long way down - Libya etc.

With all the crazy shit that's happening in the world,
I realized I didn't know much about Libya,
other than what I've seen on the TV show - LONG WAY DOWN.

Back when "Long Way Round" was being shown,
I figured it was some lame show,
about some prissy "Star Wars" actor and his buddy riding motorcycles.
Since we didn't have cable anyway,
it was easy to miss!

Well earlier this year we Netflixed the first series, "Long Way Round",
and holy chit it's probably the best "reality" TV show made.
These guys are fortunate enough to be backed by a ton of money
to make these rides possible,
and they really do some tough riding.



Sure TV needs to edit in some drama stuff,
but it's good that Ewan Mcgregor and Charley Boorman,
the two riders,
actually want to live the 3rd world countries they're travelling through.

Some of the stuff in Mongolia and Russia is incredible.
Really made me appreciate that someone that is a "superstar"
is willing to almost die or get mamed doing some insane trip.

We're lucky that these guys video'd all this for us to watch.
Most likely none of us will ever get to see or ride any of this landscape,
(england to new york - through asia and north america,
about 19.000 miles!)

Just rent it or netflix it, its worth your time.
Actually if you search YOUTUBE its all there as well.

*****

Ok the second series is "Long Way Down",
and they go from Scotland to South Africa.
Talk about places I'll probably never get to go!

One of their main early issues in coordinating this run was Libya.
Since one of the producers is American,
he wasn't allowed in, and had to fly around it.
A couple months ago,
this didn't really matter to me,
but now that there's all this commotion going on over there,
I realized that what little I know about Libya,
was from a 10 minute clip on this friggin TV show!

So Libya is full of Roman ruins that are on par with anything in Europe,
just cause it doesn't seem like anyone there really cares about them,
since tourism isn't really a huge part of there economy!

Anyway,
inbetween any "major" cities are long stretches of sandy windy highways.

**jump to the 2 minute mark to skip the intro**

Ok,
if you watched it,
you've seen its a ton of desert, sand, wind, mediterranean beaches...
oh yeah and oil.
Libya has the majority of Africa's oil.
I doubt the U.N. is trying to protect those ancient Roman ruins!

If you continue with the show,
they go through these North African countries that are now in revolution,
like Egypt and Tunisia.
It make this show a real slice of history in a way,
as there's some good documentation of how it was before all the uprisings.
This is not to downplay the rest of the Africa trip.
There's some really cool landscapes out there to see,
if you have a small militia to protect you anyway!

So if you have some spare time,
and like tripping on motorcycles,
watch both series,
you'll consider getting a BMW or other touring bike,
or just go riding,
in the rain, with a tent.

TP