BACK IN TUNISIA AFTER 18 YEARS

 

Entering Tunisia is easy, we fill in a form and our passports are stamped. Then on to Customs where we buy insurance for GR3 and we are in. We drive through and pull over. It’s late afternoon so we check where to camp. It looks like there is a great campsite at Tozeur so we set the GPS and head there. We reach town and weave our way through the palmeraie to the camping. It’s perfect, we can camp between the palm trees and chill after a few long driving days.

The next morning is taken up doing chores. Cleaning, washing and a bit of computer work. Chores done we head out to explore town on our e-scooters. They are perfect for getting to town and zipping along the streets, although I must admit I’m still nervous with a lot of traffic around. We love the amazing brickwork here, and I am forever stopping to take the odd photo or two. When we find the old quarter, we stop and look through some stalls and a small museum. One of the locals takes us for a short tour of the maze of streets and shows us his house he is converting into a BnB. It is a fun excursion, and our scooters get us back without running out of battery power. Bonus.

The next morning it is time to head off after 2 nights in one place, but first we head to the supermarket but don’t get much as the meat looks dodgy and veges are always better in the markets. Out of town we cross the Chott/salt plains to reach the Atlas Mountains. Then it is a glorious drive winding up through the mountains, stopping at viewpoints and waterfalls. Just before the town of Tamerza we stop for lunch, then head into town to check the next waterfall. As we walk in a guide attaches himself to us and we can’t shake him. He insists we take a crazy track and we relent. He guides us down to the river and into a lovely canyon which narrows down to a slot canyon. Then we clamber up to the top for views and back to the restaurant and waterfall, which is where the correct walking track went. Of course, it all turns to custard when we offer him much less than he wants. He rains Arabic curses on our heads as we make our escape! Such is the joy of having an unwanted guide! Phew, out of town we head on to the tiny town of Mides where there is a spot we can camp beside the Mides Family Resto. It proves to be lovely, the owner incredibly welcoming and there are even a few other campers to chat too. We wander down to the gorge to explore the ruins of Old Mides and peer down at the lovely gorge below (there will be time tomorrow to explore that) and head back to the Resto for a set dinner – just the soup and bread would have been perfect, but more food just keeps coming out!

In the morning, we put on our boots, get out our sticks and head off to explore. The gorge doesn’t disappoint. It is too early for any pesky tour guides to hassle us and so we have a lovely time on our own. Much later we return to GR3 and head off. One of the campers has recommended a drive down the mountains from Redeyef, so we head there, wind through the back streets and find our road.  It is a stunning drive back down the Atlas Mountains to the incredibly flat plains below. We follow back roads to Meflaoui and continue nearly to Tozeur, where we turn and head across the massive Chott el Jerid. It is a 50km drive over this salt pan (and that is the narrowest part – this pan is massive). Halfway across the wind picks up and sand blasts across the road. The sand blasting continues as we head south through a string of towns all the way to Douz, which is right on the edge of the Erg Oriental. We find La Porte de Sahara which is Mohammed’s back yard. Not a bad spot for the night.

Mohammed is a desert guide so John chats to him about driving to the dunes. In the end we decide to do a 2-day trip with him right into the dunes. We leave tomorrow, so today we head to town, fill up with diesel (we have learnt that’s very important), visit the lovely little Musee de Sahara and explore the very quiet souk.

Late morning we head off on our next adventure. The Tunisian Sahara! Unfortunately, that sandblasting wind hasn’t stopped, but it doesn’t hinder driving. The first section is tarseal, but the sand has made speed bumps all over the road, some rather large, so we weave all over the road. The next section is gravel, with sand piled on each side and threatening to cover the track. Then finally we are on the dunes, mainly small ones interspersed with stony sections.  Much later we pull into a camping area for the night, find a spot and head out to explore, but after a while the stinging sand gets too much and we head back into the truck.

The next morning the wind has eased and the sun is breaking through. Again, we explore the dunes before heading off in the truck. We are surprised how much sand has built up around our wheels, and our track in from last night has vanished. We head straight into the huge dunes. GR3 is going nicely UNTIL on a big uphill section the engine cuts out completely. She stops. Warning lights flash and she won’t start, The guys try everything for the next few hours. In the end we ring for a mechanic and truck. Very expensive, but what else can we do!!! Then we wait. The sandblasting is still happening, so we relax (albeit at a slope) inside GR3. By 5pm we hear them coming and the mechanic sets to work. Yay he gets it going. It was simply a fuse, so he bypasses it totally. We head back to the campsite for another night, while our rescue truck goes home with a pocket very full of our Euros.

The next morning, we wake to glorious blue skies and even better, no wind.  Today we head to Ksar Ghilane, back through more dune covered desert before turning from the main track and driving to the sandduned “Door” that leads us out of the desert. Phew a bit of rock and roll driving over rows of dunes. John is having a ball and I am glad to get out to take photos. It was here a few weeks ago a German rolled his 4x4 camper truck and needed 2 trucks and a tractor to get out! Then on to the remains of a Roman Fort at Tisavar. We think it will now be smooth sailing but there are even more dunes before we finally reach Ksar Ghilane.  We say our goodbyes to Mohammed and his driver and settle into a campground right over the road from the hot pools. Time for a much-needed soak in the warm water before we wander around this touristy spot. There are more quads than you can count, a row of shops and a few Hotels.

The next morning, we can’t resist another soak in the pool (with not another tourist in sight), before heading out of town and into the flatness of the barren stoney desert. The plan is to head south as far as we can, but after miles of nothing and when the road turns to washboard, we change our plans. Instead, we head towards Chenini and the start of the Ksars. The first stop will be the bonnet town of Guermassa (bonnet in that the town covers the top of the hillside) and as we get closer, we can see the old town running around the ridges of the nearby hills. What an incredible sight. We pull over and head off to explore. Not another tourist in sight and we are free to wander anywhere. We feel like explorers of old! After lunch we head on to Chenini where the old and slightly newer town merges together. Again, another amazing few hours exploring another bonnet town. We overnight in the large parking area just below town. We think it’s an amazing spot until the Mulin starts singing from the Koran for two whole hours! John is asleep before it finishes!

Our next bonnet town is the even more amazing Douirat. Well, we think so partly because we didn’t visit it on our last trip and partly because of the “extras” we find as we look around. These include numerous olive grinding mills, a functioning well with water troughs and countless homes in good condition.  Now it is time to move on to Tatahouire and do a loop around a string on ksars or fortified granaries. Our first one, just before Tatahouire, is Ksar Ouled Debbab which has been restored and is in use as a Hotel, so we can only peep into the restaurant area. No lunch here today as Ramadan is still on and all cafes & restaurants are still closed. Then onto town to hunt down a supermarket and an ATM. Chores done we carry on to countless ksars. John is getting a bit over them by the time I have made us stop at Ksar Jelidat (there are 3 here), Ksar Ezzehra and finally the more famous Ksar Ouled Soltane that was renovated for a Star Wars movie. Time to head south through miles of desert. The plan is to head towards the Libyan border and then drive north on a road that hugs the border to a National Park. Note all our maps show a big road.  We pull over for the night not far off the road.

Wake to a glorious sunny day so we head off in good spirits, passing the very military town of Remada. We drive up and down the main road a few times hunting for the petrol station, but there is no diesel, but we can refill our water tanks. Then onto the border town of Dehibat where we again hunt for a petrol station going as far as the actual border. All we can see are rows of tubs beside the road where locals are selling fuel they have brought in from Libya. We end up buying some before we head off to find the road that hugs the Libyan border as it heads north. All is great for the first few kms, until it turns to gravel and then sand. Now it is simply a track. But there is a parallel road on our map that joins this one in 30kms. Maybe that is the main road, and it will improve then! We continue! We pass a military installation, then a second one and then reach a third one where we are stopped. “What are you doing here?”  We wait.  Finally, a military vehicle with 4 soldiers arrives and escorts us back to the first station. Again, we wait (inside the fenced area for our safety) for the Gare National vehicle to arrive. Then they escort us back to Remada. Unfortunately, we can’t just leave as they need to write a report that takes at least 2 hours! It is early evening by the time yet another vehicle escorts us halfway back to Tatahouine, where another vehicle meets us and takes us the rest of the way.  Crazy – we passed numerous police checkpoints coming south and none stopped us, which they obviously should have.!

Well, that is a massive change to our plans. We will now miss the National Park entirely as we cannot go there without escort. Tomorrow we will look at our maps and decide. Rain in the night continues so in the morning we stay put and wander the streets and when the rain eases, we leave town. The plan is to head to Matmata to see the Troglodyte dwellings. Of course, we find stop at a few more amazing ksars, including the more famous Ksar Hadada where Phantom of the Menace was filmed. It is currently a quirky Hotel. Then it’s a glorious drive through red hued mountains to Matmata where we camp at an abandoned Hotel right in town.

Of course we explore town. First the Sidi Idriss Hotel that is living off its Star Wars fame and then the Maison de Troglodyte Musee. It is a living breathing underground home and the owners are very welcoming, even though they have no English. We explore the rooms and enjoy tea and bread dipped in a honey oil mixture. There are more of these homes dotted everywhere as we can see lots of gaping holes. No workplace health & safety here. And even more of these homes, mostly now abandoned, as we head down to the flat plains.

Now we follow the lovely and very cheap toll motorway to the huge city of Sfax. We plan to visit the Medine/fortress there. As we get closer to town, and of course we are now off the motorway, the traffic turns to gridlock. Unfortunately, Tunisian drivers are nearly as bad as Indian drivers. They make 3 lanes where there should be 2, they squeeze into any gaps and park anywhere at any angle. In short, it’s mayhem. It takes ages to get to the huge fortress like Medina, and it’s very impressive. But unfortunately, every man, woman & child in the city is visiting it today and the streets are filled with cars parked everywhere leaving the smallest amount of room on the road for cars to squeeze through (and we are in a truck!). We are starting to think it will only be a drive through as all the car parks are total chaos when I spy a big area by the old railway. We pull in and someone there gives us a thumbs up. We can park there. Phew. We head into the medina, but the pedestrian traffic is as bad as the road.  Not really the visit we had hoped for. Once back at GR3 we head, very slowly, out of the city and directly north to El Jem. I am hoping that traffic here will be more relaxed. Sadly, it isn’t. The markets are in full swing as we arrive, and of course they encroach on the road and local shoppers park anywhere. We finally arrive at the bus carpark where we can camp. It’s lovely and quiet, only a stones throw from the massive colosseum and as a bonus there are a couple of Aussie campers there. We spend a lovely evening chatting.

In the morning, we head into the Colosseum/ Amphitheatre of Thysdrus. It is as amazing as we remember from our trip here 18 years ago in GR1. We can climb to the highest seats to admire the view, poke down where the animals and gladiators waited and walk down the length of the stage. Later we head to the museum that’s filled with stunning mosaics and some Roman houses.  But as always it is time to move on….. more coming soon.