Matmata Hotel

Well what a day. We drove in 4x4 to an oasis in the Sahara. Arrived in time to swim in the hot spring which was actually cooler than the air temp. At dusk we went on a camal trek into the dunes. K was terrified for about 10 mins and then was a pro (by her own estimation). It was blowy and we were well wrapped. Pics are on K s camera so I will put those up later. Off to Douz today.

Imagine...they have internet in the Sahara.
Currently we are sleeping in a cave or old berber house as it is locally known. K is in heaven of course. I will attempt to upload pics soon. Off to Sahara proper tomorrow.
It is f...ing hot. 42 today.
We are having a fab time ...


Mel could you post the link to blog on Centre peel and ESL TEACHERS conf please.

... ma in due e carichi come muli sulla sabbia non è il massimo) e dopo un paio di tentativi riusciamo a raggiungere la sorgente... una delusione atroce, in parte sospettata: ci troviamo di fronte ad una pozza d'acqua di boh, 4m di diametro, con dentro almeno 30 persone che fanno il bagno tutte compresse che ricordano quella foto dei mille mila giapponesi nella piscina nella serie "immagina panico". Tutto intorno, un caff ...

Photo Essay mainly. Matmata. or the town of sunken houses. Not to be confused with the Matamata in central New Zealand, acknowledged hotbed and centre of rural wifeswapping. (It was in an Auckland magazine so it must be true) No wife swapping in Matmata thats for sure, They seem to keep them. Some have up to three wives ...

... caves that characterised Matmata. Half of these are still inhabited underground homes, with many more having been converted into hotels and restaurants. Before taking a look at some of these we stopped at Hotel ...

... early in the morning, and stopped in a hillside village and then we were able to visit a troglodyte home (a home that is made up of man made caves built into the mountains in desert). We stopped breifly at a viewing area on the road where we were able to survey the vast expanse of mountains around us. We got into Gabes just in time to catch the train back to Tunis.

... sourpuss. He'll get his comeuppance. So a little on Tunisia.... First thing I noticed is that is is very French. The streets are littered with battered old Peugeots and Renaults and little mopeds with gnarled old men riding round with well rehearsed scowls on their faces. Of course everyone is smoking but the Galoise seem to have given way to Marboro. And the bread! C'est magnifique! It is ...

Alquilamos un auto.....y nos fuimos a pasear por todos lados... geniallllllllllllllllllllllll. Dormimos en Matmata donde se filmo Star Wars (La guerra de las galaxias) Usamos el auto de colectivo y levantamos a todos los que hacian dedo por el desierto....

... photo of an old Berber boot though. In Matmata, we went to the Hotel Sidi Driss, which doubled as the home of Luke's adoptive parents in Star Wars. We also checked out the Hotel Marhala which plays up its Star Wars credentials in a more discrete manner. I suppose because it doesn't have any, but you could've fooled me--they all looked about the same! From Matmata, Mohammed drove us up to Gabes, a port town that is considered ugly and never ...

... past small groves of palms and the occasional troglodyte shack carved out of the low lying hills beside the road. It rose into some substantial hills about 40km inland from Gabes, so approaching the town surprised me as I was expecting a flat, barren wasteland much like the one Luke surveyed from the edge of a crater whilst pondering ...