On our quest to find the real Tunisia, we took some interesting tours. Travels to the temple of Minerva and ancient Dougga exposed us to the countryside, small towns and Roman ruins complete with aqueducts built over two thousand years ago and still functioning. In a van with driver, guide, and one other couple we covered over 450 kilometres in one day. We passed miles of olive groves, wheat fields resplendent in the green of early spring, rugged mountains gouged by marble quarries. Off the main highway, the back roads are rough. And you thought Winnipeg had potholes! The roads are shared by cars, trucks, sheep and people on donkeys. Some rode side-saddle while talking on a cell phone!
Every town large or small has one or more mosques with tall minaret standing above the other buildings. The first call to prayer I heard gave me the shivers.
Every town large or small has one or more mosques with tall minaret standing above the other buildings. The first call to prayer I heard gave me the shivers.
Our next tour was with a “large group” to the remains of ancient Carthage, and the pretty tourist town Sidi Bousaid. Well.... although it did not improve our opinion of large bus tours, we did see some interesting ancient artifacts, museums and more tourist areas.
My favorite tour was the one we did on our own.
We figured out how to take the people’s transportation, the bus, to Tunis. Walking out of the bus station we were hijacked by a friendly cab driver who took us to the “Champs Elysee” of Tunis near the great Medina. This main street is very European with coffee shops and restaurants on both sides. But the real adventure was the Medina. It is an oval-shaped walled city originally built in the eighth century. We crossed the boundary from Europe into Arabia and entered an area of 270 hectares where more than 100,000 people live- an alien world. The Medina houses one-tenth of Tunis’s population in a maze of narrow streets, pathways sometimes only five feet wide, much of it covered. Shops- selling clothes, bolts of cloth, jewelery, hookahs, food, pastries, art, absolutely everything you could ever imagine- crowd into the narrow space. It felt like entering an ant hill or beehive. Thousands of Tunisians, not tourists, were shopping, selling, eating and chatting. We got lost more than once, but people always pointed us in the right direction. It was a great experience. We made it back to the hotel safely with smiles on our faces.
My favorite tour was the one we did on our own.
We figured out how to take the people’s transportation, the bus, to Tunis. Walking out of the bus station we were hijacked by a friendly cab driver who took us to the “Champs Elysee” of Tunis near the great Medina. This main street is very European with coffee shops and restaurants on both sides. But the real adventure was the Medina. It is an oval-shaped walled city originally built in the eighth century. We crossed the boundary from Europe into Arabia and entered an area of 270 hectares where more than 100,000 people live- an alien world. The Medina houses one-tenth of Tunis’s population in a maze of narrow streets, pathways sometimes only five feet wide, much of it covered. Shops- selling clothes, bolts of cloth, jewelery, hookahs, food, pastries, art, absolutely everything you could ever imagine- crowd into the narrow space. It felt like entering an ant hill or beehive. Thousands of Tunisians, not tourists, were shopping, selling, eating and chatting. We got lost more than once, but people always pointed us in the right direction. It was a great experience. We made it back to the hotel safely with smiles on our faces.
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