Abou Nawas Tozeur

... is done.

Our final activity of the day is a trip into the foothills, where we hike up to the tomb of an Islamic holy man. It rests on the side of one of the canyons used as a location for the movie "The English Patient." The hike is exhilarating, and the sun is setting, providing the perfect long rays of light for excellent photography. Early dinner tonight, and very early start tomorrow, as we head back to Tunis.

We get an early start from the hotel in order to be at the famous La Ghriba Synagogue at the 9am opening. Of course, the man with the keys is 10 minutes late, but we walk through the village and talk with some school children on their way to classes.

Continuing to Douz, we experience one of the highlights of the tour – riding camels into the Sahara ...

... da poliziotti, cosa che ha un po' ridotto la nostra voglia di gironzolare. Ripresa la via del sud(ovest) siamo arrivati a Tozeur dopo centinaia di km di strada drittissima e piuttosto noiosa, salvo il progressivo arrivo in zona evidentemente desertica, cosa che ha sempre il suo fascino. Tozeur è infilata fra infinite palme, tutto intorno c'è terra gialla e onde di sabbia che non sai bene da dove siano arrivate visto che dune non se ne vedono, ma ...

The computers here are insanely slow and I'm not allowed to upload the pictures I've got! I 've written all the entries from the last one up till now, but alas, they're on a USB card too (used ethan's phone to type them out so that I wouldn't have to spend ages in an internet cafe). They're coming, don't worry. We're safe and everything's wonderful. I have lots of pictures and stories. We're off on our desert excursion tomorrow to the Grand ...

... les montagnes... ensuite par Tataouine pour luncher et par un des sites de tournage de Star Wars ou les maisons sont creusees a meme la terre, des maisons troglodytes... des fosses de 50 pieds de profond par 30 de diametre... On y accede par un tunnel, ben cool!! On a couche a Matmata dans un hotel troglodytes... faut etre trop claustrophobes pour coucher dans ces grottes mais ce fut ben cool...

... had found a good friend in him. He was able to recommend a good place nearby for lunch, where we chose lamb couscous and turkey. Delightful! Back at the shop, we decided Salim was the man we wanted to buy from, and that it was a good idea to buy several things from the same person, for the sake of the price. We spent a long time, enjoying the conversation and the decision-making. We finished up with a burnous for Paul Eric (a desert-cloak which is large and warm), a small jacket ...

... had plenty of time at the airport, and it was interesting to see all the flight destinations - Algeria, Morocco, Senegal and other French-speaking ex-colonies. Half an hour's delay and we were off, although the seats were a bit hard and uncomfortable. Still, the kissing French couple in front of us didn't seem to notice! What was amazing to think of as we sailed above the beautiful desert approaching Tozeur, was the diversity of nature and conditions we had experienced ...

... Chekiba - a simmering 50C+ in the shade. These guys do it tough ... Onwards into the Atlas and a grand canyon hove into view just outside of Tamerza. The canyon, and the old berber village on its edge had also been ravaged by heavy rains in the late sixties, forcing resettlement nearby. Skeletons of the now-parched mud buildings offer a ...

... and my great amusement, but hey, why not when you've got a captive audience? He settled for the free ride home. I was considering staying a night in Nefta but was glad I didn't when we arrived. About half the size of Tozeur it is far too big to retain that Arabian nights, oasis in the desert feel, so ends up being a delapidated small town ...

... and got to wander around and take photos, I have quite a few. After that we drove to the top of another dune and watched the sun go down looking out towards Algieria. Very cool! Remember to drink lots of water! Oh ya, the Lonely Planet recommendation for top end in Tozeur, at least the one we picked, sucks. And we now know what the Survivor contestants feel like when the food cravings start. Ask me how many people I would kill right now to have a bowl of oatmeal, go ahead, ask me!