The Red Lizard and the Selja Gorge
Trip Start
Feb 07, 2008
1
4
17
Trip End
Feb 23, 2008
Metlaoui,
Tunisia
Sunday, February 10, 2008
The hotel quoted us a fairly high price for the trip, and we would need to find two other passengers to share the car to the start of the railway track at Metloui, the phosphate-mining centre. Being independent, as mentioned, we took a louage to Metloui, which saved us money, and was a great experience, as we met several Tunisian women who were also intending to do the Lezard Rouge trip. We also got to sit in the front of the van, stimulated by the compound rhythms of the Arab music from the cassette. This was how we liked to travel!
One of the carriages
The louage driver took us all the way to the train, since there were several of us bound for the same place. Indeed, the train was truly red! It had "Lezard Rouge" in big letters on one side of it, and the same (I assume) in Arabic on the other side. We boarded the train, and the transission from Arab pop music to Vivaldi's four seasons which played was bizarre, but pleasant. After a while, the train filled up with passengers, most of whom belonged to a group from Malaysia. We had seats by the window, and a nice Malaysian lady sat next to me. Opposite, her husband planned to sit, and left his bag there as confirmation whilst he looked around. In the meantime, a large German lady sat down next to his place, but as my Malaysian friend pointed out, she actually occupied 1.5 seats! The Malaysian husband never returned for some reason!
As the train swung out from the station a few kilometres, we could see the weekly market in full activity. I have never encountered such a huge open-air market before in all my life. It seemed to stretch on for miles and miles, from food sections, to clothing sections, household goods, carpets, toileteries, spices, electronics etc. Excited by the opportunity to view a different lifestyle, and perhaps to get a good bargain, I made up my mind to visit the market on our return. Since it was Mother's Day, Paul Eric agreed it would be a good gift to allow me that pleasure without complaining
In the mountains
!The scenery was spectacular; mountains and canyons, bridges and tunnels, shades of red, pink and brown. The lizard stopped twice to allow us to get off and take photos. Our enjoyment was hightened by sipping sweet mint tea from pretty glasses as we jolted through the mountains. Even going to the bathroom was an experience, as the basin had intricately painted designs, fit for a king. Kingly however, the toilet was not, and you could see the ground through the hole!
The people at the Metlaouian market waved at us as we returned, and we quickly walked over to the stalls which by 12.00pm were starting to disband. It was interesting to view the clothes, western and arab-style, all at good prices, and I at last bought two lipsticks, a bag of pepper corns, a jar of harissa (strong chilli paste), and some chocolates for Paul Eric, all at prices you would never find in Norway. It felt fun to be part of something local and authentic. We found a louage back to Tozeur which contained some of our fellow passengers from the earlier journey. Now we were hungry, and took a taxi straight to our favourite restuarant Tozeurous, which laughingly we had now renamed "Toys are us". Here I got to try an oily soup with grain, Chorba and camel brochetes. It tasted rather like beef, was lean and good, but a little tough. Then we went to visit Salim, take him a present, take a photo of him, and enquire about car-rental since he had mentioned a friend with a car-rental firm. The gift was an artistic map of Norway, with touristic signs to indicate what the various places were famous for. Salim was really happy with the gift, which we felt he deserved after the prices in the fixed price shop indicated that he had given us a very good deal.
A proper look at the renouned medina with its museum still awaited, and we made a new attempt to explore its mysteries. Unfortunately, the museum was closed for the day. Surprise, surprise, the shops were open, and as I couldn't find a good enough excuse for not accepting the invitation to "just look", I ended up in a shop. The pretext was to take photos from the roof-top terrace, which really did provide a wonderful view of the town. The roof also served as a good place to dry olives, of which there were many. The owner was in the process of making a café upstairs, which looked very promising. Without doubt, he was sure to make good business from that wonderful spot, and get more custom for his shop too! As chance would have it (!), the floor below was a carpet shop. My, what a coincidence! The older man in the carpet department was all ready to roll out the most stunning floor- and wall-coverings, when I realized what was happening, and said as firmly as I could that I already had a rug from Morocco, and only wanted to look at the wares on the ground floor. This seemed to please the younger man, who took us downstairs, and never left our sides as he gave us the most detailed explanations about the background of the products we were viewing in the huge shop. Two glasses of mint tea later, I felt obliged to buy something, and the pretty multi-coloured tea-glasses looked like a good present for my sister. I don't suppose the price was particularly good, but it wasn't bad either, and at last we could escape. I reflected on how much nicer it had been buying products from a friend like Salim, who I felt had respected our freedom. He had made me feel that he was interested in meeting US, not just our bank account! On the other hand, what did I know about business at this time of year? Perhaps tourists were few, and business difficult?! Hmmm well, at least I had avoided the silver teapot for 50 dinars, a good thing since I later bought one for 18!
It was a welcome rest in the hotel garden, where unfortunately the café was closed. How impresseed I was when a member of the hotel staff went off to buy coffee and juice on our behalf from another local café. He took a long time returning, and by then the coffee was rather cold, but I didn't mind. I was touched by his efforts!
Soon after it was time for supper, and we started to walk towards the zone touristique, hoping to hail a cab. We hadn't gone far however, when we saw another small, local café advertizing Berber pizza. There were only a few small tables inside, but the boy opened a door into a wonderful terrace at the back, full of wall paintings of Tunisia, flowers, traditional furnishings and coloured lighting. So pretty! Combined with a low-price menu of local dishes, it was very appealing, and we were happy to choose the place for supper. The pizza was rather spicey and more authentic than the one we had had before, but I particularly liked it. We had the Tunisian soda, Boga with the meal and the patron came out to talk to us and show us photos. A very nice man.
After, we took a taxi in the dark to the Chak Wak park, deep in the palmary. The man who received us here was particularly genuine and sincere. I liked him immediately - one of those people you just know you can trust! He gave us a discount for some reason, and came with us to give us good explanations about the things we saw. It was a strange place! There were models and exhibitions outside, beautifully flood-lit in the evening. Most of the exhibition explained some aspect of Tunisian history, but also religions of the world, and we walked the 2km path, listening to the man's enthusiastic commentary. There were even live animals on the "farm", and we stroked a baby goat that had been born the same day. I was surprised how much I could understand, and how gradually it was becoming easier for me to express myself in French. The trip ended with mint tea in the cosy café and a taxi home. My last reflection before falling asleep was how it is the nice people you meet (not the activities) that make the difference between a pleasant holiday and a wonderful holiday!
