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Entries made in December, 2009

Star Wars @ Ong Ejamel (Mos Espa Set)

Thursday, December 31st, 2009

Today we set out with our Motobecane Mobylette 88, Habib, back to Nefta after my mom discovered Ross Pringle's account about a major Star Wars set just hanging out in the desert only a few kilometers further than where we were yesterday. Thanks mo...

The Dark Side

Wednesday, December 30th, 2009

We've been enjoying Tunisia more than ever for the past few weeks. The trick for us, sadly, has been turning a blind eye to a lot of crappy behavior. I suppose we all do this every day on some level; there are injustices great and small everywher...

The Road to Tozeur

Tuesday, December 29th, 2009

Backpacks, food, water, camera, and an extra liter and a half of fuel strapped to the newest member of our team, a Motobecane Mobylette, model AV88, we wave farewell to Giovanni and Lorenzo and "speed" away v e r y s l o...

Motorized: Part 2

Monday, December 28th, 2009

When I casually suggested we buy one of Tunisia's ubiquitous scooters, Tara couldn't stop laughing. The thought of us zipping down the road in the middle of the desert on a crappy little moped was, in her words, "perfect". Though we've been ab...

Motorized: Part 1

Sunday, December 27th, 2009

Yesterday, as we boarded our louage to Douz, it occurred to me that the used, run-down scooters we've seen everywhere in Tunisia couldn't be very expensive. As we sat down for the two hour journey, I jokingly mentioned to Tara that we should buy o...

Festival of the Sahara

Sunday, December 27th, 2009

Arriving in Douz under the blistering sun, we leave the louage station and join a whirlwind of activity. As we walk through town it is easy to imagine how colorful and lively this place must have once been when caravans passed through, rejoicing i...

Star Wars @ Sidi Driss Hotel

Saturday, December 26th, 2009

My younger brother Gabe is obsessed with Star Wars. George Lucas visited Tunisia before filming the original series and much of the culture and architecture found in the movies was inspired by what he saw. In fact, many parts of the epic series, ...

Christmas in the Desert

Friday, December 25th, 2009

This morning as Christmas snowstorms gathered their strength back home in the Midwest, Tara and I were venturing further into the deserts of Tunisia. While our families slept, we made our way to Chenini, a centuries old Troglodyte village near Tat...

To Tataouine

Thursday, December 24th, 2009

Louage- nf. def: A Tunisian shared taxi van that drives REALLY fast. It is white with a colored stripe indicating where/how far it goes (yellow=local, blue=county, red=intercity). There is no set timetable; drivers depart when their louage seats...

On Home

Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009

…while going to sleep in our haunted hotel room: Me "Do you miss Kerkennah a little?" Tara "Yeah." Me "Me too." Despite a rough week of feeling cooped up and generally stuck in "waiting mode", we were both ever-so-slightly sad to leave Ke...

Kerkennah to Gabes

Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009

This morning a rickety bus carted us the short distance from Remla to the southern tip of the islands, somehow costing more than the hour-long ferry ride it was delivering us to. After boarding the boat, we both put on our headphones and zoned out...

Door Number Three

Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009

After much deliberation we've chosen option number three. Though we'd like to ride our bicycles, our original route to the western town of Tozeur could easily turn into a month long affair if it involved circling back to Kerkennah. There is still...

Stranded on a Desert Island

Monday, December 21st, 2009

We just found out our wheels have been sitting in New Jersey for the last twelve days. Nice work US Postal Service. We've now been on Kerkannah for more than two weeks. The first week was very enjoyable; we did lots of sightseeing, and I had a s...

Patience & Aioli

Sunday, December 20th, 2009

I decided the other day that I would whip up a batch of homemade aioli (garlic mayonnaise) so we could garlic-ify a roasted chicken. This sauce, southern French in origin, is traditionally made in a mortar and pestle, and is often created using a ...

The Gatekeeper

Saturday, December 19th, 2009

When we arrived at the hostel in Remla, we were amazed by and appreciative of everyone's kindness. It was such a relief compared to the other hostels we'd been to! We were given a key to our room, in addition to the key to the whole suite which ...

Lablabi

Friday, December 18th, 2009

After posting our journal entry about Tunisian food, we've been going out of our way to try new things in the hopes of varying our cuisine. In the process, we've discovered lablabi, which turned out to be my favorite Tunisian dish we've tried thus...

Why We Are Here

Thursday, December 17th, 2009

Tara and I recently re-watched Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boormans', Long Way Down. It was both exciting and rewarding to see again. Having now traveled through many of the places they did, we were often exclaiming, "We rode right by that!" as we ...

Scooters of Kerkennah

Wednesday, December 16th, 2009

The preferred mode of transportation on Kerkennah appears to be a rusty scooter. They are parked in disorganized clusters at every home and place of business on the island, most especially the many repair shops. We pass men every day working on t...

Latkes on the Road

Tuesday, December 15th, 2009

I was not inspired to do anything today. This morning all I wanted was to be on the move, adventuring on our bicycles, or be at home. Our waiting-for-gear limbo was driving me crazy. All I could think were things like: "Why on earth are we sitti...

Notes from the Cafe

Monday, December 14th, 2009

During our stay here on Kerkannah, we've spent the majority of our time working at the Salon de Thé (tearoom) called "la Corniche". They have free wi-fi (thankfully or we'd have to return to Sfax to get anything done) and we use it liberally. The...

DSLR Camera Case: ThinkTank Digital Holster 10

Sunday, December 13th, 2009

Bringing a digital SLR on our world tour was a last-minute decision. About a month before we left, my friend Ian Meyer convinced me that we'd be fools to leave without one. At the time, my main concern was how we'd carry yet another heavy and exp...

Waiting for Wheels

Saturday, December 12th, 2009

While we wait for our new rear wheels to arrive, we've spent a little more time exploring the Kerkennah Islands. They aren't big. To provide some variety from working every day at the local cafe, we visited the sleepy resort town of Sidi Fredj to...

Going Slowly Photo Calendars!

Friday, December 11th, 2009

We know it's getting down to the wire for Christmas shopping and Hanukkah has already begun, but we've still got a few days left 'till New Years. We're currently stranded on the Kerkennah Islands waiting for replacement wheels so we decided to spe...

Velocity Rims: Part 2

Thursday, December 10th, 2009

UPDATE: It turns out our problems had nothing to do with the braking surface at all. The rim was splitting in two right down the middle. I didn't see this until I removed the rim tape. Click here for a continuation of the story. Roughly one...

On the Sea with Abdallah

Wednesday, December 9th, 2009

The day dawned clear and beautiful as usual, and we called Abdallah as promised to make sure we were still on for the day. The islands can get notoriously windy, making excursions out to sea very uncomfortable. Finding out that everything was sti...

Borj el-Hissar

Tuesday, December 8th, 2009

Since Tyler has been busy working for basically every free moment of every day while we wait for my replacement wheel (more on that soon), I've decided to plan little excursions for us so we don't tire of the same routine. I love reading our guide...

Tunisian Food

Monday, December 7th, 2009

Eating well in Tunisia is proving to be a bit of a challenge. Our normal process of buying groceries and cooking our own meals just doesn't seem to be applicable here. Also, the sun starts setting around 5PM now, usually forcing us to cook in tot...

Soccer & Seafood

Sunday, December 6th, 2009

After spending the entire day working at our favorite coffee-shop (Salon de Thé la Corniche), we were surprised when suddenly the place cleared out and we were the only people left. Normally the patio is filled with men smoking chicha and sipping ...

Remla Hostel

Saturday, December 5th, 2009

After a couple days of desert free-camping, we both feel the need for a shower so we're packing up and heading to Remla to check into the youth hostel. The short 6 kilometer ride from our free-camp seems to take forever due to the constant, p...

Sta Ali

Friday, December 4th, 2009

Yesterday at the Abassiya museum we asked Madame Fehri if she knew of any fishermen who would be willing to take us out on their boat. Our guide book said this was a common practice, and we were eager to learn more about local way of life. Fishin...

Exploring Kerkennah Island

Thursday, December 3rd, 2009

I'm cozied up in our sleeping bag; Tara has run off to take pictures of the coming sunrise on our little desert island. Before yesterday, my only experience with the desert was sweltering on the seat of a motorcycle with one aim: to get out. This...

Under the Spell

Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009

We're not sure what to expect as we purchase tickets for the ferry to the Kerkennah Islands off the coast of Sfax. It doesn't really matter what it's like, though, the total cost is 1 dinar 800! We board the boat, bungee our bikes to the cargo ar...

Sfax Medina & Dar Jellouli Museum

Tuesday, December 1st, 2009

We had a lovely day today wandering around the Sfax medina. It was refreshingly utilitarian—not a tourist shop in sight. Craftspeople calmly turned wood or etched metal while people bustled by on the narrow streets. At a pastry shop, we were dra...