Detained by Secret Police! 🕵🏽‍♂️ Cycling to Misrata | Libya Bike Adventure

Detained by Secret Police! 🕵🏽‍♂️ Cycling to Misrata | Libya Bike Adventure

Quran with English translation has appeared. I’m sure this wasn’t here yesterday. Beach is very busy at sunrise. Not surprising e I suppose. And I’m intra alhamdulillah. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. I like this road. It has frequent, very sharp speed bumps which stops the cars from bombing along. I’ve had to rejoin the motorway for about a kilometer to cross the bridge, but because of the checkpoint, all the traffic is quite slow. 30 or so kilometers in, it’s 8:00 a.m. and I’m ready for breakfast. So, I’m looking for a cafe. I was hoping for a cafe, but I guess most of the shops are in the town. I’m just skirting around it. Um, but not getting too comfy is not a bad idea. It means I’m going to keep moving quickly, keep making good time. Um, I’ve got some uh juice and a cake and a yogurt for breakfast. The shopkeeper is quite funny. People here are either very welcoming or quite suspicious. And he’s uh one of the suspicious ones. I regret buying anything from this man now because he’s just come to kick me out. I’ve got a guy following me here. He just tried to say something to me. He’s not in uniform or anything. Don’t know. It’s the car too ahead of me now. He waited until a moment where there was nobody else around to try and stop me. So, I’m very suspicious of him. Leaving my bike and being detained, removed, welcomed uh back to the secret police’s headquarters. Translator arrived. He said somebody called to report a foreigner. I bet it was that shop owner. Just had the maddest experience and I’ve had to delete all of the footage because it was the secret police. Uh it turns out somebody called up and said there’s a foreigner acting weird. Um somebody was sent out to find me and uh he wasn’t in uniform. He didn’t have photographic ID. He showed me a card which had no photograph and it was in Arabic of course. It looked like a parking permit to me. Anyway, so this was just a strange man who was shouting at me driving very erratically and wanted me to get in the car with him, which I obviously wasn’t going to do cuz that’s mad behavior. Anyway, somebody else was sent and then a translator was finally sent. We all went back to the office together in the in the last town 15ks away where I’d stopped for breakfast. Um, initially they wanted to take the bike with me, but didn’t fit in any cars, so I got permission to leave it here. Um, back at the office, I was interviewed. Um, they looked at my passport visa. It’s been about 2 hours. I’ve lost a lot of time. I’m going to be cycling in a heap, but it could have been much worse. There’s um, there’s a cyclist gone missing in in Iran right now, so count my lucky stars that it didn’t get worse. That was that was very terrifying for a moment. I thought I was being abducted when they were trying to bundle me and the bike into the back of their car before the before the translator arrived. Anyway, so we’re all friends now. Apologies all around. Um, they’ve got my Facebook and YouTube. Yeah, people are pretty suspicious of me around here despite everything that Captain Jabber has done to dispel the rumors. So I have to be extra double careful. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Okay, nice guys. Cold water. I think they’re directing me to the main road, but that’s full of trucks and going far too fast. I don’t know why everyone thinks this road is bad. It’s 1:00 now, so I’m into about the hottest part of the day. It’s about 37 or 38, I think. So, I’ve just covered myself in water at the last mosque. I’ll go and take KS and then have a proper stop. just posed for selfies with these two cops. I wasn’t allowed a selfie back though. The man just tried to give me five dinar. Do I look like I’m begging sitting here in the shade at the mosque? Oh dear. I have so much to learn. This car here has just drawn up. Hi, how are you? Where are you going? I was like, who are you, man? Enter. Uh, he asked my name. I told him. He said, thank you and drove off. Really weird. I wish these secret policemen here and in Tunisia, I wish they could understand that it’s not normal or advisable when you’re a solo woman. It’s not sensible to tell strangers where you’re going. They all Oh, he’s following me again. They all just expect me to give away all my personal details even though they’ve given me no ID themselves. This is security stop three or four of the day now. Four if you count the police who wanted selfies. Okay, that went much better. Nice guy wearing a shirt, introduced himself. He had a bit of English. I was put on the phone to the English speaking captain. I’ve obviously moved into the jurisdiction of Miserata. He welcomed me to Misata. All fine. This is me trying to take cover behind the black car from a guy that turns out to be just setting off fireworks in the middle of the street. Literally this guy with a firework in the street. Wildians have this weird habit of setting off fireworks in the daytime. I am becoming accustomed to it. [Applause] Look, it’s going to be expensive. My security detail is buying me coffee in this very fancy hotel while he waits for a call back about finding a cheaper hotel for me. He can’t fault the hospitality. Absolutely smashed my cappuccino. This cake is really nice. What a day. The lovely security man helped me find a more affordable hotel. Uh, still pretty nice. Um, I asked him what his job was and he if he was a policeman and he just said, “I’m here to protect you.” Um, but he spoke very good English and he was dressed very smartly. So anyway, that’s been done for the day.

Day 146. 106km (89097kms 8yrs)

A little before dawn the streets were pretty empty but for one runner, though the beach was surprisingly busy. A few cars stopped to me for photographs but otherwise progress was good. After 35km I arrived to the next town ready for a break, but not being able to find a cafe I called into a convenience store where I bought some breakfast things. I was eating them outside on a step a good metre or two to left of the door when the owner of the shop who had eyed me suspiciously inside, now came outside to ask me to move along. People around here are either incredibly welcoming or a bit suspicious of me.

Severak kilometres along on a quiet stretch of road, a car pulled up beside me. The driver, in a t-shirt, was calling out in Arabic. I couldn’t understand him and didn’t feel safe stopping. But he kept cutting me off, becoming aggressive. I asked for ID; he showed a red card with no photo, which didn’t reassure me. Another man arrived, and communication broke down further. They tried to grab my phone when I attempted to call a friend to translate, and started pulling at my bike, trying to load it into the boot of their car. It was honestly terrifying.

Eventually, a translator arrived and explained they were plainclothes security forces. I was taken to an unmarked building where they checked my documents. The visa caused some confusion, but after some questions and deleting a few video clips I was released. On the way back to my bike, the mood shifted: everyone was relaxed, asking for my Facebook and YouTube. I gladly provided my social media; I have nothing to hide, and welcome any extra security available to me here!

So all this put me a couple of hours behind schedule; I was now having to cycle into the hottest and windiest portion of the day. I stopped periodically to cool off at mosques where one man offered me 5dinar I looked so derelict!

Yet more unmarked secret police arrived once I was within 30kms of Misrata, but these guys were smartly dressed, welcoming, and spoke English well. I was put on the phone to the chief of police who welcomed me and gave me his direct number. With an escort now I dragged myself the last kilometres into Mistra where men were letting off explosive fireworks in the street. I was too tied to even reach cover quickly 😆

I searched for a cheap hotel but google maps let me down once more. The incredibly kind security man bought me coffee and cake in the very fancy hotel I’d pulled up at whilst he sought me a more affordable place. Once settled in I was instructed to call him whenever I leave, even for a short walkabout. When I went out two hours later for dinner a police car was parked opposite.

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