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Birds nest anywhere they like in Jendouba
Not much English spoken, but some, mostly Arabic and French. Apparently
all the kids now take Arabic for the first two years in school then French
as well, then in grade 7-8 they also take English. They certainly realise
the importance of English in business etc. The doctor Grant went to had
2 computers, one brand new Packard Bell with a 17" monitor etc.,
and we talked about the importance of the Internet etc. He was very up
on it, reading a French PC Magazine etc. We had wanted to go online to
get our mail, but the hotel couldn't do it, so we asked the doctor. He
couldn't dial out direct, he was still waiting (I got the impression -
his English was only fair and my French is lousy - that he had been waiting
a while, perhaps 4 or 5 months) to get the line changed to enable direct
overseas dialling. Oh well.
That evening, he just showed up at our room, said come, I have a friend,
you can use his phone to dial. So we piled into his friend's car, three
in the back with a kid on somebody's lap and two in the front with another
kid on the doctor's lap in a tiny little car, and went to - a gas station.
The friend who owns the gas station had a fax that could dial overseas
direct. Unplugged the fax, and away we went. Finally we got our mail -
all 47 pieces!
In the end, when we tried to pay for the calls, they refused any payment!
They were all quite fascinated by the process, and I think it was well
worth the entertainment price to them. There isn't much to do here. The
number one entertainment is sitting in the cafes drinking Tunisian tea
- tiny little cups with no handles and very very thick, black, extremely
sweet tea. Gaaah! And absolutely no women in any of the cafes by the way,
strictly men.
Tunisia is technically equal rights for men and women, full vote etc.,
but is still clearly Arab and Muslim in many ways, although nowhere near
fundamentalist. The women are often dressed just as we would expect any
western women to dress, but you still see many, particularly the older
ones, with a light knee length robe wrapped over their head and held at
the throat by one hand - never tied or pinned, so one hand is always occupied,
except when they have a kid in one hand and groceries in the other, then
they hold the robe in their teeth!
We hope to do a little sight-seeing tomorrow, as Grant is feeling much
better after a stack of pills and shots from the doctor - 4 shots in 4
separate trips, including the first house call, all for $15.00. Pretty
cheap! He could have had the shots done at the pharmacy, apparently they
do it all the time, but felt better with the doctor doing it.
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April 4, 1997 - Gafsa, Tunisia
We finally left Jendoubah a week ago Sunday, and made it to Teboursouk,
which has some very impressive Roman ruins nearby at Dougga, spent the
better part of a day wandering around there, following another day of
rest for Grant.
Susan and BMW at ruins
of Dougga, Tunisia
Capitoline Temple, Roman ruins of Dougga, Teboursouk,
Tunisia
The day we were scheduled to leave it poured rain and
crashed thunder etc., so we wussed out and stayed over the day.
Yesterday we headed south to the less inhabited part of
Tunisia, on a road not far from Algeria and not much traversed by tourists.
We got stopped a few times by the traffic police (lots of them on every
major crossroads, it seems), who all ride white BMW motorcycles and think
we're kindred spirits, since that's what we ride too. Anyway, they did
want to know where we were going, and to welcome us to Tunisia. When
we say we're Canadian, though, everyone says "Ah, oui, Quebec?",
to which we're forced to answer, "Non, Vancouver, Anglais".
Most of Tunisia seems to think everyone in Canada speaks French. We have
to keep explaining that most of Canada is not Quebec, and that it's a
very big country. The map on the side of the bike is useful for that.
Everybody is very friendly, all the kids wave as we go
by, and many of the adults too. Occasionally the kids will yell something
in Arabic, and they might be yelling "Death to the infidels!"
for all we know, although they're usually smiling so probably not.
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Forica - communal toilet in Dougga Roman
ruins, Tunisia
We are now in Gafsa near the big salt lake in about the middle western
part of Tunisia. We may be here for a few days, as Susan has now come
down with something which looks suspiciously like what Grant had. However,
this hotel has TV with NBC in English, as well as a phone in the room,
and it's close to the town shops so we can get fruit and fresh bread daily.
The oranges here are the best we've ever had, and that includes Spain,
so we've been buying them and squeezing them for our morning juice.
Also, strawberries are in season and quite cheap (eat your hearts out,
northerners!), as well as pears and melons. So, we're not suffering too
much.
Hookah pipes, market, Gafsa
We spent a lot of time considering alternatives to overland through
Libya for getting to Egypt.
Gerri and Margaret have been checking on ferries to Alexandria via Greece,
Cyprus, Rhodes and Lebanon! But Libya is a much
simpler route, and things are looking promising for going that way, finally
in progress. It looks like in lieu of joining an organized tour, that
we'll end up escorted through Libya from the
Tunisian border to the Egyptian border with a car and driver/guide for
5 days. Since all the road signs are only in Arabic, that has some advantages.
I guess Libya wants tourists but wants to make
sure they keep an eye on them, not let them spread dangerous ideas to
the locals. Anyway, the arrangements with the travel agency in Libya
will take at least 9-10 days to result in a visa, which we will have to
return to Tunis to pick up, so we'll be in Tunisia for another couple
of weeks anyway.
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Mopeds are a popular means of transport
in Gafsa, Tunisia
April 13, 1997 - Tozeur, Tunisia
We stayed for over a week in Gafsa, mostly because of laziness and bad
weather. The hotel there had TV with NBC in English, so that probably
had an influence, too. I knew we had stayed too long when we were seriously
contemplating staying another night just so we could watch the Profiler
series on Saturday night!
Before leaving Gafsa, we had our first dinner at a private home here
in Tunisia. Nejib Ali, who we met last week when he introduced himself
to us outside the hotel and said he was looking for information about
studying in Canada called us and invited us to his house for dinner. I
was a little apprehensive, but he had seemed harmless enough, so we said
OK. It was a very interesting evening.
Nejib picked us up with his brother, Makhmat, and drove us to a part
of Gafsa tourists don't see. We met his brother's wife Nahdia, who was
very sweet and friendly and their sister (Selam?), plus niece Inez and
young nephew whose name escapes me. His parents also live there but we
saw them only briefly, although I suspect his mother and sister cooked
the meal. The house has living and sleeping rooms all around a central
courtyard, which is not very interestingly landscaped. From the outside
the houses are very nondescript, essentially just solid cement walls,
and of course, very private as all the rooms windows/doors are on the
central courtyard. The room where we ate consisted of just mattresses
on the floor with a TV, and not "luxurious" at all by our standards.
But, his brother drives a Mercedes, so obviously makes some money working
for the state electricity company as an engineer. Nejib teaches English
here at high school level.
Makhmat spoke French (better than ours, but not great) and Arabic. So,
Nejib did most translating from English to Arabic, but when he left the
room, we muddled along in French with his brother. His brother conveyed
in French that they are not religious Muslims, by which he meant they
don't pray regularly, but my impression is they're still somewhat conservative
in dress/habits. He gave us some insights into local customs. For example,
it is not considered acceptable here in southern Tunisia for women to
go to cafes unless accompanied by their husbands, (very rarely done even
though acceptable) although there are now some restaurants where men and
women go together. I must note that I never saw another woman in a restaurant
during the week + we spent in Gafsa (even in the hotel's restaurant).
And Nahdia (Makhmat's wife) only took her head covering off after dinner
for a short time (once we were no longer strangers?)
The kids were adorable especially the little girl who is almost 4 and
blond (her mother turns out to be blond when she finally took off her
head covering). We had balloons which went over well! Before dinner, Grant
was asked for opinions on what computer Makhmat should buy for his kids
and provided him with a list of specifications.
Food was excellent, consisting of chorba, a Tunisian soup which was
MUCH better than the hotel versions we've had, spaghetti with a somewhat
spicy sauce with potatoes and meat, salad (in a single plate that everybody
ate from with their forks) and fresh fruit for dessert. They brought bowls
of water for us to wash our hands in before we ate, and Grant apologized
in advance for using his left hand (he is left handed). But, they used
spoons, forks, etc. anyway, nobody ate with their hands. Another myth
shattered.
At the end of the evening, both women hugged and kissed me, and shook
hands with Grant. Nejib and his brother drove us back to the hotel, and
insisted we call them if we found ourselves in Gafsa again. So, we had
an interesting and enjoyable evening in the real Tunisia.
Saturday we headed out to Tozeur, only 100 km south of Gafsa, which
is where we are now. Toured Paradis Gardens and Zoo of Sahara - walked
from hotel - LONG walk, took a horse drawn wagon back. Gardens are nice
but not spectacular, ones at the hotel are similar. The zoo is somewhat
depressing, wouldn't win any prizes for animal treatment. A few camels
(one showing definite stress symptoms), foxes and ostriches.
Susan and BMW on road across Chott el
Jerid, Tunisia
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April 17, 1997 - Douz, Tunisia
Leaving Tozeur, we crossed the Chott el Jerid, which is essentially
a large (perhaps 8,000 square kilometers in total), reddish, barren salt
flat, the largest in a series stretching from the Mediterranean deep into
Algeria. From the description in Cadogans' guide book, it is hot and desolate
in the summer time, and mirages are not uncommon. So, we fortified ourselves
with extra water and strawberries! Turns out, since they've had some rain
recently, it was mostly under water, but probably less than an inch, as
you can see tire tracks in it.
Contemplated schemes for the Chott in the past have included building
a canal west from the Mediterranean, thereby turning Nefta, a dusty desert
town, into a seaport. The most bizarre one, though, is that in 1962, the
American suggested that their Ploughshare Program, to investigate the
'peaceful uses of nuclear weapons', might be used to blast a lake in the
Chott, creating, according to their estimates, "minimal, and certainly
containable, radiation". None of these ideas ever came to fruition,
probably a good thing.
Numerous oasis towns are on the edge of the Chott, all fairly quiet
and sleepy. We saw our first bunch of camels on the road into Douz, they
came right towards us out of the desert and crossed the road to the other
side, so we got lots of good pictures. Of course, it's like the kangaroos
in Australia, the locals don't think anything of it, the camel herders
were probably saying "look at those dumb tourists taking pictures
of camels!"
Yes, there really are camels crossing
here!
We did the obligatory camel ride into the desert in Douz (dressed in Bedouin
outfits with black and white vertical stripes that look like prison garb,
so not very photogenic). The hotel talked us into going out for 2 hours,
and we were glad we did. We went out at 5:00 p.m. and came back just after
sunset, so the light was lovely, the temperature was nice, we really enjoyed
the motion, once you got into the rhythm with it. Best of all, we were
ahead of the tourist crowd, so there was just us and the camels and the
guide. We stopped after an hour in a desert-y spot, and took some pictures,
and also got some nice silhouettes of us on the camels against the tall
dunes.
Camels and driver in desert near Douz,
Tunisia
Camel close up and personal - they're
so ugly they're cute
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On the return, we heard a thundering of hooves coming from the left, and
over a sand dune raced a Bedouin on a horse swinging a sword! He was wearing
full Bedouin horseman garb, fancy purples and gold tasseled horse blanket
etc., and proceeded to stand, sword raised, on the saddle of his horse
and pose for his picture to be taken, followed by a handstand! One dinar
please, thank you, and he raced off to find some more tourists. Talk about
entrepreneurial spirit!
Bedouin posing on camel - desert near
Douz, Tunisia
That evening after dinner, we went back out into the desert
just far enough to get away from the hotel lights, and sat in the dunes
and watched the Hale-Bopp comet, which was very nice and romantic.
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April 19, 1997 - Sousse, Tunisia
After we'd done the camel ride, we left Douz Thursday morning, as there
didn't seem to be much else to do there, and we couldn't really justify
hanging around in a luxury hotel just from sheer laziness. So we went
to Matmata, which is 'famous' for having been used
as the location for some scenes from the Star Wars movies. It is rolling
hills, in which people have for centuries carved out homes in the hard,
clay-like soil. They sort of resemble volcanoes, and you can look in at
the "courtyard" and see the rooms like caves around the edges.
We took lots of pictures, as it's sort of hard to describe, but kind of
neat.
However, we found Matmata had the only really obnoxious kids we've seen
in Tunisia. Starting with the kid of about 8 or so who started in on us
while we were checking into the hotel - "give me a dinar... give
me a pen... give me a candy... give me your watch... give me your helmet,
etc." Not sure how much success he gets with that routine: "Sure,
kid, take my helmet - I don't need it anyway." I guess we'll get
more of these as we get further south in Africa,
but this kid did not look impoverished, poorly dressed or fed, just a
little scrounger. There were lots of his type around unfortunately, so
it spoiled the place for us. They don't offer to do anything for the money
or whatever, just want a handout, and you can't get away from them.
Lots of interesting cave dwellings on leaving Matmata, including one
inhabited by a woman who charges 2 TD (US$2) each to come in and take
pictures of her and the place. En route to Sousse we met a Dutch couple
from Amsterdam, Ybo and Jemmie, on a motorcycle pulling a trailer, and
they stopped to have lunch with us. Their travels had taken them into
southern Algeria, and they had absolutely no difficulties, felt the troubles
were over-hyped by the government and the media. That always seems to
be the way, people travelling through even the supposedly worst places
say no problems.
Entrance to underground home, Matamata,
Tunisia
Back on the coast in Sousse, our room overlooks the ocean,
and we were lulled to sleep by the sound of the surf last night, very
nice after being in the interior all this time.
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April 30, 1997 - Hammamet, Tunisia
Sidi Bou Said, northern Tunisia - claimed
the prettiest town in Tunisia
We're back in Hammamet at the Sheraton, which really is full circle
in Tunisia. Enjoying the food and the pampering, (not that we've been
very deprived in Tunisia), and Grant is doing a tune up on the bike and
a tire change prior to heading into Libya. We
got our visa on Friday, valid for 30 days, and as far as the Canadian
Embassy's translator could tell (it's all in Arabic), there aren't any
restrictions on it. We've advised ITC, the Libyan
travel agency, that we expect to get to Bengardane,
the largest Tunisian town on this side of the border, by Friday night,
so that would put us crossing the border on Saturday, 3 May. ITC has proposed
an ambitious 7 day schedule, but at US$300 a day for the car and minder,
we don't want to linger either. I doubt we'll be more than 10-12 days
in total, that would put us into Egypt by mid-May
or earlier.
Modern craftsman enjoys music while he
works - Sidi Bou Said, Tunisia
Route: Hammamet
to Tunis to Bizerte (Cap
Blanc, the most northerly point in Africa). Bizerte --> Tabarka
--> Jendoubah. Jendoubah --> Teboursouk
(Dougga Roman ruins) --> Gafsa
--> Tozeur --> Douz -->
Matmata via Gabes, as the only paved road to Matmata
is from Gabes. Matmata to Sousse via Gabes, Sfax and El Jem. Sousse --> Sidi
Bou Said --> Hammamet --> Kairoujan -->
Gabes --> Medenine --> Bengardane.
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