sand and Sea

All roads lead to Rome! On this case is true, from across the seas to the sandy beach  of this part of Africa the Romans have left testimonies of its glorious past.

Sabratha “market of grains”, sort of irony it is the Italian archeologists who brought it out from the sands, to tell its almost forgotten history…well forgotten not yet.

Unearthed from among these Roman ruins to remind us that here was a flourishing city are temples, a well restored amphitheater, roman baths, mosaic floors of once ago luxurious villas,sculptures, vases and lots of objects characteristics of a Roman settlement.

Walking along these beautiful place brings us back in time. A glimpse…of what has been, an open window of the past that is well integrated of the present Sabratha.

Sahara Experience

Vast, majestic,mysterious, immensely wonderful…few very few words to describe this wonder of creations.

Never in my islander life from Philippines did i imagine i’d be able to visit…
experience and feel the spirit of the desert. Many films, documentaries and pictures seen before
has prepared me from the impact the Libyan Sahara has left me.

It made me gasp with its endless forms and colours, left me in awe of its silence … made me feel small of its immense pure beauty! I felt lucky just being there and share all this!

I left prints on it…only to see it gone shortly after the wind has shuffled and transfered the fine grains to create mounds and hills of innumerable forms and shape…reflecting how events of my life can be similar to its movements?