Tunisia#1

Greetings from Tunisia!

This is day three of our Tunisian experience and it is the first real chance we have had to add to the website.

We are Kebili which is in the south of the country next to an oasis.

We arrived late into Tunis having missed our plane out of Rome for a variety of reasons. We got to bed after midnight and then had to get up at six, which was really five because of the change to daylight saving.

Sunday was all about Tunis and we visited all the sights this place has to offer - the beautiful town of Sidi Bou Said the ruins of ancient Carthage, the magnificent Bardo Museum which features the worlds largest collection of Roman mosaics and then into the Medina, the ancient town centre. We also managed to see a tradtional muslim wedding and a troup of soldiers bringing down the flag in the town centre at the stroke of five.

Monday was mainly the Muslim experience with visits to a number of mosques and holy places as we travelled south to Tozeur. The highlight was visiting a mosque from the tenth century in a town called Kaiorian. This place is the fourth most holy shrine in all Islam.

Today was the Desert experience with a four wheel drive journey into the Sahara. We really only ventured onto the edge but saw plenty of sand dunes and had a lunatic drive across sand roads. We visited a number of oases some of which looked like they were from Hollywood, and others that did not. We saw the place where Star Wars was filmed, visited a berber family at their tent and met their baby goats and camels. We also travelled across a vast salt pan.

The group is only eight - four from Italy and two from Austria. Our tour guide is a real wag and can tell amusing Tunisian anecdotes in five languages. The bus is OK and the hotels are mostly straight out of the sixties except for tonight. Food is interesting and plentiful and alcohol very cheap.

Internet is on modem and keyboards are European !!!!!!!