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Published: November 8th 2012
From Monastir I bid sad farewell to my gracious Couchsurfing hosts Ussema and Wael, took the louage to Sousse where I connected to Gafsa. It seems like this route is not popular though offered, I have to wait on the side after paying and took 10 minutes before they issued me my ticket, one guy who is also going to Gafsa offered to walk me to the loauge, he seems very nice but can't speak a thing of English and I no French! It surprisignly filled up pretty quickly and we are on our way soon. There was a brief lunch stop and the guy again helped me out sort out lunch as no one understands me and I cannot seem to figure out how to order.. He paid for it too!! Arriving in Gafsa louage station under a highway overpass just like LP said. Now this is when it got weird, the guy keep telling me to come with him, I did at first cause I thought maybe he can help me find my connceting loauge to Tozeur, but we were just standing in the corner, he keeps calling someone on the phone, wanting not to waste time I told
him I have to go and find my loauge, but he tries to prevent me from leaving, hmmm... what does he want from me? He pretended to ask the drivers around which louage goes to Tozeur but he did not explain to me what they said, I bolted out and just walked away and started yelling out Tozeur, Tozeur.. and some guy pointed in the distance, It looks like it's way out in the back outside the main garage, I once again yelled out my destination, someone took me and directed me to the louage, finally! I sat and waited, paid my fare then suddenly I saw the guy again! he followed me, this time with someone who speaks English, he must be the guy he was on the phone with, he told me, his friend just want to know if there is anything I need in Gafsa or if he can help me with anything, I told them politely that I am just passing through on my way to Tozeur, thanked them profusely, shook their hands and they left. I think the guy just want to be friends with me, pheww... false alarm..
Took about 2 hours to
get to Tozeur, I got off at the garage but the louage driver told me to get back in the van, asked me where I am staying and drove me there, free of charge! How nice are these people! The room I got at El Areich hotel was ok, with a/c ensuite bathroom with hot water, but why.. it's so hot here! oh and cable tv all for 26 dinars. Adel the receptionist was quite helpful, in the evening he took me to a nice restaurant close by, food was good. Now I wanted to do some excursions around the area and so I went to several travel agencies, put my name down and was told they will let me know if there is a group that will be leaving, and I let the reception desk at my hotel know of my interests as well. After Adel finished work he took me inside the Palmerie where they have cafes serving coffee and beer and of course sheesha.. this cafe has a nice pool, nice ambience..There we met up with Khaled the guy who wanted to host me here but I found communicating with him was erratic so I decided to
hotel it! In fairness though he seems to be very busy with an upcoming poetry fair thing.. We had a good conversation and he then took me home to my hotel on his motorbike which everyone seem to have here, chinese made, the one that you have to push for it to start!
The next morning I decided to check out the Palmerie, the area behind my hotel where date trees are being cultivated, it's harvest season and you can see date fruits everywhere! I decided to walk it, rather than taking the kaleche, a horse driven carriage that is so tacky, I want no part of it! Plus evrytime I walked past them they keep yelling out kunichiwa!! I got annoyed, so just out of principle.. Before I did the walk the receptionist at the hotel told me it's very far walk, and that if I dont get to the end sooner I should return back the same way! The map he gave me looks like its not so far, he said it's not accurate!, ok...
Taking his advice with agrain of salt, I headed down the trail, taking my time going past orchards after orchards of
date trees, a few tourists in the kaleche went past me, I kept walking until I realized there is only me on the road as I go deeper in the Palmerie, I got worried a bit, if anyone wants to mug me, this is the best place to do it, it's so isolated I can't call for help! I walked cautiously, every now and then a truck or people in motorbikes or push bike will pass me and wave at me, there was one point the road splits in two and I took a wild guess, stay right I thought to myself, I saw a passing biker, he confirmed I was on the right track! I saw people mending the plantations, fixing the fences made of dried palm branches, they secure it with mud! the trees are heavy with fruits! and I could not help myself, I went in on some plantations and took a few fruits, oh its so sweet and delicious! After nearly and hour and a half I made it to a Garden place with a zoo, I went in to rest, it's not bad, like a mini oasis with fruit tres and shrubbery, I saw young
couples in shaded, hidden areas of the garden, what they do there is none of my business! Then checked out the zoo.. a few animals, in small cages..not good..
After resting I headed back to town, I got back in 2 hours and the receptionist at the hotel seemed surprised! I was famished so headed to my favorite restaurant near the hotel, they serve couscous and stuff.. I decided to try the dromedary meat, it wasn't so good, it's chewy and a bit into the fat and it tastes like how a camel would smell!! so I resorted to eating bread dipped in harissa and olive oil, it did the trick for now. Then as I was walking out I saw a tasty dish being brought to the table, I asked the waiter what is that, cotellets he says, referring to lamb chops, that's for dinner! went back to the hotel and since it's very hot outside I decided to do some laundry, washed all my dirty clothes and dried them up on the roof of the hotel, it's so hot it dried in 2 hours including my jeans! The water here is hard, soap does not lather when
you wash yourself and even the bottled water has a salty taste in some brands, it must be the desert water, but I noticed it all over Tunisia. I went to the downtown area in the early eve to look for souvenirs and of course everyone is trying their best to sell me crap, I went to one shop looking for carpets, the guy started showing me all his carpets and I told him I am just looking, yes yes he says just look... then out of curiosity I asked for prices, big mistake, he got ticked when I did not buy anything, he asked me why did you asked for the prices if you are not buying? They are all the same and rather than getting into an argument, I simply walked away but not before telling him he is not gonna sell anything with that kind of attitude, a buyer needs to know the prices to see if its within his/her budget.. he muttered in Arabic, I walked away!
I saw some nice rugs in the stall next door, the guy invited me in, but I announced right out, just looking, not buying! He said ok and
Mides gorge
near the Algerian borderhe let me to his family's store, Nice guy, he showed me their carpets, I liked 2 of them, I told him save it for me once we agreed on the price. I bought from him since he is friendly and not pushy, but the young lad seems more interesting into chatting with me than selling me carpets, he told me story of his life, a college graduate with no job, minding the family business in the meantime, he even showed me his diploma! offered me tea, and lo and behold it was already dark so I have to leave, with the promise to return the next day to pay for the carpet, he completely trusts me. I also stopped by a few travel agencies, and still no trip is going out, geez it will be my 3rd day, I can't stay here for long! At night Khaled picked me up and took me to his apartment and went drinking with him and his cousin. It was past 3am when he dropped me back to my hotel.
I decided to visit the nearby salt flat as I am not sure if a group excursion will happen anytime soon, I
hired a taxi for 40 dinars RT, it was not to the scale of Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia, but I wondered if I just wasted money and time on this! I asked the driver to drop me off at the medina, he pointed to me an animal market that was going on outside of town, sheeps are being sold, for the Eid he mentions. Now at the medina, I saw a few tourists and a slew of buses with the package tourists, tried to avoid them and ended up in this small museum, where this woman gave me a short but descriptive if not narrative tour of the museum, she would show me how people use the apparatus on display, the grain grinder and complete with her singing and chanting, then she made me wear this silly attire which she took a picture of, quite fun at least. Now I explored the medina by myself, not a big one, mostly a few shops here and there, I saw a palm orchard behind the medina I walked on the dirt road and ended up in an isolated part where this dude started following me and talking me up, I scurried
out as fast as I can, and went back to the main drag. On the way back to hotel I bought dates and pomegranates,a kilogram of each was merely $2! I got a plastic bag full of the sweetest dates I ever tasted for almost nothing!
In the afternoon I got a phone call from one of the travel agents, a Japanese guy is also interested in doing the trip with me, so I met up with them at the office and sorted out the trip, we leave for the next day. So packed my stuff and tried to contact Khaled, he was gonna take me to a local hammam which he says will be quite an experience, could not get hold of him, calls, texts, FB message, I gave up in the end, this guy is so unreliable. We got picked up at 6am the next day we have a 4 wheel drive, the driver is nice but English is bad. We firsts went to the farthest, to Mides gorge near the Algerian border, we are the only ones there it is quite early. We stopped briefly atop a hill and driver pointing out the vastness in front
of us, ALGERIA he tells us, snap a few and off we go. Then to Tamerza, same thing no tourists just yet so we got hounded by touts, a few small waterfalls, twater trickling down into a pool, not fantastic but it's ok. Then headed to Chebika, an abandoned village atop a hill with an oasis, lo and behold, tons of 4 wheel drives! Chinese, Italian and Russian tourists, then we headed out to Chott el Chedri, the salt flats once again.
A brief stop as I have been here the day before, Yuki, my Japanese companion and I went for a brief look then we headed out again heading towards Ksa Ghilane in the middle of nowhere, a few stops here and there and lunch in Douz. Our driver dropped us off at a popular restaurant called CHEZ MAGIC at least that is what the LP says, the owner was abit annoying, in your face attitude, the food though was meager I ordered lamb chops, Yuki mixed grilled meat and they are a bit chewy, and in the end we found out, quite expensive, I paid 19 dinars for my chewy chops! Even though on LP it is
advertised that mains are about 3-4 dinars, count inflation and all still it should have not been 19 dinars!!!The most expensive so far for me in Tunisia, when you are in Douz, skip this place! Our driver wants us to stop in the souvenir shops, maybe he has a friend there, we said no, but he stopped anyway, we got out of the car, walked a bit ignoring the touts and went right back in, all in 5 minutes. Now another long drive, early afternoon we arrived at the Sahara desert camp in Ksar Ghilane. Lots of people teeming with foreigners,, there is some kind of car rally going on, bikes, trucks, 4wdrives, etc. they used the desert behind the camp. I chilled while Yuki decided to do the dune buggy ride, there is a pool of warm water seeping from the desert floor, slime floats by you as you swim, then later in the afternoon I had my 1 hour camel ride. I have been to the Sahara before so this is enough for me to sample the Tunisian side of this massive desert. I was with other group, mostly from Russia, as we headed out we got yelled
at by the Frenchies who were doing the car rally/race thing, they told us not to go until they are finished, but our guides are impatient and we kept going, finally the racers gave up, annoyed at the stubborn locals, and so off we go into the sunset.
It's a tourist trap, nothing special 20 minute ride then rest for some fotos, then back to camp!Hilarious! and my guide expected a tip, for which I said no. Our driver then drove us to our camp for the night away from this circus, there are I think 3 campsites next to the desert, we went farther out, Camp Biben. quite nice and quiet until the Russian group who did the camel ride with me came! After dinner there was some dancing and singing and of course drinking, I was too tired I retired in my tent, which by the way was nice, we have beds and electricity, they were loud all night, I was on and off, I couldn't care less what's going on. Morning came we saw the sunrise, quick breakfast then off we go again.
We took a short cut into the desert, the driver yelling Dakar
rally! I bet he had fun time driving! We arrived at Chenini, a settlement atop a hill. The Berbers used to live there to escape and protect themselves from invaders, now it's just for show, they have new settlements nearby. A guy asked us to be guided, he begged us as this is their only livelihood, 10 dinars total for 2 of you he says, we gave in. in fairness he does have lots of information to give us, why the doors are small, what thhe jars are for, what materials the doors are made of etc.. We met a couple of tourists from Hong Kong as we were finishing up, they refused to be guided and our guide did not pursued them. The big buses shall come soon...From here we went to Ksar El Fej, Ksar Hedada, Ksar Joumaa, all with this fondaq style houses, and also used in Star Wars movies, after you see one they all look the same to me and I lost my interest, though I might add Ksar Joumaa was really cool, atop a hill, I think there is also a hotel there, I can imagine how nice it would be to gaze at
the stars at night,clear crisp desert air, sipping tea and maybe even some sheesha at the bar!He drove us to Medenine soon after and we visited a gorfa, touts hounded us so it was not enjoyable, we parted with the driver from here as he can't wait to get back home to Tozeur, Yuki and I took the louage straight to Homt Souq, in Djerba, an island resort.
2 hours later we arrive in Djerba. We stayed at Hotel Machrech, 50 dinars for a double, not cheap but which was just next door to the louage and bus stations. We had lunch at the restaurant next door and the young woman took a liking to my Japanese pal, she gave us her phone number and email address and big mistake, she keeps calling me every few hours!So we decided to avoid eating there again. We went for a walk in the medina and we found another hostel there, it's called Hotel Marhala and is really really nice, there is a courtyard, and we asked the room rates its only 12 dinars a person as opposed to 25 dinars at Machrech..So we decided to move here the next day, they
have shared restrooms but spic and span clean, hot showers and a small bar next to the front desk, and very friendly staff. I helped Yuki buy some rugs and few souvenirs, a lot of haggling but got some good deals(we thought). It is now Wednesday and Friday is the big holiday called the Eid,Yuki leaves for Tunis and I for Tatouine. All the locals told us it will be busy day of traveling tomorrow so we went to the louage and bus stations to figure out the schedule, Yuki found a bus to El Djem leaving at 6am and I found a louage leaving early for Tataouine, around 7am. Trying to get info was quite hard as neither of us speak French,we got a lot of blank stares and occasional nihao and kunichiwas at which, I point to Yuki, there is your kunichiwa, I would say.
Djerba medina was ok, not the best but a good place to chill, there are a few tourists from resorts in the area that come around in the morning to shop. We went to the fish market to see the auctioning of the fish where the guys sits on a pedestal(high chair)
and people bid on the fish strewn together with straw, all of the same kind. We had lunch at the fish restaurant next to the market and it was really good. We went for a stroll at the waterfront,where you can find wooden tall ships used for booze cruise, but since hardly any tourists, they are all docked. Back at the hotel, I decided to have a few beers, the Hong Kong couple showed up and wanted to see the carpets I bought from Tozeur, as they are looking for souvenirs to buy. The next day we woke up really early and started to walk towards the bus/louage station by 5:30am, I bid goodbye to Yuki and sat in one of the benches at the louage station. I asked the drivers Tataouine, and all I get is a no answer. So I waited, it's still early but a number of people already waiting, some are fighting to get a space in the louage, people running after the car etc.. I got worried, I have a big pack, I cannot compete with the locals! Then soon I heard Tataouine, but am not sure where the car is, so I asked someone
and I got pointed to it, it's a big van so no worries, but 10 minutes later it was full capacity and we left early, now on my way to my friend's hometown Tataouine to celebrate Eid with them.
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littlewing
Cindy
Awesome! Finally inspired my kid to travel!
Thank you so much for this blog. Ive been trying to get my late teens to travel for ever but they just like hanging in Aus. Was reading your blog and mr almost 17 walked past and saw the pic of tatouine and went...I Want to go there!.......finally! Thanks.