The birthplace of the Arab Spring Uprisings

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The journal continues, dear reader, from where we left off in Egypt. I boarded an Air Egypt plane for the three hour flight west to Tunis in Tunisia. It's obvious to all that a visit to Libya at this moment is completely out of the question, but my best wishes go to the Libyan people as the country grapples with an escalating civil war. I'd like to point out my presence in North Africa during the 2011 uprisings is purely coincidental, having booked my tickets and planned an itinerary months in advance. Your humble travel correspondent has no pretensions of being a latter day Che Guevara, chasing down revolutions from country to country. Yet incredibly my itinerary has taken me from one North African country weeks after a revolution, then flying west over another country where a revolutionary push had led to civil war, and on to a third post revolutionary country where the Arab uprisings began barely two months prior.

The desperate plight of a single street vendor in Tunis has been the catalyst for turning the Arab world on it's head. After complaining of harassment by government officials, the man set himself alight in protest barely an hour after being refused access to the Governor to air his grievances. This single event spiralled into a fully fledged revolution over the course of a month, culminating in the ouster of the Tunisian President in January 2011. It seems an increasingly familiar sight on this trip to witness barbed wire fortifications, tanks and soldiers guarding key government buildings in North African capitals. These are momentous times for the Arab world, where the people are finding their voice, and through their collective will also finding the power to make change for the betterment of their nations.

So here I am in Tunis, plonk! There's something about international flights that just can't be matched. You step onboard an aircraft for the flight, and then disembark in another world. Tunisian officials are interesting in this Arabic and French speaking country. They don't accept U.S. dollars at the airport to buy a visa, so for the first time in all my travels I was sent through immigration without my passport, just to use an ATM to get some dinars. I then walked back inside and baulked at the immigration gate. "Passe Monsieur" the policewoman said and I opened a gate to walk back the wrong way to the visa office. It was a bizarre feeling being stateless, even if only for a few minutes. While waiting for our bags at the carousel I asked a young guy I assumed was French how much to pay for a taxi ride to the city centre, and he said without pausing, you can come with me. He was met by his brother and I then discovered they are Tunisians. I suggested it was best I get a cab, but these friendly young lads insisted on driving me all the way to the hostel, even negotiating the maze of the Medina with me on foot. I was extraordinarily grateful for their kindness, and this proved to be a great introduction to Tunis.

The Auberge de Medina hostel is a magnificent restored former palace, featuring an enormous courtyard, and a glassed over dome roof way up high. It's like a weird echo chamber as well as being quite chilly, where any noise is greatly amplified. In this building every fart and every footstep, every word and every wee is truly a shared experience. The staff are so low key you hardly even know who works here, and the past week has been a good opportunity to practice some oh so sketchy french. My roomies are a Frenchman, a Cameroonian and a Tunisian. My french friend is a street artist from Paris, who has come to make paintings of all 243 martyrs who died for the revolution. He visits the families and gets a photo, then paints them onto life size cardboard cutouts to display in the Medina. The hostel also hosts functions in the courtyard almost every night. The first night was a wedding reception complete with a live band, and it was excellent to glance down on the festivities from our room upstairs. I love the way Arab women dance, it's all twirling arms and hips and very graceful to watch. They also ululate loudly to give voice to their enjoyment. It's great being ensconced here at the hostel, immersing myself for a time in a different world to enjoy the experience.

Going for a stroll in the Medina is enthralling but very crowded. I wouldn't recommend walking around with a backpack, as the constant traffic jams give people endless opportunity for mischief, if they're so inclined. It's almost a certainty a zipper will be undone and something will go missing, if my early experience in the Medina is anything to go by. Walking the main lane through the Medina to the city centre on sunday night took less than five minutes with all the stores closed, when normally it takes around twenty. But it was well spooky walking back after dark, without lights on the covered lane and so few people around.

Tunisia is a small African country, and I'm grateful for that. As such I'm able to base myself in Tunis and set off on day trips for an explore. That means no sense of dislocation, with bags and a bed waiting for me back in the capital. Of course all visitors have to get out to Carthage to see the ancient ruins and the museum of the Carthaginians, who terrorised the Romans like few others had done before or since. The fortified city atop Byrsa Hill was the epicentre of Africa during ancient times, and the Three Punic Wars lasted for 135 years before Scipio Aemilianus finally succeeded in sacking Carthage in 146 BC. What history buff, though, can fail to be inspired by the feats of Hannibal in the Second Punic War, at the head of his army marching over the Italian Alps to threaten Rome herself. The general was a military genius and set the standard in military warfare for thousands of years to come, and it was a great thrill to pay a visit to the historically significant city of his birth. After being sacked by the Romans Carthage later became the Roman capital of Africa, with it's sweeping views providing a great strategic advantage.

The icing on the cake during my visit to Tunisia has been heading out to Sidi Bou Said and La Marsa, two gorgeous seaside towns on the mediterranean barely thirty minutes on the train from Tunis. The blue and white buildings overlooking the sea are pretty as a picture, basically all of you should be here now!

When you disarm your subjects you offend them by showing that either from cowardliness or lack of faith, you distrust them; and either conclusion will induce them to hate you." Niccolo Machiavelli

As I continue my travels, until next time it's signing off for now

Tom

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Photos

Place du Gouvernement, Tunis
National flags flying for freedom in the capital.

Revolutionary martyrs
The works of a French artist on display at night in the Medina.

Sidi Bou Said tower
Set in a beautiful garden.

La Marsa beachside villas
Overlooking the mediterranean sea.

Carthage Museum
A superb statue in the museum atop Byrsa Hill.

Comments

[Colin]

Carthage
A great read Tom, as usual. All the Punic Wars stuff gives me memories of high school history! ;-)

[James]

I have fond memories of staying at the very same hostel in the Medina. Even Scipio Aemilianus was moved to tears as he surveyed the dying city of Carthage.