El Jerba is an island that attracts tourists because of the beaches. Neal and I are tourists! So Ale', Neal and I drove there. It's on the map - the dark letters say Houmt Souq. The 18th, we started at an internet cafe where I failed to reserve a hotel room in Houmt Souq. I gave my phone and the number to Ale', and voila! we have a room. Then we took off.
First stop was El-Jem, to see the colosseum. It's another UNESCO World Heritage Site. My camera decided that it would no longer auto-focus. Sand? Heat? Oh, well, you will have to look at manually focused pictures from here on.
This was the 3rd largest colosseum in the Roman world. It could seat 30,000. Outside here was my chance to bargain with a vendor. I wanted a beach towel with a map of Tunisia. Neal said it was worth 9 dinar. The seller, my good friend, said it was worth 40 dinar. I paid 15 dinar. Neal later bought the same towel in Jerba for 10 dinar. Neal has Ed's bargaining genes!
By this time, we were starving. Ale' said we should have sheep BBQ by the side of the road. At a round-about, there were two places. One had active smoke. That was our choice. Ale' parked right next to this sheep. As we walked past him, we saw the blood where they slaughter the sheep in a surround with a drain. Ale' ordered our lunch for us, and when he came back to our table he told us they were going to kill that sheep. Right now. We moved tables.
The BBQ was very good, and guaranteed fresh.
We got to Jerba after a short ferry ride, and found our hotel immediately. It's name is Hotel Carat. We got two rooms, with air conditioning and private bathrooms. I had my very own room, in which I could wash all my clothes and hang them to dry. Luxury! We were so happy with the hotel, that we decided to stay two nights there. The day between the two nights, we went shopping at Houmt Souq.
We saw a lot of pottery-sellers around here. Apparently, the Libyans love to come buy Tunisian pottery. Our suitcases kept us from even looking at them, though.
That evening, we had our only car problem. We ran out of water and overheated. While we were waiting for it to cool, filling it, waiting some more, and so on, Neal and I peered over a fence at a Tunisian group. They were all jumping up and down and singing together. I think it was a ceremony. It looked like fun. There was another area with tents, but not the nylon ones we are used to in the US. They were more canvas over ropes. Jerba has two distinct cultures - tourist and native. The beaches are separate because of the hotels owning theirs, and the swim suits. The tourists use a lot of potable water, leaving less for the farmers. But the tourists bring money. I like being a tourist and bringing money. I also try to be conscious of the disruption I am causing.
The next morning, we headed for the Sahara Desert. Neal really, really wanted to see it, even though it is July. First, we went over the mountains, to Matmata. Matmata has underground houses. It keeps it cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter to be underground. The Berbers live there.
Part of Star Wars was filmed here. We toured Luke Skywalker's house, though Neal and I didn't recognize it as such. But it had the "high-tech" doors. The magic of film!
We got to Douz and the Sahara at 3 or 4 p.m. It was 48 C! That's 118 F!
Neal wanted some sand from the Sahara. He says his hands were burning.
This was the end of the road. The sand covered the road. It also was covering the buildings!
Neal in the ocean of sand, clowning with some bones.
Now we headed back toward Sousse. We drove to Tozeur through Chott El-Jerid on a raised causeway. The Chott is a great salt lake, with no water in the summer. There are salt sculptures, like sand castles, but made of salt.
It seems that there are two halves to Tunisia, north and south. North has hectares of olive trees, while south has hectares of date palms. This artificial division doesn't take into account even farther south, which has the Sahara, so maybe there are three halves.
Ramadan started on Friday, the 20th, while we were on our marathon driving day. Muslims cannot eat or even drink water while the sun is up during the month of Ramadan. Luckily for our safety, if you're driving, you can eat. Unluckily, we only had a few cookies in the car. Right before sundown, the streets were packed with food shoppers. After sundown, the streets were deserted, as everyone ate. We finally found an open restaurant about 9:30 p.m. Hooray! We had our best meal of the whole trip. We got back to Sousse at 10:45 p.m. What a long day! The family had gone for a walk after breaking their fast, and we were asleep when they returned.
Saturday was our last day in Tunisia. I took a walk before anyone got up, and found a cafe with OJ and a croissant. I hate eating in front of people who are fasting. Swimming in the morning, then off to find ATMs in the afternoon. ATMs are not common, except in tourist areas, and people use cash for everything. I had been getting money every day, but then spending it. Ale' commented about the ATMs, surprised that they were always open. High school friends, do you remember when credit cards were that uncommon? I do.
Sunday was airport day. I can't thank Latifa's relatives enough for putting up with us. Neal and I brought US and Norwegian food for them. I hope they will try them sometime. I was amazed to find that there were No Bookstores In The Airport, or even in any of the towns we visited. I bought an International Herald Tribune and read every article, before getting to Milan, where I could buy a book.
This week flew by. It was fun. Now it's time to figure out next year's big adventure...
First stop was El-Jem, to see the colosseum. It's another UNESCO World Heritage Site. My camera decided that it would no longer auto-focus. Sand? Heat? Oh, well, you will have to look at manually focused pictures from here on.
By this time, we were starving. Ale' said we should have sheep BBQ by the side of the road. At a round-about, there were two places. One had active smoke. That was our choice. Ale' parked right next to this sheep. As we walked past him, we saw the blood where they slaughter the sheep in a surround with a drain. Ale' ordered our lunch for us, and when he came back to our table he told us they were going to kill that sheep. Right now. We moved tables.
 |
| By the time we left, this is the sheep. |
We got to Jerba after a short ferry ride, and found our hotel immediately. It's name is Hotel Carat. We got two rooms, with air conditioning and private bathrooms. I had my very own room, in which I could wash all my clothes and hang them to dry. Luxury! We were so happy with the hotel, that we decided to stay two nights there. The day between the two nights, we went shopping at Houmt Souq.
We saw a lot of pottery-sellers around here. Apparently, the Libyans love to come buy Tunisian pottery. Our suitcases kept us from even looking at them, though.
Everyone wore floppy-brimmed hats here. I bought a big woven basket with some nice colors. I put my rug in it to carry on the plane. At home, maybe it will be my clothes hamper.
After shopping, Neal and I paid the Park Inn for lunch. That way, we were allowed to use their beach all afternoon! Complete with people who want you to ride their camels or their horses. Ale' joined us after a while, and we all had a great time. The Sousse beach has nicer water with less grass in it, but the Jerba beach has the umbrellas and lounge chairs.
That evening, we had our only car problem. We ran out of water and overheated. While we were waiting for it to cool, filling it, waiting some more, and so on, Neal and I peered over a fence at a Tunisian group. They were all jumping up and down and singing together. I think it was a ceremony. It looked like fun. There was another area with tents, but not the nylon ones we are used to in the US. They were more canvas over ropes. Jerba has two distinct cultures - tourist and native. The beaches are separate because of the hotels owning theirs, and the swim suits. The tourists use a lot of potable water, leaving less for the farmers. But the tourists bring money. I like being a tourist and bringing money. I also try to be conscious of the disruption I am causing.
 |
| Our intrepid driver Ale' |
We got to Douz and the Sahara at 3 or 4 p.m. It was 48 C! That's 118 F!
This was the end of the road. The sand covered the road. It also was covering the buildings!
 |
| The road with the sand drifts, and the fence to keep back the desert in the background. The fence doesn't actually work. |
Neal in the ocean of sand, clowning with some bones.
 |
| Neal and Ale' with some of the many camels around there. There are signs on the road to watch out for camels crossing. |
It seems that there are two halves to Tunisia, north and south. North has hectares of olive trees, while south has hectares of date palms. This artificial division doesn't take into account even farther south, which has the Sahara, so maybe there are three halves.
Ramadan started on Friday, the 20th, while we were on our marathon driving day. Muslims cannot eat or even drink water while the sun is up during the month of Ramadan. Luckily for our safety, if you're driving, you can eat. Unluckily, we only had a few cookies in the car. Right before sundown, the streets were packed with food shoppers. After sundown, the streets were deserted, as everyone ate. We finally found an open restaurant about 9:30 p.m. Hooray! We had our best meal of the whole trip. We got back to Sousse at 10:45 p.m. What a long day! The family had gone for a walk after breaking their fast, and we were asleep when they returned.
Saturday was our last day in Tunisia. I took a walk before anyone got up, and found a cafe with OJ and a croissant. I hate eating in front of people who are fasting. Swimming in the morning, then off to find ATMs in the afternoon. ATMs are not common, except in tourist areas, and people use cash for everything. I had been getting money every day, but then spending it. Ale' commented about the ATMs, surprised that they were always open. High school friends, do you remember when credit cards were that uncommon? I do.
Sunday was airport day. I can't thank Latifa's relatives enough for putting up with us. Neal and I brought US and Norwegian food for them. I hope they will try them sometime. I was amazed to find that there were No Bookstores In The Airport, or even in any of the towns we visited. I bought an International Herald Tribune and read every article, before getting to Milan, where I could buy a book.
This week flew by. It was fun. Now it's time to figure out next year's big adventure...
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