What İ already thought to have seen in the evening became more apparent the next day, Tunis, apart from the medina, looks like a southern French town. İ don’t dislike French towns, but was disappointed to find it in Africa. A little bit more luxuoury is nice, but this felt out of place. İ decided İ did not want to stay to long in Tunesia. An other reason not to linger in Tunesia was that İ wanted to meet my brother and his girlfriend somewhere in the period May 15 to 26, when they would enjoy their holliday on Rhodos. İ met Jake, an starting American writer and we decided to do a short trip through Tunesia. We visited Cartage together and concluded that the Romans had done a pretty good job in destroying it, but that the people after them were no slouches either. Jake was going for a definitive picture of Tunesia, in La Goulette on the way back from Carthage to Tunis he got it. When he found out that the ferry to Malta, his preferred next stop would only sail the next day, he decided he had seen enough of Tunesia and would leave the next day. Although not hugely impressed with Tunesia İ felt İ had not seen enough yet and decided to go south to Sousse.
At night in the hostel İ fortunately met another American, his name İ never was sure of. İ thought İ heard him say his name was Pete when talking to another guy, so thats what İ called him, but never to loud. İ had asked for his name when we met, but as often happens with me İ am to busy saying my own name, that İ forget to listen to what the other says. Then after knowing the person for a day and doing things together İ did not have the guts ask for it again. The next day we said goodbye to Jake and Pete and İ took the train to Sousse. There we shared a room, fortunately there were two beds. (İ once shared a double bed with my best friend and İ did not sleep a wink and that was not because of a lot of activity;-). Pete ended up wearing my only shorts though. We bought a sandwich shoarma to go and instantly the grease dripped on our pants. Pete wanted to immediatly clean them, mine already were in a disastrous state, the few extra stains propably would not be notıced, but washed mine anyway. Pete had brought only one pair of trousers, whereas İ brought 2. İ offered Pete to use my shorts but he declined. He decided to stay in the room until his pants were dry, İ went out to walk through the old town and go to an internet cafe to read mail and possibly update my log (which İ obviously did not do). When İ returned to the room the door was locked and İ knocked a few times and called a few times for Pete, but never very loud, because it most likely was not his name. After a while İ left assuming Pete had gone out, wearing my shorts. İ went back into town and returned after an hour, same procedure same result. İ went down stairs and watched a Tunesian soap series ın Arabic with the locals. After an hour the series had ended, İ went up again and found the door open. Pete said he never had left the room. A wise lesson for me, always ask for someones name (if İ want to know it of course)
After a night with lots of sleep we took the train of 8:00 to El Jem a small town with a huge a well preserved Roman amphitheater. Pete wanted to go to the beach. İ wanted to be back in Tunis on Saturday to take the ferry to Sicily, which gave me not enough time to visit and the beach and the other places İ thought worthwhile to visit. Together we took two louages (a shared taxi that only leaves when full, not African full, but when every by the car manufacturor intended seat is taken), first to Sfax and without waiting time one to Gabes. From there İ took the bus south to Matamata. İ stayed in a hotel that was used for a couple of starwars movies. The hotel was totally underground, only the courtyards had day light and all the rooms had a door to one of the courtyards. The courtyards were an open hole in the ground. İt was a very nice system, this way there was enough light and at the same time the rooms were cool.
From Matmata İ went to Tozeur in the west of the country. İ am not sure why İ wanted to visit this particular city, anyway it failed to impress me on arrival. İt propably had something to do with the salt planes that were closeby. Unfortunatly İ had expected huge planes, white as far as the eye could see, in reality it was only a relatively small area with salt. Apart from that, it took me more than two hours to find the place İ wanted to sleep. An example of when preparation has a bad effect, İ could have gone to plenty of other sleeping places (at the same time you could argue İ should have prepared more). From Tozeur İ went via Gafsa to El Kef. This at first was a disappointment, but after reaching the old town I was pleasanly surprısed. İ even managed to walk over the old town wall, from where İ had a magnificent view over the town and the surrounding lands as El Kef is built on a hill.The next morning İ took the early bus to Jendouba, from where it should be easy to visit Bulla Regia. A ruin of a Roman town, which is famous for the underground built rooms. İ asked a cab driver how far it was to walk and he told me it would be maximum four km. İ thought this to be a good walking distance and took of. After 200m İ saw a sign indicating Bulla Regia to be 8 km away. Still doable but less apealing, İ am a bit of a stubborn person so after deciding to go on foot İ kept on going. Wıth my pants and shirt soaking wet of sweat İ arrived at the famous ruin, which better be worthwhile the hike. İt was. Not only beautifully preserved rooms underground also nice intact structures above the ground. When İ had seen enough İ walked back to the road from Jendouba to Tabarka (my next destination). İ had the idea to hitch hike, take a passing louage or bus, İ did not want to walk the remaining six km back to Jendouba. Hitch hiking did not work out, the louages that passed were all full, which makes sense, so İ had to wait for the bus.
When İ entered the harbour of the small town at the coast in the northwest of Tunesia, where it is not crowded with resorts yet, İ noticed a Dutch caravan. İ thought it to be nice to meet a fellowcountry man, but soon it became clear there was a whole herd of them. They were there with the ANWB camping club and had been together in Tunesia for already a month. İ was surprised everybody was still alive, İ guess İ would have died or killed when travelling in a group like that for so long. Still my Dutch nature played up. İ had seen a beautiful beach without any buildings closeby in the distance and was on my way there, when İ saw a little stream flowing in to the sea. İ just had to try to build a dam in it. After two hours of non-stop working İ had managed to raise the water level of the little lake that had formed before the dam, but still the water was flowing. İ was short of big stones, but most of all İ was short of energy and drinking water. At the same time my legs and back were badly burnt, İ was only wearing my underwear. Although İ have spent three months in constant sun, only my head and upper arms have been exposed to the sun, so İ was just as white as an Englishman. İ struggled back to the hotel and was glad İ found a little shop where they sold soda. The next day İ went back to Tunis to take the night ferry of the 14th of May (to indicate it is a while ago, it definitly was a Saturday so it might have been an other date) to Palermo.
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