Back in Tunisia (live account) (page 2 of 3)

In Douz, you won’t have any trouble finding a hotel—there are tons, for every budget, from the Hôtel 20 Mars to a palace.

In the end, it was a good thing I didn’t leave Tamerza early because I arrived in Douz around 4:00 PM—a town where there’s not much to do (my stay didn’t coincide with the livestock market, which is worth checking out).











The Tamerza Palace hotel has to call for a *louage* to come to the hotel; otherwise, you have to walk down to the village center.

■ I took the route Tamerza–Tozeur, then Tozeur–Kebili, and Kebili–Douz. The trip isn’t too long, the distances are short, and the *louages* fill up pretty quickly. Total cost: 26.500 dinars (7.80 €).

There are *louages* that go from Tamerza to a village farther than Mides, so I think you can get from Tamerza to Mides by public transport. For those interested, ask in the village—not at the hotel, which will just refer you to the agency they work with.

■ Through an agency at my Douz hotel, I booked a night in the desert for tomorrow at a camp over 100 kilometers from Douz. The exchange with the salesperson was entirely in Spanish (we also chatted a bit in Italian). Like Amir yesterday, he learned Spanish on his own and has never set foot in Spain—he just had Spanish clients from Zaragoza who came to take piloting lessons in the desert. But I’m amazed at how many multilingual Tunisians I’ve met (and they speak so well, with almost no conjugation or grammar mistakes)!

After booking, I saw that the camp is listed in the *Lonely Planet* and *Petit Futé* guides. It’s at the foot of Tembaïne Mountain and is quite upscale, but you can also sleep somewhere closer to Douz and cheaper.

For one, two, or three people, you don’t need to book months in advance. The agency rep told me some people reserve two months ahead for a short camel ride! However, for a group, you’ll need several vehicles, so booking is necessary.

After May 15, it’s no longer possible to go into the desert—even if agencies have clients, they’re not allowed to take them because of the heat.

The Sahara will be a first for me—I hope I’m not disappointed!

Next, I should head to Matmata, which isn’t too far away.

TO BE CONTINUED...

I arrived around 1:00 PM in Matmata. I left the desert camp a little before 8:00 AM.

From the camp to Douz, it takes almost 3 hours (including a stretch through the dunes). Then I took a *louage* to Kebili, another to Gabès, another to New Matmata, and a final one to Old Matmata. The longest leg was Kebili-Gabès—just over an hour—but the trip flew by. I chatted with a gentleman who told me about Tunisia today and before the Revolution. We also talked about international news, etc. He worked in France for two or three years and knows Egypt, Turkey, and other Maghreb and Middle Eastern countries. Time really flew.

In Gabès, you have to switch *louage* stations, but you can walk there. I also had to change stations in Kebili. I should’ve taken a taxi, but once all the passengers got out, the driver told me to stay with him and took me to the other station. He asked for my Facebook (which I don’t have), so I gave him my email. When I tried to pay him, he refused, saying, "Now we’re friends!"

The road to Matmata is stunning. I arrived here without booking a hotel.

I was thinking of continuing to Tataouine and the *ksours*, but I only have 5 full days left, and I’m dreading the long trip to Monastir. Maybe I’ll change my plans—visit Sfax, take time to explore Monastir, and maybe Mahdia—and save the *ksours* for another trip, flying into Djerba instead.

I walked from the *louage* station to the hotel (no taxis here) in sweltering heat, and now I can’t even think about what to do next...

TO BE CONTINUED...

THE SAHARA DESERT❤️❤️❤️❤️

Until now, I only knew the Atacama Desert in Chile—a place with stunning landscapes, but not a sandy desert. So this was my first time in the Sahara, and I loved it!

I’d love to go back, but differently. This time it was the "chill" desert: staying in a camp and traveling by 4x4. Next time, I’d want to do more walking and stay longer.

I thought I’d stay one night, but ended up staying two.

The camp has quite a few tents—there were about fifteen of us, all French (a young couple and a group made up of a family and friends from the Côte d'Azur). The tents sleep four people and have either private or shared showers and toilets.

The location is amazing, surrounded by a sea of dunes. To get there, you have to cross big sand dunes—you can also land by small plane!

I made the round trip alone with Ahmed, the owner who took over the business from his father, a pioneer in this type of camp in Tunisia.

Ahmed has the soul of an entrepreneur. He also runs a similar business in Dubai (he’s a resident there and has to return every six months). He loves the desert—it’s his whole life (he knows the deserts of Libya, Algeria, Jordan, Oman, etc.), and he’s passionate about motorsports. He’s even competed in desert rallies. Three Tunisian tourism ministers have visited his camp (he told me, and I saw articles online about it). It’s really interesting to talk with him—plus, he’s super nice. He showed me photos of his oldest son, who’s 10 and loves the desert. I told Ahmed his camp was in the *Petit Futé* guide (I saw it after booking), and he took a photo of me in front of the camp entrance with the book to send to the *Petit Futé* author, who’s visited the camp twice.

As I mentioned, the location is gorgeous—it’s the desert you imagine, with endless sand dunes, silence, stars, birds, etc. At sunrise and sunset, it’s simply breathtaking! Now I understand the fascination the desert holds. No photo, no matter how beautiful, can capture the beauty, the vastness of the dunes, or the feelings you experience when you’re there. Not to mention the thrill of being in a vehicle climbing huge sand dunes (I could tell Ahmed *loves* driving in those conditions).

But I think the desert is best experienced on foot and with fewer people, even though the other tourists there were really nice and invited me to eat with them.

In any case, the desert was my big highlight in Tunisia!

TO BE CONTINUED...

Hi Marie, phew, your second message tonight is so enthusiastic, great! Actually, if you loved the desert, you can go back by doing hikes starting from Douz. You can organize that here. I’m not sure you’ll be able to visit the Ksour and head up to Monastir in 5 days. Maybe start heading toward Mahdia and Monastir instead. Personally, I wouldn’t recommend Sfax—it’s a very big city and not very interesting. If you go to Mahdia, I think I already gave you the names of two small guesthouses well located in the medina, nicer than the hotels by the sea, which are pretty far from the city center.

MATMATA, TAMERZET, TOUJANE ❤️❤️❤️

I shared earlier how I arrived in Matmata from the desert.

This region of steep valleys and arid hills dotted with olive trees and palm trees is really beautiful. It’s a Berber rural area where you can see shepherds with their sheep or goats, lots of donkeys carrying tools or crops, and so on...

The villagers are mostly elderly, because for younger people there isn’t much to do—just tourism and agriculture. The area has been suffering from drought and lack of rain in recent years.

The older women wear traditional outfits (long shawls) and Berber facial tattoos. I had the chance to see one up close for a while—she came to greet a man I was talking to in Tamerzet.

But if Matmata attracts tourists (who often come on organized excursions from Djerba), it’s for its troglodyte dwellings. Apparently, every resident has one.

While wandering around the village, I often saw huge holes about ten meters in diameter, with several closed doors at the bottom and others where you could see animals (chickens, goats, sheep, etc.). It’s quite curious—you have to be careful not to get too close to the edge of the hole... I’ll post photos when I get back to make it clearer.

There’s a bus to Tamezret early in the morning, and I think it returns around noon, but there’s no bus to Toujane. So, I hired a driver to visit these villages about ten kilometers from Matmata. The cost: 130 dinars (38.50 €), which is expensive for Tunisia. I took my time—we left around 8:30 AM and got back around 1:30 PM.

In Tamezret, don’t miss the small Berber museum. The owner is really nice and interesting.





In Toujane, a village on the hillside, the view of the plain stretching to the sea is breathtaking!

After Toujane, on a road leading to Médenine and Tataouine, there are other nice villages, and between New Matmata and Old Matmata, there are also troglodyte dwellings.

Even if you don’t have a vehicle, it’s very easy to find a driver to take you wherever you want.

This region is truly beautiful and worth exploring. Many films have been shot here: *Star Wars*, *The English Patient*, and more...

On another note, I’ve often mentioned how Tunisians are great at learning foreign languages. Well, today I met Malek, a 17-year-old girl who speaks Korean! She was so proud to say a few phrases in Korean to me. She’s learning on her own with the internet. This is the country where I’ve met the most people who speak multiple languages they’ve taught themselves—it’s really impressive!



























TO BE CONTINUED...

Few troglodyte houses in Matmata are still actually inhabited. Monji Bouras in Tamezret and his museum are very interesting. He offers bed and breakfast. In the other villages, they’re no longer troglodyte houses but ksour or fortified granaries, which are also no longer inhabited, but some are very well maintained and worth the detour.

Few troglodyte houses in Matmata are still actually inhabited.

The driver told me that everyone has a troglodyte house in addition to their main home—he has one himself, but it’s used to keep livestock, as I often saw, and they might also have a room to spend the hottest hours of summer in.

The history of the Tamerzet tunnels is interesting too.

I didn’t know Monji Bouras ran guest rooms—he’s really kind and full of good advice.

I forgot to mention there are troglodyte hotels for those who aren’t claustrophobic.

MATMATA Troglodyte dwellings.

Here are some of the many holes you’ll find in Matmata—zooming in, you can see sheep in some, while others have chickens, donkeys, etc. There’s no protection around these holes; some are hotels.

In the first two photos, you can see the entrance and, above it (in the background), the hole.

In the third photo, the hole is in the foreground.

If you're heading to Mahdia, I think I gave you the names of 2 small guesthouses

On Booking.com, I saw that there aren’t any rooms available.

I just read that a few days ago, the Dahar Geopark—which includes Matmata, Tamerzet, and Toujane—was designated a UNESCO Global Geopark. As I mentioned earlier, this region really deserves to be explored. Many tourists just pass through quickly, only stopping long enough to snap a photo from a viewpoint.

■ I’m starting to head back toward Monastir, and today I’m stopping in Sfax.

The trip was by *louage*: Old Matmata to New Matmata (about 20 minutes, 1,600 dinars), then New Matmata to Gabès (around 30 minutes, 2,400 dinars), and Gabès to Sfax (2 hours 10 minutes, 12,250 dinars). Total cost in euros: 4.83 €.

At Old Matmata, you might have to wait until all 8 seats fill up, but if you want to leave right away, you can pay for all 8 seats (1,600 × 8 = 12,800 dinars = 3.80 €).

■ At the entrance to Sfax, the *louage* hit a moped. It wasn’t going too fast, but it didn’t slow down when the moped swerved left. Luckily, the two older men on the moped weren’t hurt.

SFAX

Sfax, the country’s second-largest city, is an industrial port town and not very touristy.

The medina is nice and completely untouristy.





A man I asked for directions said, "Come with me," and of course, I followed! He turned out to be the owner of a shoe workshop and gave me a tour. You have to climb three or four floors of a medina house—the stairs are very narrow and cluttered with bags—and at each level, a different step in the shoe-making process takes place. The shoes are then sold in the shoe souk. One worker makes 100 pairs a day—he works really fast!

I’m not particularly passionate about shoe-making, but it was still interesting. One of the workers asked if I planned to set up a shoe workshop in France!

These men are proud of their work and enjoy showing it off. In Nefta, I was photographing a beautiful door, and the owner—a tailor—asked me to take his photo next to it. Then he showed me the room where he works. In the dyers’ souk in Tunis, someone also invited me in to see the machines dyeing fabric, but the shoe workshop in Sfax is much bigger.

Walking around the medina, you’ll see open doors leading to staircases—these are workshops where the items sold in the souks are made.

There are also quite a few small mosques with prayer rooms open to the street, where you can see people praying during prayer times.







The central market is also worth seeing, with its fishmongers (lots of small sharks). The meat stalls might make your stomach turn a little...





At the Museum of Popular Arts and Traditions (free), there was an exhibition by young Tunisian artists (lots of paintings and sculptures of nude women). There were also videos, but unfortunately, the projectors weren’t working in all the rooms.

The exhibition is part of the Sfax Annual Arts Festival. Tomorrow, a jury will award a prize to the best work. I hope the projectors will be fixed...

The building itself is beautiful (an 18th-century structure).

I recommend taking a break at Café Kemour, frequented by men and women of all ages sipping coffee, tea, or smoking shisha. It’s the prettiest café I’ve seen in Tunisia, with a great view of the Great Mosque’s minaret.













TO BE CONTINUED....

MONASTIR ❤️

I arrived in Monastir, where I have to catch my return flight on Monday at noon.

The trip from Sfax took a little over two hours, and cost 13,150 dinars (3.85 €).

Along the way, olive trees line both sides of the road—the landscape reminds me of some regions in Spain. About 5 or 6 kilometers before Monastir, there’s a kind of lagoon on both sides of the road where you can spot lots of pink flamingos.

Monastir has quite a few tourists—Russians, French, Italians—and my hotel, which is fully booked, is mostly filled with Algerian and Libyan travelers.

Today, I mostly wandered around the city and along the seaside promenade, which is really pleasant in this warm, sunny weather. I also tried a "bambalouni," a delicious, popular doughnut shaped like a ring—crispy, served hot, and dusted with sugar (1 dinar = 0.30 €).

Tomorrow, I plan to head to Mahdia on the Sahel metro, and on Sunday, I’ll visit Monastir’s ribat, the Bourguiba Mausoleum, and the Bourguiba Museum.











TO BE CONTINUED.....

Hi Marie, In Mahdia, pretty much everything interesting is in the medina. Right in front of you when you leave the train station. If you want to eat with your feet in the water, go have lunch at Café des Grottes (Sidi Salem), then have tea at Café Gamra in Cairo Square—full of charm under the ficus trees—or at Café de la Medina, which is a bit more upscale under the palm trees. (Even if you don’t stay there, you can visit and go up to the terraces!) There are also *bambalounis* between the market and Skifa el Kahla. I’m not sure if the ice cream shop at Évelyne la Niçoise will be open—it’s also where her guesthouse is, behind the Great Mosque. Mahdia’s specialty is silk, and you’ll hear the weaving looms as you walk through the medina. Everyone sells silk scarves and *foutas*. Don’t miss the marine cemetery, the Punic port (if the wooden walkway is fixed), the ribat, and the small museum with a few mosaics—three very large ones. At the museum, you can also go up to the terraces for the view. And the beaches! (Some of the most beautiful in Tunisia!) 😍 Have a great day tomorrow! 😊

Thanks Michèle for your tips!

About shopping, can you haggle over prices in the medina jewelry shops?

Not much. Weight affects the price... But yeah, you’ve gotta try it!

Not much. Weight determines the price...

That’s exactly what I thought.

Couldn't connect to this site last night—it keeps glitching...

Yesterday I switched hotels. The room at Hôtel Mezri wasn’t the same as the one I had on April 11th, and since the hotel was fully booked, no other rooms were available.

My new hotel is just a few steps from Hôtel Mezri. The room has a large terrace with a panoramic view of the pool and the sea all the way to the Marina.

Yesterday, I met a Spanish woman who was complaining at the reception about issues in her room. She’s traveling solo and is on all-inclusive at this hotel. I’d seen her the day before around 3 PM topless by the pool, and I saw her again yesterday morning when I was leaving for Mahdia—still topless by the pool. She seemed older, but she’s not *that* old; her skin is just prematurely aged from the sun, and she walks with difficulty due to her weight and a damaged kneecap.

She’s spending a full week at this hotel in Monastir before heading back to Asturias. She’s been coming to Tunisia for years, and her favorite spots are Hammamet and Port El Kantaoui. She travels all over the world mainly to sunbathe. From my terrace, I can see her topless by the pool, and farther out on the beach, I see women swimming in burkinis.

This hotel has Russians, Americans, French people of Tunisian origin, etc. It’s exactly like the hotels you see in travel brochures—big pool, sea view, etc. Personally, I couldn’t spend a full week here (there’s not much to visit in Monastir). A lot of these tourists stay for several days, like the Spanish woman.

Music is playing by the pool—some Arabic tunes, but mostly Enzo Ramazzotti, Aventura, and other vacation vibes...

The Spanish woman doesn’t know Mahdia. I recommended she go if she likes beaches—it’d get her out of the hotel for a bit (though she did say that after her sunbathing session, she’d take a walk around town).

MAHDIA ❤️

I went there on the Sahel metro, a relatively modern train. The journey is quite long, and we were advised to take a *louage* instead. Journey time: 1h20 or 1h30, with numerous stops. There’s a departure every hour. Ticket price: 1,900 dinars (0.56 €).

Given the length of the trip, it’s best to spend at least one night in Mahdia, a very pleasant seaside town and an important fishing port.

It’s really nice to stroll through its small medina and along the waterfront. Water activities are available (like kayaking, for example).

The cafés are also lovely—like those on Cairo Square and the Sidi Salem café, which reminds me of the Café des Délices in Sidi Bou Saïd.

On Cairo Square, there’s a tout who waits for tourists to take them to silk-weaving workshops where scarves are sold.

What I loved most was the marine cemetery, with its thousands of white tombs scattered among wildflowers. You have to walk all the way to the lighthouse—it’s a very popular spot for locals and tourists alike.

Mahdia is touristy but calm, not "overrun," at least in April (I imagine it’s different in summer). It’s perfect for those looking to relax in a peaceful setting.



























■ I got back from Mahdia around 7:30 PM—it was dark.

I don’t know if I mentioned pedestrian traffic in Tunisia: you never really know who has the right of way. Mopeds come out of nowhere, no car stops at crosswalks, and you just cross however you can. Luckily, cars usually don’t go fast… but at night, it’s worse because mopeds can appear from anywhere with no lights. In front of the metro station, there’s a lot of traffic, so you have to be careful when crossing because some vehicles drive with no headlights.

I also forgot that you have to hurry to get off the train because people rush in and block your way out…

As I’ve been told many times, there’s no discipline—it’s total chaos.

Anyway, now I’m off to visit Monastir.

TO BE CONTINUED...

MONASTIR ❤️❤️

■ The beach

This morning I wrote that the view of the beach and sea from my hotel terrace was really beautiful, so I went down to the beach and what a different story! I’ve never seen such a dirty beach! There’s trash everywhere, even on the steps leading down to the beach—it’s awful! And there aren’t any trash cans anywhere.

Obviously, on such a filthy beach, there aren’t any Western tourists, and I didn’t see any women in swimsuits, either in the water or on the beach (and definitely no topless sunbathing!).

There was a cleaning lady tidying up a building—I thought it was the showers, but it turned out to be a hotel right by the beach. She let me in and went to get a key to show me a room, but I like my current hotel better.

The stairs leading to the area where the ribat is located are also littered with trash.

During my trip in February, I talked about all the trash along the roads with a Tunisian man in a *louage* who was heading back to Paris. A few days ago, I brought it up again in a *louage* with another Tunisian who had lived in France for three or four years. But I’d never discussed it with Tunisians who actually live in Tunisia.

However, in Matmata, at breakfast, a 50-year-old waiter kept me company while talking about Tunisia—especially what’s wrong with the country. One day, he mentioned the endless trash everywhere, and I asked, "And you Tunisians, does it shock you?" He replied, "Of course it shocks us!" The problem, he said, is a lack of education. Even when there are ashtrays, people prefer to stub out their cigarettes on the ground. The topic isn’t taught in schools, etc... Also worth noting: in convenience stores, they almost always give you a plastic bag, even for a small bottle of water.







■ The marina looks like European marinas with its sailboats, yachts, and restaurants, and it’s nice to walk around.



■ Bourguiba Museum (10 dinars = 3 €) is in Skanes, housed in the former presidential palace, which later became a summer residence.

I took a taxi there (you have to negotiate the price—the museum isn’t that far). I met a Swiss tourist, a nurse in her fifties traveling alone and staying in Skanes. I asked if she’d visited the museum, and she said, "No, I don’t care!" Talking to her, I think she has the same vibe as the Spanish woman who sunbathed topless by the pool.

I still think it’s a shame to skip the museum of the man considered the father of the nation and, from what I gather, the most popular president among Tunisians.

The museum doesn’t have a lot of explanations, but you can see a large reception hall, the president’s bedroom, his office, a bathroom with gold-leaf doors, his car, etc... For design lovers, there’s furniture, chairs, lamps, and other items from the 1960s.









■ Bourguiba Mausoleum (free entry), where the president is buried.



■ The ribat is the oldest in Africa. I didn’t have time to visit it because I came back by bus from the Bourguiba Museum and waited a long time (there’s no schedule, and on Sundays, you never know when it’ll come).

You should see it at night when it’s lit up with changing colors (green, red, pink, etc...).









■ The salt flats

I mentioned that when arriving from Sfax, I saw lots of flamingos on what looked like a lagoon on both sides of the road (I’d also seen them two weeks ago on the way to Tozeur). Well, those lagoons are actually salt flats—a natural salt marsh connected to the sea by two wide canals.

Vacation’s over! I’m heading back to France tomorrow afternoon and going back to work Tuesday morning. In the next few days, I’ll do a recap and add photos to illustrate my posts.

Hi Marie, Thanks for all the info you share. We were lucky enough to know Monastir when President Bourguiba was still alive, and things have changed a lot since then... Back in the 80s, Monastir was an example. Unfortunately, plastic arrived in Tunisia, and waste is now everywhere since waste disposal infrastructure hasn’t kept up. I first visited Tunisia in the late 70s, and there was no waste back then—no yogurt pots, milk cartons, disposable diapers, or plastic bags, and very few cans or bottles. I think it was at the start of Ben Ali’s term that the first incentives appeared, with subsidies for municipalities, but unfortunately, these often just resulted in "environmental boulevards" and nothing more. Half of Tunisians are dismayed by this problem caused by the other half, but more and more clean-up initiatives are happening in cities, beaches, etc... Around me, at school, kids are very aware of this issue—though it probably depends on the teachers. In the summer, beaches in front of hotels are cleaned, but the surrounding areas rarely are. The beaches likely haven’t been cleaned yet for the summer season. The hotel on Monastir’s beach is very popular during the summer. The presidential palace in Skanès has always been President Bourguiba’s summer residence. As you noticed, Bourguiba’s palace, built in the early 60s, marked a certain independence from beylical palaces and traditional Tunisian architecture—the furnishings and decorations were very modern for the time. There were beautiful gardens and a musical fountain that drew crowds. The land around the palace has since been sold to real estate developers under Ben Ali’s rule. The salt from the salt flats in the village of Sahline is often exported to France for road use. In Mahdia, didn’t you go see the mosaics at the museum? Safe travels back home.

Hello,

I didn’t visit the Mhadia museum; I went straight to the medina. I stopped at some cafés, walked along the path leading to the cemetery, etc. Time flew by (I also wasted time changing hotels), and as I mentioned, the metro ride is long.

For the Bourguiba Museum, I read after my visit that there were beautiful ceramic tile panels outside. I didn’t see them—it started raining, and I left quickly. I think they’re still there? The neighborhood around the museum seems upscale, and while I was waiting for the bus, I saw quite a few high-end cars passing by.

About raising kids’ awareness of waste issues, I asked the server, and he told me they don’t discuss it in school (he has kids in school). I told him that in France, it’s talked about throughout their education.

I think they should put out more trash bins. In Tunis, I finished my lemonade and couldn’t find a single bin to throw away my glass. Since I was about to enter a shop, I ended up tossing it onto a pile of trash on the sidewalk... And on Monastir’s beach, I didn’t see any bins either.

I’ve seen a lot of waste in some Central American countries, but in Tunisia, it’s worse—especially since it’s a less poor country with a more educated population than Central America. Either way, it doesn’t give a great impression of the country.

But I think Tunisia’s biggest problem will be the effects of climate change, which are already being felt.

I imagine Monastir gets crowded in the summer. I was told there are a lot of French families of Tunisian origin. Near the marina, it seems there are apartments for rent.

I think I’ll be back in Tunisia soon. I met a lot of tourists who come back regularly—it’s a beautiful country that’s not far away, with no time difference to deal with. Perfect for a short trip.

I won’t be long before I leave the hotel and try to find a taxi on the street. Let’s see what price they’ll quote me (taxis are my nightmare...).