Days in Ruins

---

As I made my way back up the Westside of Tunisia I couldn't believe the quantity and quality of the ancient ruins. It also had very lush and green landscape compared to the desert south and the eastern coastline.

I started at the Ruins of Sbeitla dating back to 138 to 161. This was the entry point of the Muslim conquest of North Africa. It is believed this settlement reached great prosperity through the olive industry allowing them to build such impressive buildings. Sbeitla is known for having the best preserved Forum in the world. Instead of constructing only one temple dedicated to the three most important Roman gods: Jupiter, Minerva, and Juno the inhabitants of the city built separate temples for each one.

One of the most famous collection of ruins is Dougga which UNESCO says represents the best preserved Roman small town in North Africa. The 160 acre site lies in the middle of the countryside. This has protected it from modern urbanization as well as pillaging. This Berber Kingdom is believed to have been founded in the 6th century BC.

I finished by visiting two coastal towns: Tabarka and Bizerte. Tabarka is right on the boarder of Algeria. There were many different populations that lived here over time as it offered a great viewpoint into the Mediterranean Sea from a lighthouse fort that sits atop the mountain. Bizerte is an adorable port town an hour outside of the capital.

Overall there were pros and cons to visiting Tunisia during Ramadan. The pros were that I had many of the historical sites to myself, I had perfect weather the whole time I was there, and I got to learn and partake in their most important time of year. The cons were the inability to access food and bathrooms during the day and sometimes also at night. I planned ahead with this and would have water and food with me for lunch (one time heating up my left over pizza in the desert sun). When not under Ramadan Tunisia is much less conservative than other Muslim countries like Bangladesh. I am told people party, drink and dance late into the night. But, unless it is drastically different during Ramadan only about 20% of the people I saw out at night time were women. At times I would pass a coffee shop at night and it would exclusively be men drinking tea and smoking together. So I'm not sure how much of the nightlife I would have taken advantage of.

---