Tunisia

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Need a lift:
On my way back to Tunis I was stopped by a policeman by the side of the road. I couldn't work out what he wanted, but he kept pointing to the passenger seat. Eventually I worked out he was trying to arrange a lift for his mate into Tunis - I couldn't really refuse could I?

I caught the ferry from Sicily to Tunisia hired a car, and headed out into the countryside. The plan was to go down to Tataouine and see the desert, but my hire car was rather battered. I've never picked up a rental car which had rust on it, and it couldn't really go above 80kph. I realised that getting to Tataouine could take a long time, so plan B (heading west through Kairouan and El Kef) came into play.

Kairouan is a city a good few miles from the coast, but that doesn't stop coach loads of tourists turning up to see the town. It's holy city for Islam, and the mosque is impressive, but the shopping options in the Medina are rather limited, and aimed squarely at the tourist market. I was lucky to spend the night there so I managed to see the town at night, and early in the morning with out the tour groups.

I headed out to El Kef which is close to the Algerian border, and got some great photos of the sun set from the castle overlooking El Kef, and the next morning I headed out to see Dougga. It's the remains of a roman town, but there's an awful lot left! It seems the locals where still living in the place up until the 1950's. there's one temple that is still in one piece, and very impressive it is too.

Sun Set at El Kef

One of the sobering experience I had in Tunisia was coming across a British War Grave, which was beautifully tended and had graves from both the first and second world wars. It was made even more personal by finding a grave sharing my family name - he must have been a distant relative, and to have ended up miles from home had a profound effect on me.