Tunisia!

Exotic, very exotic.


It has deserts, oases, villages of white houses with light blue doors and windows, cities with Arabic walls older than a thousand years, gigantic mosques, Greek, Roman, Punic, Phoenician and Berber ruins...



It has history, has architecture, religion, and as if still had to offer anything else, Tunisia has the turquoise Mediterranean inviting you for a bath.

When I chose Tunisia as a destination I did because of a project I had found: working in the post-revolution, giving lessons to the people about democracy, human rights, civil rights and so on.

Not everything got as planned, but at least I met a fascinating place. So fascinating that George Lucas chose to record several scenes of Star Wars.

Planet Tatooine? Not, it's Tunisia, babe

Two weeks ago I received a visit of a Russian friend, Mikhail (or, for the close friends, simply Misha), and we decided to travel through the center of the country.

I thought that I was going to see camels and palm trees in their natural habitat, but as I said, Tunisia is too exotic to offer only this.

We started the trip in Carthage, which both of us had already visited, but we decided to go back because I heard that there more remains than I visited. As I expected, there was nothing more surprising than the Antonine Baths.

Ruins of a Roman amphitheater in Carthage. Renovated,
it is still used for concerts, plays, and even for a film festival

From there, we went to the resort town of Nabeul and Hammameth, famous among Europeans for its warm, crystal and clean waters, and also for the price – if you compare with Italians or French beach resorts, the prices in Tunisia are derisive.

75 miles later we arrived in Kairouan. The city was the capital of Tunisia until 1159 (no, you did not read wrong, it is 1159), and it was a safe spot for the Arabs who traveled from the sea into the wilderness. In a region by that time dominated by the Romans and Berbers, the city is just a day's walk from the Mediterranean, and there travelers could rest in safety. Surrounded by solid walls, which some sections are still stood, in Kairouan are found some preciosities: La Grande Mosquée, the first mosque built in all of North Africa; Aghlabid basins; mausoleums of Muslim prophets...

One of the mausoleums in Kairouan

Part of the old wall

When we went there the Mosque was already closed – it’s opened for tourist visits only untill 14:00. After that, it’s only for Muslims.

La Grande (closed) Mosquée

Leaving Kairouan we went to Tozeur, a city with 30,000 inhabitants built in the middle of a huge oasis. We were there only for one night, and we did not prioritize the city: in the vicinity are found the most interesting sights. Among them I should highlight the salt lake of Chot el Jerid (or simply "the salt lake"), the oasis in the hills of As-Sabikah (or simply "the oasis in the hills"), the canyons (enough of Arabic names) and waterfalls.

Sunrise

Date-tree

Misha, myself and the wild camels

Oasis and Hills

I do understand George Lucas

Waterfalls in the middle of the desert

Ruins + Canions

In Chot el Jerid

At the hotel in Tozeur we had the curiosity to ask about the outskirts of the city, and there we got tips for all these places. The clerk also told us about the Roman ruins of Sbeïtla. I did not create great expectations, but me and Misha decided to go there and see where the people form this town with a complicated name spends their afternoon:

Mikhail, myself and Sbeïtla ruins

Is it possible do to not get impressed?

Trajan Arc in Sbeïtla

Leaving Sbeïtla we unfortunately went back to Tunis – Misha had to go back to Moscow.
Next week, my last in Tunisian land, I’m going to see the second largest coliseum still standing and some other ruins.

Stay tuned!