A Ride of a Lifetime: November 2013

10 Nov 2013

Southern Tunisian road tour - leg 2

Douz

Dates for sale in Douz

Douz is often known as the gateway to the Sahara lying on the edge of the Great Eastern Erg and is the home of the Mrazig tribe. It is also the largest of all the Tunisian desert oases with nearly half a million palm trees and is famed for its delicious dates. Despite the influx of tourists for desert safaris in their big four wheel drive vehicles, it is relatively unspoilt and was a pleasant place to stay. Before checking into our hotel we made a brief tour round the local oases and the start of the desert. Sand was everywhere. It was not only spreading across the roads it had begun to ingress into every nook and cranny of our car and clothes. Our basic but clean hotel proved to be a real gem and the cheapest on our trip. It was a friendly family run hotel that also runs a licenced travel agency. Bed and breakfast for one night was only 14€ and that included extra for ensuite facilities and air con!

Desert tombs near Douz

Those magnificent men.....

The following day we went to one of the many desert bases for a morning of sand adventures. Our friends took to the skies in a piloted microlight which gave them a birds eye view of the surrounding area and ticked another one of their bucket list boxes. We then each hired a quad bike and went for a crazy adrenalin inducing ride over the dunes. We drove back into town for lunch before heading back to our hotel and the start of our next adventure.

Trekking across the desert

The camels were equally happy to shed their passengers

The desert camp

We were taken to another desert base on the edge of the oasis and mounted our dromedaries (one humped camels) for a two hour, pelvic stretching ride across the desert as the sun slowly sank behind the dunes. It was a truly wonderful (and extremely uncomfortable) experience with an ever changing display of light and shadows on the sand. We were all happy to finally reach the campsite and our home for the night. The Berbers who looked after the camp made us feel welcome and served up a lovely spread of food in front of a large open fire. We were entertained by traditional singing and drumming and danced the night away. There were some amenities including candlelit toilets and showers (not working) and we each had our own tent. We awoke at dawn and soon after breakfast we were back on our camels for the final trek back to base.

Caleche in Tozeur

Chott el-Jerid

Back in the car we continued our journey westward on the 64km causeway which crosses the Chott el-Jerid, Tunisia and North Africa's largest salt lake. For most of the year it is a dry, flat expanse of salt crystals which glitter in the sun and where mirages are frequently seen. We continued on to the oasis town of Nefta for lunch and to Tozeur, also well known for its beautiful oasis and delicious dates, for the night. We treated ourselves to a touristy caleche ride and wandered around the old town where many of the buildings are made with traditional hand made bricks unique to this area.

Chebika

Tamerza

Mides gorge

The following morning we had a long dusty drive up to the mountain oases of Chebika, Tamerza and Mides situated close to the Algerian border. At Chebika we had a pleasant walk through the palm lined gorge to a waterfall and on to the mouth of the spring which feeds the oasis. We scrambled up to the abandoned old town which is bordered by both palms and the steep gorge. We saw more waterfalls at Tamerza and admired the scenic views over the gorge to the abandoned old village from a stunningly situated hotel where we stopped for a well earned beer. Our final destination of the day was Mides where the abandoned old houses are perched on the edge of a steep and very impressive deep gorge. As well as producing pomegranates, citrus fruits and dates it is now firmly on the tourist trail after featuring in scenes from the film The English Patient.

A beer stop with a view

Sufetula

Our entire itinerary was planned around the Lezard Rouge narrow gauge train ride we had booked for the following morning departing from Metlaoui. It only runs on certain days and we were really looking forward to a journey through the Seldja gorge aboard the early twentieth century carriages once the property of the Bey of Tunis. Metlaoui is Tunisia's main centre for phosphate mining and the railway was originally built for mining trains. Unfortunately we had a call the night before to say that the train would not be running owing to an industrial dispute by the miners. Disappointed, we had no choice but to continue our journey north to Sbeitla. On the way we stopped to take some photographs but were immediately surrounded by three army vehicles with guns drawn. We were too close to an army base and nearly lost our cameras. Up until now the frequent army checkpoints had not proved a problem as we were quickly identified as tourists by our car registration plate and waved through. Luckily all ended well but a lesson to be learnt. By late afternoon we were wandering around the Roman town of Sufetula. The remains are particularly well preserved including the very photogenic Forum temples dating back to 139 AD.

The Great Mosque Kairouan

Kairouan

Our final destination was Kairouan, Tunisia's oldest Arab city founded in 670 AD and Islam's fourth most holy. It is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. As we had reached the end of our tour we treated ourselves to a night at the luxurious (by Tunisian standards) La Kasbah hotel and even managed a swim in the wonderful courtyard pool. Inside the imposing city walls we wandered around the pretty old town, a sea of blue and white buildings with impressive doorways and had a personal guided tour of the Great Mosque. It is reputed that seven visits here are equivalent to one visit to Mecca.

Our fascinating and most enjoyable tour of the south was complete and it was time to head back to Monastir and get back to the never ending list of boat work awaiting our return

Kairouan doors

5 Nov 2013

Southern Tunisian road tour - leg 1

Trouble seems to be following us around - hurricanes in Olbia, earthquakes and suicide bombers in Sousse and Monastir. Time to keep ahead of the game and set off on our ten day road tour of southern Tunisia along with a couple of good friends who have taken an apartment in the marina for the winter. We were delayed for a couple of days as the whole of the country ground to a halt to celebrate Eid al-Adha , one of the most important Muslim festivals in Tunisia. This involves the sacrifice of a sheep and is not for the squeamish.

El Jem

El Jem museum

Mosaic, El Jem museum

The four of us finally set off in our hire car with some trepidation as our trusted guidebook informed us that Tunisia has one of the highest road accident rates in the world. We survived the first leg to the famous amphitheatre at El Jem. It was one of the last monuments to be built during the Roman Empire and is among the best preserved. We had a good wander round the very impressive remains as well as the archaeological museum with its fine collection of Roman mosaics. Back on the road the crazy louages, large shared taxis, continued to tailgate us overtaking with oncoming traffic, at blind bends and on the crests of hills. The countryside was getting flatter and dustier. The service stations increasingly took the form of roadside barbecues with sheep carcasses hanging ready to go on the fire and fuel distributed from plastic containers via hand pumps. We continued for a further 240 km and were relieved to finally reach our hotel in Gabes.

El Jem

Back on the road the following morning our first stop was the fascinating Military Museum of the Mareth Line where we were given a personal guided tour for the princely sum of 1 TD (0.44 €). The line was originally a system of fortifications built by the French prior to World War II. It was designed to defend against attacks from the Italians who at that time occupied Libya. Following the fall of France it fell into Axis hands and was used by the Italians and Germans to defend against the British instead. The battle of Mareth began in March 1943 and under the command of General Montgomery the allies were victorious in outflanking the Axis forces.

Metameur

Ksar Hadada

Having pleased the boys it was now time to visit some of the many Ksour which are abundant in southern Tunisia. They are fortified grain stores originally built by the Berber tribes but are now mostly disused. The six hundred year old Ksar of Metameur is well preserved and has ghorfas (rooms) that reach three storeys. We had the place to ourselves and enjoyed a cold drink in one of the courtyards. We continued our journey taking the scenic route west through the mountains of Jebel Haouaia and passing more Ksour perched on mountain tops. The scenery was breathtaking and we even spotted a life sized sculpture of a dinosaur which overlooks the road from a rocky outcrop. We stopped to have a look at Ksar Hadada which has been heavily restored. While no longer used as a grain store part of it has been converted into a hotel and it was also used as the set for one of the Star Wars films.

Spot the dinosaur!

Chenini

With time left for one more stop we head for Chenini, a scenic troglodyte hilltop Berber village clinging to the steep mountainside. The ruined village lies at the top of a craggy hill along with its kala'a, a stone hill fort, and white mosque. Lower down the ghorfas, many of which are still inhabited, are dug into the slopes below the fortress. We admire the stunning scenery from a distance and decide to save the climb to the top for the following day and retire to our hotel in Tataouine instead.

Chenini

Douiret

The next morning instead of returning to Chenini we decide to explore Douiret, a much less visited hilltop Berber village. The ruined kala'a looked very impressive sitting on top of a 700 mt conical peak. We had the place to ourselves and scrambled up to the top which afforded panoramic views over the surrounding desert landscape. We then continued on to Ksar Ouled Soltane, one of the best preserved Ksour in the south and which is illustrated on the 20 TD bank note. It is spread out over two courtyards, the oldest of which dates
back to the fifteenth century. Again we have the place to ourselves. We explored the four storey high ghorfas some of which are still used to store grain and olives as well as being yet another Star Wars location. We decided to take an afternoon off and went back to the hotel to relax by the lovely pool. Unfortunately it was rather crowded as in our absence the Libyan and Cameroon national football teams had checked in.

Ksar Ouled Soltane

Underground pit dwelling in Toujane

Early the next day we left the footballers behind and continued our journey westward across wonderful mountainous terrain affording views of the plains below. We stopped briefly at Toujane, built on the sides of a deep gorge, and continued on to Matmata in search of the underground pit dwellings some of which are still inhabited by the Berbers. They are about 400 years old and are based around a circular pit with vertical walls about 7 mts deep. We took the easy option and visited the Sidi Driss hotel which is a converted troglodyte dwelling. It was also the set for Luke Skywalkers home at the beginning of Star Wars. All a bit set up for the tourists but the girls enjoyed the vibe. We decided to leave the hassle factor behind and continued on to the Berber village of Tamezret to stop for a drink and enjoy the spectacular scenery. From here we decended to the plain below and the start of the northern extremities of the Sahara desert. We passed our first warning roadsign alerting us to look out for camels crossing and were even rewarded with our first sighting of a wandering flock of camels. We continued along the increasingly sand covered road until we reached our destination for the next couple of days, Douz.