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Published: January 24th 2008
Matmata
Berber woman in Troglodyte house"....We landed in the country of the Lotus-Eaters, who live on a flowering food."
Homer:The Odyssey. Tunisia was a gentle re-introduction to the African continent. It has good tourist infrastructure, an efficient public transport system and its people are friendly and helpful. After 6 months back in Britain earning some money, I'm traveling again. (See my last blog).
I had packed an Arabic phrase book, but found that I didn't need to use it. Everyone I spoke to in the last 2 weeks spoke French.
I flew out of Britain on the 7th of January arriving in Tunis late at night. I spent my first day visiting the Bardot Museum in Tunis and the second in the nearby suburb of Carthage.
Carthage
Carthage, which is only a short train ride from Tunis is now basically an upmarket suburb of Tunis. It was an ancient North African state that lasted from the 9th century BC to 146 BC. It later prospered under Roman rule.
I walked from my Hotel to the Marine train station. As I walked through the turnstile I noticed a young couple that were obviously tourists trying to talk to a Tunisian.
There was a train on the platform. I wasn't sure if it was the correct train.
The young couple walked over towards the train but made no move to get onto it. I asked them if they were also going to Carthage. They didn't know if the train was going to Carthage - they hadn't understood the reply they had been given. So, I tried my luck. It seemed that it was the correct train.
During my stay in
Tunisia I visited Tunis,
Kairouan,
Sousse,
Gabes,
Matmata,
Sfax, and Djerba.
The Lotus Eaters
Djerba, famously claims to be the island of the Lotus Eaters in Homer's poem. It attracts a lot of tourists - although most of them stay in a strip of package tourist hotels, 10 km from the main town. I stayed in Houmt Souq, the main town in an hotel which had been converted from a traditional funduq.
Funduqs were lodging houses for the camel caravans during Ottoman times. The merchants stayed on the top floor, whilst the camels were lodged below. My funduq was beautiful. It had vaulted whitewashed ceilings, surrounding a courtyard with a
swimming pool. I was particularly struck by the huge key for my room - it was longer than the palm of my hand and worked a lock mechanism that was suitably gigantic.
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