September last year, a bunch of youngsters threw eggs at me while i was cycling, on the way home after dinner at night. October last year, one of friends was robbed in the same area. At my point of view, this robber and those youngsters are what we call them in France, maghrébins. I assume so because they match the typical stereotypes on maghrébins. Sportwears, sportshoes, supershort haircut like a soldier, a cap or a hood, a typical way of walking that i cant explained, and sometimes they have skooters, speeding through the streets. What i say here means no offence, these are just stereotypes.
After the eggs attack last year, i have to admit, i am afraid of anyone who seems like a maghrébin. Even nowadays, i am aware of them. I have to admit, this is totally a discrimination, and i am shameful for acting so. I cant help myself though, especially after the recent shooting incident in Toulouse.
Not every maghrébin wears so and especially, i do not imply that every maghrébins are criminals. The main purpose of this passage is to share my wonderful voyage to Tunisia, which gave me a new perspective on maghrébins. I went to Tunisia without any preparation. I didnt book anything except the to and fro airticket from Lyon to Tunis. Go to Tunisia on the one year anniversary of tunisian revolution, everybody tells me it might be a bit risky to go there, especially alone. The funny thing is, when i told my parents, they thought i was going to somewhere in Middle-East. They didnt freak out but really worried.
Personally, i was a bit afraid too.
One thing about doing something you are afraid of is you cant overthink about it. The more you think of it, the fear grows. So in the early morning of christmas eve last year, i woke up, without much thoughts and i hit the road to the unknown. In my bag, there was a pair of changing pants, two T-shirts, and a sleeping bag, prepared to sleep in the airport, train station or even road side if something really bad happens on me.
During the flight to Tunis, this is when my wonderful trip began. I met Issam. He got the seat beside me. He is talkactive which is very favourable for me, since i am quite introvert. We talked alot and he was so excited of going home to celebrating the holidays with his family. First thing that suprised me, he was so excited, he even showed all the cash he got with him to me. There was at least some thousands, judging by the amount of 100 euro notes.
And then he asked me where am i going, and i said i think i would first head to Tozeur, by bus or train may be. Guess what, his home is in Tozeur. What a suprise!!! At first, he talked about what is so great about Tozeur. And then how kind is he to offer to drive me from airport to the hotel i stay. But then he is so suprised that i didnt book any accommodation. He then offered me to give me hitchhike straight from Tunis airport to Tozeur. This is totally amazing! How lucky i was! He added he would ask his friend first once we arrived at the airport since it was his friend who was going to drive.
It was so lucky that i doubted for a moment. Is it some kind of scam? Plus when we arrived, he asked me to help him carry some packets of cigarettes when passing through the customs since every passager can only carry a limited amount of cigarettes. Well, i didnt know what to do! At that moment, my instinct told me to take a picture of him in case anything happens. I want to deny him and at the same time, i would feel unpolite to do so while he first offered his kindness to me. Those packets might be some illegal drugs, dude!!!
But then i still decided to help him through the customs, because i was searching for some new, exciting experience, even if i go to jail, it would be really terrible but a good experience in some sense. Luckily, my leap of faith paid me well, passing the customs safe and sound. After that, we met his friend, Ramzi and Ramzi's wife, Abla. They were so happy to meet me, especially Abla. I have to say, her warm welcome and her smile always on her face, gave me some assurance, that it is not a scam.
They both agreed to offer me a hitchike. Well it is not my first hitchike, but if i reached Tozeur safely, it would be my longest hitchike ever in terms of distance covered. It was an 8 hours drive. When we arrived Tozeur, it was already 9pm.
On the road, there were alot of new things. We stopped a few times, but there are some particular and interesting stops. There was this stop, where we bought some nan-like bread, with harissa spread and olives inside. It was totally new to me. I would never imagine a such combination. I would say it tasted weird but interesting, since i am quite easy on the food. I went down from the car with Ramzi to buy the bread. The stall is just tiny hut with a handmade clay oven, and the owner was very friendly, and especially amazed to see an asian. Actually there are alot of this kind of stalls along the road.
Then around 7pm, we stopped at a BBQ stall for dinner.
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| The owner of the BBQ stall |
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| left to right : Ramzi, Abla and Issam, waiting for our dinner |
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| Salad de mechouia, basically chunked and grilled bell pepper in olive oil, to accompany the meat |
As we approching Tozeur and so the border of Algeria and Tunisia, i saw alot of trucks on the road. Issam explained, many of them are smugglers, smuggling the petrol from Algeria into Tunisia, because petrol can be sold with higher price in Tunisia.
The tunisian kindness continued. Ramzi and Issam were searching for accommodation for me in Tozeur, even before arriving Tozeur. Apparently, Ramzi owns a travel agency and Issam has a lot of friends and relatives in Tozeur. Too bad every hotel they found was full that night. So Issam took me to his mother's house and gave me a room to stay for the night. Issam then got me into a relatively budget hotel the next day.
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| The room i slept for the first night in Tunisia, in Tozeur, in Issam mother's house. |
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| Illias |
The next day, Issam brother, Illias, who works in a travel agency also, offered me alot of different trips for the next few days, with a fairly student price. Issam also drove me to alot of places. So, here are some places i went.....
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| A full day camel ride into the desert and some oasis |
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| A lake in the middle of desert. Dont walk too close to the lake though, the land around the lake isn't hard enough to stand on. |
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| My guide |
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| The Tozeur festival, normally in december |
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| Ong Jemel, the neck of camel. |
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| Tatooine, Star Wars scene, they left it after the shooting. |
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| Sahara desert |
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| How tiny human are |
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| a fox |
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| Oasis la corbeille Nefta |
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| Camels again |
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| Buying meat for cooking |
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| Camel's meat available |
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| Tozeur central market |
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| The making of bricks, a typical brick that gives Tozeur a special colour |
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| Inside the old town of Tozeur |
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| Waterwall of Chebika |
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| Chebika |
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| Grand Canyon in Tunisia??? |
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| Cruising in desert with style |
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| Centre of Tozeur |
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| The statue that represent Tozeur, Echebbi's statue, somehow Issam is related to him |
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| A camel with a newborn |
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| Everyone stops by to see them |
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| Sunset in Sahara |
One interesting fact about camels in Tunisia, all the camels are owned by somebody, but they are and must be grown in the wild, according to the locals.
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| It seems like they like to hang the head of the animal they are selling |
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| Tozeur bus station |
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| A mariage parade |
I also met alot of people during the trip, and here you go......
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| Indonesian students who study in Tunisia, they were performing to promote indonesian travelling. They were so suprised when i spoke malay with them. |
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| Ramzi and his family |
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| Left to right, Rashid (Sonia's husband, a captain in the military, and also the commander in Tozeur airport), Sonia (Issam's sister), me, Issam and his wife |
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| A nightout with Ramzi and his friends |
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| Issam' wife family, they cooked a damn good meal for me, i really appreciate that, ^^ |
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| Sonia and his son |
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| Some of Issam's family member, his mother on the most left |
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| Personal cuisine lesson with Issam's mother |
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| Cooking and cooking.... |
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| Cooking again ^^ |
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| Homecook food is always the best |
After almost a week in Tozeur, i decided to leave. I didnt want to overstay their kind welcome, eventhough Issam really hope i could stay at least until 1 january, when they will be having a great party for the New Year's Eve. So, I took a bus back to the capital, Tunis. Just before i left, they gave me some souvenirs....
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| Blessings from Tozeur, a bottle of fresh olives, a scaft, and a Croix Sud d'Agadès, symbol of the natives there, berbères |
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| Tunis main train station |
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| The '5th avenue' of Tunis, Avenue Habib Bourguiba |
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| Ligne TGM |
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| Sidi Bou Said, looks very like Santorini |
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| Ancien city of Carthage, and Hannibal, the emperor of Carthage, who trembled the Roman empire |
I visited the medina of Tunis also. Have to say, it is quite creepy walking alone inside the medina. The criss-crossing alleys are confusing, absolutely no bearings at all. Every alley seems alike and dark. Dark may because of the rainy weather. I personnally think i am quite good in recognising the roads and i have never lost so far, but still i have admit that it is very easy to get lost inside the medina.
This is where i got cheated also. When i wanted to enter the medina, one man called me, and offered me a guide in the medina. I dont know why am i so stupid, and i followed him. It took me a few minutes to realize that it is a scam. However, i continued following him, just to see how far the scam goes. He took me to really fast walking visit, then to the top of a building, saying there will be a stunning view over the medina. After that, this is when the money talking began. He took me into a perfume store, let me try some perfumes, and asked me to buy some perfumes with a crazy high price. There was another guy inside there also. They first tried to persuade me, and then turned into intimidating mode after i said i dont want those perfumes. Again i dont know where i got the gut to deny them with a strong tone. You must know, they both are quite big in size. After a few minutes of intimidating persuasion and my decline, the guy and me out of the store. The guy turned from passionate to a bit angry, saying i took his kindness and stepped on it like a shit, bla bla bla...... He asked for 20 dinars for his 'kindness' but i gave him only 10, saying this what i can offer. During that moment, i just want to end this nonsense quickly. I guess i was lucky enough, at least i am not hurt or anything.
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| Porte de France, one of the main entrances into the medina |
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| This view took me 10 dinars |
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| Inside the medina |
Even one year after the revolution, there still are signs of revolution thougth.
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| Fences and military around every single government building and embassy |
Well, this is the end of my trip. After that i headed to Tunis airport, stopped by Milan airport for a night, and then an early morning flight back to Lyon then Grenoble.
This trip is trully amazing. Not just the beautiful sceneries, but also get to know the locals. One thing is proved again, according to my personal experience, people in big cities are less likely to be kind and friendly comparing to the country side. It also gave me a new perspective on maghrébins. When i stayed in Tozeur, people there, how should i say, are friendly in their own way. Sometimes i even think they are too friendly. They would cross your shoulders, speak loudly, and even sometimes you might think that they are fighting, but in fact they are chatting. Most of them arent timid to strangers. Psychological speaking, may be their social space is larger than other people. Just an exemple, they would stop their car in middle of driving, in the middle of the road, and turn around just to greet their friends who are walking on the roadside. I am not sure if this can be generalised to every tunisian, but at least, Ramzi, Issam and people i know always do so in Tozeur. Yet again, these are just my point of view, so it can always be obsolete, partial and one-sided.
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