Tamazret, Douz, Zaafrane, Blidet, Kebili, Debbabcha

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On the road again.......big day today, drove from Matmata, thought some rugged mountain ranges and some beautiful scenery, with our first stop in a small town called Tamazret, cute little village atop a mountain awash with the early, morning sunlight, very pretty indeed!

Next Stop the bigger town of Douz, which is served qs an entry point for tours into the Sahara. Visited the Souq or Medina which was so laid back and friendly, some great people watching, old men sitting on the ground having a chat, or walking around the streets, stopping for a chat at every opportunity. Even saying hello to strange tourist walking through the streets 'Asalem Alekum' they would say and we would in turn reply with a nod of the head!

Zaafrane which is said to be the Camel Capital of Tunisia, but other than seeing hundreds of camels there was not alo else, but still facinating to see.

Next we drove on to Blidet, this town had a ruined Berber Village, whith a whitewashed mosque ontop of a hill overlooking an oasis and the Chott El Jerid. Thje funny thing about this place was the expericene we had here. We were greeted by hourds of little boys qged between 8-12 who all stood around us saying Bonjour, Hello etc etc, we thought this was cute until several of them started touching my arm, calling out 'Madame', then they were touching , hair, then my backside etc etc, not so cute anymore. They were obviously facinating by my skin and my hair, and the rest - well they were just being little boys! Although a few stones were thrown back down the hill in our direction, but soon fathers came out to tell their kids off, with Faouzi asking if we wanted the 'polici?' etc So no harm done, kids are kids!

Then to the Ancienne Town of Kebili, where the crumbled ruins of the old town lie. The Mosque is still in use here.

Off along the Causeway over the Chott El Jerid, which is an incredible 40kms approx of salt pans before reaching Tozeur!

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Photos

Blidet
Small town of Blidet, where a Mosque stands on the hill overlooking the Chott El Jerid (Salt Lakes)

Tamazret
Small village in the hills near Matmata

Douz
The friendly town of Douz

Carpet Anyone?
Carpets shops in the outdoor Souq, Douz

Going about business
Old men going about business as always in the town of Douz

Debbabcha
Rock formations with homes built into the rock in the tiny town of Debbabcha

Ancienne Kebili
Mosque in the abandoned town of Ancienne Kebili crumbes away in the palmeraie

Chott El Jerid
Salt Rocks for sale on the road through the lakes of Chott El Jerid

Comments

[Sandra]

Your trip sounds interesting
Hi The trip sounds really interesting. I was very interesting in hearing about the stone throwing????

[Gaby]

Hi
I've just read 4 of your entries to the kids. Maria got bored really quickly but Tom stayed for them all. The arab names are really hard to read so I was just making up names that sounded arabic but were easier to pronounce. At every mention of Star Wars he got really interested and then when you mentioned the dinosaurs he started asking how long it is till you are back and he can see the pics. It's a pity about the pictures but it is still great to hear about what you are up to. See you Gaby