THE TUNISIAN TOUR -- fotop.net photo sharing network

Tunisia was not on the list of my five year plan of travel. By chance I got an irresistible offer from Qantas, HKG-LHR return for HK$2,500 (HK$4,500 including taxes and everything). But it must be travelled in November. It was not a good idea to travel to Europe in winter time. So I wonder if it is possible to make my first step in Africa. After searching on the internet for a couple of days, I worked many destinations, but the most probable one was Tunisia, because of the safety reasons, transport, accessibility, information and the history of the country are quite appealing. I had to a pay a bit more than joining a group tour. However, the tours were not available, especially in low seasons. But in high season, the price must go up. I worked out the budget of a 11 day tour (8 day tour excluding stopover at London) was HK$17,000 including airfare. It was a private car tour with driver and local guide. So the price was fine. But if I joined a group tour of 10 days with two more destinations in the west side, I have to pay HK$13,000 for the tour, $2,000 for taxes, HK$800 for tips (15,800). It was not bad to pay HK$1,200 for another day in London and no rush in Tunisia. The only difference was missing two destinations. Both tours have 8 full days in Tunisia, so I can spend more time in other destinations, because travelling to the west needs more time. My route is to move down south the country along the coastline.

Day 1 : The connecting flight to Tunis departed at Gatwick airport. It was not possible to catch the plane if you arrive at Heathrow. It does not make any difference if you take a mid night plane from Hong Kong and arrive Heathrow at 05:30, unless you want to spend a day in London. Afternoon flight has the advantage, because of the arrival time at Heathrow is 20:20. I may probably reach Gatwick by coach at around 22:00. I still have a choice to stay at the airport hotel or wait at the airport for shorter.

Day 2 : The flight arrived Tunis at 11.25. It took only 10 minutes to get to the Golf Royal Hotel at the city centre. It was only 15 minutes walk to the Medina (down town). We started to explore the amazing city for the rest of the day. It was my first time to travel to Africa. But I felt like travelling in the Middle East.

Tunis City Centre

Tunis Medina

Day 3 : I began to hire a car from day 3. The transport system in Tunis is mainly confined in the city centre. There is no scheduled coach service between cities. The most popular transport is the laoage (16 seat van) which travel between cities without timetable. The van will only leave the station when it is full. You have no idea when to leave and it would not stop between stations. The train service is not that frequent and it only calls at the big cities not the tourist points. So the best way is to hire a car. Self drive is not popular too. Day tours are available in high seasons only. The cost for a car around the city was about US$150 per day. We toured around two main attractions around Tunis, Carthage and Sidi Bou Said. They are the must see destinations in Tunis or even in the country. Carthage is the ruins where the first Roman settlement in North Tunisia. Sidi Bou Said is a hill side city overseeing the coastline, magnificent views!

Carthage

Sidi Bou Said

Day 4 : We moved down south to the seaside city Sousse via Hammamet. I paid US$200 for this trip, because the driver had to drive back to Tunis. We met a group from Hong Kong at Hammamet. The tour was organized by a group of teachers. Amazing, November should be term time. We arrived Sousse at around 17:30 and were able to see the sunset. After checking in the Orient Palace Hotel, we had a carriage ride along the seaside. The Tunisian food are mainly of Mediterranean style. A famous dish that you must not miss is the Gushgush. The Orient Palace Hotel is a 5 star resort with stunning view of the Mediterranean Sea. It was a pity that I did not have enough time to enjoy the facilities.

Sousse

Hammamet

Day 5 : We toured around the city and hired another car to three important spots, Kairouan (UNISCO), El-Jam (well preserved Coliseum like the one in Rome) and Monastir (seaside city with huge and gorgeous mosques). Then we drove back to stay overnight at Sousse.

Kairouan

El Jem

Monastir

Day 6 : It was a long day because we have to travel 300 km from Sousse. We stopped at Sfax and Gabes (a famous university city, we met a group of friendly students whom were willing to let you take pictures, but you need to ask their permission first) on the journey to Tataouine (the filming spot of Star Wars). We could stop for 1 or 1.5 hours at each city for lunch and dinner. But the scenery was stunning and the people we met were very friendly and never avoid the cameras. We arrived the Hotel Sangho at around 20:00. The name of the hotel was marked on the hill, it was amazing. All rooms in the hotel were built separately as small chalets. All windows and doors were well sealed with flaps from sand. It made me feel like sleeping under the sky of desert.

Tunisian girls

Sfax

Gabes

Hotel Sangho

Day 7 : There were many places to visit in Tataouine. But we only had one day to travel. We started our journey with Chenini, where we could visit the Berber hillside rock village. A local guidance service is available at the village. You can also try to wear their costume and take pictures. Another must stop attraction is the Douriet, which lies on the way between Tataouine and Ksar Ouled Soltane. The village is a typical example of small village Ksar in Tunisia. We were glad to meet the Tataouine section of the Marathon of Oasis. This hill side ruin of Ksar is not too big and provides a lot of photo opportunities. Then we moved to the next beautifully preserved Ksar Ouled Daber. This is a small theme park featuring the dinos and a mini museum of local history. We continued our journey to the highlight of the day, the Ksar Ouled Soltane after lunch. The Ksar Ouled Soltane is supposed to be the best preserved Ksar in the region. It was one of the filming spot of Star Wars and is a must see attraction. Following were Beni Blel and the border of Sahara Desert. It was the last village before entering Sahara. We could only have glance of Sahara. But time was very limited, we had to go back to Tunis the next morning. Tataouine is a crossroad for visiting Ksar and an amazing place. I suggest staying at least 2 days in Tataouine. We spent 12 hours to travel 500 km back to Tunis before going home via London.

Chenini

Doureit

Ksar Ouled Daber

Ksar Ouled Soltane

Beni Blel