April 2004
Tunisia
From 3 to 17 April 2004 we traveled to Tunisia. We visited medinas, mosques, Roman monuments, famous movie locations, breathtaking canyons and sandy beaches, and much more.
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1/79 We left on the afternoon of 3 April, taking this charter Transavia flight to Monastir via Djerba.
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2/79 We stayed at the Tej Marhaba Apartment complex, approximately one kilometer from the center of Sousse, by the beach.
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3/79 On Sunday we walked from our hotel to the medina of Sousse to look at the souks (shopping area). You can see the Great Mosque in the background of this photo.
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4/79 A room of mosaics inside the Sousse Museum, housed in the former Kasbah.
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5/79 Here Amy looks out over Sousse from the Kasbah walls.
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6/79 After our visit to the medina, we walked into the suburban area to the west and found the Catacombs of the Good Shepherd.
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7/79 On Monday we took the train to Tunis, and visited the ruins of Carthage. Here Art stands in front of the Antonin Baths.
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8/79 The flowers were in full bloom at Carthage.
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9/79 Inside the Antonin Baths.
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10/79 Amy inside a partially restored Roman villa.
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11/79 There was a sea of little yellow flowers in Carthage. This is a citadel of Carthage, converted to a mosque.
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12/79 We also went to the Carthage museum, one of the four sites we visited that day.
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13/79 Inside the Carthage Museum.
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14/79 We were starving. We found no place to get food during an entire afternoon of walking around the Roman sites of Carthage. Finally by the museum we found this stand where the only thing we could order was a baguette with tuna, drenched in tuna oil. :oP
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15/79 After Carthage we took the TGM train to Sidi Bou Said, the Beverly Hills of Tunis. This is a beautiful park in the center.
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16/79 The whitewashed homes of Sidi Bou Said. We walked up this steep street to a great view.
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17/79 All doors in Sidi Bou Said were this shade of blue.
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18/79 At the top of the street we had this great view over the harbor.
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19/79 We had a couscous dinner at this open-air restaurant in Sidi Bou Said. Again we were served tuna; luckily there were lots of cats around to help us out. ^..^
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20/79 On Tuesday we walked back to the Sousse medina to visit two sites. This is the courtyard of the Great Mosque.
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21/79 This is the Ribat of Sousse.
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22/79 Here is a view over Sousse from the top of the Ribat tower. The Great Mosque is in the foreground.
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23/79 Amy went up the narrow, scary tower alone, and took this photo of Arthur lounging around down below.
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24/79 On Wednesday, 7 April, we rented a car for a week: this blue Renault Clio.
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25/79 Here we are on the road from Sousse to Tozeur via Kairouan and Gafsa. There were zillions of these white Isuzu pickup trucks on the road, all over the country.
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26/79 Along the way we saw a few herds of camels roaming free.
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27/79 We found a very nice hotel in Tozeur. In the evening we walked into the oasis.
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28/79 On Thursday we drove to the Star Wars Canyon, southeast of Tozeur, close to the Chott el Jerid. Raiders of the Lost Ark was also partially filmed here.
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29/79 This is the rock where R2D2 got snatched by the Jawas in Star Wars: A New Hope.
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30/79 Amy looking over the canyon where Indy tried to rescue Marion from the Nazis.
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31/79 Driving over the Chott we were passed by hundreds of these white Land Rovers racing south taking tourists on desert "safaris".
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32/79 The Chott is a huge dry salt lake. A sixty kilometer road runs north / south through the Chott from Tozeur to Kebili. There were some rest stops along the way where you could walk onto the salt, like here.
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33/79 Arthur on the Chott.
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34/79 After the Chott we passed Kebili and drove to Douz, where we had lunch and visited the Sahara Museum. Douz was crawling with Land Rovers dropping people off in the desert.
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35/79 We took a brief walk into the Sahara.
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36/79 Arthur on the 'Dunes of Douz'.
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37/79 There we many camels parked in Douz waiting to take tourists into the Sahara.
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38/79 There were so many camels and Isuzu trucks, this was bound to happen.
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39/79 We drove to Matmata where we checked into the Sidi Driss Hotel, which is a Troglodyte construction. This technique of building houses into the underground rock is (almost - see Bulla Regia) unique to Matmata, keeping the people cool in summer and warm in winter.
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40/79 In 1976 Star Wars was filmed at this hotel, and much of the set was still in place. Notice the vaporating equipment in the background. :oO
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41/79 Our room (17) was your basic cave with two simple beds and some hooks on the wall.
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42/79 The impressive landscape around Matmata was a cross between a moonscape and the Grand Canyon. You can't tell but there are other Troglodyte dwellings in these mountains.
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43/79 The next day we drove south towards Tataouine to visit this ghorfa (fortified granery) at Metameur, which is also a unique building style for the area.
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44/79 On Saturday morning we were back in Metlaoui to take this restored 1900s train, the Lezard Rouge, through the Seldja Gorge.
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45/79 The views from the train were very impressive. We stopped a few times to get out and take photos.
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46/79 Leaving the Seldja Gorge.
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47/79 Sunday we drove from our hotel in Le Kef to see two major Roman sites. Here we are at Bulla Regia, which is known for it's unique underground Roman villas.
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48/79 Here Arthur stands in an underground courtyard.
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49/79 Among the ruins of Bulla Regia.
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50/79 Unlike many other Roman sites in Tunisia, there were lots of mosaics left in situ at Bulla Regia, including this impressive specimen.
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51/79 This is the theater of Bulla Regia.
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52/79 We then took a scenic route through the rolling hills from Bulla Regia to the impressive Roman site of Dougga (Thugga).
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53/79 Amy on stage at Dougga's theater.
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54/79 The capitol of Dougga.
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55/79 Dougga is a very large site to explore.
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56/79 On Monday we visited the amphitheater of El Djem, the third-largest such theater in the Roman world.
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57/79 Inside El Djem.
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58/79 El Djem also had an impressive museum full of mosaics (duh), and this informative reconstructed Roman villa.
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59/79 On Tuesday 13 April we visited Kairouan. This is the Great Mosque.
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60/79 The Cairo scenes in Raiders of the Lost Ark were filmed on the streets of Kairouan. Here we are in the medina.
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61/79 Here we visit the zaouia of a muslim holy man inside Kairouan's medina.
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62/79 Outside the medina there was a market, where we bought a kilo of huge, fresh strawberries.
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63/79 Driving in Tunisia was a challenge, with roads full of camels, sheep, donkeys, horses pulling all kind of contraptions, motorbikes, speeding taxis and extremely slow Isuzus, all honking and flashing their lights at us. Not to mention the zillions of pedestrians (especially students) walking all over the streets, anywhere but the sidewalks.
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64/79 On Wednesday we took the Happy Noddy Train from Sousse to Port el Kantoui, a tourist ghetto devoid of Tunisian culture.
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65/79 We succumbed to a tout and took a two hour sea cruise on this catamaran.
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66/79 Arthur was very brave and sat all the way out on the tip of the boat. Here he searches for dolphins.
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67/79 We saw a group of four dolphins jumping together.
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68/79 They came to the boat and checked us out.
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69/79 On the beach of Port el Kantoui watersports were available, including parasailing and jet-skiing.
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70/79 On Thursday we took the train to Tunis again, to visit the Bardo museum, and the medina. This is the Sousse train station.
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71/79 There was no shortage of amazing mosaics in the Bardo museum.
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72/79 Roooaaaar.
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73/79 Part of the museum used to be a palace, and the rooms were appropriately decked out in full splendor.
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74/79 One of the gates to the medina of Tunis.
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75/79 Amy in the medina.
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76/79 The medina of Tunis was one of six UNESCO World Heritage sites we visited in Tunisia. The others were Kairouan, the medina of Sousse, Carthage, Dougga, and El Djem.
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77/79 On Friday we walked 10 kilometers along the beach from Sousse to Port el Kantoui. The sky was sometimes overcast and the water was very rough.
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78/79 On Saturday, our last day, we walked into Sousse one last time. This is the corniche.
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79/79 Inside the medina we visited the El Kobba museum, dedicated to traditional Tunisian wedding ceremonies.
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