Hello again! A heads up that this is a longish post. We didn't have good enough internet to post for a bit.
Our return trip from Kerkennah Islands almost didn't happen when we somehow drove into the line of cars getting off the ferry, not the line getting on it! Luckily, an astute and helpful ferry worker got us sorted, lol.
Our plan was to check out one of the best and most authentic medinas in the country at Sfax, however we soon realised that it was the Eid holiday and the whole medina was shut down! Still, we had fun wandering the almost empty streets. John asked one guy where he could find a toilet and the guy stopped the conversation he was having with his friend and led us through some laneways to his coffee shop which, like all the other shops, was closed. He unlocked it and let John in. Meanwhile, another middle-aged guy started talking to me, trying to tell me places to see in the medina but I didn't understand a lot. John speaks French but I only speak the basics. The people are just so friendly and helpful.
This mosque wall had amazing carved features.
It was a really hot day but the medina was shady and cooler, especially in the arched souks. Normally this would be full of people but today it was completely empty.
The medina is still surrounded by huge fortified walls. It looks more like a castle than a market.
We turned south and headed back down the Trans-African Highway. Again, the road was terrific, however we drove for a few hundred kms that day and didn't pass a single petrol station along the whole stretch. It was lucky that we had enough.
We drove to near the town of Gabes to see the famous oasis there. It's possibly the only oasis in the world that's near the sea! Covering an area of about 10 square kms, the oasis has been farmed for thousands of years using a unique cropping system. I thought it would be really interesting but we basically just drove through farmland that was significantly greener than elsewhere. Most of it was fenced in and we couldn't really see a lot.
We headed south again and drove to the very cool-sounding town of Tataouine. A lot of the Star Wars movies were filmed in Tunisia (more on that later), however not much was filmed around his area. George Lucas just liked the name and it became Tatooine, the desert planet where Anakin Skywalker was born.
We hit a big disappointment here - our accommodation was very ordinary. It was dark and dingy, however we did appreciate that it was cool at least! This was the most important thing as the temperatures were starting to soar outside. As it was the Eid festival, the owners were busy with family commitments so we barely saw them.
We took a while to get organised the next day and we learned from our mistake. By the time we finished seeing the things we wanted to see it was a horrendous 39 degrees!
There are many ksour in this region. Ksour is the plural of ksar. Ksour are fortified villages or, as is more common in this area, fortified granaries. We did a 70km loop south of Tataouine and checked out about eight ksour. They were incredible!
At most of the ksour, grain storage areas formed a square around an open space, although this varied from one to the next. They all had the same arched doorways and had multiple stories. Most of these ksour are a few hundred to a thousand years old. Many were abandoned around 100 years ago as people no longer needed to defend themselves and living in a house in a town was much easier than living in a cave house.
I love the way the buildings blend into the landscape as they're built from the same dirt and rocks.
Ksar Jellidet.
Inside each room were areas to store grains and other things. Unfortunately, plastic rubbish seems to have replaced the grain these days. This was the same at every ksar we visited.
Rockin' the kasbah!
The next ksar, Ksar Ezzahra, was amazing! We pulled up in a courtyard surrounded by the ksar. A passageway led to a second courtyard and this part was incredible. The granaries stood four stories high and looked stunning with rocks and bits of wood sticking out of them.
Stairs led to the higher floors.
If this looks familiar, it's because you've seen one of these in Star Wars. Again, more on this later.
Driving between sites, the views from the car got more and more desolate.
We bush-bashed up a rocky track to Ksar Tamelest, This one wasn't so impressive but the views from the top were great.
There were a few oasis-like patches here and there.
In other places the barrenness was striking.
We approached our last ksar, Ksar Beni Barka. It was spectacularly located on top of a hill.
Just as we got to a junction at the base of the hill, my phone said it was too hot and switched to night mode! I temporarily lost the map so we looked at the junction and guessed we had to take the left track. Big mistake. The track was narrow and rough and ended up at a small farm. We barely got out of there without damaging the car. We took the right track after that and went to the end but there was still a climb to the top. It was now 39 degrees so this was a bit of a struggle.
The track up was in the full sun and I was cooked by the time we reached the top. This ksar was quite different to the rest - it was more of a village than a granary.
The views from the top were spectacular!
We headed back into town to find something for lunch but, due to the holiday, we were struggling to find any shops open. We found a fancy hotel (for Tunisia) and tried that. We just wanted a sandwich but all we could get was a set meal - salad, a brik (the local pastry - this one was filled with egg), couscous with chicken and vegetables and fruit. It was really delicious. We managed to take most of the main course home which meant we didn't have to find something for dinner. Our remaining meals there consisted of the few options we could get at the supermarket - mainly packets of toast bikkies and cheese. It was all such a change from the food overload at Kerkennah.
Learning from the heat of the previous day, we got up early the next day. Just out of town we saw this ute with an incredible load of hay! Strangely, we've seen more hay being sold or transported than we've seen animals to eat it!
We were at our first site at 7.30am. Guermessa was the first of three abandoned Amazigh (Berber) hilltop villages we were to visit that day. These villages were built along ridgelines and were truly spectacular.
I'm glad we started early as it was a long slog to the top of the hill at Guermessa but it was worth every hot step. Houses, shops, granaries and all sorts of buildings were carved out of the ridge, spreading over 1.5kms. One section was built around a hill. A maintained mosque stands in the foreground.
We scrambled between the different levels. Sometimes the paths were really narrow.
There was probably less rubbish here but things that seemed to get left behind were these amphorae! There were quite a few of them, a few intact, but most broken.
I looked into one room and, to my surprise, I found an olive press! The room actually still smelled of olive oil. The room wasn't that big so I don't know what powered the mill. Maybe a donkey could fit in there but I suspect it might have been people-powered. Note the low ceiling. I suspect that the inhabitants weren't very tall as many ceilings were quite low.
We found a small mosque. The whitewashed walls and tiny door were so different to the rest of the stony village.
Old prayer mats were still on the floor so maybe it still gets used occasionally. This was the first mosque we've seen inside in Tunisia.
There were Arabic inscriptions on the ceilings along with handprints and footprints!
Incredibly, in this place of rock, there was a small cemetery behind the mosque. As they couldn't dig into the ground, they placed stones over the bodies. Over time, the stones have shifted and we could see bones. We think this is a broken skull. It's all obviously very old.
We spent an hour or two exploring this amazing place - without another tourist in sight. The only people we saw were a few locals who were just hanging around chatting. It was so special!
The second village was the one that tour groups visit so we were prepared for crowds but really, there were hardly any tourists there. Local people live in and around this village so it felt more alive. We were turned off by people trying to be our guide and trying to sell us woven baskets so we really only had a quick look at this village. It was still pretty spectacular.
We saw a few local women wearing red clothing which we hadn't seen elsewhere. It's quite striking when we see them out in the desert. The red stands out so much against the barren background.
As we drove out of the village, a young man was walking along the road. The locals hitchhike here so we stopped and asked him if he needed a lift. He said he only lived a short distance away but thanked us profusely then asked if we would like to go to his house for some couscous! We declined but it's amazing how generous people are here.
The drive to the third village was awesome! The desolate landscape was so striking.
We even saw a dune or two!
The third village, Douiret, was equally spectacular. Some of the old houses have been converted to a hotel and it's possible to stay here but it's not open at the moment.
Like the others hilltop villages, Douiret was spread along the ridgeline. John worked out that the rock on these ridges is in layers, with some layers being harder than others. The people must have dug the rooms in the softer rock and the harder rock formed the rooves. This village in particular was very spread out, as the houses followed the soft rock lines.
Some of the rooms were quite large.
There were plenty of gorgeous old doors here.
Again, the views from the top were amazing!
Some scenes looked like parts of the USA.
One thing I've noticed about Tunisia is it's a sunnies on and sunnies off country. We step out into the brilliant sunshine and frantically put our sunnies on before we are blinded. Then we step into our accommodation or a room at a ksar and we're thrown into darkness again. I understand that dark rooms are cooler but it must have been a tough way to live back in pre-sunglasses days!
Life in general must have been pretty hard. These people were effectively living in caves in a harsh climate. Houses would have been dark and smoky and it was a long way down the hill to the farming lands and an even longer way back up again at the end of the day. They were tough people, that's for sure!
Compared to these people we are so soft and we were pretty pleased to escape our dingy accommodation the next day, especially as we would be checking into a special place for the next two nights. We left early and didn't have to go far to our first stop - Ksar el Ferch. Our guide book said was only built in the 20th century and subsequently was built on flat land as there was no need for defence. That doesn't explain why it was still completely walled though! It was huge and looked much more like a conventional town.
The landscape was dotted with palm trees. I find it all so fascinating.
Just up the road at Ghomrassen were some Neolithic cave paintings. The first caves were right beside the road and we were standing there trying unsuccessfully to find the paintings on the wall of rock when a motorbike pulled up. The man pointed in the direction of the paintings. We still couldn't find them so he got off his bike, came up and showed us the tiny paintings. We finally saw them so he said goodbye and left. How wonderful was that?
We looked at two different cave painting sites. There were supposed to be herds of animals but this is all we found! Sadly, a lot of the paintings seem to have eroded.
We were now entering Star Wars country. We drove to Ksar Hadada. Many scenes from the slave town on Tatooine where Anakin grew up were filmed here. The place is now privately owned and some parts had been painted up and converted to a hotel. It gave a very different feel.
The back section was unpainted.
This restored olive oil press was in great condition
So far, the roads have generally been fantastic. There is little traffic and the driving is easy. We drove for a few hours this day and the scenery was amazing!
We passed through the town of Toujane, another ancient town but this one wasn't totally abandoned. People lived in a mix of old and new homes.
Next stop was Matmata, a town that had few tourists until some of Star Wars was filmed here. We pulled up for lunch and had a feast of salads, brik (egg-filled pastry), meat, vegies and couscous. It just seems impossible to get small meals in this country!
Matmata also seemed to be the area where the ksars stopped and the troglodyte houses started. These are homes that are built underground. There are a few different forms of them. The restaurant we ate at happened to be next to a 'pit home' style of house which has become a museum so we checked it out.
Pit homes are entered via a tunnel. The tunnel opens into a circular courtyard, which is maybe five metres deep and is open to the sky. It's like a pit. Rooms radiate off the central pit.
The family still lived in some rooms of this home. Here's the 'modern' kitchen!
Our entry fee (which had gone up by 500% in the few years since our guide book was written!) included a young guide who spoke enough English to show us around. This goat skin was used to make cheese.
When rain falls, the water in the central courtyard drains into a hole that feeds into a well. I can't imagine there ever being enough rain to keep a family going but there must be!
A baby camel was tied up outside. As we headed back to the car, our guide walked out with a baby bottle filled with water. He was going to feed the baby camel! I went to take a photo and he handed me the bottle. The poor thing was tied by a very short rope to one leg and it guzzled the water down. It was only when the guide asked for money that I realised I'd fallen for the oldest tourist trick in the book. Tie cute baby camel up, get tourists to feed it, collect money. We later saw a number of baby camels sitting outside tourist spots. They were away from their mothers for the day (I presume they were returned in the evenings) and some were tied up in the hot sun all day. At least this one had shade.
Since then, we've seen a few donkeys and camels. From our small number of observations, the Berbers seem to look after them reasonably well. Every animal we've seen has been well fed, even though there's no grass around. A lot of money must go into buying hay for them. The sad part is that they're always tethered with a rope tied to leg, which inevitably cuts the skin, and they're often tethered in the sun, although we did see one lucky donkey that had a purpose-built roof just for it.
Not far away from Matmata (not even in a galaxy far, far away!) was the Sidi Idriss Hotel, a collection of pit homes that were converted to a hotel and then became a film set for Star Wars. The pit of one of the homes became Luke Skywalker's home. Replicas of the original set pieces are still in place. The height of tourist kitsch was when we walked into this pit and the Star Wars theme music started playing!
Doorways were lined with futuristic Star Wars-style effects.
They got some things very wrong though.
A helpful staff member showed us around and John jokingly asked if they sold lightsabres. The man enthusiastically led us to a small shop and, sure enough, we could choose from a selection of genuine plastic lightsabres!
Wild landscape near Matmata. I had to run the gauntlet of camel-ride guys to get up to this viewpoint!
Despite having seen a lot this day, we were running early to check into our special accommodation at Tamezret. This town would be our home for the next two days.
Our auberge was a troglodyte house which had been converted into a small guest house. From what I had read, it was a luxurious place. The wife is a great cook and the food is supposed to be amazing. It was fairly expensive for Tunisia but we were looking forward to this experience.
We found the place and knocked on the locked door. It was so hot that I almost melted waiting for someone to come to the door. Finally the man who spoke great English that I had messaged a number of times with questions, answered the door. No, we couldn't come in yet, the rooms wasn't ready. No, there was nowhere else inside where we could sit and wait. He suggested we go to a nearby cafe. It wasn't the welcoming reception we were expecting. We could see the cafe was a hot walk uphill so we got back in the car and just drove aimlessly. At least the car was cool! We kept seeing tourist buses and found a touristy hotel that had a cafe so we sat there and drank water until it was time to return.
We would be sleeping in a troglodyte room and we were excited to finally see it. When the room was ready, the owner led us up a narrow flight of stairs to a gorgeous wooden door - which was about a metre high! We had to bend down low to get through it. You wouldn't want to be old. This is the door we had to enter and exit our room through every time!
The door itself was pretty gorgeous.
The room was nice, but not anything really special. There were no table or chairs and any available space for our bags was filled with pretty things. "Form over function" is our pet hate with accommodation. It looks lovely but it wasn't very functional.
Of course, dinner didn't start until late but we're getting used to that. There was a French Canadian couple staying and they spoke good English so it was lovely to have people to talk to over dinner. He was a psychologist specialising in autism and he was in Tunisia working. It took nearly 3 hours to serve the dinner (dessert was served after 10pm!) but it was all sensational! A highlight was the main course, a delicious meat dish with dried fruit, nuts and a rich sauce. We thought the owner said it was calf but we realised after we'd eaten most of it that it was camel! The chocolate mousse desert was the best one I've ever had.
The town of Tamezret was really interesting. It was perched on a hill and had great views of the barren countryside.
Some of the town was falling into ruins.
We wondered what mother nature was thinking when she invented these super-long eared goats. Maybe they were inspiration for Jar Jar Binks?
The Canadians left and we were the only tourists in the town. We headed to a local museum just as a local couple arrived. The guy was family of the owner but had come to see the museum. We were lucky he was there as the owner didn't speak English and the other visitor was able to translate for us.
We learned that the town was built in a unique way for defence. They were built in a spiral up the hill. The first stage to building a house was to dig a tunnel to the centre of the hill that connected to tunnels to all the other houses. Then the rock removed from the tunnel was used to build the house. Mostly built into the hill, each house had a horizontal chimney that filtered out in a few places so smoke couldn't obviously be seen from outside. If the town was attacked, everyone rushed into their tunnels. which were hidden, and could escape or hide inside. Sometimes attackers rode horses and, while the attackers were inside trying to find the occupants, the occupants would sneak outside and steal the horses and all the supplies.
Entries to tunnels were hidden under rugs.
The owner also made it very clear that Tunisians aren't Arabs - they're Berbers. Despite a lot of Arabic influence in their language, they descend from North African people, not people from the Middle East.
Despite women in Berber culture being equal to men, it was the men that make this beautiful embroidery!
The cave house was wonderfully cool inside and we hung around in there for as long as we could!
The next day we drove out to El Haddej, a small town nearby. We had read that this place is off the tourist trail but has some old troglodyte houses. The description was completely correct. El Haddej is just a small town with not much there. We pulled up at a place that google maps said had a troglodyte house and it was right - but there were heaps of them. Old pit houses, in various states of disrepair, were scattered over a large area. Maybe 80% were collapsing but a few still stood strong. We wandered around, discovering pit after pit. It was all really interesting but also so sad that this part of history is being lost. It won't be long until erosion removes all signs of them. I feel privileged to have seen these while they're still there.
The landscape was dotted with palm trees. I find it all so fascinating.
The other claim to fame of this area is that the "Always look on the bright side of life" scene from Monty Python's "Life of Brian" was filmed on one of the hills here. We knew it was almost impossible to pinpoint the exact hill, as there were many of them, but we enjoyed trying to guess anyway. It wasn't until we looked at the scene from the movie later that we realised it must have been right where we were! Cool!
This is such an interesting country. We feel honoured to be visiting.
Heather and John :)
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