Tunisia is Calling

A colourful door in Tunis

Several years ago now, Mom and Dad gave me a  book called "The Road Less Travelled."  In it are featured off the beaten path alternatives to some of the world's most popular sites and destinations, the goal being to show that  in less visited countries there are still amazing things to see and do even if they don't get the same attention as their famous counterparts.  For some reason or another, this particular book has had a great influence on me and has inspired to go to many of the places I have been and continues to help shape where I want to go in the future.  There's something about going to these less known locations that awakens the explorer in me and leaves me wanting to go further.  One of these places featured in the book captivated me a little more than the others.  Somewhere in the deserts of Tunisia in North Africa stood an ancient Roman amphitheatre to rival the Colosseum in Rome, and was perhaps even a little more impressive.  Ever since then, it was almost as if this place that had been mostly forgotten by the rest of the world,  El Jem, was calling me and I knew I had to get there.

Luckily my friend Jory, whom I met in Morocco at Christmas, shares in my sense of discovery and was actually the one who first suggested that we go to Tunisia, although I didn't have to put much thought into it before I agreed to go.  Before we knew it we were in Tunis, the capital city, and were frequently exchanging remarks like, "I can't believe we're here!".  As with many things I've done this year, setting foot on Tunisian soil went from being a lofty ambition to a reality in a scary short period of time.

One of the rooms of the Ottoman palace at the
Bardo Museum

Typically when I go to a new place I like to have at least a rough plan of what to see and do before I get there, but this time the only thing I knew I had to see was El Jem, leaving everything else wide open.  The end result of this, was that I seemed to be continually blown away with what we saw.  One of the first things that Jory and I did was go to the Bardo Museum in Tunis.  I hadn't even so much as heard of it until about a half an hour before we were there but it proved to be one of the most memorable museums I've ever seen.  Built around the former palace complex of the Ottoman governor and renovated with ultra modern extensions, the building itself is a site to behold, let alone its contents. The main attraction though are the immaculate Roman mosaics displayed on just about every inch of wall space with some whole pieces extending the full three stories of the museum.

The feeling of being impressed turned out to be a general theme of the trip as it would turn out.  The next day we headed off in search of Dougga, a ruined ancient Roman city about an hour and a half west of Tunis.  To get there, we took a 'Louage' which is basically a collective taxi van which only heads off to the specified location when its full; a funny concept and very Middle Eastern.  As we would find out later, this is not a mode of transportation taken by many tourists, but as we flew down the highway with nothing but natural AC (windows rolled down), while making frequent stops to check on the cargo of doors which were loosely strapped to the roof with binder twine, I couldn't see why not.  Most importantly though, we made it to Dougga and were left to explore the site virtually on our own.

From the top of the theatre at Dougga

Other than Italy itself, the area of modern day Tunisia was among the first to be taken over by the Romans well over 2000 years ago, and was also part of the empire even after Rome had fallen.  As a result, there are ruins of large, wealthy cities just like Dougga scattered throughout the country.  I had always imagined Tunisia to be completely Sahara-like desert, but as you can see, the to the west of Tunis is surprisingly green.  We had a bit of an issue getting back to Tunis though.  Our plan of taking the bus back fell through when it unexpectedly left half an hour early leaving us, and several locals, stranded.  We eventually found another way but of course it was considerably more expensive and involved us playing an integral role in bribing a police officer.  Not exactly a recommended way to travel, but its not as though I'm writing this from a Tunisian prison.  

Sidi Bou Said

Our trip wasn't all ancient history either.  We took a trip to the Tunis suburb of Sidi Bou Said with its white washed buildings and expansive Mediterranean views, and spent a couple nights in the more resort oriented and touristy Sousse.  This part of Tunisia is a popular holiday destination, particularly with people from Eastern Europe and Russia so it has a very different feel to it than Tunis, where it felt like we were the only foreigners.  I still didn't feel bad going for beers at the Wild West Saloon though.

The core of Sousse is the medina.  One of those old, tightly packed warrens of maze like streets and buildings, at the centre of which is the souk.  Nowadays its mostly souvenirs that are sold there but even just taking a few steps off the main path is like going back in time.  Butcher shops hang skinned goats out front, sacks of colourful spices crowd the walkway, people sit around and drink tea and smoke ALL day.  Its really cool to see and you get the sense that nothing has really changed since, well, ever.

View across the medina of Sousse

And of course, we made the short trek from Sousse to El Jem to see the Roman amphitheatre.  As we walked out of the train station in the small backwater town I wasn't quite sure which direction we needed to go.  I began to climb up the steps of a pedestrian bridge but I didn't have to go that high before I saw it.  Towering above the small single story buildings of the town and the desert that surrounds it, the ancient stadium dominates the skyline in much the same way that it would have almost 2000 years ago.  Its remarkably well preserved due to the hot dry air and so its not hard to imagine it as it used to be; filled to capacity with 35,000 spectators watching gladiators fight and people being fed to lions.  Unlike the Colosseum in Rome, you can walk along the highest level and down below the floor where the slaves and animals were kept in their cells.  It was definitely worth the hype I had attributed to it and what's more, I got to see for my own eyes a place I had imagined for years.

The outside of the amphitheatre

This time last year as I was writing an essay on the Arab Spring, which was sparked by the revolution in Tunisia in 2011, it seemed as though I might never get to Tunisia and I definitely would have never imagined that I would be there just a year later.  Of course, the country is pretty well back to normal now, aside from a light military presence and the odd space blocked off with razor-wire.  But much in the same way that I was surprised to be there, the country itself continually surprised me.  On the one hand, Tunis is probably the dirtiest city I've ever been to; a layer of garbage chokes the streets every night but is magically cleaned up by morning.  Yet still, there was something about it that let me see beyond the trash and still be able to enjoy the city.  Maybe it was the friendly people and their laid back attitude or maybe it was just sheer excitement on my part.  Either way, when you're on the road less travelled you take the good with the bad and just keep exploring.