Stores, Malls or Markets in Libya

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In Benghazi the Sharia Omar al-Mukhtar is the main shopping street with lots of shops. When I visited Benghazi in 2006 there were not many shops with local craft, but we found a African Art Shop in the main shopping street.

Here they had an amazing collection of nice things. Cupper, leather, jewellery, fur, books, postcards. The shopkeeper was sitting at a small balcony drinking tea or coffee and overlooking the shop.

What to buy: It was the first place where I found postcards in Benghazi. Lots of cupperwork, jewellery and leather bags. Not only Libyan, but from more places of the continent.

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As so many shops in touristic areas, sights, cities, hotels, they distribute mainly imported handcrafts and general souvenirs "Made in Tunesia"
In the souks of Tripoli you can buy some gold jewelry, relativaly cheap. Some shops accept Master Card or Visa

What to buy: Whatever you are interested in to put it on yr souvenir desk

What to pay: Cash or rarely Visa or master Card

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The environment is unique - the desert/Oases (Picture taken by my friend Frank)

What to buy: Touareg jewelry - Silver - no gold.
Tuareg women have a superstitious fear of gold and will not wear it. Silver has thus taken its place in the tuareg traditions. Silver jewelry is part of every Tuareg family estate. It has both symbolic and real value, serving also as savings and for (foreign) exchange.

Every jewel is a message and contains sometimes forgotten symbols.
Every necklace worn by a Tuareg woman tells stories of her people, her city. (text from the net and comment by the local guide)

What to pay: No ATM - so cash

Fergiani bookshop !!! THE bookshop, located in a famous shopping street in Libya.
I wrote "THE" because there is not much to find about Libya in our european bookshops (yet)
- Recently : Generaly books about Libya - Lonely planet and Domenicus

What to buy: This rather small bookshop has an excellent choice of Arabic, English, Italian and French written books.
An extensive choice of city maps, desert maps, excellent postcards, fascinating travel literature (eg about the Touaregs)

What to pay: Cash

The only place we had the opportunity to buy some souvenirs was in Ghat , there were some (3)Touaregs who sold some "silver" bracelets for 10 dollar.It was just marvelous to travel without the souvenir-boys running and yelling after you like in Egypt or Morocco

What to buy: Silver bracelets ?

What to pay: Prices/ quality : OK

Situated about 2 hour's drive south of Tripoli, Gharyan is known for two things - its troglodyte houses (closed for Eid when I was there) and its pottery, sold from the shops and stalls that line the Triploi/Gharyan road and most definitely open for business every day. Stall after stall along the road displays a huge stock and variety of household pottery of every description from huge bowls (not perhaps the easiest thing to fit in a suitcase), platters, tagines, jugs and ewers, lidded jars and casseroles, sets of bowls and plates ... you name it, you'll find it somewhere.

What to buy: Pottery's not my idea of the ideal thing to buy when travelling but it's hard to resist these - there is just so much to choose from. I didn't succumb, but MrL had been there before me and had - and he did choose wisely. I have some lovely wide, shallow bowls that I use a lot and two panels of tiles that I've had mounted on felt-backed wood - they make perfect hot plate stands for the table and they're in use every single day.

What to pay: Panels of 6 tiles will cost you no more than 5-10LD, and apart from really big pieces or sets of bowls, you'll find 10LD is enough to buy yourself something nice.

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All along the road from Tripoli to Leptis Magna you'll find small fresh fruit and vegetable stands - some selling a variety of produce, others with just whatever is in seasonal abundance - beautiful oranges when we were there in December, other fruit at different times of the year and, always melons in late summer. They're a great place to stop and pick up some fresh fruit to take along with you for a snack at Leptis - the food options there are restricted to the site restaurant and a couple of small teahouses.

There are also lots of honey stalls, the golden honey glowing in its jars in the sunlight. It's delicious, but it's not really cheap (about 10LD a kilo) and you need to be aware that you may not be allowed to take it into your home country - honey is a strictly banned import in many places around the world. You might like to try the date juice (tarbuni) instead - this could be a foodie-fad to rival the pomegranate juice that seems to have become one of the foodies' favourites of late - it's delicious.

At the suqs you can buy almost anything you desire, at a very good price. I bought a set of two Indian cotton sheets with two matching pillow cases, for less than $10.

Wandering around the Tripoli suq on my own, I did not feel the least bit threatened or uncomfortable. The people smiled and waved, but did not try the pushy sales techniques sometimes employed in other Mediterranean countries.