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Here are some singleton photos that didn’t really fit anywhere else.
A talk about water resources in Tunisia.
Joey makes a term paper hand-off.
The minaret near Giovanna’s house.
Lucas in his Sicilian sweatshirt and a Djerba hat.
A headless statue in a new part of town.
Typical Tunisian street scene.
I gave a talk at this university for Amid East. It’s the oldest agricultural college in Tunisia.
I was lucky enough to be part of the wedding party for Giovanna’s host brother. It was too dark to get too many good shots. It’s too bad, because the party was incredible!
Both Giovanna and I missed getting to go to El Jem the first time during the trip to the south. We decided to take a trip down and see it one weekend.
The theater is rather overwhelming as it is the largest thing in town and dwarfs even the grand mosque. Depending on whom you ask, this is either the second or third largest coliseum in the world. In front of it are the one in Rome and maybe one other in Libya. We wandered all around inside and up to the top levels. Had one of the Beys not felt like blowing up about half of it to kill a rival Bey’s followers, it’d be a much more complete coliseum. It seems that most of the great Roman monuments have suffered a similar fate over the years.
Outside of the coliseum, we walked south to the museum. It has mosaics rivaling anything seen in the Bardo. We spent maybe an hour wandering through the halls and on the grounds. There were a total of three huge villas which had been transported to the site by the museum from around El Jem. They were quite impressive, the biggest spanning a space of about 3000 square meters. That house is the largest in all of Africa from the roman world. Pretty amazing that the little Podunk town of El Jem could have such wealth in the past!
Across the street and the railroad tracks from the museum, we ran into the original coliseum from 100 BC. The newer one at the center of town is from 284 or so AD. This one was melting into the earth but was still pretty neat. It had a flock of sheep grazing outside and a donkey eating inside.
Tags: Coliseum, El Jem, Giovanna, Roman Runis, Tunisia
It’s a new day. That means it’s time to see a new Roman town!
The night before we stayed in an interesting hotel near the ruins. Some of my fellow students decided it was a good place for a drink. I didn’t partake in the consumption, but I attended in my official capacity as photographer.
Lucas came here back in the summer. These are a couple of friends he made on his previous visit.
The ubiquitous sheep transport system for Tunisia.
The temple and forum complex at Sbeitla. It’s very impressive.
Part of one of the baths complexes.
The raised flooring of the hot rooms in the baths.
Tags: Giovanna, Lucas, Roman Runis, Sbeitla, Sufetula, Tunisia
After our trek across the chott, we ended up for the night at Tozeur. The next morning, we woke up to the wonderful world of one of Tunisia’s prettiest oases.
Yes, that is a hand-made logo on the front of that truck. I’d say this truck isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
This is a Fennic Fox. It’s unwise to touch small furry creatures in Tunisia as, more often than not, they’ll bite you. Giovanna found this out the hard way. She ended up getting a precautionary series of rabies shots just to be on the safe side. Yes, the Fennic Fox is an endangered species, but, supposedly, the shop keeper had found this one as a baby sitting next to it’s dead mother in the desert. If the proper authorities found out about this, the fox would be taken away from him and he’d probably be arrested. As it is, it makes a good tourist attraction.
We took a carriage ride through the oasis to see how a large desert oasis functions. This was my horse.
We got to run our hands through the dates and pretend we were Scrooge McDuck with all of his gold.
The local bicycle gang.
I found a bull behind a butchers shop. We all know what happened to that poor fellow!
These photos are for Karim to use in his Arabic classes.
After our whirlwind tour of Bulla Regia, we jumped in the last louage out of Jendouba and made a b-line for Le Kef. We got to Le Kef about two hours before dark. Unfortunately, Le Kef isn’t a real tourist destination, especially in the winter. It took us about an hour to find a hotel. We finally did. It cost 36 Dinars for the three of us not including breakfast. Giovanna negotiated to get a TV with the room. It only received the national station. At least we could watch the special Ramadan soap operas that are shown just after sundown during the month of Ramadan. Right at Iftar, Heather and I went down on the street to an ATM. There NO traffic and there were NO people to be seen. Everyone was home breaking the fast while we were withdrawing 300 dinars to pay for the hotel bill and other upcoming expenses. Back in the hotel room, we spent the following few hours after sundown chilling out waiting for things to open back up.
Once people were back out on the street, we went out to try and find a restaurant that would serve us. After some sketchy situations, we finally found some at another hotel which wouldn’t give us a discount on a room earlier in the day. For starving vagabonds, it was good food.
The next morning we woke up to a lovely view. Le Kef looks out over the central Tell of Tunisia. Farmland stretches out on all sides from the city. The town’s name itself means “The Rock” which is appropriate because the whole town is built up the side of a mountain. We left the hotel, leaving our gear in the room, and explored the town.
The view at night from our hotel room of the town. The Citadel is in the upper center of the image.
This is one of the old Rroman baths complexes in Le Kef. As with almost every city/town/village/cluster of houses in Tunisia, Romans, Phoenicians, Libyo-Puncic tribes, Berbers, and a whole host of other people occupied them in the past. Le Kef is certainly no exception. This particular complex is in the middle of town and between five and ten meters below the current ground level. Houses were built right into the ruins, using parts of the old structure as structural supports. There are still a few buildings on the edges of the site that are supported partially by Roman columns and arches. why bother building new when you have old?
This particular site was free to visit. We gave the man who tends the site a tip for doing a good job of picking up the trash and making sure the site didn’t get overrun with squatters. He was pleased that we recognized his efforts.
The electrical and telecommunications grid is supported by very small poles in Le Kef.
Exploring the old Medina of Le Kef we found some chickens and turkeys destined for the dinner table.
This is the local garbage truck. When all of the streets have stairs, a burro about the only way to do the job.
Inside the Citadel, otherwise known as a Kasbah. It is the equivalent inner keep of a castle for a fortified Medina-style town or city.
Need some coca cola delivered? This guy was coming down from the Berber villages that climb up the flank of the mountain. He seemed happy that we’d take interest in his job.
This is the gate to the countryside. It literally goes from dense city and Medina to green pastures. Walking through the gate is quite the experience. Two Berber women that we met and Giovanna befriended walked through the gate ahead of us. They were headed up to the villages after a morning down in town.
The countryside. There was a large, perfectly flat “field” to the right. Underneath several massive Roman cisterns still hold water that women use to wash laundry with. A wellhead and a staircase are all that betray the presence of the cavernous aquatic underworld above Le Kef.
This is the route up to the Berber villages. I didn’t take any pictures of the villages or the people up on top with my camera. It was somewhat frowned upon by the inhabitants.
After a long and exhausting three days and two nights on the road, we headed back to Tunis. My two traveling companions were rather tired. It was a good trip. We saw a lot and had some fun. Plus, we got out of Tunis for a few days. Too long in one place and I start to go stir crazy!
Moving on from Tabarka, we wound our way up into the northwestern mountains of Tunisia. Known as the Kroumirie Mountains, its one of the few areas in Tunisia to get significant rainfall and, occasionally, snow! We stopped off at Ain Draham, the mountain station of Tunisia. The town sits at about 1000 meters nestled at the top of the pass on the road between Tabarka and Jendouba. Between Ain Draham and Tabarka, the road winds its way within about 500 meters of the border with Algeria. In Ain Draham, you can gaze across the valley to Algeria.
The entire region is filled with cork forests. We spied several trees that had been freshly harvested. To harvest the cork bark off of a cork tree, one makes a circular cut at the top and bottom of the trunk and one slit all the way down the length of the tree. Be sure to be careful not to cut all the way through the bark, as the inner layers transport nutrients up and down the trunk. I’m told that a cork tree can be harvested once every ten years or so.
In Ain Draham, our main goal was to see the women’s carpet cooperative that one of our guide books talked about. After some hiking around, we finally found it. The place mainly handles traditional Berber carpets with a few more modern designs. In the end, I bought a carpet and a bunch of carpet squares. Giovanna bought two carpets, some carpet squares, some knitted sweaters and gloves and hats and whatnot, and maybe a few other things. Heather bought some carpet squares and some knitted goods. We packaged all of the carpets together into a huge roll that just barely fit into a burlap feed sack. I lashed the roll under my backpack. Since we were taking louages everywhere, we had to be mobile. Looking back on it, we were rather insane. Those carpets must have weighed 20 kilos!
The carpet cooperative.
I worked with the women for a while. They seemed pretty happy that a foreign guy would be interested in how they make carpets.
Me examining the carpets. I chose the smaller one. It now resides on my floor.
What a great place to sit and stay a while.
Tags: Ain Draham, Berber Carpets, Giovanna, Heather, Tunisia
Onward from Ain Draham, we went to Bulla Regia, arguably one of the most impressive Roman sites in North Africa. Unlike most other Roman sites, it is possible to walk into complete Roman rooms, including ceilings and mosaics! Unfortunately, as it was during Ramadan, we had an even hour to see the entire site. We left our bags in the ticket office and proceeded to sprint through the sprawling site. Somehow, in spite of the time crunch, we managed to see every single site in the complex, make it out before they locked the gates, get a taxi back into town, get a louage to Le Kef, and actually get out of Jendouba before sunset. For those of you who have been to Jendouba, you know exactly why it is important to be out of Jendouba before sunset.
The gates to Bulla Regia.
This is where Giovanna said “Oh crap! This is a really big site and I only brought three rolls of film!”
Inside our first Roman room.
Those Roman carts sure made a lot of ruts in the Roman roads!
The Memmian Baths.
Local “wildlife”. Throughout the ruins there were flocks of sheep and the occasional cow grazing. Its a cheap form of grounds care and it supplements the guards’ income. Plus it makes for good pictures.
These Roman houses really are underground! This house only had part of its ceiling intact. This is the Treasure House. When excavated, a horde of coins was discovered hidden in the ruins.
By far, the most impressive house purely for the architecture, the House of the Hunt, has these very interesting and unique hexagonal “windows” in the support structure. The reasons behind this seem to be, aside from ascetics, more structural in nature. This design helps lighten the load carried by the columns and also helps deflect the weight to the columns rather than having an unsupported load in the middle of the span between columns. This house was also one of the most extensive with areas for sleeping, eating, hanging out, and other such underground activities.
One of our guides/guards. He showed us around a few of the underground villas and splashed water on the mosaics to make the colors more vivid. It probably isn’t the best for preserving the mosaics, but it made for stunning photos! We gave him a two or three Dinar tip.
This is the House of Amphitrite. When Bulla Regia was excavated a rather disturbing discovery was made in this house. The archaeologists found a skeleton tied to a chair with an iron ring around its neck inscribed “Adulterous prostitutes: hold me, because I ran away from Bulla Regia.” We didn’t observe any prostitutes in Bulla Regia the day we visited. However, the guide did show us the penis carved in relief on a rock wall indicating the direction to the old whore house. This indication of the direction to the brothel is not unique to Bulla Regia. I personally observed the same symbol at the Roman site of Mustis just north of the present-day town of Krib.
Walking through the Forum.
Outside of the Theater. I personally think that this one is much more impressive than the one at Dougga for the structural engineering that went into it. Also, its very complete and has only had minor preservation work done to the structure.
Temple of Isis.
In the belly of the Memmian Baths complex.
Giovanna decided she wanted a picture up on the baths. She saw one of the guards up there earlier so she figured it wouldn’t be hard to get up there. It wasn’t. Good thing she didn’t let her fear of heights get to her because it was a long way down!
Bye bye Bulla Regia!
Tags: Bulla Regia, Giovanna, Heather, Jendouba, Roman Ruins
Arrr! Thar be pirates in Tabarka! These pirate galleons are used to take tourists out in the summer on the water for some recreational activities.
Part of the Tunisian fishing fleet designed for the open seas.
Looking across to the small Zone Touristique. Tabarka is trying to imitate the supposed success of places such as Hammamet and Sousse. The water is a chocolate brown from all of the erosion. Every time it rains, the water turns brown.
Walking along the access road on the landward side of the island a few hundred meters off the coast from Tabarka. Well, actually the French built a causeway out to the island just after World War II.
Looking back toward the causeway and Tabarka.
Giovanna wanted a picture with some Genoese ruins. She had to do a bit of work to get that shot.
The island is covered with old ruins from the former owners. The main attraction on the island is the Genoese fort. It was occupied by the Genoese from 1542 when Dragut, the famed and feared Muslim corsair, was captured and ransomed. His cohort, Khaired-Din Barbarossa, gave up the island to get his buddy back. The Genoese also secured the coral diving and harvesting rites to northern Tunisia. The Genoese mainly concerned themselves with coral and with acting as agents for ransoming slaves from Tunis. Back then, there was a healthy slave trade both coming up from Sub-Saharan Africa and from the northern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. In 1741, the Genoese found themselves in need of agents when the island was finally taken by the Bey of Tunis. The old Genoese names still survive in the Tunis Medina today.
The door to the fort was unfortunately locked. Its supposed to be converted into a museum but it appears to still be some sort of a police station or military base.
Those guys are fishing for something.
The Needles, as they’re known locally. The promenade between Tabarka proper and the amphitheater where the international jazz festival is held every summer tunnels through the rocks to make it around the corner.
We decided to go out to the Zone Touristique to relax a bit and sit on the beach. Of course the beach was icy cold!
The beach was covered with winged black ants along the surf line.
looking out from the inside of the hotel we spent some time at.
Hotel Montana and Disco Montana. Not exactly what you’d expect to see in downtown Tabarka!
The view from our hotel room window. We stayed at the Hotel Novelty in downtown Tabarka. We made the trip during Ramadan so by this point we were very hungry!
Getting ready to go in the morning.
There are lots of unfinished buildings in Tabarka. There was a big push a few years back to tear down the old buildings and build new and “modern” ones. Tabarka is slowly losing its charm. For some reason, a lot of the construction looks to have stalled out back in 2001 or 2002.
This used to be a Roman cistern which was later modified and converted into a little fort which was used by Christian traders in the 12th century.
I woke up to watch the sun rise over the sea. The night before, Anne and I swam in the sea as we watched the sun set.
In the old medina of Hammamet.
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