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Tunisia Entries

Armed and Dangerous

Saturday, January 16th, 2010

It was a drizzly, dreary day in the port suburb of La Goulette, and we were glad we weren't trying to finish a marathon to Tunis this morning. Instead, we were ready for our evening ferry and our kind hotel hosts allowed us to hang out in the lobb...

Hitching a Ride

Friday, January 15th, 2010

This morning was day two of our mad dash for Tunis. We were in good spirits, but our muscles were sore as we groggily shuffled down the stairs of our hotel for breakfast. With each step it was becoming increasingly obvious that stringing a series...

Olive Grove Angels

Thursday, January 14th, 2010

Somehow, after nine and a half months on the road, we still wake up excited about a new day of adventuring—even when just the night before, we cursed the skies and wondered why the hell we were out here at all. We just want to ride our bikes, eat,...

Sandstorm

Wednesday, January 13th, 2010

In central Tunisia this morning, it felt like spring was in the air. Tara was excited, snapping photos of the delicate little buds in celebration of the coming season. Here is her first "flower hour" of 2010. Shortly after 2PM, the o...

Back to Work

Tuesday, January 12th, 2010

Very excited about our first day cycling in almost a month, we were packed and ready to go in record time this morning. Before we left, Tyler ran over to Cafe la Corniche to say goodbye to Yousri while I jogged over to the pastry shop to pick up a...

In Summary

Sunday, January 10th, 2010

One month after Velocity sent our replacement rims, their convoluted journey has ended here on our desert island of Kerkennah. The first two weeks featured an information blackout during which they sat, apparently forgotten, in New Jersey. Go US ...

Too Windy

Saturday, January 9th, 2010

We left our hotel bright and early hoping to pick up our wheels from the nearby post office during their brief Saturday morning opening. When we arrived they informed us that our wheels had been sent to the Post Office in Remla a couple of days ag...

Youth Hostiles: Part 2

Friday, January 8th, 2010

…I didn't want to sully our last post about Habib with the following frustrating incident. And so, in its own post, is the conclusion of our day: We arrived at the hostile in Sfax around 6:30PM. As we approached the entrance, the three men o...

Fare Thee Well, Habib

Friday, January 8th, 2010

After much discussion, we've decided to part ways with our Motobecane Mobylette 88, Habib. The appearance of our long awaited bicycle wheels in Sfax played a big role in this decision. Sadly, our separation does not involve sending him home to th...

Motorized: Part 3

Thursday, January 7th, 2010

Purchasing a scooter in Tunisia is easily the best decision we've made here. Having a rusting, rattling Mobylette of our own has created a genuine trust not normally found between tourists and locals. Suddenly the fact that we are white and obvio...

Hammama Mia!

Wednesday, January 6th, 2010

We took the opportunity to treat ourselves to a hammam (Turkish bath, widely used in Tunisia) today thanks to a generous donation by regular reader, Jeanne Juneau. Thank you so much Jeanne! For our last night at Hotel Pansea, we'd like to thank o...

Hotel Pansea in Ksar Ghilane

Tuesday, January 5th, 2010

First, the thank yous. Our luxury tent, complete with bathroom, table and chairs, shelves, blankets, and of course, beds, is a lot nicer than we are used to. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for making our stay here today possible, Mom (J...

Into the Desert

Monday, January 4th, 2010

Yesterday's triumphant team repair and our 70 kilometer ride without a flat finally gave us the confidence we needed to take the plunge. Today, we would ride our 25+ year old Motobecane Mobylette into the desert, 150 kilometers to Ksar Ghilane. L...

Do It Yourself

Sunday, January 3rd, 2010

For the last two days we've been unable to travel more than 40km at a stretch on our Mobylette without the rear tire going flat. In every instance there has been a repair shop within walking distance and/or many people determined to help us. This...

Getting Nowhere

Saturday, January 2nd, 2010

We stayed at our hotel until nearly 2PM trying to resolve the concerns Tyler raised in his last journal entry. Hotel Pansea in Ksar Ghilane still could not be reached. In an effort to feel like we'd accomplished something, we sent them an email s...

Control

Friday, January 1st, 2010

I am by nature, a planner. This at times clashes with the fact that there are ceaselessly a multitude of "loose ends" and unknowns before us as we travel. Improving my ability to relinquish control is something that I've had to work very hard on ...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Open School English Language Class

Monday, November 30th, 2009

After an uneventful day of working (Tyler) and grocery shopping, knitting, and reading (me) we decided to walk to Cafe Jazz for dinner. I had a cheeseburger and Tyler had a chicken pizza. We had finished our meal and were about to leave, when a g...

Youth Hostiles

Sunday, November 29th, 2009

Since our disturbing encounter with Mohammed, we've been slow to re-enter the free-camping world. Instead, we've been exploring other lodging options. Namely, the Youth Hostel. Neither of us has been to a youth hostel since we were single teenag...

Mixed Feelings

Saturday, November 28th, 2009

I've been thinking a lot lately about accepting the culture of the areas we travel through, both to better understand them, and at times, simply to stay sane. I was in high spirits as we rode this morning, happy we're adapting well to a myriad of ...

Eid al-Adh: Festival of Sacrifice

Friday, November 27th, 2009

The first thing we noticed about Monastir when we rolled in this morning were the numerous soccer games being played by all the local boys. As Tyler found out when he joined in on one of them, they are all on vacation from school because of the up...

Happy Thanksgiving

Thursday, November 26th, 2009

Tara Sometimes it seems odd that we should be out in the world going ever onwards, when my instincts tell me it is time to hole up for the season and hibernate. The coming winter and approaching holidays make me a little nostalgic and homesick. ...

Mahdia

Thursday, November 26th, 2009

We left our empty hostel around 10AM for a day of walking around Mahdia, hopeful that we'd witness some of the festivities of Eid al-Adh firsthand. It wasn't long before we found several trails of blood in the streets. They led to more ...

Sousse

Wednesday, November 25th, 2009

Last night we checked into a hostel, a first in many years for both of us. The simple room was relatively cheap and we both wanted some time to relax so we decided to spend another night. With a cycle-free day in front of us, we whiled away most ...

Kairouan

Tuesday, November 24th, 2009

We left our hotel this morning after a very long, deep sleep, with a fresh positive attitude about being in Tunisia. Excited to see Kairouan, we spent this morning wandering around the medina. The streets were wider and brighter than other medina...

Out of the Orange Grove

Monday, November 23rd, 2009

I lay awake on "high alert" for most of the night, listening to the surprisingly busy traffic, and keeping my ears perked for any sounds of the gate creaking open. When the alarm went off at 5:00 AM, I immediately sat up and began rousing Tyler so...

No.

Sunday, November 22nd, 2009

It is good to be on the road again. Everything has quickly fallen into sync: we had crepes for breakfast before breaking from our secluded free-camp this morning, saw a giant spider and then made our way down the road. Par for the course! ...

Back in the Saddle

Saturday, November 21st, 2009

The man at the reception desk of our hotel wrote a note for us this morning before we ventured off for one last futile attempt at acquiring Libyan visas. The swirly, scribbly Arabic writing said (we hope) "Dear Libyan Embassy, this is our last day...

Libyan Visa for Americans

Friday, November 20th, 2009

The Libyan Embassy has been stringing us along for two weeks. Each time we visit, they tell us to return in increasingly shorter time frames, saying everything is fine and that our visas will be ready soon. First it was five days, then three or f...

Laundry on the Road

Thursday, November 19th, 2009

At first it was pretty easy. In England and France we'd just use the washers and dryers present at most campsites. After a while though, especially upon entering Switzerland, we weren't willing to shell out the exorbitant sums campsites wanted si...

Libya Update

Wednesday, November 18th, 2009

Thankfully, Tyler felt better this morning, and we headed off to the Libyan Embassy in Tunis for another round of trying to get our visas. The first time we visited, they said to come back in 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 days. When we returned on day five, they...

Sick in Tunisia

Tuesday, November 17th, 2009

Two nights ago, Tyler came down with the flu (swine maybe, who knows). After one of at least twenty trips to the bathroom he weakly told me he felt like he'd been hit by a truck. Poor guy! We thought it might be the tap water, so I hauled out ou...

Sidi Bou Said

Sunday, November 15th, 2009

We walked to nearby Sidi Bou Said today and were surprised by how touristy it is compared with the shady little residential neighborhood where we are staying in La Marsa. Here are some photos from our afternoon excursion! Sidi Bou Said is lov...

Tunis Medina

Friday, November 13th, 2009

Shortly after exiting the TGM station called "Tunis Marine", we walk by these flower markets on our way to the center of town. Our first major landmark is the Place du 7 Novembre, with its large clock-tower in the middle and a fountain just be...

Shipments Received

Thursday, November 12th, 2009

We've developed a pretty good system for getting things we need while on the road. First, we place orders online and have the items shipped to my parents house. Then, when we are planning to stay somewhere for awhile, they act as our support crew...

Easy Translation

Wednesday, November 11th, 2009

Last year for our anniversary we spent the day getting vaccinated for our trip. This year we spent it in Tunis! Rather than getting jabbed by needles, we used our time preparing as best as we could for our Libyan visa application. We'd read onli...

Researching

Tuesday, November 10th, 2009

We spent the entire day researching route options for leaving Tunisia. Here are a few more photos of Tunis from yesterday: ...

Dear Libya

Monday, November 9th, 2009

When I was a kid, I loved adventure games. Growing up, I spent untold hours in front of my Dad's computer playing (and replaying and replaying again) LucasArts classics like Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Grim Fandango, The Secret of Monkey I...

Getting Acclimated

Sunday, November 8th, 2009

We spent most of the today researching visas, looking up embassies, and getting to know our hosts. They are fairly private people so we won't post much about them, but here are some photos we took today at their house. Here are two of their pet...

Welcome to Africa

Saturday, November 7th, 2009

We walk around Palermo this morning, absorbing our last bit of Italian culture before we leave. Our final stop is a pastry shop where we buy four cannoli for our future Tunisian hosts. The man behind the counter takes his time with gift wrapping ...