I’ve just got back from another holiday in Tunisia where I had a simply wonderful time. This time I travelled with my friend June, who is adventurous like me, and we were able to see a bit more of the country than just Sousse, resulting in me falling even more in love with Tunisia and June was entirely captivated too.
Our flight on 10 December departed early which meant travelling to Gatwick airport the evening before. We were able to travel direct to Gatwick by train from Bath with just one change at Reading and we arrived at the airport just after midnight. By this time, many fellow travellers with early flights were sleeping on the available benches and seating areas, but we found space to sit away from the main checking in areas. It was impossible to sleep and we passed the time reading our books until a nearby coffee shop opened about 3.30 am. We headed for the desks at 4 am, thinking we did not need to check in until 4.25, only to realise by the long queues that we should have got there by 3.25. However this wasn’t a problem and we were happy to be allocated aisle seats across from each other and the flight took off on time. With less than 3 hours flying time we soon arrived in Monastir, Tunisia and 45 minutes after that arrived at our hotel, the Marhaba Royal Salem.
The main reason for taking up this latest holiday offer was because of this hotel, which Mum and I visited from the Salem hotel when we were in Tunisia in June. It really is a beautiful hotel, all pink marble, fountains and trailing plants, a huge atrium in the centre and glass lifts ascending to the five floors. The two hotels are in one complex with beautiful gardens extending about 100 meters to the beach which is fringed with palm trees, has soft white sand and safe bathing. The grounds also have several outdoor swimming pools, tennis courts, snack bars etc.
Once in our room we decided to unpack our cases and then go to the beach. We had just finished putting everything away when someone appeared asking if we wanted to move to a better room with a bigger balcony. Both rooms were lovely and both had sea views but we decided to take the second room offered because the balcony was big enough for table and chairs, a nice place to relax after dinner in the evenings. With the help of the maid we transferred all our things and were pleased to note that the second room also had a small fridge.
Soon we were on the beach to enjoy the rest of that day’s sunshine. We relaxed on sun beds for a while as we were both tired from the journey, having had no sleep the night before. I was keen to see the life guard who looked after Mum so beautifully because I had a small gift for him but unfortunately it was his day off. Other Tunisians selling trips and souvenirs on the beach said he would be at work the following day. We ordered a couple of beers and chicken sandwiches to enjoy in the sunshine but didn’t stay more than a couple of hours as the sea breeze became quite cool and the sun was getting pretty low in the sky so I suggested to June that we get changed and go out for a few hours before dinner, knowing exactly where to go in the time we had at our disposal.
Soon we were in a taxi and making our way to the marina - Port El Kantouai about 4 km away. We had to run the gauntlet of gift shops on arrival, where sellers tried to persuade us to enter and look round before arriving at the marina which June was really enchanted with. I showed her the gift shops where there were fixed prices and I ended up buying a couple of casual embroidered woollen jackets, a couple of cushion covers with palm trees on them for my lounge and June bought a nice outfit to relax in at home. There were people selling trips on catamarans and we fully intended going out on one, the price that day only £18 for an hour with just the two of us on board. We declined sailing then, knowing it would soon be dark and we weren’t wearing warm enough clothes for it. Later we sat in an outdoor cafe and enjoyed drinks whilst enjoying the ambience of the marina and later still went onto the nearby beach. Although we fully intended going back there later in the week we didn’t for two reasons. We were told by our courier next day not to go out on any boat excursions because violent storms could blow up suddenly any time at that time of year. Also, only being in Tunisia one week and with so much we wanted to see and do, we ran out of time.
Back at the hotel we got changed and went down to dinner about 8 pm which we enjoyed leisurely and shared a bottle of Tunisian rose wine. The choice of food was excellent, although not as varied as that on offer at Hotel Salem last summer - probably because there were a lot fewer guests. At the beginning of our holiday there were very few guests staying in the hotel but that changed dramatically a few days later. Each evening the buffet reflected a different international theme - Spanish, Tunisian, Italian, Chinese, Indian etc. After dinner we decided to go to bed early as we were both quite tired after so long without sleep but we finished off our wine out on the balcony before doing so.
Next morning the sun was shining so our first stop was to the beach. Breakfast was another buffet affair with lots to choose from, and to my delight, a man cooking crepes to order as well. I especially enjoyed the fruit flavored yogurt made in nearby Hergla, the Danish pastries or croissants, followed by one or two lemon and sugar flavored crepes each morning. At 10 o clock we went to a short meeting presented by the Airtours courier who gave everyone a lot of local useful information and we booked one of the tours on offer for later that week. Down at the beach I asked the other guys where Zouzou was and they said he’s just coming and he arrived at that moment and came straight over to give me a hug. I then whisked off his old cap and put on the new one - a baseball cap with an embroidered UK flag and London, England embroidered on the front, and he was thrilled to bits with it. His smile reached from one ear to the other and I got another big hug. The next minute he was running up the beach, the label on the hat flapping in the breeze, and disappeared! I asked the other guys where he was going and they said to show it to every other person working in both hotels!!!! They were as amused as June and I were to see how delighted he was with such a simple present. For the remainder of that week we never saw him wear anything else!
Like the day before, although sunny there was a cool breeze blowing so rather than remain in one place we decided to walk along the beach to Sousse, removing our shoes and walking along the water’s edge. This was very pleasant apart from a couple of times when stray dogs were running alongside of us. I am always nervous of stray dogs in foreign countries because of the risk of rabies. A man approached offering cold ring donuts and we had one each but he insisted on us eating it first before we paid him! The price was astronomical! I paid him half what he was asking and that was still twice as much as the usual asking price. It took us about an hour to reach Sousse. When we came off the beach we spotted an open air cafe and ordered a couple of apricot fruit shakes which were like smoothies and very nice. We were glad we’d decided to sit outside because when we went inside afterwards to pay for them there were dozens of men smoking honey flavored tobacco through those special long water pipes, but none of them gave us any trouble. From there we went to the railway station to find out times of trains to Tunis the following morning.
Afterwards we made our way to the medina within the old walled city. I had two places I wanted to visit there - the carpet shop where Mum and I had bought rugs last summer which hadn’t arrived and also to see Ahmed, the shop boy who looked after Mum and me so well with mint teas whenever we visited the medina last summer. In the carpet shop we were given a lovely welcome and when I explained that the four rugs had not arrived they were very perturbed. It proved to be our fault as we had bought them in June and negotiated to make the second payment 3 months later with delivery in November which is unusual. After an almighty search through the storeroom they finally found two of the rugs rolled up and buried under hundreds of others which had my signature on (as each rug has a label with all its size and design details and is numbered and signed by the client). The search for Mum’s two rugs proved more elusive because after choosing two blue ones and as we were leaving the shop seeing a lady weaving one in green, she changed her mind and asked if two green ones could be sent instead. So her two rugs hadn’t even been made when we were there in June. But eventually they were located and we were asked to return a couple of days later when everything necessary for exporting and sending them had been taken care of.
We then went to look for Ahmed’s shop and were having a bit of difficulty as all the little streets in the medina look the same, but June suddenly said ‘Is that him?’ and it was. She said she guessed by the big grin on his face as his whole face lit up when he saw us. He was standing outside the shop and had been looking out for our arrival. He soon whisked us into the shop and went off to get mint teas and when he came back we stayed chatting for a while. A bit later his boss Tadhuir arrived and he was very welcoming too. During the course of conversation when we told them we were planning to go to Tunis and Carthage next day, Tadhuir offered to drive us for a set fee plus petrol and said we would visit four or five places and make a whole day out of it. We decided to take him up on the offer because we were not entirely sure how to get to the ruins of Carthage after arriving by train in Tunis. Also, having told them I wanted to see some live Tunisian music during this visit, Ahmed offered to come to the hotel and fetch us and take us to listen to some music that evening. Not wanting to go out at night on our own we decided to take him up on the offer.
SOUSSE - a bit of background information (Source: the AA pocket guide Tunisia 2004)
Sousse is a delight with its ancient city walls and vibrant souqs, fascinating museums and thriving fishing port and is situated on the central east coast. With Carthage and Utica, Sousse was one of the Phoenicians’ great three cities, with the earliest archeological finds dating from the 6th century BC. In the 7th century AD the city fell to the Arab invaders who left it in ruins, but in 790 the foundations for a new city were laid and many remnants of this time still survive today. The medina is the old heart of Sousse and the area of the city with the greatest appeal. Its 9th century walls are still largely intact apart from the area around the former sea gate at Place des Martyrs, which was destroyed by the allies during the second world war - a testament to the continuing strategic importance of the city. Within the medina are the Grande Mosque, the Ribat (castle) and the Kasbah museum. Equally evocative and rewarding however is its overall ambience. Despite the increasing impact of tourism, the medina has retained a considerable amount of charm and character and there is a small warren of covered souqs selling everything from food and clothes to perfume and jewelry. The Ribat was built early in the 9th century as one of a chain of fortresses stretching along the Mediterranean coast to defend North Africa from European invaders. A room above the main gate has four slits in the floor through which boiling olive oil was poured on unwelcome visitors.
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Tadhuir closed up the shop and they both came with us and gave us a lift back to our hotel where we arrived in good time for dinner which was equally as enjoyable as the evening before. Knowing we were going out afterwards we just had a Celtia bottled beer each and then went to meet Ahmed out at the gate at 8.30 pm. We went by taxi to a nearby restaurant run by friends of his and had a couple of beers each as no live entertainment would start before 10 pm. We then walked to a bar and went upstairs where the music would take place. As we walked in the band were on stage tuning up their instruments and it sounded really promising but unfortunately when we came to order a drink there were no soft drinks or beer available. It was only possible to order spirits which none of us wanted so we left to look for somewhere else. I was really disappointed because there were stringed instruments being tuned up which sounded wonderful. We found another place where beer was available, but the music wasn’t as good - we didn’t much like the voice of the singer, but we stayed there until about midnight and had a couple of beers each before Ahmed accompanied us back to the gate of the hotels in a taxi and we said goodnight. It had earlier been agreed with Tadhuir that they would pick us up at 10 the following morning.
On Tuesday we woke up to a grey day with black clouds which later turned to heavy rain over Sousse. After breakfast we made our way to the gate about ten to ten and sure enough, Tadhuir and Ahmed awaited us in their car. We were surprised to see the rain all over the car and hoped things would improve. We were soon on our way and almost immediately as we left Sousse behind and got out into the countryside the skies cleared and became bluer and the sun showed its face. As we travelled Tadhuir told us a little bit about the places we went through - the huge complex in the Bay of Angels which the present President is constructing for his wife - Hergla which is famous for the yoghurt which supplies the whole of Tunisia - the endless olive groves - every possible bit of land was cultivated and looked very green and neat under skies turning bluer by the minute, flocks of sheep or goats grazing. Throughout the day I was very impressed with how prosperous looking and clean the villages and countryside were, the lovely roads, the cars and lorries travelling on them (Renault and Peugeot mostly due to the French influence).
Our first stop was at Hammamet which is on the peninsula which ends at Cap Bon. With a year round mild climate it is known as the Garden of Tunisia with its citrus and olive groves and vineyards. First of all we drove through New Hammamet, also known as Yasmine Hammamet - a real show place - which over the past 10 years has been constructed as an enormous complex of hotels and restaurants, shopping centres and we even passed an ice rink called Blue Ice, the last thing I would have expected to find in North Africa! Afterwards we drove to the old Hammamet which was clearly different but equally as beautiful, complete with its own medina and ancient city walls. We made a brief stop here, mainly to visit Tadhuir’s cousin’s carpet shop, which we had not known was on the agenda. We made sure it was a brief stop as our main wish of the day was to visit the ruins of Carthage and we didn’t want to waste time looking at carpets, or even contemplate buying any! We still had a fair distance to travel.
An hour or so later we arrived at Tunis, the capital, and here it took us a while to find our way around the outskirts, following the signs to the airport, in order to avoid getting lost in the busy traffic or one way streets. Finally we found the right route and eventually arrived at Carthage. Tadhuir showed us the beautiful gardens being constructed in close proximity to the President’s home, in honour of his wife, and some of the beautiful villas surrounding this lovely area.
Carthage - some background information (Source: the AA pocket guide Tunisia 2004)
Carthage is one of the best known of Tunisia’s archaeological sites, with its surviving treasures scattered over a large area in a suburb of the capital. Founded in 814 BC by the Phoenicians, by the 4th century BC Carthage had become the centre of their vast maritime empire. In 146 BC it was destroyed by the Romans who only 25 years later began building on the same site. It became the third largest city of the Roman Empire before it was destroyed by the Arabs in 692 AD, ending its heyday.
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Our first stop was at the Cathedrale St Louis which was built in 1890 and is dedicated to the French King who died in 1279 while trying to lay siege to Tunis. The cathedral has been restored as a cultural centre for Arab music and is now known as the Acropolium. Afterwards we continued to the National Museum on Byrsa Hill from where we could see the whole of the site from the summit. This was the heart of the city under Punic rule and the best place to start a tour. We wandered among various ruins and saw some unusual birds flying. By this time the sun was out in force and against the backdrop of a very blue sky we thoroughly enjoyed exploring and taking photographs. Afterwards we went into the museum which houses collections of sculpture, statues, masks and mosaics. On the ground floor are the Carthagian, Roman and Christian remains (including a Phoenician skeleton in its sarcophagus) while the first floor has incense burners and plates found inside Punic graves as well as glass, ceramics and amphorae. Unfortunately there was no time to visit more than these two places but we did at least find out how to see all six sites on a future tour. After exiting the main rail station in Tunis, a taxi is necessary to get to the metro station from where it is possible to buy a ticket enabling a stop at all six stations to view the other sites. If one set out really early from Sousse it would be possible to spend the day seeing the whole of Carthage using public transport, returning late in the evening. There is even a metro link to Sidi Bou Said.
After leaving Carthage we had one more stop at Sidi Bou Said which is said to be the prettiest village in the whole of Tunisia. This hilltop village is known for its cobbled streets and whitewashed houses with blue window grills and studded doors, profusions of plants and flowers and glorious views down to the sea below. Unfortunately my camera which had been playing up all holiday chose this moment to cease functioning so we were unable to take any photographs. Instead we explored the gift shops and I ended up buying a mosaic after haggling the price down to 12 dinars from 60!!! Ahmed said it was a great price that would not have been possible during the summer months. By this time we were hungry but decided not to stop and eat there but instead go to a Berber barbeque place on the way homeward.
After leaving Sidi Bou Said we retraced our way back to Tunis and thence homeward on the route to Sousse. By the time we reached Bouficha and the berber restaurant where we would have our barbequed lamb it was getting dark. There had been a power cut so it was too dark to sit in the restaurant and their oil lamp back-ups hardly made any difference. We decided to sit outside where it was lighter even though colder and had a beer each whilst our lamb cooked on the barbeque in front of us. By this time we were starving and dived in with gusto to the pre-dinner dishes and bread and later three plates of lamb were put in front of us which was okay but not as good as we had hoped for. The lamb was a bit tough and included a lot of scraggly bits. At the end they tried to charge the tourist price as well and Tadhuir had to argue extensively to get the bill at Tunisian rate, which was about £26 for the four of us, cheap by European standards. We then continued back to Sousse and we were dropped at the gate of our hotel about 8 pm. We said we would pop in the shop to see them briefly the following morning following our visit to the carpet shop.
June and I still went down to dinner in the hotel, ostensibly just to have dessert (a few scoops of my favorite pistachio icecream) but when we went in we saw that it was Tunisian night and chicken cous cous and other delicious dishes were available. Knowing from last holiday this would only be available once that week I ended up enjoying another dinner of barbequed fish kebabs, chicken cous cous and accompanying vegetable dishes! By the time we had had pudding as well we were pretty full as you can imagine!
We then got changed as by this time we had discovered there was entertainment in the Salem hotel each evening as well as in our hotel - the latter being mostly a singer. I was keen to go next door and show June the Salem Hotel and also curious to see if I would see any of the waiters who looked after Mum and me so beautifully last holiday. We were lucky to get a table with a good view and had drinks but didn’t see anyone I knew. June liked the hotel very much, saying it was more relaxed there, the Royal Salem being quite formal. Each evening the entertainment kicked off with one round of bingo at 9.45 which was fun although we didn’t win anything either then or subsequently. This was followed by a magnificent show of berber dancers in various costumes, a Tunisian band playing lovely instruments, later belly dancing. The show lasted about an hour and we enjoyed it immensely.
On Wednesday after breakfast we got a taxi into Sousse with enough time to have a quick look at the other shops in the medina before going to the carpet shop at 10, and to see Ahmed and Tadhuir afterwards. We explored one of the streets and bought souvenirs to take home, including a couple of CDs of Tunisian music, some orange blossom scented oil, cous cous spice. At the carpet shop they were able to confirm that everything for export had been completed satisfactorily and the four rugs were already on their way. I should receive them in about a month. We had mint tea with them and I promised I would be back again in March and buy the short leather jacket I nearly bought last time. In Tunisia the jackets or coats are made to measure and are ready in just two or three days. It’s even possible to visit the factory and see an even more extensive variety of styles before deciding what to order. I paid £238 for a beautiful burgundy leather coat last holiday and will pay around £80 for a short leather jacket in March, probably in the same colour!!! We then paid a short visit to Ahmed and Tadhuir and had another mint tea with them (a drink I got quite partial to, despite normally being a non tea drinker). When we left them we said we would be back again on Friday as we had things on until then.
We went back to the hotel, had a quick change, including picking up our rain jackets because despite a nice bright start to the day, by this time it was raining quite hard and looked set to continue. Our coach pick up time for the tour we’d booked was 1.35 and before that we had lunch in the hotel, which was okay as we would not be dining there that evening. This was from a menu and served in the snack bar so I chose two Tunisian dishes which were very enjoyable. We boarded the coach which then proceeded to drive to other hotels to collect other holiday makers. This proved rather boring as we had to call at the same hotel three times for people who were not waiting in reception, until eventually we gave up on them. (The tour operators would bring them by taxi to join us later).
By the time we started our journey to Frugaia Wild Life Park it was raining heavily and the roads were awash with water and we had to drive slowly. We arrived at the park about an hour later and were very lucky that the rain eased off at this point. We had a couple of hours to look around the park and this proved very enjoyable. None of the animals were in cages and had extensive ground to roam in. When we got to the predator section there were wooden walkways above the huge enclosures and one couldn’t help feeling a bit uneasy in case any of them tried to jump up! There were cheetahs, lions, tigers, including some cubs, African wild dogs, Desert foxes etc. I managed to get the camera working briefly and got some nice photos. When we came to the giraffes they were inside because of the weather and one could climb to a vantage point and see them face to face through a window. Their trainer offered to go in and take a picture but the camera refused to function at that moment. We enjoyed seeing the sea lions frolicking in the water, but missed the feeding session which occurred during our tour of the park.
At 5.30 we all trooped inside the huge restaurant near the entrance of the park. This was like a huge big top with a round stage in the centre and tables all around on two tiers. The highlight of this tour was the dinner and whilst dining we enjoyed a 2 hour zulu warrior show. This was amazing. The music was fantastic - marimba and drums - and a fantastic display of
energetic dancing that took your breath away. At times one of the zulus wandered among the spectators so that photos could be taken with him - see mine below. The meal was excellent, with plates of hors d’oevres and briks (a Tunisian speciality snack like a large samosa filled with lightly spiced chicken and vegetables and an egg), then the main course of chicken cooked in a sauce with vegetables and flavoured rice, and finally pistachio and vanilla icecream. With the food were bottles of coca cola, water and red wine on the table which were replaced with new bottles whenever one became empty. Interspersed with the zulu warrior performances were berber dance and music performances which were equally as enjoyable, including three belly dancers at the end.
When the show ended people were invited to join all the performers on the stage and I befriended a lovely young girl and had pictures taken with her plus one of the other warriors. When we all left to get on our coach we had a lovely surprise just before leaving - as the zulus came on our coach for a lift back to their lodgings in the nearby village. We persuaded them to sing for us which was lovely. The girl I had befriended on stage sat next to me and we exchanged details - she gave me her mobile number and I gave her my email address. I haven’t made contact yet but must do so soon as they are shortly returning to South Africa and won’t be back in Tunisia until March. I will definitely go to that show again with Mum when I go back to Tunisia in March. When they got off we continued back to Sousse. By this time everyone was enjoying themselves and the sing song started by the zulus was continued by everyone else on the bus. There were lots of people from our hotel and we really enjoyed chatting to them and singing etc. It made June quite homesick because many of them were from Bradford area where she was born!
The journey home was quite dramatic weather-wise. During the meal and show we could see the wind and wildly dancing trees through the windows and outside the rain was lashing down furiously. On the journey home there was both sheet and fork lightning and violent thunder and we had to drive even more slowly because of the flooded roads. Back at the hotel we watched the storm from our balcony and it was amazing, seeing the fork lightning going down into the sea, and the whole bay lit up as bright as daylight every 30 seconds or so with each lightning flash. With the sea thundering on the shore, the palm trees swaying back and forth etc it was a brilliant sight.
That evening we wanted to go to the Salem for bingo and that night’s show which was snake charming. We had to wait for a break in the rain before leaving our hotel but that proved very short lived. The lightning started flashing again and we had to run as fast as we could and got soaked through as the ground was awash with water and running through it made us wetter than ever! It was quite scary being outside in such violent weather but we made it to the door of the other hotel without mishap. Inside we managed to sit in the same seating area and spent an enjoyable evening with some Indian people who were also from Bradford. The snake show was a bit nerve wracking for everyone not just us. When we arrived everyone was sitting around in groups relaxing with their drinks. When the show started everyone was on their feet giving the snakes a wide berth and poised to run for it whenever he brought any of them close! The charmer quite enjoyed scaring people, bringing a snake round to show people individually and then pushing it towards them when they tentatively reached out to touch it. The main part of the show was three cobras which he placed on the marble floor in front of us and then proceed to torment them with a red fez so that they would rise and shoot forward at the hat. By the time the show finished there was a really wide space between the snakes and the people, who would take a run for it whenever he pushed a snake closer. He enjoyed scaring the DJ who dived over a trellis at one point and then he put a snake on each speaker so that he was trapped between them! One of the other comperes pretended to be a snake charmer later and felt quite safe behind a very long stick ... until the snake charmer threw a soft wide belt around his neck and he leapt into the air like a scalded cat thinking it was a snake round his neck. Like the rest, after being scared a couple of times, I was on my feet poised to run for the majority of the show.
On Thursday we decided to visit El Djem, about 160 km away, the main attraction here being the Roman Amphitheatre which is in even better condition than the one in Rome. This was to be our first excursion by train but when we got to the station at 9 we found we had missed one leaving about 8 and the next one wasn’t until 12.25. It was a nice day and we didn’t fancy waiting around all that time so decided to go back to the hotel and go on the beach for a bit.
As we arrived back at the hotel, one of the other holiday makers in reception asked where we had been to be already back so bright and early and when we told him he said ‘why not travel by louage the way the locals do’ and explained what to do. So hopping into yet a third taxi at the gate we directed him to take us to the Louage Centre (a £2 taxi fare instead of the usual £1.20) and on arrival we found ourselves in a huge mini bus station with several rows of mini buses each seating 9 plus the driver. The fare by louage is very cheap because one waits until the bus is full before it sets out and another in the queue takes its place. The service is continuous from morning to night and one never has to wait long. The fare for the 160 km journey was just £1.50 each way which took about an hour. When we arrived we were the last two so the bus left more or less straightaway. The bus wasn’t easy to board as the step into it was high and a man at the back had to haul us aboard, much to the locals’ amusement. The journey was pleasant and it was interesting to watch the passing scenery and see the villages we passed through - this being the opposite direction than our trip North to Tunis earlier that week.
El Djem - some background information (Source: the AA pocket guide Tunisia 2004)
The scenic drive includes the tourist town of Monastir. Heading west out of Sousse we drove through the suberbs of Zaouiet Sousse and Messadine. Soon after leaving M’Saken we took the A1 and headed South on the long straight road flanked by row upon row of olive trees. The amphitheatre at El Djem is one of the Roman Empire’s greatest legacies to Tunisia and is only slightly smaller than the colosseum in Rome but is better preserved and much more imposing. Pleasingly there are no signs or notices inside the amphitheatre, making it easier to imagine the colourful festivals or the bloody dawn to dusk gladiatorial contests that were held there. The gladiators - often simply petty thieves, debtors or prisoners - would be pitted against each other or against wild animals to fight to the death. Built between 230 and 238 AD in the busy market town of Thysdrus, the amphitheatre could seat crowds of more than 30,000. Measuring 149m long by 124 wide, even today it would be considered an impressive building achievement but without modern equipment it is an awesome feat of engineering. Blocks of sandstone were transported from quarries 30 km away, while water was carried 15 km through an underground aqueduct.
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When we arrived at El Djem it was impossible to miss the huge amphitheatre which dominates this small town. We walked to the square in front of it, lined with shops and cafes, and had a fresh squeezed orange juice whilst admiring the view and soaking up the atmosphere. It was a brilliant sunny day with bright blue skies and we were entertained by the flirtatious waiters which was fun. By this time we had learned that to have a laugh and joke with flirtatious shop keepers, waiters etc, instead of running away from them, was a bit of fun enjoyed by all. Tunisians really love English people and absolutely adore communicating with us.
We then proceeded into the amphitheatre and the next couple of hours were truly amazing. For a while we sat on the tiered seats under the blazing sun and just soaked up the atmosphere whilst chatting to another couple of holiday makers who were doing the same. Afterwards we parted company and explored the whole amphitheatre, including going underground to see the chambers where slaves were imprisoned and where the lions were kept. We could see the marks the lions’ claws had made and the holes in the walls from which the prisoners were chained. It was dark down there too so you can imagine the spooky atmosphere. Back at ground level later, in a little covered alcove we also watched a bit of a DVD and CD-Rom and ended up buying it between us to watch back home. The film ‘The Gladiator’ was actually filmed at that amphitheatre in El Djem.
Our ticket entry included free admittance to the museum so afterwards we set off to find it and explored some of the town whilst looking for it. We eventually found the museum which was quite far away and this proved to be equally as amazing as the amphitheatre itself because in addition to the ruins and reconstructed gardens there were a number of roman villa excavations resulting in many buildings housing dozens of enormous mosaics, some of truly massive proportions, the mosaics themselves telling the story of Roman life 2000 years ago. We were even walking on excavated mosaics which felt like sacrilege! We wandered here for over an hour admiring everything. Many of these mosaics date back to the 3rd century and incredible to know they survived all that time.
Walking back to the louage centre later children approached us and enjoyed practising a bit of English with us. June and I thoroughly enjoyed our visit to El Djem and definitely plan to go back there again in the future. Other people we spoke to that day had travelled in by train and we might try that next time because the return second class fare was less than £4. Arriving back in the louage centre we got a taxi to our hotel but after a while it was evident that the young driver did not know the way. It seemed like a big detour until we eventually got there, but he was pleased when we paid him a bit extra over the sum we’d negotiated. Again we spent a very pleasant evening in the hotel - first dinner which was following a Chinese theme that night (the hotel now being really full with Chinese tourists) and then later we went next door to the Salem for bingo and show - this time supposedly live music but it was only the same singer who had performed sometimes in the Royal Salem that week. The best was hearing the Arab song Aisha as we walked in. At times one of the comperes took his place and sang and this happened when we were leaving. The singer collared me for a dance whilst the compere sang, all the while flirting outrageously. It was really funny! After the song ended I beat a hasty retreat though!
On Friday we spent a good part of the day on the beach as the weather was quite sunny, albeit with the odd shower of rain. We went for a walk in the opposite direction to Sousse and had beers and a snack there as well until returning to the hotel later. I then left June who was planning to swim in the indoor pool and made my way into Sousse on my own as I still had souvenirs and presents to buy, plus I had promised to call in and see Ahmed and Tadhuir. By the time I got to Ahmed’s shop it was 4.30 pm so he decided to close the shop so we could have a quick drink in a cafe across the road from the medina before I went back. We had a beer each and I met a couple of his cousins, one of whom runs the cafe, before taking a taxi back to the hotel an hour later before it got dark. After dinner that evening June and I stayed in our own hotel and had a couple of drinks in the bar in the centre atrium and listened to the same singer as last night at the Salem. Neither of us fancied the karaoke evening taking place that night at the Salem.
Earlier that week one of the taxi drivers had offered to take us to Monastir on Saturday and show us several places of interest there for the very reasonable price of £20. He was there waiting for us at the gate at 9 am Saturday morning and soon we were on our way, the journey being about 45 km in a north direction. As we drove through the industrial part of Sousse to the outskirts he gave us a running commentary. He spoke excellent English having been to university and was a part time taxi driver to supplement his normal income since the arrival of his first child when his wife had to give up work.
Monastir - a bit of background information (Source: the AA pocket guide Tunisia 2004)
Until the 1960s Monastir was a fairly typical Tunisian town, but it has been transformed into a showpiece tourist resort of pristine streets, elegant turn of the century lamp posts and an abundance of greenery. It has an attractive 400-berth marina and an old fishing port, and the airport and hotels are about 6 km west of the centre. (Guidebook info continues as we visited some of the places of interest).
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On arrival at Monastir our first stop was to the large street market. The taxi parked and said we could take as long as we wished to walk around and he would be there waiting for us when we finished. We enjoyed exploring the market, were the only tourists evident, but were charged the same price as Tunisians which was good. I bought some burgundy embroidered slippers to match a beautiful gold embroidered burgundy full length tunic dress and a few other smaller souvenirs. After an hour or so we retraced our steps to our taxi driver who then drove us to the centre and drove around first to show us the various places of interest and then dropped us at the massive Ribat of Harthema which stands above the harbour.
The Ribat - founded in 796 the ribat has been reworked and restored so many times that there is little left of the original structure. One surviving section is the prayer hall which is now the Museum of Islamic Arts. ,Exhibits include fragments of 12th century weaving, Egyptian fabrics, samples of Islamic writings and a gold jewelry collection from Persia. The Nador tower offers spectacular views over the town centre, the beaches and corniche. The ribat has provided the backdrop for several major films including Jesus of Nazareth and The Life of Brian. Connected to the Southern Gate is the Grande Mosque built at the same time as the Ribat and Medina walls but this is closed to non-muslims.
Unfortunately it rained most of the time we were visiting the ribat and we got quite soaked. By the time I found my way to the Nador tower it was raining really heavily so June decided to wait for me. The winding stairway up the tower was quite narrow and really dark in places in between niches where one could look out. I had to stop for breath several times whilst climbing up but the effort was well worth it by the fantastic views when I reached the top.
Back on the ground once more we visited the nearby museum which houses an impressive collection of outfits worn by couples on their wedding day and for many days following the ceremony. In the 18th and 19th centuries it was traditional for the bride’s dress to be made by her mother and sisters which sometimes took several years because of the huge amount of intricate embroidery involved. Each outfit was displayed in glass fronted cabinets, with a display of costume jewelry.
We tried to visit the Grande Mosque but unfortunately it was closed to non muslims. The smaller mosque was closed at that time also. It is possible to go inside this one except for the actual prayer room. In a nearby shop I bought more souvenirs but we decided not to go in the medina as time was marching on and we still had places to visit. We bought some snacks to eat in the taxi, and had just started on them when the driver realised that we hadn’t visited the mausoleum and dropped us off there saying he would wait however long it took.
In the early days of his presidency, the Republic of Tunisia’s first leader Habib Bourguiba, built himself an elaborate mausoleum in the centre of the town of his birth. Instantly recognisable by its twin minarets and golden dome it has an impressive tree lined drive leading to the gates; at its foot is a kiosk commemorating those who died fighting for Tunisia’s independence. A golden statue of the school boy Bourguiba stands in the nearby Place du Gouvernorat. As we approached the mausoleum and old man appeared and told us about the history and indicated the difference between English and Tunisian graves in the cemetery alongside the driveway leading to the mausoleum where all the dead lie on their side facing East, as does the mausoleum. The guards inside the circular room where the president lies buried were very friendly and even posed for photos later on. One of them indicated the gold leaf in the decor and pointed to the massive chandelier that hangs above the tomb of the former president. We were able to go upstairs to the next level and walk all around, looking down at the tomb and at all the sumptuous decor.
Back in the taxi once more, our driver headed out of town as our last stop was to a berber village community which is entirely self sufficient, all of them living by their own endeavours. As we approached we crossed a causeway in the middle of a huge sailing lake, and drove through many olive groves where women were harvesting the olives until we reached the entrance to the berber community. Inside we were met by a berber who took us all around the village and explaining some of their traditions. He showed us the various animals and we were able to take a few photos. Finally we were shown into a large room where the berber carpets are stored - made by various families within the village. Mint tea was brought and we were shown some of their traditional designs and when the fifth carpet was rolled out I fell in love with it. I had no intention of buying a carpet but because it was the end of year and inventory time coming up, the price offered was too good to miss. I was offered this rug which is 2 or 3 times the size of ones I already bought previously for only £150 which I recognised instantly was an amazing low price so I didn’t attempt to haggle. I simply could not resist it and soon it was being packed up ready for me to take with me! Even I could not believe that I had ended up buying yet another Tunisian carpet! It was made of kashmir wool so was surprisingly light even though the rug was so thick my toes disappeared into it!
When we left the village the berber came with us back to Sousse as the rest of my money was in a deposit box back at the hotel. Fortunately I still had enough in English money because being Saturday the banks were closed and I tend to mistrust cashpoint machines, especially in foreign countries. Back at the hotel they waited outside while I went in to get the money and then I told the taxi driver I was going back into Sousse 20 minutes later so he offered to wait for me. When I came out after a quick change of clothes, the berber had been unable to change up my English money so he came with us in the taxi to Sousse and I went with the taxi driver to a Change/Cambio kiosk in the medina to change it into dinars. I also made a note of the taxi drivers mobile phone number for future reference as I would definitely like him to drive us to other places on future visits to Tunisia. I intend to go back to that berber village in the future too.
After saying goodbye to him I went to see Ahmed and Tadhuir to say goodbye. By this time I had got to know quite a few of the other shop keepers in nearby shops, many of whom had said what a nice boy Ahmed is. He actually reminds me of my son Adam as he has that same earnest manner about him and being the same age, if they ever met one day I am sure they would become friends. After a mint tea he closed up the shop and we went to the same bar across the road and met up with his cousins including Nadia, a young girl, for whom it was a novelty to enjoy a beer in a bar! I stayed with them a couple of hours until it got dark and then said my goodbyes.
Back at the hotel I had dinner with June and we went to the Salem later on for a last game of bingo and to enjoy the strongman and fakir show which was very impressive - walking on beds of nails etc, lying on sharp swords with people standing on his back, etc. All this to the atmospheric music of the group Era which we really enjoyed. Then back to the hotel to pack up our things as we had an early departure next morning. Throughout the week, despite my camera being problematical, I managed to take about 70 or 80 photos and these will be available to see sometime soon after Christmas.
Next day I was up at 5, and we went down to breakfast about 6.30. We said our goodbyes to friends made in the hotel and by 8.20 were on our way to Monastir airport and our departure homeward. As before the flight was on time and a pleasant experience and we landed at Gatwick at 2 pm to sunny weather reminiscent of what we had left behind. From Gatwick we went to the coach station by train, then bus back to Bath where we arrived at 7.30.
My next trip will be for two weeks with my Mum at the end of March when the weather will be much warmer. June and I are also planning to go back in October and do a 3 day adventure to the Sahara desert. I will need to lose some weight by then because that will also include riding into the desert on a camel! And visiting the vast salt lake at El Jerid. I really love Tunisia and will go back many times in the future. In our hotel, there were people staying for 5 weeks at a time for just £400 for flights and half board accommodation, who were going home for a week and then back for another 5 weeks. One guess for who will be joining them one day when I retire!!!
The 47 photos can be viewed at www.flickr.com - search for photos with tag 'Tunisia December'
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Friday, September 08, 2006
Photos from Summer Holidays 2006
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Summer Holidays 2006
The six and a half weeks summer holiday were thoroughly enjoyable. It began with three day trips to Weymouth in the first ten days, twice by coach and once by train. We were lucky to have really hot weather on all these trips, so much so that I even went in the sea on one occasion! Our first trip longer than a day was 5 days in London at the end of July arriving on Friday early evening where we met up with Aquiles and his brother Nano at Elephant and Castle. Nano lives in Switzerland and was visiting London for the first time. I met him when I went to Switzerland in February.
I cooked that first evening, a chicken and chilli Thai speciality soup that Aquiles loves and which I often make for Colin too. Later on they went out to a disco but we were too tired and stayed back, listening to some great andean CDs until bedtime. The trouble is that being used to getting up at 5 each day I start to flag around 9.30 or 10 and am never able to stay awake long enough to go to discos. They always stay out all night which is way beyond me.
We had an enjoyable day on Saturday, mostly in the local vicinity in the morning, then later we went to Oxford Street as I wanted to look at what was on offer in the Monsoon sale (my favorite shop but a bit expensive so I only browse in there when they have a half price sale!). I bought a lovely pink embroidered top in there after trying on several things and later in the Covent garden branch a couple of great skirts. After we had had enough in Oxford Street we went to Covent Garden next, both of us hoping to find an andean band playing which often happens, but not that day unfortunately. A rhythm and blues singer was replaced by a Chinese musician which although a bit similar to andean instrumental music I find it a bit boring and repetitive after a while. You don’t get that magic mix of fantastic string and percussion instruments like you do with andean music.
We went back to the flat around 5 and got ready for the evening and managed to find our way by bus to Holborn and nearby Conway Hall where the Peruvian event 'Contigo Peru' was taking place. Even though we got there early we struggled to find a table at first but eventually joined one where others were seated – nice people, an Indian man and his Mexican girlfriend and her/their daughter. The evening was thoroughly enjoyable with various troupes of dancers representing the different regions of Peru.
The band were Kantaro from Edinburgh, and it was great to see Eloy, the charango player once more. We enjoyed the music of Kantaro the most out of all the evening entertainment. There was also a band called Manas Negras but their music was more Afro Criolla style which is okay but doesn't cut it for me the same way the music from the high Andes does. There was a great selection of Peruvian food on offer and it was hard to choose what to have but we both enjoyed the chicken dish Aji de Gallina which we eventually decided on.
Both bands played twice and the entertainment lasted until just after midnight. Aquiles and his brother arrived late (to avoid paying to get in!!!) – they were off to dance the night away again at another disco and we declined as I had already struggled to stay awake at times during the evening! We had luckily made our way to Holborn by bus earlier so could find our way back easily, the tube stations being closed by then.
It was really funny because at 6 the next morning they arrived back and were still in party mode. I found myself being dragged out of bed and to really blaring loud Andean music ended up dancing in my pajamas!!! They had got Lola up from downstairs as well and we were all dancing. The funniest was when they dragged the cover off my friend Ann and she was sat there in her drawers!!! The look on her face was priceless and we all collapsed laughing! About quarter past seven I managed to sidle off for a quick shower and get ready so that we could leave on time as we had to get to Victoria to catch the 9.22 train. By the time we left at 8.30 they were slowing down and ready to sleep and we said we would see them about 12.30 that night.
We had a fantastic day out in East Grinstead with our Peruvian friends Jorge and Vivi and their son Pedro. It was about an hour by train and Jorge met us at the station and took us back to the house. They have got on so well in the few years since I first met Jorge. Back then he was studying in London and working as well to put himself through the course, only having time to sleep 3 hours a day because he worked at night and studied by day. He was here on his own at first and then later sent for his wife and finally 2 years ago his son Pedro came too. They love it here in England and have progressed from living in one furnished room to renting a two bedroom house with their own furniture. He has passed his driving test here too. He is a nutritionist and is going to give me the info that will help me to lose weight. I said if he can do that successfully I will promote him far and wide!!!!
We went to Ashdown Forest llama park first. We didn't actually go in on this occasion as we had other things we wanted to do but will go there on a future visit. It's not a place one would want to go just for an hour. They had a fantastic shop there and I ended up buying yet another poncho (even though I have 4 already) because I fell in love with a navy blue one with a llama design down each side.
After our visit there we went back to the house, made up some ham and cheese rolls to take with us and Jorge drove us to Hove where we stayed on the beach a couple of hours. It was very windy and the sea quite rough otherwise we might have had some fun in their inflatable boat. I was happy just to relax in the warm sunshine though. Then we drove on to Brighton and after driving around for a bit found a good parking space and we walked down and went on the pier for a couple of hours which was also fun. Then the drive back (and during all the driving we enjoyed loud Andean music because Jorge had a connection lead that enabled the music in my iPod to go through his car speakers). Then whilst Ann and I watched a programme about Peru on television they got busy and soon we were tucking into Lomo Saltado made with pork, a really delicious Peruvian dish. They had even bought Cusquena beers to go with it (now available in Sainsburys - if you haven't already tried it, taste one sometime! It's a lovely premium beer and stands up well to all the others available nowadays). Then Jorge drove us to the station and we got the last train back and arrived in Victoria at ten to twelve and back to the flat about half an hour later. It was a fantastically enjoyable day and before leaving I invited them to come for the weekend on bank holiday and to ensure they arrived Friday night so that we could all go to Weymouth on the Saturday.
We spent the morning locally with Nano as we were waiting for Toti to finish work and then we all caught a bus to Brick Lane which is the best place to get an authentic Bangladeshi curry. Yummy! When we got there we found a new restaurant had opened and the owners enticed us to try them out by offering a really good three course lunch with full size portions and Indian beer for only £9 per person. Afterwards we walked for about an hour trying to find a cinema showing Indian films, because Nano wanted to see one, but unfortunately we got lost and could not find it. Later back at the flat Aquiles cooked for us and it was another really pleasant evening until Aquiles and Nano went out clubbing again later on. Ann and I spent Tuesday locally again followed by another trip to both Oxford Street and Covent Garden. Our bus home was in the evening and we got back to Bath about 10.30 pm.
After a nice quiet day following my return from London we were off again, this time to Cornwall. Fortunately just before the London trip I had purchased another car to replace my Toyota Celica (it was destroyed by a mini van which crashed into it whilst parked in Bath). I needed a car to drive to Cornwall so was glad the insurance pay-out came in time to replace the car before our trip. I am now the proud owner of a Hyundai Coupe which is nearly as sporty looking as the Celica. It’s two years younger than the Celica, has low mileage and is metallic British racing green which is a great colour. I had a new cam belt put on the car as soon as I bought it which was very reasonable at £139 and means the engine is good for another 72000 miles. I didn’t even take the car for a test drive before purchasing it but bought it just on sight alone. My Mum thought I was mad at the time but I could just tell that the bloke selling was genuine so went with my instincts.
We had a great time in Cornwall - it was a bloody long drive to get there though - 150 miles (240 km) which is way too long a drive for me. Normally anywhere more distant than 50 miles I prefer to take the train. That long drive will be repeated at the end of September too, even further than 150 miles, as we have a 3 night hotel break booked near Newquay then. We set off early on the Thursday morning as it was quite a long way before we could even join the motorway. We finally joined it near Bridgwater and before that stopped for coffee and cakes as our first rest break before the monotony of the motorway travel. We planned to make our next rest break at Exeter and spend a couple of hours exploring the town but when we came off the motorway it was straight into a long traffic queue! Luckily we had time to change lanes before the roundabout and find our way onto the next part of our journey instead. This is where I realised Cornwall was further than I thought as it was about 65 more miles to travel and I had thought at Exeter we would be nearly there!!!! Luckily the roads were fast ones and we made good progress. Towards the end of our journey we were looking for a nice place to stop and enjoy the picnic lunch we had brought with us, but twice when I exited the dual carriageway, I made an error and ended back up on the same road again. The second time I took a wrong turn and we had to travel about five miles before I could safely return and head back. We therefore decided to continue on to Camelford and have lunch when we finally arrived.
No one was more relieved than me when we finally reached Camelford. From there it was a short further journey to Juliot’s Well and as we were too early to check in, we had lunch in the car park enjoying the warm sunshine. We then drove into Camelford, parked the car and explored this little town, went food shopping and returned to Juliot’s Well at 3 pm where we were able to check into our caravan where we would be staying the next four nights. It was very comfortable and well appointed. We spent the rest of the day relaxing and settling in and I cooked for us in the evening and Mum and I shared a bottle of wine. I opted to be the cook each evening - choosing a Thai recipe that first evening, Peruvian, Italian and Indian on the following evenings.
Next day after breakfast we decided to drive and find a seaside resort for the day, Juliot’s Well being located inland. I prepared a picnic lunch for us all which we carried in a cool box along with some cold drinks. After about 20 miles driving we found a nice coastal resort at Widemouth Bay, coming across it by accident en route for another beach. It was another glorious sunny day and we stayed there all day until early evening, only leaving then as we were all getting hungry and looking forward to the evening meal. We drove back and I soon had the meal on the table and we spent a pleasant evening watching a couple of films on television. We were lucky that the television programmes each evening were good ones as none of us wanted to go out again after having been out all day. I rarely watch television at home but enjoyed doing so whilst in Cornwall.
On Saturday I phoned some friends living near Bodmin - Jennie and Ivie - and we arranged to meet in Wadebridge that morning. It was another hot day and we spent two or three hours in Wadebridge, first meeting Jennie and having coffee together, then walking around the town. Whilst browsing in a book shop I came across a fantastic book about the Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl’s trip on the raft to Peru which hopefully one day I will find the time to read. After visiting the raft in a Norwegian museum last autumn, the tale of that adventure will make a very interesting read for me. After Wadebridge we headed for the beach again, this time to the one we were heading for on Friday, whose name I have forgotten for the moment. The only problem was we had to park quite far from the beach on a cliff headland and it was a long walk which wasn’t easy loaded as we were with chairs, cool box, and everything necessary for a comfortable few hours on the sand. Again we stayed on the beach until early evening and left Mum sitting on her chair near the road by the beach whilst we fetched the car, to save her the long walk back.
On Sunday we had lunch at a lovely pub restaurant in Camelford which was our one concession to eating out. Afterwards we drove to Bude, which has one of the best beaches in North Cornwall, and stayed there until nearly 6 in the evening. We were so lucky to have such nice weather every day, our beach visits being the most relaxing way for Mum to enjoy her holiday with us. I even went in the sea with her a couple of times that day. Then when we got back to the campsite we decided to have a swim in the outdoor heated pool which was lovely. Finally on Monday we left the campsite at 10 intending to drive about halfway homeward and then take a couple of hours break before continuing on home. This was because the weather wasn’t so good as the other days; otherwise we would probably have visited Tintagel which was only about 6 miles from Camelford. We continued all the way to Taunton, where we had a late picnic lunch and then visited the shops around the town. We finally got back to Bath about 5 pm and Colin was surprised to see me back that early, and relieved that I had survived both long drives without mishap.
The week after returning from Cornwall I spent a really relaxing time, enjoying the sunshine whenever it appeared, at the same time emptying my integral garage as it will be turned into an extra room soon. My friend Mark is going to do the conversion for me. My lovely new shed arrived which now houses the things I used to store in the garage. I am planning to buy a nice summer house in the spring as well, so that we have an extra room to relax in during the summer months. The Vermont summer house which is the one I want opens out completely with all the glass doors folding outward so will be a very welcome addition to the garden in time for next summer.
The weekend before the second London visit I went to Weymouth for the day with Ann and also my tenant Jackie - for a nice day on the beach although the temperature was only about 20. Then on Sunday went on a coach trip to the Severn valley with Colin and Mary, which included a steam train ride. We travelled from Bath to Kidderminster, and from there went on the steam train which lasted about an hour to Bridgnorth. This was the best part of the day and on arrival at Bridgnorth we had an hour and a half which was just long enough for a nice Sunday lunch in the nearest pub. Unfortunately no time to visit Bridgnorth itself. Then another coach journey to Budeleigh where we had two and a half hours to visit the town. Unfortunately being a Sunday most of the shops were closed so this visit was quite boring. I would have preferred more time at Bridgnorth where there might have been more to see. We found one shop open and walked for miles to pass the time, ending up with tea in a cafe before reboarding the coach.
Then another lovely leisurely week at home, made even better on the Friday by the arrival of an Andean band in town. When Ann phoned with the good news I dropped everything and headed straight there and spent the whole rest of the day with them. I was given a lovely welcome by the musicians who are all good friends - Carlos Saldana who I have known 6 years and Lolo from Edinburgh who I last saw when in Edinburgh with Layla in 2003 - who now lives in London, quite close to Aquiles. They had three CDs for sale - we bought two and were given the third as a gift. When we said our goodbyes in the early evening Lolo said he would try to catch up with us whilst we were in London. The photos which were taken during that lovely afternoon are what illustrates this story for the moment - later there will be a few more pictures of other events.
Then the last weekend of the holiday Ann and I went to London again, this time travelling from Bristol due to my having bought cheap bus tickets a couple of months before. This wasn’t so easy due to the road closure between Bath and Bristol but we left Bath in the early morning and had a couple of hours to spend in Bristol before getting the noon bus to London, so it wasn’t so bad on the outward journey. Arriving in London we spent the day browsing in favorite places as usual, arriving at the flat in the early evening. I cooked for us all that first evening, like I often do, and we stayed up watching various programmes on television as Aquiles usually lets me choose what to watch as he has satellite television. The following day we all got up late and Aquiles cooked brunch before we headed off to Kennington Park for the latin music festival taking place, our reason for visiting London again so soon. We had an enjoyable time at the festival, listening to various music and entertainment, browsing the latin stalls where I bought a super white top covered in embroidered Peruvian figures in shades of lilac and purple. Later in the afternoon we were invited to a birthday party by one of Toti’s friends and made our way to Brixton on the bus. We had already enjoyed a few cans of Jamaican red stripe beer at the festival and on arrival at Brixton bought 24 more bottles of beer plus 3 bottles of Chilean Merlot Rose wine to take to the party. On arrival we were made really welcome and given a meal, and later we were all dancing and having a fantastic time. It was lovely to see Helen, Toti’s sister again as well as her husband who had arrived from Bolivia a few weeks earlier plus other friends not seen for a while. Aquiles and I drank all the wine between us as no one else was drinking wine and by the time it was all gone I was feeling distinctly merry! I hardly remember the walk back to catch the bus later (or ending up on my backside on the bus, as Ann told me next day). Back at the flat we were delighted that Lolo had finally caught up with us which meant buying some more beers and we were dancing and playing loud Andean music for another few hours! I think I eventually fell into bed (our blow up airbed which Ann has to pump up each evening whenever we stay there as it has a slow puncture!). Luckily I had asked Ann to wake me up next morning and she did - but I was very reluctant to get out of bed as my head was pounding. I was still so tired that staying awake on the bus was almost impossible and Ann had to keep nudging me awake. We went down the Old Kent Road to a Peruvian shop in hopes of stocking up on Peruvian spices .... only to find when we got there that the shop only opens in the afternoons and we didn’t have time to wait for it to open as our bus was leaving at noon, or so we thought. When we finally reached Victoria we had something to eat to make us feel better, and I was really looking forward to sinking into my seat on the bus and finally being able to sleep uninterrupted on the journey home .... until I looked at our tickets and saw our departure was 1 pm, so another 90 minutes to wait instead of 30 so you can imagine my dismay. I scarcely remember the journey home at all, which is just as well really after five bus trips that morning, the journey to Bristol and then yet another bus from Bristol to Bath which went on a long detour due to the road closure. Then I couldn’t get hold of Colin by phone so yet another bus on arrival in Bath from bus station up to his home! As you can imagine that lot has put me off bus travel for a while so it might be a few weeks before we head towards London again and even then I will look into travelling by train instead. I’m thinking of booking another Eurostar trip to Brussells in December like last year so may leave the next London visit until then. Meanwhile at the end of September we have a 4-day break in Cornwall to look forward to, this time near Newquay, staying in a hotel instead of a caravan. I’m not looking forward to that long drive though!!!!
In my last week of the holiday I invited different friends or family round to lunch nearly every day, with the exception of the Bank holiday Monday when Colin and I spent the day in Bristol around the dockland area, which has changed so much in the 12 years since I moved from Bristol to Timsbury that I could hardly believe it. I plan to go back there soon to visit the Imax cinema which has a 4 storey 3-D screen. We had a lovely lunch and it was generally a pleasant relaxing day. On the way over we visited the shop where I had seen the Vermont summer house and Colin agreed it was a great buy. Since then we have seen Mark who has agreed to create the base for it and erect in when it is delivered in early spring. My shed took 6 weeks to arrive so I will probably order it in mid January in hopes of it being erected before my next Tunisian holiday on 28 March. All in all it was a great six and a half weeks and a lovely restful break before work began again in earnest on 4 September.
I cooked that first evening, a chicken and chilli Thai speciality soup that Aquiles loves and which I often make for Colin too. Later on they went out to a disco but we were too tired and stayed back, listening to some great andean CDs until bedtime. The trouble is that being used to getting up at 5 each day I start to flag around 9.30 or 10 and am never able to stay awake long enough to go to discos. They always stay out all night which is way beyond me.
We had an enjoyable day on Saturday, mostly in the local vicinity in the morning, then later we went to Oxford Street as I wanted to look at what was on offer in the Monsoon sale (my favorite shop but a bit expensive so I only browse in there when they have a half price sale!). I bought a lovely pink embroidered top in there after trying on several things and later in the Covent garden branch a couple of great skirts. After we had had enough in Oxford Street we went to Covent Garden next, both of us hoping to find an andean band playing which often happens, but not that day unfortunately. A rhythm and blues singer was replaced by a Chinese musician which although a bit similar to andean instrumental music I find it a bit boring and repetitive after a while. You don’t get that magic mix of fantastic string and percussion instruments like you do with andean music.
We went back to the flat around 5 and got ready for the evening and managed to find our way by bus to Holborn and nearby Conway Hall where the Peruvian event 'Contigo Peru' was taking place. Even though we got there early we struggled to find a table at first but eventually joined one where others were seated – nice people, an Indian man and his Mexican girlfriend and her/their daughter. The evening was thoroughly enjoyable with various troupes of dancers representing the different regions of Peru.
The band were Kantaro from Edinburgh, and it was great to see Eloy, the charango player once more. We enjoyed the music of Kantaro the most out of all the evening entertainment. There was also a band called Manas Negras but their music was more Afro Criolla style which is okay but doesn't cut it for me the same way the music from the high Andes does. There was a great selection of Peruvian food on offer and it was hard to choose what to have but we both enjoyed the chicken dish Aji de Gallina which we eventually decided on.
Both bands played twice and the entertainment lasted until just after midnight. Aquiles and his brother arrived late (to avoid paying to get in!!!) – they were off to dance the night away again at another disco and we declined as I had already struggled to stay awake at times during the evening! We had luckily made our way to Holborn by bus earlier so could find our way back easily, the tube stations being closed by then.
It was really funny because at 6 the next morning they arrived back and were still in party mode. I found myself being dragged out of bed and to really blaring loud Andean music ended up dancing in my pajamas!!! They had got Lola up from downstairs as well and we were all dancing. The funniest was when they dragged the cover off my friend Ann and she was sat there in her drawers!!! The look on her face was priceless and we all collapsed laughing! About quarter past seven I managed to sidle off for a quick shower and get ready so that we could leave on time as we had to get to Victoria to catch the 9.22 train. By the time we left at 8.30 they were slowing down and ready to sleep and we said we would see them about 12.30 that night.
We had a fantastic day out in East Grinstead with our Peruvian friends Jorge and Vivi and their son Pedro. It was about an hour by train and Jorge met us at the station and took us back to the house. They have got on so well in the few years since I first met Jorge. Back then he was studying in London and working as well to put himself through the course, only having time to sleep 3 hours a day because he worked at night and studied by day. He was here on his own at first and then later sent for his wife and finally 2 years ago his son Pedro came too. They love it here in England and have progressed from living in one furnished room to renting a two bedroom house with their own furniture. He has passed his driving test here too. He is a nutritionist and is going to give me the info that will help me to lose weight. I said if he can do that successfully I will promote him far and wide!!!!
We went to Ashdown Forest llama park first. We didn't actually go in on this occasion as we had other things we wanted to do but will go there on a future visit. It's not a place one would want to go just for an hour. They had a fantastic shop there and I ended up buying yet another poncho (even though I have 4 already) because I fell in love with a navy blue one with a llama design down each side.
After our visit there we went back to the house, made up some ham and cheese rolls to take with us and Jorge drove us to Hove where we stayed on the beach a couple of hours. It was very windy and the sea quite rough otherwise we might have had some fun in their inflatable boat. I was happy just to relax in the warm sunshine though. Then we drove on to Brighton and after driving around for a bit found a good parking space and we walked down and went on the pier for a couple of hours which was also fun. Then the drive back (and during all the driving we enjoyed loud Andean music because Jorge had a connection lead that enabled the music in my iPod to go through his car speakers). Then whilst Ann and I watched a programme about Peru on television they got busy and soon we were tucking into Lomo Saltado made with pork, a really delicious Peruvian dish. They had even bought Cusquena beers to go with it (now available in Sainsburys - if you haven't already tried it, taste one sometime! It's a lovely premium beer and stands up well to all the others available nowadays). Then Jorge drove us to the station and we got the last train back and arrived in Victoria at ten to twelve and back to the flat about half an hour later. It was a fantastically enjoyable day and before leaving I invited them to come for the weekend on bank holiday and to ensure they arrived Friday night so that we could all go to Weymouth on the Saturday.
We spent the morning locally with Nano as we were waiting for Toti to finish work and then we all caught a bus to Brick Lane which is the best place to get an authentic Bangladeshi curry. Yummy! When we got there we found a new restaurant had opened and the owners enticed us to try them out by offering a really good three course lunch with full size portions and Indian beer for only £9 per person. Afterwards we walked for about an hour trying to find a cinema showing Indian films, because Nano wanted to see one, but unfortunately we got lost and could not find it. Later back at the flat Aquiles cooked for us and it was another really pleasant evening until Aquiles and Nano went out clubbing again later on. Ann and I spent Tuesday locally again followed by another trip to both Oxford Street and Covent Garden. Our bus home was in the evening and we got back to Bath about 10.30 pm.
After a nice quiet day following my return from London we were off again, this time to Cornwall. Fortunately just before the London trip I had purchased another car to replace my Toyota Celica (it was destroyed by a mini van which crashed into it whilst parked in Bath). I needed a car to drive to Cornwall so was glad the insurance pay-out came in time to replace the car before our trip. I am now the proud owner of a Hyundai Coupe which is nearly as sporty looking as the Celica. It’s two years younger than the Celica, has low mileage and is metallic British racing green which is a great colour. I had a new cam belt put on the car as soon as I bought it which was very reasonable at £139 and means the engine is good for another 72000 miles. I didn’t even take the car for a test drive before purchasing it but bought it just on sight alone. My Mum thought I was mad at the time but I could just tell that the bloke selling was genuine so went with my instincts.
We had a great time in Cornwall - it was a bloody long drive to get there though - 150 miles (240 km) which is way too long a drive for me. Normally anywhere more distant than 50 miles I prefer to take the train. That long drive will be repeated at the end of September too, even further than 150 miles, as we have a 3 night hotel break booked near Newquay then. We set off early on the Thursday morning as it was quite a long way before we could even join the motorway. We finally joined it near Bridgwater and before that stopped for coffee and cakes as our first rest break before the monotony of the motorway travel. We planned to make our next rest break at Exeter and spend a couple of hours exploring the town but when we came off the motorway it was straight into a long traffic queue! Luckily we had time to change lanes before the roundabout and find our way onto the next part of our journey instead. This is where I realised Cornwall was further than I thought as it was about 65 more miles to travel and I had thought at Exeter we would be nearly there!!!! Luckily the roads were fast ones and we made good progress. Towards the end of our journey we were looking for a nice place to stop and enjoy the picnic lunch we had brought with us, but twice when I exited the dual carriageway, I made an error and ended back up on the same road again. The second time I took a wrong turn and we had to travel about five miles before I could safely return and head back. We therefore decided to continue on to Camelford and have lunch when we finally arrived.
No one was more relieved than me when we finally reached Camelford. From there it was a short further journey to Juliot’s Well and as we were too early to check in, we had lunch in the car park enjoying the warm sunshine. We then drove into Camelford, parked the car and explored this little town, went food shopping and returned to Juliot’s Well at 3 pm where we were able to check into our caravan where we would be staying the next four nights. It was very comfortable and well appointed. We spent the rest of the day relaxing and settling in and I cooked for us in the evening and Mum and I shared a bottle of wine. I opted to be the cook each evening - choosing a Thai recipe that first evening, Peruvian, Italian and Indian on the following evenings.
Next day after breakfast we decided to drive and find a seaside resort for the day, Juliot’s Well being located inland. I prepared a picnic lunch for us all which we carried in a cool box along with some cold drinks. After about 20 miles driving we found a nice coastal resort at Widemouth Bay, coming across it by accident en route for another beach. It was another glorious sunny day and we stayed there all day until early evening, only leaving then as we were all getting hungry and looking forward to the evening meal. We drove back and I soon had the meal on the table and we spent a pleasant evening watching a couple of films on television. We were lucky that the television programmes each evening were good ones as none of us wanted to go out again after having been out all day. I rarely watch television at home but enjoyed doing so whilst in Cornwall.
On Saturday I phoned some friends living near Bodmin - Jennie and Ivie - and we arranged to meet in Wadebridge that morning. It was another hot day and we spent two or three hours in Wadebridge, first meeting Jennie and having coffee together, then walking around the town. Whilst browsing in a book shop I came across a fantastic book about the Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl’s trip on the raft to Peru which hopefully one day I will find the time to read. After visiting the raft in a Norwegian museum last autumn, the tale of that adventure will make a very interesting read for me. After Wadebridge we headed for the beach again, this time to the one we were heading for on Friday, whose name I have forgotten for the moment. The only problem was we had to park quite far from the beach on a cliff headland and it was a long walk which wasn’t easy loaded as we were with chairs, cool box, and everything necessary for a comfortable few hours on the sand. Again we stayed on the beach until early evening and left Mum sitting on her chair near the road by the beach whilst we fetched the car, to save her the long walk back.
On Sunday we had lunch at a lovely pub restaurant in Camelford which was our one concession to eating out. Afterwards we drove to Bude, which has one of the best beaches in North Cornwall, and stayed there until nearly 6 in the evening. We were so lucky to have such nice weather every day, our beach visits being the most relaxing way for Mum to enjoy her holiday with us. I even went in the sea with her a couple of times that day. Then when we got back to the campsite we decided to have a swim in the outdoor heated pool which was lovely. Finally on Monday we left the campsite at 10 intending to drive about halfway homeward and then take a couple of hours break before continuing on home. This was because the weather wasn’t so good as the other days; otherwise we would probably have visited Tintagel which was only about 6 miles from Camelford. We continued all the way to Taunton, where we had a late picnic lunch and then visited the shops around the town. We finally got back to Bath about 5 pm and Colin was surprised to see me back that early, and relieved that I had survived both long drives without mishap.
The week after returning from Cornwall I spent a really relaxing time, enjoying the sunshine whenever it appeared, at the same time emptying my integral garage as it will be turned into an extra room soon. My friend Mark is going to do the conversion for me. My lovely new shed arrived which now houses the things I used to store in the garage. I am planning to buy a nice summer house in the spring as well, so that we have an extra room to relax in during the summer months. The Vermont summer house which is the one I want opens out completely with all the glass doors folding outward so will be a very welcome addition to the garden in time for next summer.
The weekend before the second London visit I went to Weymouth for the day with Ann and also my tenant Jackie - for a nice day on the beach although the temperature was only about 20. Then on Sunday went on a coach trip to the Severn valley with Colin and Mary, which included a steam train ride. We travelled from Bath to Kidderminster, and from there went on the steam train which lasted about an hour to Bridgnorth. This was the best part of the day and on arrival at Bridgnorth we had an hour and a half which was just long enough for a nice Sunday lunch in the nearest pub. Unfortunately no time to visit Bridgnorth itself. Then another coach journey to Budeleigh where we had two and a half hours to visit the town. Unfortunately being a Sunday most of the shops were closed so this visit was quite boring. I would have preferred more time at Bridgnorth where there might have been more to see. We found one shop open and walked for miles to pass the time, ending up with tea in a cafe before reboarding the coach.
Then another lovely leisurely week at home, made even better on the Friday by the arrival of an Andean band in town. When Ann phoned with the good news I dropped everything and headed straight there and spent the whole rest of the day with them. I was given a lovely welcome by the musicians who are all good friends - Carlos Saldana who I have known 6 years and Lolo from Edinburgh who I last saw when in Edinburgh with Layla in 2003 - who now lives in London, quite close to Aquiles. They had three CDs for sale - we bought two and were given the third as a gift. When we said our goodbyes in the early evening Lolo said he would try to catch up with us whilst we were in London. The photos which were taken during that lovely afternoon are what illustrates this story for the moment - later there will be a few more pictures of other events.
Then the last weekend of the holiday Ann and I went to London again, this time travelling from Bristol due to my having bought cheap bus tickets a couple of months before. This wasn’t so easy due to the road closure between Bath and Bristol but we left Bath in the early morning and had a couple of hours to spend in Bristol before getting the noon bus to London, so it wasn’t so bad on the outward journey. Arriving in London we spent the day browsing in favorite places as usual, arriving at the flat in the early evening. I cooked for us all that first evening, like I often do, and we stayed up watching various programmes on television as Aquiles usually lets me choose what to watch as he has satellite television. The following day we all got up late and Aquiles cooked brunch before we headed off to Kennington Park for the latin music festival taking place, our reason for visiting London again so soon. We had an enjoyable time at the festival, listening to various music and entertainment, browsing the latin stalls where I bought a super white top covered in embroidered Peruvian figures in shades of lilac and purple. Later in the afternoon we were invited to a birthday party by one of Toti’s friends and made our way to Brixton on the bus. We had already enjoyed a few cans of Jamaican red stripe beer at the festival and on arrival at Brixton bought 24 more bottles of beer plus 3 bottles of Chilean Merlot Rose wine to take to the party. On arrival we were made really welcome and given a meal, and later we were all dancing and having a fantastic time. It was lovely to see Helen, Toti’s sister again as well as her husband who had arrived from Bolivia a few weeks earlier plus other friends not seen for a while. Aquiles and I drank all the wine between us as no one else was drinking wine and by the time it was all gone I was feeling distinctly merry! I hardly remember the walk back to catch the bus later (or ending up on my backside on the bus, as Ann told me next day). Back at the flat we were delighted that Lolo had finally caught up with us which meant buying some more beers and we were dancing and playing loud Andean music for another few hours! I think I eventually fell into bed (our blow up airbed which Ann has to pump up each evening whenever we stay there as it has a slow puncture!). Luckily I had asked Ann to wake me up next morning and she did - but I was very reluctant to get out of bed as my head was pounding. I was still so tired that staying awake on the bus was almost impossible and Ann had to keep nudging me awake. We went down the Old Kent Road to a Peruvian shop in hopes of stocking up on Peruvian spices .... only to find when we got there that the shop only opens in the afternoons and we didn’t have time to wait for it to open as our bus was leaving at noon, or so we thought. When we finally reached Victoria we had something to eat to make us feel better, and I was really looking forward to sinking into my seat on the bus and finally being able to sleep uninterrupted on the journey home .... until I looked at our tickets and saw our departure was 1 pm, so another 90 minutes to wait instead of 30 so you can imagine my dismay. I scarcely remember the journey home at all, which is just as well really after five bus trips that morning, the journey to Bristol and then yet another bus from Bristol to Bath which went on a long detour due to the road closure. Then I couldn’t get hold of Colin by phone so yet another bus on arrival in Bath from bus station up to his home! As you can imagine that lot has put me off bus travel for a while so it might be a few weeks before we head towards London again and even then I will look into travelling by train instead. I’m thinking of booking another Eurostar trip to Brussells in December like last year so may leave the next London visit until then. Meanwhile at the end of September we have a 4-day break in Cornwall to look forward to, this time near Newquay, staying in a hotel instead of a caravan. I’m not looking forward to that long drive though!!!!
In my last week of the holiday I invited different friends or family round to lunch nearly every day, with the exception of the Bank holiday Monday when Colin and I spent the day in Bristol around the dockland area, which has changed so much in the 12 years since I moved from Bristol to Timsbury that I could hardly believe it. I plan to go back there soon to visit the Imax cinema which has a 4 storey 3-D screen. We had a lovely lunch and it was generally a pleasant relaxing day. On the way over we visited the shop where I had seen the Vermont summer house and Colin agreed it was a great buy. Since then we have seen Mark who has agreed to create the base for it and erect in when it is delivered in early spring. My shed took 6 weeks to arrive so I will probably order it in mid January in hopes of it being erected before my next Tunisian holiday on 28 March. All in all it was a great six and a half weeks and a lovely restful break before work began again in earnest on 4 September.
Thursday, July 06, 2006
Tunisia in June 2006
Tunisia in June 2006
On 14 June I flew to Tunisia with my Mum for a week’s holiday. We flew from our local airport – Bristol - arriving around three hours later in Monastir. From Monastir we were transferred by coach to our hotel, dropping off people at other hotels along the way. Although the distance between Monastir and Sousse isn’t that great, our late departure from the UK and multiple drop offs meant we didn’t arrive at our hotel until nearly midnight. I was very impressed at how well Mum coped with the journey as she is 77 years old - we were both glad to finally arrive though.
On arrival we had to fill in brief forms for the hotel - the Marhaba Salem – and in the process I had to put down the sun hat that I had carried all the way from Bristol - which was a great nuisance on the plane. I didn’t realise until next day that I forgot to pick it up again and unfortunately no one handed it in. I was just glad that at the last minute I decided not to take the lovely pink hat purchased in Paris the week before and took the one bought in Weymouth instead!
Next morning we were awake quite early. We had been allocated a ground floor room with its own patio and opening the curtains we looked out onto the beautiful gardens with its multitude of different palm trees and profusions of flowers in every imaginable colour. We knew that the paths through the gardens led to the hotel’s own beach and were looking forward to going there after breakfast. Once dressed and ready we located the dining room for our breakfast. There we were allocated a table by our friendly waiters which would be ours for the duration of the holiday. We were considerably impressed with the vast choices on offer for breakfast, one buffet table with several cereals, varieties of yoghurt and rice puddings, profusions of cakes and biscuits, bowls of fresh fruits - another hot buffet area with varieties of cooked breakfasts including eggs cooked in every way imaginable, warm croissants, pain chocolates and danish pastries and for me - the best of all - the crepes and the bowls of jams to go on them! One had to queue up for the crepes as the chef could only cook two at a time, but I enjoyed two or three every morning thereafter, sprinkled with sugar and a squeeze of lemon or lime juice.
After breakfast we zoomed back to our room, collected the beachbag with swimwear, towels, sunglasses, books and sun lotions and set off through the garden to the beach. We did a slight detour first to explore the pool areas - two outdoor pools - with shops, poolside bar. Unfortunately Mum wouldn’t be able to use the nearest pool as one got in via a thin metal ladder but the other one was easier as one could walk in right from the edge. The pools were well equipped with plenty of sunbeds and cushions, tables and chairs, and we were hoping those facilities extended to the beach. Also that morning we attended a meeting with our Thomson Rep who gave us a lot of information about Sousse and nearby Port El Kantaoui, plus details of various excursions on offer. I knew that Mum wouldn’t want to go on any of the day excursions but was particularly interested in a couple of the evening excursions and we booked up two of them for later in the week - a bedouin Arabian feast evening and an African zulu feast evening. There was no way I could travel to North Africa without experiencing at least some of its vibrant culture! Before heading through the gardens to the beach we purchased the use of a safety deposit box in which to keep our money and passports and changed up some money - easy and quick to do each day at hotel reception at a government fixed exchange rate.
Soon we were on the lovely sandy beach which was also well equipped with thatched parasols, and a type of sun deckchairs. These were too low for Mum so we had a word with the boy in charge of beach furniture and he promised to fetch a chair for Mum each day and keep it for her exclusive use. I was quite happy to stretch out on a towel on the sand which is what I usually do back home.
The sea looked glorious, a lovely aquamarine colour, shelving quite shallowly from the shore and when we walked in we were pleasantly surprised at how warm it was compared to the icy shiver you feel when entering the sea back home. I don’t normally go in the sea, preferring to relax on the sand, but Mum didn’t feel confident going in alone so I accompanied her each time she wanted a swim and quite enjoyed it really. It was a great way to cool off in the hot sun which got steadily hotter throughout our week there. There was also a cool sea breeze most days so that when on the beach we never felt too hot, even when the sand was too hot to walk on in our bare feet. There was also a snack bar right on the beach where we sometimes had a cooked lunch brought to us on the sands. It was also lovely to sip an icy cold beer which we could also enjoy on the sands rather than going into the bar. Once I promised to bring them back, the waiters let us have nice stemmed glasses rather than the plastic cups normally reserved for beach use. Also we booked up to go on another excursion, a whole morning out at sea on an old fashioned pirate style galleon complete with lunch on board. The guy who sold the tickets for it was really nice and we ended up chatting to him every day. When Mum was worried about how she would get on board the boat he misunderstood and said ‘Don’t worry - you walk across a gangplank to get on board; you don’t have to swim out to it!!!!’
Our first morning was really relaxing and we would have spent all day there had we not been persuaded by another guy to go on a mini bus trip offered free by the two sister hotels which was departing from the nearby Royal Salem at 1.30. I wanted to see a little bit of Sousse and when the guy said we could be dropped off in the medina and picked up again later we agreed to go on the trip. That proved a false promise later when the mini bus sailed past the medina despite my protests at the time. We were taken to a supposed government shop where we could make purchases. Mum wanted to see the carpets so I left her seated downstairs where they were being demonstrated and popped upstairs to look at the other stalls as I was interested in buying a leather handbag - I ended up buying two the same colour in different designs (because I couldn’t make up my mind between the two, plus a better deal was offered for buying two). I haggled these down to a reasonable price which worked out about £19 for the two. Back downstairs afterwards Mum had been persuaded to buy two rugs which were joined together by the fringe - she only wanted to buy one and they were trying to persuade her to have them both - so in the end I said I would have one of them. I managed to haggle another 100 dinars off the price but they still worked out quite expensive. It was only later that I discovered the guy who organised the coach trip received a good commission for every purchase made by the tourists he brought. Unfortunately I did not know this before buying a leather jacket as well. I was really impressed with the style and quality of the leather jackets on offer and bought a nice three quarter length one in burgundy. I especially liked these jackets because they were so light weight compared to leather jackets back home. Unfortunately we were so long in that shop that there was no time to visit the medina on the way back, but we resolved to go independently by taxi a day or two later. One thing we learned was that there would be an opportunity to listen to some live music in the nearby Royal Salem hotel on Saturday evening and I was hoping beyond anything that it would be live Tunisian music!
Back at the hotel we visited the pool and Mum had a swim before we returned to our room to get ready for the evening. Our accommodation was half board which meant dinner each evening was included which could be taken anytime between 6.30 and 9 pm. For this we enjoyed dressing up each evening. If we were impressed at the variety on offer at breakfast we were literally overwhelmed by the vast amount of choice on offer in the evenings - all served buffet style with assistance from waiters if required. I knew my diet had flown straight out of the window for that week! There was a long table with starters alone - multitudes of salads, cooked fish, sliced meats etc. The hot buffet was best with about 20 main course dishes on offer. I was a bit disappointed that first evening as the food seemed to be mainly international dishes with not a Tunisian dish in sight, but luckily that changed as the week progressed and we enjoyed some excellent Tunisian specialities. There were always two really special dishes on offer which to my delight were usually based on chicken or turkey. As you can imagine we indulged in lots of delicious things and then were overwhelmed all over again when we visited the dessert table which was loaded with lots of really fancy cakes, served up by a chef, all so light they melted in your mouth, and beautifully adorned with creams, fruit glazes or icing - plus yet more individual cakes and pastries including chocolate coated choux buns, and plates and bowls of yet more fresh fruits - sliced melon, watermelon, apricots, nectarines, greengages, damsons or plums. There were also ice-creams to choose from and our friendly waiters always brought us dishes of my favourite pistachio icecream each evening to finish off our meal. We usually enjoyed a nice bottle of Tunisian rose wine with our meal and had a lot of fun chatting to the friendly waiters all of whom could speak English. In fact we found wherever we went the Tunisian people were lovely and friendly and clearly really liked English people and really enjoyed any opportunity to chat - all of them could speak some English, even the lovely old lady who looked after our room each day. Including the beach boy who always looked out for us, came running with Mum’s chair whenever we arrived on the beach, hailing her ‘Hello Mum’ as he approached. We became very fond of him as the week progressed!
The following day we were able to spend the whole day at the beach and really enjoyed ourselves. We knew by this time we were going to thoroughly enjoy every minute of this fantastic holiday - the food, the people, the fantastic weather, perpetual sunshine every day, the glorious beach and our time spent in the sea. There were usually paddle boats moored along the shore and sometimes we just sat on the end of these with our feet in the gentle rolling waves for half an hour or more. The beach offered a multitude of water sports - jet skis, paragliding where two people dangling from a parachute were pulled along by a motorboat - the paddle floats, and rafts full of people being towed by a fast motor boat, screaming with laughter as the raft bounced across the waves.
On Saturday we decided to get a taxi and pay a visit to Sousse. This was easy enough - one had to haggle the price down each time and a trip to either Sousse or Port el Kantaoui was around 4 dinars, a bit less than two English pounds, in each direction. Away from the beach we were amazed at how hot the sun beat down which meant that unfortunately Mum couldn’t walk far. We got out of the taxi at the medina and ended up staying ages in the first shop we were persuaded to enter! First we bought handbags and then entered the carpet selling area and soon found ourselves being shown a vast variety of carpets with mint tea to enjoy whilst we watched. We had only wanted to compare prices with those we had already bought, which is how we learned that the savings were considerable buying direct and haggling directly with the carpet producers in the medina. I fell in love with two beige matching rugs which were bigger than the ones purchased 2 days earlier - I knew they would be perfect on my new lounge carpet at home. There followed a lot of fierce haggling and I managed to get the price down to 750 dinars for the two inclusive of shipping and freight. At the same time Mum fell in love with a pair of rugs which I managed to haggle down to 550 dinars for the pair. We still weren’t really intending to buy until we realised they would be happy to accept just a 25% payment now, and the balance in mid November, with delivery promised in time for Christmas. At this we finally went ahead with the purchase. The firm were established since 1928, the year of Mum’s birth, so we felt confident our rugs would arrive as promised. Mum was impressed at how well I haggled the price down - I was so good at it that a couple of times the man called me Sir instead of Madam, which in the arab world is probably a sign of respect!!! Especially as I was continuously working things out on a calculator to get the price in pounds. At the end of it all Mum was given a big hug and I had my hand shaken!!!!
We looked at the leather jackets in that shop afterwards and I fell in love with a short one which I promised to come back and buy on our next visit. In Tunisia one can visit the leather factory and be measured up for a leather jacket and it is ready to collect the following day.Back outside again a couple of hours later the sun was high in the sky and the heat was incredible. I knew Mum would never stand it for more than about 20 minutes. We decided to visit just one short rank of shops only and then come back another day. A visit to the medina is an eye-opener as every shop keeper urges you to enter their shop and if you do you cannot get out again without buying something! I found the ambience quite fun but Mum found it a bit intrusive. I bought a Tunisian dress in deep rose pink adorned with gold braid and sequins plus a nice leather belt for Colin. It was nice when finally we were spoken to by one shop keeper who just wanted to talk when he realised we were English. We chatted to him for a while and exchanged names and I said we would call in again the next time we visited the medina. We then stopped at an open air cafe and enjoyed fruit juices and panini sandwiches under a shady tree before venturing out of the medina and taking a taxi back to the hotel. The medina really is a fascinating place, hundreds of alleyways of shops all within an ancient walled city. I believe Sousse medina covers an area of around 30 square km.
Once back at the hotel we were anxious to visit the beach and cool down in the sea, but not for long as we had decided to go to the neighbouring Royal Salem hotel in the evening. We had dinner quite early and headed for the Royal Salem about 8.30 in the evening. This is an amazingly luxurious hotel all marble and colourful fountains and foliage with a huge raised dias circular bar with seating areas all within the gigantic foyer. Overhead is like an atrium, with every floor having the circular veranda right up to a glass roof overhead. A glass lift moving up and down between the floors. We were very impressed with this beautiful hotel. We ordered drinks and were enjoying the ambience and soon afterwards the evening’s entertainment began. I was disappointed that it wasn’t a Tunisian band playing traditional music but Mum thoroughly enjoyed the young Tunisian musician and singer who was singing English songs! We stayed listening for a couple of hours and the evening was redeemed further for me a bit later when a belly dancer appeared and gave us a really impressive performance.
Our two hotels - the Marhaba Salem and the Royal Salem – were both situated in one complex and we were able to enjoy the facilities of both hotels. The Royal Salem was the more luxurious of the two and we were both intrigued at how much it would cost to actually stay there. We intended to sample some of the other facilities but somehow never got around to it in just one week.
On Sunday we just spent the morning on the beach and then took a taxi to Port el Kantaoui in the afternoon as Mum was anxious for me to see it. When we arrived she hardly recognised it as a lot of building had taken place since her previous visit 18 years earlier. We had to enter via a park and various shops where we were again waylaid and couldn’t escape without buying a lime green embroidered tunic blouse and another bag for Mum. We enjoyed browsing the shops once in the circular square leading to the marina because the prices were fixed, ie no haggling, and one could browse without being hassled. We both bought various things to take home as gifts and then stopped in one of the outdoor cafes and enjoyed enormous, almost pint sized, glasses of colourful layers of different fruit juices whilst admiring the fountains and luxurious flowers, palm trees and plants. When we finally entered the marina itself I was very impressed as it was on the one hand like a rich European millionnaire’s yacht marina and on the other hand typically arab with the white buildings and architecture set among tall palm trees etc. We sat in a shady spot and just enjoyed the ambiance for a while before continuing on our way. Entering the marina I was amazed to see a guy dressed in Saracen costume and was so regretful that I had forgotten to bring my camera because I would have loved to have had a photo of him. I said we would have to come back again and take photos.
On Sunday evening we were booked on one of the excursions - the bedouin Arabian feast - and proceed to get to it by taxi in the early evening. We had partaken of lunch in our hotel that day as we were going out in the evening, which is the usual arrangement in half board hotels. Unfortunately we arrived a bit too early and were the first there. Arriving in the grounds of the complex where the evening would take place, I was pleased to find a spice stall - belonging to a Berber man who had the most stunningly beautiful green eyes. After a bit of haggling I managed to get the price down on a good supply of saffron, plus harissa and a general spice seasoning. Then his son showed us a selection of his paintings and we each bought a small one. I regretted later not buying a larger painting because his talent was remarkable. The main reason was lack of space in our luggage but I fully intend to go back there on my next visit and buy a larger painting. All this while enjoying a glass of sangria.
Then came the disappointment of the evening when we realised the event would take place in an enormous open-sided tent. After deciding not to go out in the evenings due to our fear of mosquitos, you can imagine how apprehensive we both were to be in an open tent for a whole evening. The table we were first ushered to was right under a speaker playing loud Arabic music over which we had difficulty speaking so we moved to another table. We were both really hungry and got a bit restless when no one else seemed to be arriving for ages. Finally, about an hour after our arrival, a coach party arrived which was the remainder of the guests. We had a nice couple sharing our table who had been brought on the bus from Monastir. We were all glad when the evening got going and food started to arrive and this part of the evening was most enjoyable, especially as soon afterwards a long programme of entertainment began, various dancers, juggling, balancing, bed of knives etc, belly dancing. The best part of the evening’s entertainment was looking out onto the square outside and seeing a man dressed as a sheik riding a beautiful arab stallion round and round. Then after the meal finished we all went outside to watch the man and a little girl doing acrobatics on the horse’s back as it rode round, and this was followed by a fire throwing display. Luckily neither of us had been bitten by mosquitos. It wasn’t easy getting a taxi back and we had to wait and were worried about being the last to get one, but eventually we got one and when we got home and I handed over 7 dinars, luckily the driver was happy with that. In Tunisia you don’t ask the price but haggle to what you think is reasonable!
On Monday morning we were up very early and among the first into breakfast as we wanted to leave the hotel by 9.30 and arrive at the Port of Sousse. As usual we arrived really early before anyone else but at least it meant we could board the old fashioned pirate like galleon and Mum could climb the steps to the top deck without feeling embarrassed in front of anyone else. We were among the first on board so could choose where we wanted to sit although as others arrived and got busy slathering themselves with sun lotion and wearing hats, we were dismayed to realise we had forgotten to bring these for ourselves, just cardigans in case it felt cold out at sea! By 10.30 the boat was pretty full and we were on our way, with the prospect of a whole morning out at sea following the coastline and a barbeque lunch later on. Fortunately I was able to purchase a white arab headdress for Mum and she was wearing a sleeved blouse so didn’t get too much effect from the sun. I was wearing a camisole so got quite badly sunburned that day as I refused to cover up with a cardigan. Although we had felt hot while the boat was moored this changed as we got under way out to sea and we thoroughly enjoyed the cool breeze that offset the sun’s heat. It was fun watching the sails being unfurled and I knew we would really enjoy that trip. We were well looked after the whole time, being given cups and unlimited supplies of water or coca cola, sprite or fanta orange followed by fruit for everyone. Then we enjoyed barbequed sardines along with chopped tomatoes and cucumber and chunks of baguette bread. Then a main course of grilled seasoned chicken breasts and finally several chunks of water melon and nectarines. We were the only two English people among a mostly German clientele with just a few French people, and the crew members/waiters singled us out and gave us lots of special attention (and extra food etc!) reinforcing our realisation that Tunisian people really are very fond of English people. About half an hour after the meal the boat was moored for half an hour and people dived overboard to swim on one side and others were fishing from the other side. The water here was about 50 feet deep so I definitely wasn’t tempted to swim, not liking to ever get out of my depth. Also it didn’t look easy having to climb the ropes to get back on board afterwards! The whole time we were out following the coastline I could see that it was a continuous stretch of beautiful white sandy beach, much of it belonging to each hotel fronting it, for mile upon mile. One would have a lovely time virtually anywhere on that coastline.
Back at the Port which was only a short distance from the medina we decided to pay it another visit as there were still things we wanted to buy. We also wanted to find the shop where Ahmed worked and say hello (having promised to when we left the medina the previous Friday). That was easier said than done as the alleyways looked alike and we browsed three streets before we finally found it, with all the ensuing hassle from the shop keepers - but we found nice things to buy including a gold necklace each with lucky charm, and when we reached Ahmed’s shop he looked after us beautifully, sitting us down right in front of an air conditioning unit and rushing off to fetch us mint tea. We then stayed chatting to him for about half an hour and he never once urged us to buy anything which made him almost like an oasis in the middle of the desert, thre in themedina! The shop sold nice jewelry and we vowed we would definitely buy something on our next visit to Tunisia. One funny incident was visiting a loo near the medina entrance with male toilet attendant. Mum and I went into two separate cubicles and next minute a loud shriek was heard - hers was a Turkish toilet!!! The male attendant came running and handed her a mint tea to calm her down. It was so funny and we were laughing for ages afterwards.
The following evening would have been the zulu warrior evening had I not cancelled it. After the open air event at the bedouin evening I thought we would be pushing our luck to go somewhere away from the coast and not expect to be bitten by mosquitos. I wasn’t too disappointed, knowing I could do this trip on a future visit to Tunisia. Having seen a bit of Sousse and Port el Kantaoui we were both happy to just chill out on the beach for the remainder of the holiday but on Tuesday morning we paid another visit to Port el Kantaoui where I bought four pairs of leather sandals at incredibly bargain prices. Unfortunately the saracen only works in the marina in the afternoons so yet again we missed taking a picture of him. Next time we hope to go on one of the catamaran trips that sail from the marina. Wednesday was our last day and we were both really sad and didn’t want to go home! Our flight was late that evening so we had paid extra to keep our room until 6 pm. We got up early and even having breakfast we were down on the beach installed under a thatched parasol by 8.30 am. This time Mum tried lying on a sun bed so that she could get plenty of rest before the long journey homeward that evening. We stayed there all day until 4 pm, having lunch and beers at midday and we swam several times as it was the hottest day of the holiday, 37 centigrade. We were so sad when we left that beach and said our goodbyes to the beach boy who was also sad that we were going and gave us both a big hug.
Then we went back to our room, finished packing and each had a shower. Packing was a nightmare getting everything into our cases where we had bought so much! I was carrying the two rugs as although folded well they were too big to fit into either of our flight bags and were too heavy to go into our suitcases. As only one piece of hand luggage was allowed per person, Mum’s flight bag had to go into her case and it was then a struggle to get everything into the two cases, both of us worried in case we were vastly over the baggage weight allowance which these days is only 20 kg per person, excess being charged £6 per kilo. I managed to rig up a handle for the rugs with one of the belts we had purchased. By the time we finally loaded everything else the bags were so heavy I did not know how I would manage them, knowing I would have to manage everything, even our two handbags, as Mum has one weak arm and the other arm could only manage her walking stick!
At 6.30 we went down for our last dinner, which to my delight had a speciality of Cous Cous Royale again, this time with lamb as opposed to chicken earlier in the week. Of all the Tunisian dishes we sampled that week this dish was my ultimate favourite. When I saw it I ignored the starter table and most of the other dishes and had two platefuls of this instead! We were fussed over by our waiter (and two others looking after neighbouring tables) and we rewarded them nicely with good tips for having been so kind to us all the week. We had photos taken with them and I took the name and address of one so that I could post them a copy later. Even in the hotel we were the only English people apart from a family of four until more than halfway into the week, and as a result were singled out by the waiters who really looked after us. It was only a 3 star hotel but the level of comfort, care and pampering was unbelievable. After dinner we only had an hour to while away in the bar and then the coach arrived which would collect us and other guests from other hotels along the way all the way back to Monastir airport. It was interesting to see the other hotels including the Tour Khalef where Mum and Andrea stayed 18 years previously.
After checking in at Monastir we had quite a long wait until our flight which wasn’t leaving until midnight. We passed the time with drinks and icecreams and reading our books and I gave the remainder of our Tunisian money to the guy who checked our passports, as one is not allowed to take Tunisian currency out of Tunisia. Then finally we could relax in our seats at the front of the plane and thence the flight home. Colin met us at Bristol airport but had forgotten to check his petrol gauge before leaving home and all the way back to Bath the warning fuel empty light was flashing with us feeling anxious in case we ran out of petrol on the way home! Luckily we didn’t and it was 4 in the morning before we reached home. Luckily I had booked the morning off work as well and didn’t have to go to work until noon.
Two days after our arrival home we booked our next holiday to Tunisia!!! We fly on 28th March next year and this time will be staying at the four star Marhaba Beach hotel which is one of four hotels in one complex, one of which is also the Tour Khalef, and we can enjoy the facilities of all four hotels. We found one week wasn’t long enough so our next holiday will be for 14 nights and we are really looking forward to it. Before making the reservation I checked the internet to see if any tour operators handled the Royal Salem but unfortunately none in this country do. It would have been possible to book and pay for a room online for us but when I checked out the flights, only Thomsons have flights going to Monastir and the cost of them was so high that it would have worked out too expensive with the addition of taxis between airport and hotel either end of the holiday. At least on a Thomson package deal the airport-hotel transfers are free and one is looked after by a tour rep should any problems arise.
My advice to anyone not visiting Tunisia before is to look into taking a holiday there. I was really impressed and this could be my second love destination after South America and Peru. And so much cheaper too - our two weeks in the hotel inclusive of flights next time is less than £500 and even at the end of March the temperatures will be 20 centigrade plus. I can see myself going there regularly in future and maybe even renting an apartment for a month or more in future years, especially once more airlines fly to Monastir and the monopoly isn’t held by just one airline with prices to match!
On 14 June I flew to Tunisia with my Mum for a week’s holiday. We flew from our local airport – Bristol - arriving around three hours later in Monastir. From Monastir we were transferred by coach to our hotel, dropping off people at other hotels along the way. Although the distance between Monastir and Sousse isn’t that great, our late departure from the UK and multiple drop offs meant we didn’t arrive at our hotel until nearly midnight. I was very impressed at how well Mum coped with the journey as she is 77 years old - we were both glad to finally arrive though.
On arrival we had to fill in brief forms for the hotel - the Marhaba Salem – and in the process I had to put down the sun hat that I had carried all the way from Bristol - which was a great nuisance on the plane. I didn’t realise until next day that I forgot to pick it up again and unfortunately no one handed it in. I was just glad that at the last minute I decided not to take the lovely pink hat purchased in Paris the week before and took the one bought in Weymouth instead!
Next morning we were awake quite early. We had been allocated a ground floor room with its own patio and opening the curtains we looked out onto the beautiful gardens with its multitude of different palm trees and profusions of flowers in every imaginable colour. We knew that the paths through the gardens led to the hotel’s own beach and were looking forward to going there after breakfast. Once dressed and ready we located the dining room for our breakfast. There we were allocated a table by our friendly waiters which would be ours for the duration of the holiday. We were considerably impressed with the vast choices on offer for breakfast, one buffet table with several cereals, varieties of yoghurt and rice puddings, profusions of cakes and biscuits, bowls of fresh fruits - another hot buffet area with varieties of cooked breakfasts including eggs cooked in every way imaginable, warm croissants, pain chocolates and danish pastries and for me - the best of all - the crepes and the bowls of jams to go on them! One had to queue up for the crepes as the chef could only cook two at a time, but I enjoyed two or three every morning thereafter, sprinkled with sugar and a squeeze of lemon or lime juice.
After breakfast we zoomed back to our room, collected the beachbag with swimwear, towels, sunglasses, books and sun lotions and set off through the garden to the beach. We did a slight detour first to explore the pool areas - two outdoor pools - with shops, poolside bar. Unfortunately Mum wouldn’t be able to use the nearest pool as one got in via a thin metal ladder but the other one was easier as one could walk in right from the edge. The pools were well equipped with plenty of sunbeds and cushions, tables and chairs, and we were hoping those facilities extended to the beach. Also that morning we attended a meeting with our Thomson Rep who gave us a lot of information about Sousse and nearby Port El Kantaoui, plus details of various excursions on offer. I knew that Mum wouldn’t want to go on any of the day excursions but was particularly interested in a couple of the evening excursions and we booked up two of them for later in the week - a bedouin Arabian feast evening and an African zulu feast evening. There was no way I could travel to North Africa without experiencing at least some of its vibrant culture! Before heading through the gardens to the beach we purchased the use of a safety deposit box in which to keep our money and passports and changed up some money - easy and quick to do each day at hotel reception at a government fixed exchange rate.
Soon we were on the lovely sandy beach which was also well equipped with thatched parasols, and a type of sun deckchairs. These were too low for Mum so we had a word with the boy in charge of beach furniture and he promised to fetch a chair for Mum each day and keep it for her exclusive use. I was quite happy to stretch out on a towel on the sand which is what I usually do back home.
The sea looked glorious, a lovely aquamarine colour, shelving quite shallowly from the shore and when we walked in we were pleasantly surprised at how warm it was compared to the icy shiver you feel when entering the sea back home. I don’t normally go in the sea, preferring to relax on the sand, but Mum didn’t feel confident going in alone so I accompanied her each time she wanted a swim and quite enjoyed it really. It was a great way to cool off in the hot sun which got steadily hotter throughout our week there. There was also a cool sea breeze most days so that when on the beach we never felt too hot, even when the sand was too hot to walk on in our bare feet. There was also a snack bar right on the beach where we sometimes had a cooked lunch brought to us on the sands. It was also lovely to sip an icy cold beer which we could also enjoy on the sands rather than going into the bar. Once I promised to bring them back, the waiters let us have nice stemmed glasses rather than the plastic cups normally reserved for beach use. Also we booked up to go on another excursion, a whole morning out at sea on an old fashioned pirate style galleon complete with lunch on board. The guy who sold the tickets for it was really nice and we ended up chatting to him every day. When Mum was worried about how she would get on board the boat he misunderstood and said ‘Don’t worry - you walk across a gangplank to get on board; you don’t have to swim out to it!!!!’
Our first morning was really relaxing and we would have spent all day there had we not been persuaded by another guy to go on a mini bus trip offered free by the two sister hotels which was departing from the nearby Royal Salem at 1.30. I wanted to see a little bit of Sousse and when the guy said we could be dropped off in the medina and picked up again later we agreed to go on the trip. That proved a false promise later when the mini bus sailed past the medina despite my protests at the time. We were taken to a supposed government shop where we could make purchases. Mum wanted to see the carpets so I left her seated downstairs where they were being demonstrated and popped upstairs to look at the other stalls as I was interested in buying a leather handbag - I ended up buying two the same colour in different designs (because I couldn’t make up my mind between the two, plus a better deal was offered for buying two). I haggled these down to a reasonable price which worked out about £19 for the two. Back downstairs afterwards Mum had been persuaded to buy two rugs which were joined together by the fringe - she only wanted to buy one and they were trying to persuade her to have them both - so in the end I said I would have one of them. I managed to haggle another 100 dinars off the price but they still worked out quite expensive. It was only later that I discovered the guy who organised the coach trip received a good commission for every purchase made by the tourists he brought. Unfortunately I did not know this before buying a leather jacket as well. I was really impressed with the style and quality of the leather jackets on offer and bought a nice three quarter length one in burgundy. I especially liked these jackets because they were so light weight compared to leather jackets back home. Unfortunately we were so long in that shop that there was no time to visit the medina on the way back, but we resolved to go independently by taxi a day or two later. One thing we learned was that there would be an opportunity to listen to some live music in the nearby Royal Salem hotel on Saturday evening and I was hoping beyond anything that it would be live Tunisian music!
Back at the hotel we visited the pool and Mum had a swim before we returned to our room to get ready for the evening. Our accommodation was half board which meant dinner each evening was included which could be taken anytime between 6.30 and 9 pm. For this we enjoyed dressing up each evening. If we were impressed at the variety on offer at breakfast we were literally overwhelmed by the vast amount of choice on offer in the evenings - all served buffet style with assistance from waiters if required. I knew my diet had flown straight out of the window for that week! There was a long table with starters alone - multitudes of salads, cooked fish, sliced meats etc. The hot buffet was best with about 20 main course dishes on offer. I was a bit disappointed that first evening as the food seemed to be mainly international dishes with not a Tunisian dish in sight, but luckily that changed as the week progressed and we enjoyed some excellent Tunisian specialities. There were always two really special dishes on offer which to my delight were usually based on chicken or turkey. As you can imagine we indulged in lots of delicious things and then were overwhelmed all over again when we visited the dessert table which was loaded with lots of really fancy cakes, served up by a chef, all so light they melted in your mouth, and beautifully adorned with creams, fruit glazes or icing - plus yet more individual cakes and pastries including chocolate coated choux buns, and plates and bowls of yet more fresh fruits - sliced melon, watermelon, apricots, nectarines, greengages, damsons or plums. There were also ice-creams to choose from and our friendly waiters always brought us dishes of my favourite pistachio icecream each evening to finish off our meal. We usually enjoyed a nice bottle of Tunisian rose wine with our meal and had a lot of fun chatting to the friendly waiters all of whom could speak English. In fact we found wherever we went the Tunisian people were lovely and friendly and clearly really liked English people and really enjoyed any opportunity to chat - all of them could speak some English, even the lovely old lady who looked after our room each day. Including the beach boy who always looked out for us, came running with Mum’s chair whenever we arrived on the beach, hailing her ‘Hello Mum’ as he approached. We became very fond of him as the week progressed!
The following day we were able to spend the whole day at the beach and really enjoyed ourselves. We knew by this time we were going to thoroughly enjoy every minute of this fantastic holiday - the food, the people, the fantastic weather, perpetual sunshine every day, the glorious beach and our time spent in the sea. There were usually paddle boats moored along the shore and sometimes we just sat on the end of these with our feet in the gentle rolling waves for half an hour or more. The beach offered a multitude of water sports - jet skis, paragliding where two people dangling from a parachute were pulled along by a motorboat - the paddle floats, and rafts full of people being towed by a fast motor boat, screaming with laughter as the raft bounced across the waves.
On Saturday we decided to get a taxi and pay a visit to Sousse. This was easy enough - one had to haggle the price down each time and a trip to either Sousse or Port el Kantaoui was around 4 dinars, a bit less than two English pounds, in each direction. Away from the beach we were amazed at how hot the sun beat down which meant that unfortunately Mum couldn’t walk far. We got out of the taxi at the medina and ended up staying ages in the first shop we were persuaded to enter! First we bought handbags and then entered the carpet selling area and soon found ourselves being shown a vast variety of carpets with mint tea to enjoy whilst we watched. We had only wanted to compare prices with those we had already bought, which is how we learned that the savings were considerable buying direct and haggling directly with the carpet producers in the medina. I fell in love with two beige matching rugs which were bigger than the ones purchased 2 days earlier - I knew they would be perfect on my new lounge carpet at home. There followed a lot of fierce haggling and I managed to get the price down to 750 dinars for the two inclusive of shipping and freight. At the same time Mum fell in love with a pair of rugs which I managed to haggle down to 550 dinars for the pair. We still weren’t really intending to buy until we realised they would be happy to accept just a 25% payment now, and the balance in mid November, with delivery promised in time for Christmas. At this we finally went ahead with the purchase. The firm were established since 1928, the year of Mum’s birth, so we felt confident our rugs would arrive as promised. Mum was impressed at how well I haggled the price down - I was so good at it that a couple of times the man called me Sir instead of Madam, which in the arab world is probably a sign of respect!!! Especially as I was continuously working things out on a calculator to get the price in pounds. At the end of it all Mum was given a big hug and I had my hand shaken!!!!
We looked at the leather jackets in that shop afterwards and I fell in love with a short one which I promised to come back and buy on our next visit. In Tunisia one can visit the leather factory and be measured up for a leather jacket and it is ready to collect the following day.Back outside again a couple of hours later the sun was high in the sky and the heat was incredible. I knew Mum would never stand it for more than about 20 minutes. We decided to visit just one short rank of shops only and then come back another day. A visit to the medina is an eye-opener as every shop keeper urges you to enter their shop and if you do you cannot get out again without buying something! I found the ambience quite fun but Mum found it a bit intrusive. I bought a Tunisian dress in deep rose pink adorned with gold braid and sequins plus a nice leather belt for Colin. It was nice when finally we were spoken to by one shop keeper who just wanted to talk when he realised we were English. We chatted to him for a while and exchanged names and I said we would call in again the next time we visited the medina. We then stopped at an open air cafe and enjoyed fruit juices and panini sandwiches under a shady tree before venturing out of the medina and taking a taxi back to the hotel. The medina really is a fascinating place, hundreds of alleyways of shops all within an ancient walled city. I believe Sousse medina covers an area of around 30 square km.
Once back at the hotel we were anxious to visit the beach and cool down in the sea, but not for long as we had decided to go to the neighbouring Royal Salem hotel in the evening. We had dinner quite early and headed for the Royal Salem about 8.30 in the evening. This is an amazingly luxurious hotel all marble and colourful fountains and foliage with a huge raised dias circular bar with seating areas all within the gigantic foyer. Overhead is like an atrium, with every floor having the circular veranda right up to a glass roof overhead. A glass lift moving up and down between the floors. We were very impressed with this beautiful hotel. We ordered drinks and were enjoying the ambience and soon afterwards the evening’s entertainment began. I was disappointed that it wasn’t a Tunisian band playing traditional music but Mum thoroughly enjoyed the young Tunisian musician and singer who was singing English songs! We stayed listening for a couple of hours and the evening was redeemed further for me a bit later when a belly dancer appeared and gave us a really impressive performance.
Our two hotels - the Marhaba Salem and the Royal Salem – were both situated in one complex and we were able to enjoy the facilities of both hotels. The Royal Salem was the more luxurious of the two and we were both intrigued at how much it would cost to actually stay there. We intended to sample some of the other facilities but somehow never got around to it in just one week.
On Sunday we just spent the morning on the beach and then took a taxi to Port el Kantaoui in the afternoon as Mum was anxious for me to see it. When we arrived she hardly recognised it as a lot of building had taken place since her previous visit 18 years earlier. We had to enter via a park and various shops where we were again waylaid and couldn’t escape without buying a lime green embroidered tunic blouse and another bag for Mum. We enjoyed browsing the shops once in the circular square leading to the marina because the prices were fixed, ie no haggling, and one could browse without being hassled. We both bought various things to take home as gifts and then stopped in one of the outdoor cafes and enjoyed enormous, almost pint sized, glasses of colourful layers of different fruit juices whilst admiring the fountains and luxurious flowers, palm trees and plants. When we finally entered the marina itself I was very impressed as it was on the one hand like a rich European millionnaire’s yacht marina and on the other hand typically arab with the white buildings and architecture set among tall palm trees etc. We sat in a shady spot and just enjoyed the ambiance for a while before continuing on our way. Entering the marina I was amazed to see a guy dressed in Saracen costume and was so regretful that I had forgotten to bring my camera because I would have loved to have had a photo of him. I said we would have to come back again and take photos.
On Sunday evening we were booked on one of the excursions - the bedouin Arabian feast - and proceed to get to it by taxi in the early evening. We had partaken of lunch in our hotel that day as we were going out in the evening, which is the usual arrangement in half board hotels. Unfortunately we arrived a bit too early and were the first there. Arriving in the grounds of the complex where the evening would take place, I was pleased to find a spice stall - belonging to a Berber man who had the most stunningly beautiful green eyes. After a bit of haggling I managed to get the price down on a good supply of saffron, plus harissa and a general spice seasoning. Then his son showed us a selection of his paintings and we each bought a small one. I regretted later not buying a larger painting because his talent was remarkable. The main reason was lack of space in our luggage but I fully intend to go back there on my next visit and buy a larger painting. All this while enjoying a glass of sangria.
Then came the disappointment of the evening when we realised the event would take place in an enormous open-sided tent. After deciding not to go out in the evenings due to our fear of mosquitos, you can imagine how apprehensive we both were to be in an open tent for a whole evening. The table we were first ushered to was right under a speaker playing loud Arabic music over which we had difficulty speaking so we moved to another table. We were both really hungry and got a bit restless when no one else seemed to be arriving for ages. Finally, about an hour after our arrival, a coach party arrived which was the remainder of the guests. We had a nice couple sharing our table who had been brought on the bus from Monastir. We were all glad when the evening got going and food started to arrive and this part of the evening was most enjoyable, especially as soon afterwards a long programme of entertainment began, various dancers, juggling, balancing, bed of knives etc, belly dancing. The best part of the evening’s entertainment was looking out onto the square outside and seeing a man dressed as a sheik riding a beautiful arab stallion round and round. Then after the meal finished we all went outside to watch the man and a little girl doing acrobatics on the horse’s back as it rode round, and this was followed by a fire throwing display. Luckily neither of us had been bitten by mosquitos. It wasn’t easy getting a taxi back and we had to wait and were worried about being the last to get one, but eventually we got one and when we got home and I handed over 7 dinars, luckily the driver was happy with that. In Tunisia you don’t ask the price but haggle to what you think is reasonable!
On Monday morning we were up very early and among the first into breakfast as we wanted to leave the hotel by 9.30 and arrive at the Port of Sousse. As usual we arrived really early before anyone else but at least it meant we could board the old fashioned pirate like galleon and Mum could climb the steps to the top deck without feeling embarrassed in front of anyone else. We were among the first on board so could choose where we wanted to sit although as others arrived and got busy slathering themselves with sun lotion and wearing hats, we were dismayed to realise we had forgotten to bring these for ourselves, just cardigans in case it felt cold out at sea! By 10.30 the boat was pretty full and we were on our way, with the prospect of a whole morning out at sea following the coastline and a barbeque lunch later on. Fortunately I was able to purchase a white arab headdress for Mum and she was wearing a sleeved blouse so didn’t get too much effect from the sun. I was wearing a camisole so got quite badly sunburned that day as I refused to cover up with a cardigan. Although we had felt hot while the boat was moored this changed as we got under way out to sea and we thoroughly enjoyed the cool breeze that offset the sun’s heat. It was fun watching the sails being unfurled and I knew we would really enjoy that trip. We were well looked after the whole time, being given cups and unlimited supplies of water or coca cola, sprite or fanta orange followed by fruit for everyone. Then we enjoyed barbequed sardines along with chopped tomatoes and cucumber and chunks of baguette bread. Then a main course of grilled seasoned chicken breasts and finally several chunks of water melon and nectarines. We were the only two English people among a mostly German clientele with just a few French people, and the crew members/waiters singled us out and gave us lots of special attention (and extra food etc!) reinforcing our realisation that Tunisian people really are very fond of English people. About half an hour after the meal the boat was moored for half an hour and people dived overboard to swim on one side and others were fishing from the other side. The water here was about 50 feet deep so I definitely wasn’t tempted to swim, not liking to ever get out of my depth. Also it didn’t look easy having to climb the ropes to get back on board afterwards! The whole time we were out following the coastline I could see that it was a continuous stretch of beautiful white sandy beach, much of it belonging to each hotel fronting it, for mile upon mile. One would have a lovely time virtually anywhere on that coastline.
Back at the Port which was only a short distance from the medina we decided to pay it another visit as there were still things we wanted to buy. We also wanted to find the shop where Ahmed worked and say hello (having promised to when we left the medina the previous Friday). That was easier said than done as the alleyways looked alike and we browsed three streets before we finally found it, with all the ensuing hassle from the shop keepers - but we found nice things to buy including a gold necklace each with lucky charm, and when we reached Ahmed’s shop he looked after us beautifully, sitting us down right in front of an air conditioning unit and rushing off to fetch us mint tea. We then stayed chatting to him for about half an hour and he never once urged us to buy anything which made him almost like an oasis in the middle of the desert, thre in themedina! The shop sold nice jewelry and we vowed we would definitely buy something on our next visit to Tunisia. One funny incident was visiting a loo near the medina entrance with male toilet attendant. Mum and I went into two separate cubicles and next minute a loud shriek was heard - hers was a Turkish toilet!!! The male attendant came running and handed her a mint tea to calm her down. It was so funny and we were laughing for ages afterwards.
The following evening would have been the zulu warrior evening had I not cancelled it. After the open air event at the bedouin evening I thought we would be pushing our luck to go somewhere away from the coast and not expect to be bitten by mosquitos. I wasn’t too disappointed, knowing I could do this trip on a future visit to Tunisia. Having seen a bit of Sousse and Port el Kantaoui we were both happy to just chill out on the beach for the remainder of the holiday but on Tuesday morning we paid another visit to Port el Kantaoui where I bought four pairs of leather sandals at incredibly bargain prices. Unfortunately the saracen only works in the marina in the afternoons so yet again we missed taking a picture of him. Next time we hope to go on one of the catamaran trips that sail from the marina. Wednesday was our last day and we were both really sad and didn’t want to go home! Our flight was late that evening so we had paid extra to keep our room until 6 pm. We got up early and even having breakfast we were down on the beach installed under a thatched parasol by 8.30 am. This time Mum tried lying on a sun bed so that she could get plenty of rest before the long journey homeward that evening. We stayed there all day until 4 pm, having lunch and beers at midday and we swam several times as it was the hottest day of the holiday, 37 centigrade. We were so sad when we left that beach and said our goodbyes to the beach boy who was also sad that we were going and gave us both a big hug.
Then we went back to our room, finished packing and each had a shower. Packing was a nightmare getting everything into our cases where we had bought so much! I was carrying the two rugs as although folded well they were too big to fit into either of our flight bags and were too heavy to go into our suitcases. As only one piece of hand luggage was allowed per person, Mum’s flight bag had to go into her case and it was then a struggle to get everything into the two cases, both of us worried in case we were vastly over the baggage weight allowance which these days is only 20 kg per person, excess being charged £6 per kilo. I managed to rig up a handle for the rugs with one of the belts we had purchased. By the time we finally loaded everything else the bags were so heavy I did not know how I would manage them, knowing I would have to manage everything, even our two handbags, as Mum has one weak arm and the other arm could only manage her walking stick!
At 6.30 we went down for our last dinner, which to my delight had a speciality of Cous Cous Royale again, this time with lamb as opposed to chicken earlier in the week. Of all the Tunisian dishes we sampled that week this dish was my ultimate favourite. When I saw it I ignored the starter table and most of the other dishes and had two platefuls of this instead! We were fussed over by our waiter (and two others looking after neighbouring tables) and we rewarded them nicely with good tips for having been so kind to us all the week. We had photos taken with them and I took the name and address of one so that I could post them a copy later. Even in the hotel we were the only English people apart from a family of four until more than halfway into the week, and as a result were singled out by the waiters who really looked after us. It was only a 3 star hotel but the level of comfort, care and pampering was unbelievable. After dinner we only had an hour to while away in the bar and then the coach arrived which would collect us and other guests from other hotels along the way all the way back to Monastir airport. It was interesting to see the other hotels including the Tour Khalef where Mum and Andrea stayed 18 years previously.
After checking in at Monastir we had quite a long wait until our flight which wasn’t leaving until midnight. We passed the time with drinks and icecreams and reading our books and I gave the remainder of our Tunisian money to the guy who checked our passports, as one is not allowed to take Tunisian currency out of Tunisia. Then finally we could relax in our seats at the front of the plane and thence the flight home. Colin met us at Bristol airport but had forgotten to check his petrol gauge before leaving home and all the way back to Bath the warning fuel empty light was flashing with us feeling anxious in case we ran out of petrol on the way home! Luckily we didn’t and it was 4 in the morning before we reached home. Luckily I had booked the morning off work as well and didn’t have to go to work until noon.
Two days after our arrival home we booked our next holiday to Tunisia!!! We fly on 28th March next year and this time will be staying at the four star Marhaba Beach hotel which is one of four hotels in one complex, one of which is also the Tour Khalef, and we can enjoy the facilities of all four hotels. We found one week wasn’t long enough so our next holiday will be for 14 nights and we are really looking forward to it. Before making the reservation I checked the internet to see if any tour operators handled the Royal Salem but unfortunately none in this country do. It would have been possible to book and pay for a room online for us but when I checked out the flights, only Thomsons have flights going to Monastir and the cost of them was so high that it would have worked out too expensive with the addition of taxis between airport and hotel either end of the holiday. At least on a Thomson package deal the airport-hotel transfers are free and one is looked after by a tour rep should any problems arise.
My advice to anyone not visiting Tunisia before is to look into taking a holiday there. I was really impressed and this could be my second love destination after South America and Peru. And so much cheaper too - our two weeks in the hotel inclusive of flights next time is less than £500 and even at the end of March the temperatures will be 20 centigrade plus. I can see myself going there regularly in future and maybe even renting an apartment for a month or more in future years, especially once more airlines fly to Monastir and the monopoly isn’t held by just one airline with prices to match!
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