Nights In Tunisia

February 2025

This is where I am for this blog...

Sail Away

I awoke after little sleep, still tingling from the incredible nights I'd had in Palermo, Sicily, and then walked to the ferry, feeling very blessed. And there was a pause in the rain for my whole walk too. Of course. It started to rain just as I arrived at the Grimaldi ferry check-in office, where I could get shelter. Not only tingly and blessed, but lucky too.

Yes!

I'm going to Tunisia, and today's little adventure is a twelve hour journey on a ship across the Mediterranean, to the Tunisian capital, Tunis.

This is our ferry route. We need to get around the top corner of Sicily and then head southwest to northern Africa.

Exciting isn't it!

But to be honest the ferry's ride's been a bit of a shitshow. Not really hard for me, but for a lot of others.

You see, as I said, I'm one of the lucky ones. I don't suffer from seasickness.

I can even type away here in my seat while most of the others around me are pretty much unable to even move.

I'm still on the boat, and it's been a really rough crossing, with the ship lurching and groaning and smashing on a huge swell. People are being sick all around me, the sound of dry retching and groaning adding to the interesting soundscape of very strong winds and a grinding ship motor.

And I won't even mention the toilets. They're pretty much unusable, as you can see above.

Not a leaf of toilet paper anywhere, except for scrolls of it on the filthy pissy shitty wet slippery floor, which is a very dangerous hazard with the ship lurching and throwing you around like this.

I went out on deck a while back and nearly rolled off the ship. I can't believe they let people out there in this weather, with no proper guard rails along the outside walls of the ship, with a wet and hugely slippery floor, and with the ship desperately trying to fling you off in one direction, while the wind hurricanes you off in the other.

You know, I could've taken cabin class on the boat, and probably had a way better trip, but I really didn't expect this, having been in Europe for the past few months.

So I took cattle class instead.

My route from Sicily to Tunisia cost me 4€, yes, 4 €! for travel each way, and then 26€ each way for port taxes. So basically 60€ return to Africa, almost all of which was taxes. So cheap.

And the ship itself is quite nice, it's just that no one seems to be looking after it at all while we're journeying.

There was an announcement just now that the shop's opening for a little while. They only sell cigarettes and alcohol. Now that's useful.

Anyway, I'm probably nearly two thirds of the way to Tunis now, and it's just gone dark. We left late, so probably won't roll into Tunis until midnight.

And guess what? I'm officially now up to date with my blog. Writing, not publishing, that is. I'm so behind in that department, sorry.

My blog website's being a real bitch.

So I may as well go back to sleep.

It's not that comfy, but all that motion is lulling me off to sleep regularly.

I've already slept for hours, and may as well give my body and mind even more of it.

Seeya in Africa darlings.

Weapons Of Mass Distraction

You know, I don’t really mind being in a small crowded van when it’s not a hugely long journey. But when the dude next to you is farting the whole way, and his farts smell like the rotting refuse pile at the slaughterhouse, and the smell starts to rot your own sinuses, it’s really quite annoying.

Yeah, here I am, on yet another form of transport, this one called a louage, which is basically a shared van.

I’m on my way to Sousse, a town on the east coast of Tunisia, nestled right on the spectacularly blue waters of the southern Mediterranean Sea.

[Ah come on smelly arse, just stop it!]

Yeah it’s all French around here. Well, of course, Arabic first, but French second. Good place for me to try and get some minor handle on French, as it’s the worst of my already poor command of a spattering of common European languages like German, Spanish and Italian.

Being in Europe and its colonies is a really good way to force you out of your communication comfort zone, and out of the lazy habit of relying on English all the time.

Yeah, and surprise surprise, it’s been an amazing stay in Tunisia so far.

When we arrived at the harbour in Tunis, after the ferry from Palermo in Sicily, Irma, Teb and I shared a cab to their hotel right in the city centre, which was quite handy because I had no Tunisian dinars at all, and could change some there.

I met those guys onboard. Irma is currently evaluating the World Food Program’s operations in Tunis on behalf of the UN. Which is a big deal. It was super interesting talking with her about what's happening in this country.

Tunis, the capital of the North African country of Tunisia, has a population of only about 600,000, so it’s a pretty manageable city, small enough that most of the things you wanna see are within walking distance.

I spent my first morning doing what I pretty much do when I arrive anywhere - sort out my money situation, sort out a SIM card, and get the lay of the land.

Our beautiful hostel hangout room.

Above Left: I was starving, and all they had was this sugarfood, for 3 dinars (1€).

Above Centre: They had a nice terrace too.

Above Right: My street. My guest house is the taller white building on the left. It's a sorta middle class area, but I need to walk through a significantly poorer and dirtier part of town to get to the city centre.

Wandering into town

Left: This tree looks like people from the apartments just threw their rubbish bags out the window. Surely not?

Right: Railway station

The main drag, Avenue Habib Bourguiba, named after the well known Tunisian nationalist, who became the first PM of an independent Tunisia in 1956. I had some shakshuka for brekky, a dish I know from Israel. I was starving, and it was amazingly good.

Bab al-Bhar, the "Gate of the Sea," is one of the main gates to the UNESCO World Heritage Listed medina, the huge rambling sprawl of the city, comprising small residences and a huge a-maze-ing old market that is regarded as one of the most beautiful and interesting souqs in the whole of the Middle East.

But first I went to the wet market.

Eventually I made it into the medina, which I visited a number of times over the next couple of days.

Left: Not quite so splendid anymore

This is the Grand Mosque Zitouna, founded in 732, and rebuilt in the 9th Century. It's beautiful. The guy at the sign is Youssef, who took it upon himself to become my guide. He was nice, and spoke a bit of English.

Eventually he led me to a carpet shop (surprise surprise), but the guys weren't too insistent I buy something.

There was a great view up the top.

All the Sultans of Tunisia, known as Pacha Bey, from the early 1700s right through to the last one in 1957.

Youssef was waiting outside the carpet shop, and sort of insisted I went in to a perfume shop. The perfumes were exquisite, I gotta say, but I really didn't want any, much to the distaste of the nice-smelling old shop owner.

I left without buying anything, and then offered Youssef a tip, which I knew he expected, and I slipped a coin into his hand. He immediately said that coins weren't good as tips (surprise surprise), and I quickly retorted with, "well, this one is," as it was a 5 dinar coin, which is a hefty tip.

I then left him to try his luck with the next friendly tourist.

The olive tree is a sign of peace. Weird that olives are all over the Middle East, but it's one of the most war-torn parts of the planet. How does that work?

I went home to chill for a bit, then went out later on, thinking town would be bustling. But it wasn't. People were shutting up shop. This place is so different from Palermo, which is just getting started at sunset.

Here, everyone goes home and the streets are completely empty by 8pm. The hostel owner said it's not actually safe to wander the streets after that time. Shame really.

Anyway I still wandered around for a bit, and got some groceries for brekky and some takeaway dinner.

Louages, basically little minibuses. The word louage means "rent" in French.

Left: The Cathedral of St Vincent de Paul and Saint Olivia of Palermo. Yeah, sounds like both the French and the Sicilians were here. Well, the Sicilians never really colonised here like the French did, but it's not that far across the sea, and Italian culture has had its influences here.

Centre: Deadening streets

Right: My dinner. This bread is called kesra, or sometimes just simple chapati, and you can choose what you want inside. I chose the spinach omelette, mayo, cheese, and, of course, a serious helping of harissa, a chilli paste common in the whole Maghreb region.

The Maghreb area comprises Western and central North Africa, including Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia, and also includes the disputed area of the Western Sahara (which Morocco and Mauritania both claim).

So I met some super nice people tonight, Colombian Luis, who's now living in Montpelier in France, and Göksagun, who's from Eskişehir, a city sorta near Ankara in Turkey.

Luis and I met first, and immediately felt a deep and beautiful connection, we talked a lot, about our own journeys and learnings of life, how life can lead you to some pretty dark places, and some of the ways we've discovered to help us deal with it, and find peace and  happiness in amongst it all.

Sagun sat with us and we all were instant friends.

Luis, Sagun and I plan to check out the ancient city of Carthage tomorrow, a site not too far from Tunis, which housed the capital of the great Carthaginian Empire, an empire which conquered a huge chunk of the Mediterranean, until those Romans went a-roamin and got all greedy.

There's so much to explore here in Tunisia. I arrived not knowing a thing about it, and now there's already a million places I want to go.

Carthage

Carthage was once one of the most important trading hubs of the ancient Mediterranean, and one of the most affluent cities of the ancient world. The city was originally a Phoenician colony, but slowly developed into an empire, which eventually dominated large parts of the southwestern Mediterranean during the first millennium BC.

The Romans captured the city during the Third Punic War in 146 BC, and redeveloped it, and it became the capital of Roman Africa.

But it was sacked and destroyed in 698 by Umayyad forces, a Caliphate based in Damascus in Syria which dominated the region not too long after the death of the prophet Muhammad.

Considering the size of the ancient city, it's surprising how effectively it was destroyed, with the stones and pillars sacked and used elsewhere. The current ruins are spread out over a huge area, but much of the ancient city is now completely gone.

The site of the original Carthagian temple, with a Christian temple, the Acropolium of Carthage, bringing up the rear, with its Byzantine and Gothic influences.

The ruins of Carthage are spread out over a huge area. Luis, Sagun and I went a-strollin.'

What it all may have looked like.

School's in.

The site of the Antonion Baths is the best preserved and most extensive existing section of the Carthage ruins. They were built in the 2nd Century BC, and are the most famous Roman baths in Africa.

What remains is actually only the basement area, but the baths originally had a first floor, which had a huge open swimming pool, and hot and cold baths, all overlooking the beautiful Mediterranean. Those Romans knew how to live, with their slaves'n'all.

Hey, don't worry, it's a camera not a gun.

Centre: Luis being all happy

Right: Sagun being all conductory

Left: Desert rose crystals, which are found in deserts and arid regions where salt rich lakes have dried up. The colour is the result of grains of sands that have been incorporated into the crystals during growth.

The dime-a-dozen miniature mosaics are everywhere that tourists are. Tunisia itself, however, has a huge collection of incredible and large original Roman mosaics.

Sidi Bou Said

We decided to stroll to a nearby village, Sidi Bou Said, which Luis said was quite beautiful. The main drag was flanked by various North African flags.

The main street was a little touristy

Manakiche, which we had for lunch. It's fresh dough cooked on this convex hotplate, topped with various items of your choice. Mine was cheese with a variety of salads and pickles, and was absolutely delicious. And cheap of course. The cook, seen below, was very skilful - he could cook a whole pile on there at once.

Skinny roads = scrapes.

Above Right: Of course we couldn't resist some bambalouni, a deep fried fresh donut, served hot and dipped in sugar. Mmmmmmmm!

We climbed the hill to sit between the gums.

No Donald. By Free Gaza we don't mean free for you to take.

Eventually we climbed some more, and made our way to a beautiful viewpoint. The Med looked stunning from up there.

Looking back over Sidi Bou Said, with Carthage and Tunis in the background.

Eventually we made it back to Tunis, and strolled to the railway station. I wanted to buy a ticket to a town called Sousse for tomorrow.

There's loads of pro-Palestinian artwork around

We strolled into the medina again, the old city/old market.

It was coffee time. We found a café with a view over the medina and the whole new city too.

Later, we went back to the hostel, and while we were in the balcony, we obeyed the sign and took our underwear off.

Back there we met up with Vroni, a fabulous woman from Gent in Belgium that we'd met at breakfast that morning.

It turns out that Vroni is a professional singer, who has a band back at home. She's an amazing singer, and pumped out some fabulous Amy Winehouse classics and a bunch of other songs, with me accompanying her on guitar and vocals. So good! Vroni's got a cracking musical future ahead of her.

Scratching The Surface

Tunisia is amazing.

I had no idea what to expect here, but it turns out there's so much to do and see.

The sights are amazing, the food's great, it's pretty cheap, the people are super friendly, and of course the culture's so different to Europe.

And now Vroni, Luis, Göksagan and I have been self-named as "The Posse," and we decided to meet up again in Sousse in a couple of days.

It's time to get out of the Tunisian capital, and see what else is around in this amazing north African paradise❤️

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