As our roadtrip continued further south and again near the Algerian border, the scenery became increasingly mountainous and dry. The towns of Mides and Tamerza are located in a particularly hilly area complete with some senic dry canyons. One of which was used for scenes in The English Patient. An abandoned walled mud town near Tamerza provided a scenic foreground for a palmeraie and rough mountains. Aptly named, palmeraies are the palm groves or oases found in the desert typically fed by underground springs. Locals manage these groves and grow fruit and vegetables in the forgiv [View Full Entry]

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Having failed to receive our Iranian visas and recognizing that it was winter in most of the Middle East, we did some serious re-thinking of where to go from Bahrain. Originally, we had planned to travel overland from Pakistan to Iran, Turkey and from there to Syria, Lebannon, Jordan, Egypt and across North Africa to Morocco. We also confirmed that overland travel in North Africa was going to be unlikely across the Egypt/Libya and Libya/Tunisia borders and impossible across the Tunisia/Algeria and Algeria/Morocco borders. Libya and Algeria also require that we book tours in advance in order [View Full Entry]

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We went to Tunis with a very big aircraft that wasn’t even half full! So the flight felt like forever. After a very long wait a wheelchair showed up for an old lady. We finally left the aircraft and took a scenic bus ride to the hotel. I had a Cape Town feeling driving there... At the hotel we soon learned that the people there aren’t the friendliest and if you cannot speak or understand French/Arabic it’s your problem. After a shower and sending my uniform to the dry cleaners 5 of us jumped into a taxi to Sidi Bousaid. Sisi [View Full Entry]

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Driving in Tunisia is ... fun, probably similar to racing but with a lot of moving targets ! We enjoyed Tunisia, from the palmery of Tozer (date havest time) to the lost city of Tataouine where we got to live a few days with a familly who were busy picking up olives. Lessons learnt in Tunisia 1. When driving in the middle of the night, think twice before taking the dirt road, it could become a sand dune and you may spend 2 hours digging your car out of the sand. 2. When sharing a meal over a camp fire [View Full Entry]

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I woke up around 830am and I took a shower. Celine and I went all over the medina. When we started out we were a little hungry and Celine introduced me to fruit cocktails. It is quite similar to a smoothie, the one that we had was a made from banana and I think they put dates and crushed cashew and almond as well and they top it up with a few banana slices and honey. It tasted fantastic and it cost less than a dinar. I think I can just live on them. By the time we had that it [View Full Entry]

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Woke up around 9am; I had not done any of my packing and my room was in an utter mess. I also had to go to the bank because I have been busy working double shifts to payback days my colleagues have been working for me. I had a cup of green tea which I had drunk a few days ago and the cup was still beside my bed and the green tea leaves were still there with mold growing inside. After having breakfast and packing my bags I had to make a series of phone calls to my grandfather, mother [View Full Entry]

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For Jane [View Full Entry]

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Quick escape to Tunisia, and have just found out that we left snow and ice behind in England....spent the day on the beach yesterday, with the sea crashing restlessly at our feet, so can't say it was a mistake and great to be back in a country like this, the azar ringing down the lanes and streets.... its very slow here - very few internet cafes and hardly anyone gabbling into mobile phones, little if any hassle, few high rises - instead, a lot of small blue and white houses and beautiful studded wooden doors, the sea surrounding you and utterly [View Full Entry]

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So by this point in our two months of traveling, David and I have started to consider ourselves travel experts. We can efficiently and confidently navigate many a foreign subway systems, order meals in the local language, and even find our way using only our newly developed keen sense of direction… we may have even started to get a little arrogant about all of this, if it hadn’t been for Tunisia! Tunisia is truly another world. Even the great and hectic city of Naples cannot compare to the intensity of this North African country. David and I knew it would be [View Full Entry]

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It is officially the last day of my foolhardy North African adventure (volume I). It has been packed. Did I actually say that I would be able to relax in Tunis? I vaguely remember using the words 'chill out'. Today I went to my first and second legit museums of my entire 6 week trip. I am so le cultured. I visited mostly all the old Carthaginian ruins near Tunis in the 35 degree, humid weather. Able to look at the crystal clear blue Meditarranean but never close enough to go in! I shopped for souvenirs, bargaining with shopkeepers, trying to [View Full Entry]

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