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Going Underground: Matmata
As soon as we heard that some former troglodyte homes beneath the ground had been converted into a place where you can stay the night, we knew we had to do it. The temptation of spending a night in one of these most unusual cave dwellings was just too much to resist, especially when our route south and west was taking us close to their very location. An entire population of troglodyte people lived in and around what is now Matmata, in man made cave dwellings constructed in intriguing fashion. Some of these cave dwellings were simply hewn into the rock, often behind tight entrances between tall natural pillars, but…
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The Journey Continues: Monastir-El Jem-Gabes
Strictly speaking, El Jem isn’t a desert town, but as we step off the louage from Monastir and squint through the haze, it bears all the hallmarks of one. We arrive in a dust storm – or maybe a sand storm – which makes the whole town shimmer in the heat and minarets and palm trees drift in and out of sight. Flags whip and crack in the stiff wind, the sun is clogged and filtered by the sand which is so concentrated that it’s a bit like looking into a fog. Our glasses and sunglasses are quickly covered in a film of dust, layers of sand particles have coated…
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To A Different World: Kairouan To Monastir
We have barely entered the chaotic louage station before someone spots us – two backpack laden travellers on the move – and points us in the direction of the correct ticket window for Monastir, and as soon as we have our tickets, a second person is there to show us to the right louage. This is just how Tunisia, and Kairouan, is: helpful people everywhere. For those unfamiliar with this kind of transport, the louage and its counterparts in other countries, there is no timetable, the driver simply waits until all seats are taken and, as soon as they are, he hits the road. With a stroke of luck the…
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In Deeper: To The Sacred City Of Kairouan
We feel quite a sense of anticipation as we make our way across the nondescript scrubland plain towards the city of Kairouan and step down from the minibus beneath greying afternoon skies. Indeed, there was a time when we couldn’t even have got as far as this: until being taken by the French in 1881, Kairouan was strictly Muslim only with all others barred from even entering the city. It is today the fourth most sacred city of Islam after Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem, tradition stating that seven pilgrimages to Kairouan equals one pilgrimage to Mecca. The Great Mosque of Kairouan (aka the Mosque Of Uqba) is widely accepted as…
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The Wider Tunis: Carthage, The Coast And More
The teenage boys are just as boisterous on the train now as they were half an hour ago performing outrageous gymnastics on the beach, which in itself is pretty impressive, particularly if they’re practicing Ramadan and leaping around like that when they can’t even take on water. Now, on the train, they jump off and run from carriage to carriage at each station, open the doors while the train is moving, swap shirts and throw bags at each other: we just smile at the fact that wherever you are, whatever the culture…..boys will be boys. We are on the short suburban railway which runs out from Tunis, across the water…
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The Doors & Shops Of Tunis
Doors and shops. Now there’s two things which hold a fascination for many travellers. Doors because they just do: there’s something irresistibly photogenic about them. Shops possibly because they are a familiar concept whose distortion by different environment is such a tangible measure of a different culture. Tunis has delivered so much on both fronts that we thought we’d interrupt our commentaries with this gallery. Doors first….. And on to the shops….. And to finish, a few mosaics from the walls of the Medina….
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Tunis: Where Cultures Meet But Ramadan Rules
Tunis airport does its very best to compete with Delhi and Agadir as the most tortuous passport control we’ve ever experienced, and comes very close indeed to being the most chaotic. Having left Camp Sunshine at half past midnight to take flights through the night and early morning (Hurghada-Cairo-Tunis) such scenes weren’t exactly top of our wish list. With minimal airport staff to control the crowds, chaos quickly breaks out and any semblance of a queue soon dissolves into a free for all where disorder rules and tempers fray. In the end it’s only a few minutes short of two hours before we’re finally reunited with our backpacks, during which…
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Last Days In Egypt: Exploring The Reef
It’s Good Friday at home in England. Here it’s mid Ramadan, though in Camp Sunshine both Easter and Ramadan have become somewhat abstract concepts, for us at least, although we are having chats with staff over the effects of fasting. It looks like it’s changeover time too: new faces are appearing and wandering around learning the ropes and some of our old favourites seem to have gone back home to ordinary life. Dave Angel (eco warrior) is still here with his heavily tattooed entourage, but Tracey Emin is out of the picture and Wolfgang & Son seem to have gone back to wherever their normal food levels exist and left…
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The Boys Of Summer: More Tales From The Red Sea
Camp Sunshine beach bar has its music on a loop – a loop which perhaps should be a little longer. It’s a good job I have my headphones, given that we can hear the music from both house and beach spot and the inoffensive MOTR run of Santana, Adele, Richard Marx etc is at a certain point rudely interrupted by Tom Jones’ “Delilah”. We feel a pang of guilt laying here soaking up the sun while poor Tom is about to be arrested for stabbing his Mrs to death. We think we might know where we’re going wrong with the all-inclusive thing. I remember chatting in a hotel bar in…
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Legal Aliens: Englishmen In Resort
Day 3 at Camp Sunshine (not its real name) brings an increase in the sea breeze and the nations’ flags between the restaurant and the beach are flapping furiously – though there’s not a Union Jack or a St Georges anywhere to be seen in the collection. Colours are to the fore: the deep brown suntans of those Germans presumably nearing the end of their stay clashing with the frighteningly red raw faces and shoulders of the newcomers who’ve done too much sun too soon. They must be suffering. There’s also the sky blue – not the sea or the sky but the shiny sky blue of our wrist bands…
