Tunisia Entries
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Armed and Dangerous
Saturday, January 16th, 2010It 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 ki...
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Hitching a Ride
Friday, January 15th, 2010This 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 beco...
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Olive Grove Angels
Thursday, January 14th, 2010Somehow, 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...
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Sandstorm
Wednesday, January 13th, 2010In 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 hou...
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Back to Work
Tuesday, January 12th, 2010Very 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 wh...
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In Summary
Sunday, January 10th, 2010One 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 ...
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Too Windy
Saturday, January 9th, 2010We 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 sen...
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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...
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Fare Thee Well, Habib
Friday, January 8th, 2010After 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 s...
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Motorized: Part 3
Thursday, January 7th, 2010Purchasing 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 local...
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Hammama Mia!
Wednesday, January 6th, 2010We 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...
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Hotel Pansea in Ksar Ghilane
Tuesday, January 5th, 2010First, 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 yo...
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Into the Desert
Monday, January 4th, 2010Yesterday'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 in...
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Do It Yourself
Sunday, January 3rd, 2010For 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 distanc...
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Getting Nowhere
Saturday, January 2nd, 2010We 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'...
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Control
Friday, January 1st, 2010I 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...
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Star Wars @ Ong Ejamel (Mos Espa Set)
Thursday, December 31st, 2009Today 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...
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The Dark Side
Wednesday, December 30th, 2009We'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 leve...
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The Road to Tozeur
Tuesday, December 29th, 2009Backpacks, 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 "spee...
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Motorized: Part 2
Monday, December 28th, 2009When 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, ...
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Motorized: Part 1
Sunday, December 27th, 2009Yesterday, 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, ...
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Festival of the Sahara
Sunday, December 27th, 2009Arriving 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 on...
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Star Wars @ Sidi Driss Hotel
Saturday, December 26th, 2009My 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 ...
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Christmas in the Desert
Friday, December 25th, 2009This 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 Che...
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To Tataouine
Thursday, December 24th, 2009Louage- 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 ...
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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",...
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Kerkennah to Gabes
Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009This 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 ...
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Door Number Three
Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009After 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 inv...
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Stranded on a Desert Island
Monday, December 21st, 2009We 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 enj...
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Patience & Aioli
Sunday, December 20th, 2009I 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...
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The Gatekeeper
Saturday, December 19th, 2009When 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,...
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Lablabi
Friday, December 18th, 2009After 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...
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Scooters of Kerkennah
Wednesday, December 16th, 2009The 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 ...
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Latkes on the Road
Tuesday, December 15th, 2009I 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 t...
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Notes from the Cafe
Monday, December 14th, 2009During 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 t...
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Waiting for Wheels
Saturday, December 12th, 2009While 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, w...
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On the Sea with Abdallah
Wednesday, December 9th, 2009The 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 un...
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Borj el-Hissar
Tuesday, December 8th, 2009Since 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 ti...
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Tunisian Food
Monday, December 7th, 2009Eating 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 ...
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Soccer & Seafood
Sunday, December 6th, 2009After 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 pa...
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Remla Hostel
Saturday, December 5th, 2009After 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 ca...
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Sta Ali
Friday, December 4th, 2009Yesterday 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 eag...
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Exploring Kerkennah Island
Thursday, December 3rd, 2009I'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 sea...
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Under the Spell
Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009We'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...
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Sfax Medina & Dar Jellouli Museum
Tuesday, December 1st, 2009We 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...
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Open School English Language Class
Monday, November 30th, 2009After 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 fi...
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Youth Hostiles
Sunday, November 29th, 2009Since 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 b...
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Mixed Feelings
Saturday, November 28th, 2009I'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 m...
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Eid al-Adh: Festival of Sacrifice
Friday, November 27th, 2009The 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 ...
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Mahdia
Thursday, November 26th, 2009We 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 ...
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Happy Thanksgiving
Thursday, November 26th, 2009Tara 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 hol...
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Sousse
Wednesday, November 25th, 2009Last 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 cy...
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Kairouan
Tuesday, November 24th, 2009We 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 ...
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Out of the Orange Grove
Monday, November 23rd, 2009I 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...
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No.
Sunday, November 22nd, 2009It 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 ou...
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Back in the Saddle
Saturday, November 21st, 2009The 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...
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Libyan Visa for Americans
Friday, November 20th, 2009The 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 rea...
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Laundry on the Road
Thursday, November 19th, 2009At 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 ...
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Libya Update
Wednesday, November 18th, 2009Thankfully, 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, ...
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Sick in Tunisia
Tuesday, November 17th, 2009Two 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 thou...
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Sidi Bou Said
Sunday, November 15th, 2009We 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 o...
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Tunis Medina
Friday, November 13th, 2009Shortly 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 c...
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Shipments Received
Thursday, November 12th, 2009We'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 s...
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Easy Translation
Wednesday, November 11th, 2009Last 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...
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Researching
Tuesday, November 10th, 2009We spent the entire day researching route options for leaving Tunisia. Here are a few more photos of Tunis from yesterday: ...
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Dear Libya
Monday, November 9th, 2009When 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 La...
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Getting Acclimated
Sunday, November 8th, 2009We 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 t...
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Welcome to Africa
Saturday, November 7th, 2009We 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 behi...