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Hi all,
Tunisia was incredible, but I have to admit, not what I expected. I arrived late afternoon and was picked up from the airport and brought to my hotel. I immediately noticed, this was not my typical choice - all inclusive resort, tucked on the beach, and well away from local life. I was excited though, after all, I didn't plan to stay in my hotel all day! As I explored the hotel, I was greeted non-stop. It was a bit shocking - souvenir store clerks, tour guides, and animators swarmed the hotel and they all knew immediately I was new. At first, it was nice. I would stop and chat, but then the offers kept coming. They could show me the best tour, they could take me for a walk to the place with the best view for a few beers, they could buy some fish and cook me dinner.... of course, there were also non-stop more "personal" offers as well...
It was a little too much for me and I started dreading going outside because they layout of the hotel forced you past all
the shops and tour guides, and then outside the animators prowled. However, I learned to dart and started to become more rude, zipping by and making excuses. And, once I managed to get past the hotel area, the ocean was incredible. There was a highly condensed tourist area where you would have to weave through tourists and locals selling scarfs or camel rides, or whatever they had... but if you kept going, it was abandoned, pristine beach. It was beautiful and calming, truly peaceful.
After a few days, I had arranged an island tour with the tour operator that arranged the hotel and new years celebration. Well, I guess I have to say that I decided not to be disappointed, because there was no point. The "tour group" consisted of the tour operator, his cousin-taxi driver and his brother, his brother's fiance and me. To top it off, I later learned that I had funded the "tour" for this entire group... yes, it happens I forgot a cardinal rule of travel: price check before agreeing to something! But, it was fun. We visited the local market, mosques, museums and even a pot makers
cave. At the end of the day, we all went to one of their local hang-outs for a few beers. It was great to be with locals because I got to ask a few questions. You see, at the hotel, I had tried to go exploring but discovered two things: One, there wasn't much around the hotel except for other gated hotels & casinos. Two, if you took a bus into the city, you would be hassled, either by locals sitting around or shop owners trying to sell things to you. Also, most locals warned me that it was not a place for women to be walking around unescorted and most of the cafes did not accept women customers...
That night, I went out with my tour operator and his cousin. It was incredible, we drove to the sea for a picnic and some drinks and watched the stars come out. Then, they asked me where I wanted to go and I said that I would really like to see a local restaurant or somewhere with local music. They knew just the place, and we were pulling in minutes later. Unfortunately, we were
pulling out moments later... We went in and sat down. I could feel the cold hard stare of men and women in there. I had no idea why. After all, there were plenty of women, so I knew it could not be a place only for men, and they were dressed far more scantily than me. I know very well to cover myself in certain countries, and I was doing so, but the women here seemed dressed for a club. The guys I was with quickly told me we were leaving for a "better" place, and outside they explained that the only women in there were prostitutes. We went to a few "better" places that night... clubs and pubs that accept westerners (filled with drunken foreigners and leering locals... though, to be honest, no local women...)
After a few more days of exploring the beach on my own and even meeting a few friends in the hotel, I decided to go on a desert tour. The main attraction of these tours is the star-wars scenes and the Berber living, but I wanted to see more of the country and hoped that the tour
would take me out of the tourist zone and into a bit of local life. I found myself on a bus with 30 German travelers and was suddenly happy for the German I had been acquiring with my life in Berlin... Again, we visited some markets, but then wound our way through breath-taking local scenery, stopping at street vendors selling local salt formations and rocks or souvenirs. We stopped for short hikes, waterfalls, rock formations and more. Sunset was astounding and brought our day to an end at one of the nicest hotels I have ever stayed in. They next morning, we continued our adventure, finding an oasis on donkey and exploring the Sahara on foot or by camel. By now we were far enough in the country-side that when we did stop at a market or for lunch, we were truly in the culture... unfortunately we were traveling in a large bus with 30 blatant tourists, so our arrival created commotion and vendors swarming us to sell something, anything... we headed back out to the deserted roads, finding incredible rock formations and finally Berber people, who now open their houses to tourists to make a living. The rock cave-like
houses were impressive, though the smell of habitation without ventilation was strong. Each room was carved out from a hill and as one traveled around the rock face, rooms, barns, cooking areas, and more were discovered. My favourite, of course, was the room that you had to use a rope to climb up...
All in all, it was a great trip. I would love to go back one day and try to stay in an area that is less tourist-based. Although, I am not sure I will ever be able to truly get into the local life as a white, female, solo-traveler...
Trish xx
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Cindy Malone
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On the go again, Trisha! Good for you. Great shots ...and you look very capable of taking care of yourself. Cindy