Stepping off the overnight long haul train from Tozeur I was groggy and slightly worse for ware. It would seem that it's difficult to even get a little peace and quiet on a night train as a group of locals erupted in to a full blown arguement with the conductor at 1 am because he was removing someone from first class when they only had a sceond class ticket.
Shattered I was rounded up by a taxi driver and was soon flying along the main roads of Tunis towards the Medina where my hostel was. After a confrontation with the driver who tried to charge me over thirty Dinars for a five Dinar ride resulting in me agreeing to talk to the police about it - he backed off when I agreed to this and soon disappearedwith my ten Dinars that I was expecting change from - I was knocking on the door of Hostel Medina Tunis.
Lonely Planet says of Auberge Medina; "Located in a Wonderful 18th century palace in the midst of the medina, the rooms here are basic: white walls and bunk beds upstairs; comfortable but stuffy doubles downstairs. There's a pretty, tiled courtyard, the welcome is friendly and the position is priceless." This description obviously comes from a person who hasn't actually stayed there, only popped their head around the door for a look to write a piece in a guide book. It is centrally positioned in the medina making it a nightmare to walk through to the new French town around Avenue Habib Bourguiba as you are eternally stopped by merchants hawking their wares. The "hot water" is warm at best when it is that but there is a pretty courtyard. This palace plays host to some Arabic weddings, however, on a very frequent basis so if you like Arabic music blairing at full volume until three in the morning then you would love this place - they didn't even ask us to join in!
Tunis is really a blemish on the picture postcard face of Tunisia. It's a dirty city bustling during the day making it difficult to enjoy. You are hassled from all angles and must be careful with your possessions and have your faculties about you at all times. Not hard when there is not a bar or club in sight to loose said faculties in a night of frivolities.
There are, though, some beautiful areas of the capital of Tunisia not far from the town centre. A short, thirty minute, metro ride to the North East you will find the magical locations of Sidi-Bou-Said and Carthage. Sidi-Bou-Said, although quite heavily adorned with tourists, is a bougainville heaven. White buildings with beautiful, hand painted, blue window grills and door frames it is set on the peninsula hill top between Carthage and La Marsa. There are a couple of georgeous, but small, beaches to enjoy with a small marina.
Carthage is a well known city from the Roman Empire but the roots of the city date way back before the Romans to 1100 BC and the Phoenicians, the original in habitants of the area known as Phoenicia - Lebanon today. The Roman ruins, from around the second centruy BC, are still here to this day and impress a vision of grandeur with the pinnacle a towering cathedral set up upon the mount which is now a museum.
Around the valley of Carthage there are also ruins of the ampthitheatre, the old Roman villa and the Roman Gardens. They make for a nice afternoon strolling around in the sun and could easily been combined as a morning excursion with Sidi-Bou-Said in the afternoon for a delicious lunch and an afternoon on the beach.
The other major tourist attraction of Tunis is La Bardo. Four kilometres to the North West of Tunis centre is a huge Husseinite palace which is home to the largest collection of ancient mosaics from this vast continent, some of Africa's oldest, which are, for the majority, in superb condition. Floor to ceiling pictures of all sorts of historic events and dipictions the floors themselves are mostly entirely mosaics. It's an impressive collection to say the least and a must see. It also plays host to some stone carved statues that are scattered around the building in crevices and archways throughout the palace.
My day here was tarnished by one of those events that can happen to anyone, especially a lone tourist not paying enough attention. On my way back from La Bardo I took the metro. It was here I was victim to the old trade known through out the world, pickpocketing. I didn't really lose much in monetary value but the wallet was a present from the Lovemans so after learning of Doreen's passing this is sentimentally harder to take. Reporting the incident to the police only served as a waste of time as I was turned away after a two hour wait with the "We no English speak" line. Thanks for nothing!
Although Tunis is not the best city for a tourist and certainly not for the length of time I have stayed here (eight days) it has given me the chance to continue my training for my hiking later on in this African adventure. Belvedere park is around three kilometres walk from my hostel so I have been running there a lot and also had the chance to find a gym which I have frequented on a number of occasions these past days. I found myself a local little eatery, called Borchani's, where I was able to get couscous and vegetables with half a chicken and a drink for the equivalent of less than three pounds sterling, really helping my to boost my dietary protein content which up till this point has been hard to do. The Tunisian diet is heavily based on carbohydrates. Bread, couscous and potatoes the norm. I have found some local sweet delicacies called Baklava and Masfout De Tunis. Both are cheap, extremely tasty and extremely fattening! Good job I have been training then.
Whilst in Tunis I have also been on the hunt for extra adventures for later in my trip. With Kilimanjaro still the height of the travels I have also booked a trip to Mount Kenya, the second highest mountain in Africa where I will be trekking to the Lenana point. At 4800 metres it is nearly 1200 metres below the summit of the highest freestanding mountain in the world but it will serve as a great warm up and test for the main event. I am also booked on to a Masai Mara game safari. Two events I am now really looking forward to. I will also look into climbing Mount Meru, Tanzania's second highest mountain.
As I write this entry I am whiling away the remaining hours of my stay in Tunisia with Bob Dylan keeping me company. I've been here for three and a half weeks now, how time flies, and in what will seem the rapid movement of the fleshy skin covering the eye I will be sat on a plane to Egypt and Cairo. Stay tuned as I begin the second leg of this African ensemble. Below is my favourite picture from Tunisia. Something that, for me, depicts some of the uniqueness that this land offers.
No comments:
Post a Comment