Tunisia

Tunisia

The rose of the desert

I was very tired..

Working all day and having kids was difficult for me,so I decided to have a break.

Tunisia was a country I always wanted to visit.Without a second thought I booked a week's holiday package with my familly in a luxurious hotel in Hammamet,having heard that this town is very popular for its beaches,the blue waters and the water sports.

  It was a chance for me to have a rest being all day at the beach sunbathing,drinking coctails and being pampered with spa treatments..

  But unfortunately three days before departure,I learned that the five star hotel where we should stay was overbooked.The travel agency asked for sorry and upgraded ,by booking an ambassador suite to another five star hotel.We felt so lucky!!

At the airport we met our group.They were very young people.Some of them were couples, some were 'just married' and they were all going to Hamammet for holidays..

  After about two hours' flight we arrived to Tunis,the capital of Tunisia from where we started our journey.

We had a tour walk tour of the city.We got lost in Medina with the souks,the parfumes and the colorful clothing.

We also visited the National Bordo museum.It was very interesting,mostly for those who love history!! 

  Next stop was Didi Bou Said,a fantastic town only twenty Km from Tunis.We saw blue and white traditional houses ,little narrow streets and.....magic in the air!!

We drunk mint tea at 'cafe des nattes',a typical Arabic coffee shop which is located at the top of the hill with traditional tunisian furnitures and smell of hookah!!

  TIP :

-Don 't forget to buy a bird cage,colored in white and blue ,like the roofs of the village!!

......And finally we arrived at Hammamet .....

I was dreaming of relaxing and pampering,wasn't I??

How wrong I was....

The ambassador suite had two bedrooms,two bathrooms, a kitchen and a living room.But at the livingroom there were a lot of unts under the sofa onto a used caramel!!!!

At the kitchen the refrigerator had many used items and the worst of all...I found a woman's underwear at the bathroom.....

As you can understand nobody had cleaned the suite.....I couldn't sit or touch anything!!

My husband went to the leader of the group to complain about the suit.  I, instead, stayed back and put on my swimsuit when suddenly the door which I thought was locked, opened and a smily young girl got in carrying a basket with flowers and started to throw rose leaves in the air,to welcome us!!

I wanted to scream or at least cry,until my husband came in with the whole group.The other couples had almost the same problems or maybe worse,as one of them entered in their bedroom and found two Italian guys sleeping..

 We were all so angry with the travel agency but also we didn't want to ruin our vacations.So we decided to be gathered all together in my suite and then have some fun at the pool.

All of us had the same feeling !! that we knew each other a long time ago.

We talked and laughed  and played....We laughed so much,even when  the one problem came over the other,we were emotionally tied.

  Four days past when someone of our group announced that it would be good idea to go to Sahara desert.

Everybody agreed exept me.I wanted so much to see Sahara desert but I had to think of my kids....I had heard that at the dessert ,the weather is so hot that you feel like being stung by bees....

How would my kids stand it??

I was drawing in my thouhgts when all the girls of the group came to me begging me to follow them.I explained the reasons and the difficulties but they insisted so much.....In order to persuade me,they said that if we didn't follow them,they wouldn't go either..

That touched my heart and soul and the adventure began!!!!

   On our long road trip we first visited the famous Roman amphitheatre El Djem and Monastir which was the natural scene of the moovie 'Jesus of Nazaret'.

Then we went to Matmata.It was an interesting village where the residents live in traditional underground 'troglodyte'structures.It's a popular tourist attraction and most of the population lives on tourism and exhibitions in their houses.

Late in the afternoon we finally arrived at Douz,Known as the 

'gateway to Sahara'.

We stayed at 'Sahara Douz'hotel and our suite was overlooking the palmgroves and the dunes of Sahara!!Absolutely fantastic!!

The next morning we ate breakfast and we had a great four wheels safari adventure across the desert,which included a  visit to the set of Star Wars film that was filmed there many years ago.

We were bumped and thrown about,went up dunes and down.We had so much fun and the more the kids screamed the more dunes and bumps we went over!!

  Then the caravan...

We put on some robes and turbans to defend against the sand and sun although the temperature was 40C.

My little daughter started crying when she realised that she ended up much higher than she expected.She was afraid,she didn't want to fall....I asked her to hold tight and relax...and so she did!!

   The caravan was ready.It was mooving slowly and I enjoyed it.I really couldn't believe my eyes!!

There was nothing  around me and  all I could hear was the footsteps of the camels.

So peacefull!!

The most dramatic scenery in the world!!

The magic of the camel ride lasted for one hour and then we went to the famous mountain oasis.

It's located at the bottom of an old Berber village with palm trees and a waterfall.

The best way to see Chebika and the palms was the rocky path that leads to the ruins of the old city,forming a canyon of 15m.high.

Then we went down and saw a small waterfall!!

The miracle of the desert!!

The next morning we woke up at 4.30am

This early wake up was so that we could get to the salt marshes to watch the sunrise..

Fortunately the day wasn't cloudy so we had the full effect of the Sahara sunrise and the views of the salt lake were amazing!!

After that,we took the road to the airport..

  I  can't express how wonderful this trip was but even if it started with some problems ,it continued and ended with the best way!!

  I would really love to go back some day....and I wil!!!!!!

           

                  Efi Konstantinidou