TechnomadicsVagabonding Europe

Katherine has done days and days of travel research, and has identified the places we want to see here in Tunisia. We’re going to spend the final three-and-a-bit weeks travelling, before we catch the ferry back to Italy.

Our first foray out into the world was a day trip, out to Kerkouane near the tip of Cap Bon. Kerkouane is apparently the world’s most well-preserved Carthaginian city, abandoned in 3 BC during the Punic Wars.

The drive out there was quite lengthy, and ran through many small towns with tricky, crowded narrow streets, with every man and his donkey wandering over them — footpaths are for wimps and tourists, donchaknow? We are constantly amused by the way the locals drive and act on the roads — it’s every man for himself, for sure, even if you’re a pedestrian!

Horse-drawn carts are awesome

"I'm having a wonderful time!"

Let us do battle

We saw lots of horse-drawn carts ambling along the soft edges of the road, and fields and fields of fennel — they love the fennel, here!

Fennel!

We arrived outside the entrance to Kerkouane, and had lunch in Nettle in the car park while we watched a Buffy episode (of course). We wandered around the site, fascinated — it really is quite amazing: Although the walls are sheared down to waist-height, it’s quite easy to make out the layout of all of the houses. Red baths are still there in the bathrooms, the drains, indoor wells…Plaques around the site explained a few things here and there, including describing the layouts of a few houses, kitchens, dining rooms, bedrooms, private worship altars. Awesome. People actually lived here 2000 years ago, within these walls. They probably didn’t watch Buffy though. Maybe the Simpsons.

Kerkouane

Kerkouane

Bathroom with an ocean view

Wide load

We pondered our next move for a while, feeling silly about just retracing our steps back to Hammamet for the night, but decided to stick with it, as it made the most sense logistically. Long drive back to Hammamet for our last night — the manager laughed when he saw us again, and when I grinned and asked him if it was cool if we stayed one more night, he said we can stay ‘tout de l’année‘ – all year!

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