Tunisian stamp in my passport

Back one day from my sunny holiday in Tunisia. Yes I now have a stamp in Arabic from Africa on my passport...How cool is that for a girl from little-old Dorval?

Tunisia thoughts:

What an odd experience it is to be in a tourist area where it is almost as though you are segregated from the population of the country - no wonder the buses get dirty looks as you drive through the Tunisian neighborhoods.

The hotel, while not being 4 star by our standards, was an absolute palace compared to the neighborhoods we passed through in the airconditioned coach.

We went into the Medina (or walled city) and had a wander round. There were the usual tourist shops, selling all sorts of interesting ethnic and artisanal things, along with some very odd things (tortoises, cameleons, snakes, lizards) and in some of the sections (clearly geared towards Tunisians) they were selling chickens and roosters in cages, a little man - who obviously lived under his stall - was selling dilapidated shoes, and a tiny lady with crooked legs and teeth with loads of wrinkles was selling an odd assortment of cleaning cloths.

The weirdest thing that we saw was when we took a wrong turn into the red light district. In the Medina (to the left of the police station) you walk past two walls down streets past a row of houses where the women are sitting on the front stairs or where they are dancing partially naked (bottom-half) up the steps in doorways. At first I didn't realise what I was seeing - "strange...That Tunisian lady is sitting outside her house in a slip, oh...I get it...The lady with the loud music is dancing with just a very short t-shirt on...hmmm....this could be the red-light district of Sousse". To understand when you feel odd about this is that the streets of the Medina are often no wider than 2-3 feet - you get very up-close and personal.

What was really odd is that none of the western couples who had also taken a wrong turn let us know that the entire area was walled in except for the one entrance and so it was an old toothless gentleman sitting on a wall who told us we had to go back the way we came - embarrassed much? Never! It was sad to realise that they were working only with the locals and in likelihood making next to nothing for their trouble.

Tunisia the hotel/tourist experience:

Once you get past the fact that you will tip for virtually everything in this country and that you might actually manage never to meet a Tunisian beyond the hotel staff with very little effort you settle in to being pampered.

The service is lavish, old-fashioned and kind of confused (think Manuel a la Fawlty Towers). Those working in the hotels treat you very differently than the average citizen might. In fact those in the hotels will make sure that you will not come in contact with any of the citizens apart from them if at all possible. There is a no Tunisian in the hotels unless they are working un-written rule. If you are on the beach you will not get bothered by any men because the sleepy guy who puts out the mattresses for you is actually also a pretty mean security guard who shoos any of the vendors who approach you on the beach that they don't like the looks of.

The physical beauty of Tunisia is overwhelming. It is so different from what you are used to in Europe and North-America that you are not completely prepared for it. Flowers in abundance, all manner of palm-trees, the grounds of the hotel are full of as many varieties of plants as you can imagine. At first the architecture seems like a tourist cliche when you see the Arabic styles at the hotel and the sheer ostentation of the lobbies - but going into a wealthier nearby neighborhood of Hammam Sousse you see that it is common. Marble and tile are everywhere and on every surface. The pools at the hotel are set in the garden and really are breath-taking.

You will tan. No matter how much you try to avoid it. In one week I managed to get the equivalent of an entire summer in Canada. It is hot.

One week is not enough to do any real sight-seeing so my husband and I gave up and mostly stayed on the beach or by the pool with evenings at his Mum's fledgling bar in Montazar el Kantaoui called The Full English.

I have to admit that after all the emotions of the summer it was a real treat to play with my husband rather than do administrative things or be sad about anything - it was really like the honeymoon we should have had.

Don't buy carpets from strange men!
Fatima's hand is everywhere on everything and they will try to sell it to you (I got a keychain!).

While I have left Tunisia it has not left my tummy...hope that finishes soon I am tired from walking back and forth to the loo!!

Overall it made me relaxed and brown and appreciative of what I have personnally, spiritually and financially in my life.