Carthage and Beyond

We ended up spending 3 nights by the sea in Carthage. We even took the tandem out for a day cycling round the various punic and Roman ruins. These sites are not the best we will see on this tour, but the fact that they played such an important role history makes then somehow come alive. The old Punic ports, now just glorified ponds, once saw the worlds most powerful fleet berthed here and the models and excavations really help you visualise it. The Antonine baths cover an enormous area - even for a modern pool complex and much of the lower ground floor remains in tact directly adjacent both the sea and the new Presidential palace. Allegedly you must not point your camera at the Palace even by accident, but we weren't immediately shouted at or shot when we did. We were however moved on by the guards on our cycle home when, exhausted and half way up another big hill, we stopped next to the Palace. After recovering we cycled into Sidi Bou Said, a picturesque almost European Mediterranean town sat on top of a cliff overlooking the sea. The town is completely white with blue doors and windows and is a huge tourist attraction for Tunisians and foreigners alike. The doors are all decorated and really beautiful and naturally enough the souvenirs sellers have many mini door for sale. We really loved these doors so thought we'd buy one and asked how much? 150 dinar we were told. After haggling we got it for 15 (and the seller seemed happy with this price).
After collecting our carnet yesterday and having lunch at a posh cafe du thé in the centre of Tunis we have now moved on to Douga. We could have changed planets the difference is so great. Douga has some of the most fabulous Roman ruins and the Roman town is situated on a hillside overlooking the new. We are unfortunately not allowed to camp next to the ruins and has been sent to camp outside the Police station where we have been joined by 4 French motorhomes. The town is ramshackle and not pleasant, unlike Tunis you rarely see a woman, and many of the ones you do see are wearing traditional clothes. The cafes have virtually no women in them and walking through the town you certainly feel people watching you. Some people say bonjour and others ignore you, but on the whole people are generally nice to us.

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