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 |
 |
| 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 |
 |
| Chenini |
 |
| Chenini |
 |
| Douiret |
 |
| Douiret |
 |
| 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 |
 |
| 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.
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment