Sandy beaches and warm Mediteranean
waters were calling to us, so we scheduled our first 4 days on the Cape
Bon coast. Unfortunately, all of those days except for one featured unusually
cold and rainy weather. So any sunny pictures you see here took place
on the last 1/2 a day before we left Cape Bon.
Two policemen patroling the beach on horseback
Boys tending nets while father looks on
Here is the way Tunisian women enjoy the beach.
And these are the males of the family (and
object of the video taken at left)
Since most of the days the beach was not a place
to hang out, we took time to explore some sites. This is a touristy
fort located in Hammamet.
The medina or of Hammamet. One curious thing
to note is that the twisty curvey streets of these old walled
citys are phenomenally confusing. This one had signs reading "Exit"
which all led to some type of cheap gift shop.It took us forever
to get out of there.
So you see this guy coming, and you know he's
going to want money for taking his picture. But he looks so goofy,
you can't resist it. Turns out this guy would not go away until
he soaked you.
Some of the decorative tiles surrounding the
doorways that make wandering through the medina so interesting.
This is a view from the top of the fort. Notice
the eyeball to the bottom left ensuring protection from the evil
eye and other such evil spirits.
A tractor in the middle of the beach that
I found interesting.
We left the tourist mecca of Hammamet and
ventured to Nabeul, which was a much more pleasant town. The town
is known for its ceramics and art centers.
Here is the mosque sitting at the center of
the Grand Bazaar, which is supposedly quite happening on Fridays,
but not when we were there.
Here's me on the steps of the mosque. In Tunisia
non-muslims can't go in them. But I thought the tile work and
the carved stone work on the outside of the door was quite nice.
The moon and the crescent....
Back on the beach at Hammamet. You should notice a few things.
1) In the picture on the right, the coast looks quite nice.
Good beach, nice white buildings etc. 2) Look just off the beach
and you will see the above, which is what most of Tunisia looks
like only with more garbage.
Mahdia
We used the train system for
getting around in Tunisia, which worked quite well. The blurry
picture helps hide the garbage littering the fields.
After leaving Cape Bon we stayed in Mahdia
for a few days. The coast here was noticably different from Cape
Bon, pretty rocky but more interesting.
A few old bits of walls remain from Fatamid
Fortifications dating around 916 AD. The town was established
as a fort and base to attack Cairo from.
The fort in the background dates to the 16th
century. It was built on top of the remains of much of the Fatamid
ruins.
These are two more
pictures of the historic coastal penninsula of Mahdia. One is
the remains of a crumbling pilar, the other is the cemetary just
inside the old remnants.
Dale took this picture. Note the cemetary
& fort in the background.
