Tunisia -- Hammamet

Hammamet is an historical city on the Mediterranean Sea that goes back to the 2nd century colonizing Romans and the 8th century Arabs when they swept across North Africa. The Arabs controlled this area until the Turks arrived in 1534 and stayed for the next 300 years except when the Spanish ruled for 60 years starting in 1601. 

During World War II, Hammamet became one of the headquarters of the Nazi general Erwin Rommel. Former Italian prime minister Bettino Craxi moved to Hammamet in 1994 as a fugitive. He died and was buried here in 2000.

The reasons why Hammamet has long been a popular place are the thermal baths, the fresh seaside air, and the fertile land. I can attest to the fresh air. It seems to cleanse the soul especially in the moderate January sunshine! The beautiful beaches on the Mediterranean Sea are accessible to all although there are many private beaches as well.  

Today, Hammamet is a popular tourist town with hotels, discos, lounges, alcohol, night life, and a theatre (built in the 1950s) all that don't seem to belong in an Arab country. In short, Hammamet is known as a "party town" to the point that other Tunisians don't believe people really live here. In fact, over 100,000 people reside here, but the summertime tourists can double, triple, and even quadruple the population. Tunisia is one of the most progressive Arab countries in the world, and Hammamet attracts tourists--especially jet setters.

Migrants from the southern region of the country have come here to find employment. So suburbs are being built out from the city center even though the central city is a vibrant and bustling place. Many Italians also retire here and live a good and inexpensive life.  

Boats are mostly given female names. (See boat names on the right.) In general, female children are highly prized in Tunisia.

Life in the medina

During the 13th century, walls like this one were built around the town and in the 15th century came the medina. As with other medinas, they are comprised of homes, souks (market shops), a Mosque, and a kasbah (military fort). Each medina in each city is different. Hammamet's medina streets are narrow, more like alleyways. The buildings are whitewashed mostly with a brilliant sky blue. 

 Shopkeepers keep an eye on passersby as potential customers. Then they almost trap you and aggressively start the bargaining process by pushing their wares on you if you give them even the slightest interest. It's really too intimidating for me. I don't like to bargain, and I limit my buying. But this was the way it was in all the cities we visited in Tunisia. I had a brief encounter with a seller that wasn't at all pleasant.

Hammamet is known for its jasmine and there's plenty of it for sale in the souks as flowers and as lotion. A very aggressive shopkeeper tried to sell me a tube of it along with the two small ceramic bowls that I wanted for 50 dinars (equivalent to $16.66). He gave me a sample of the lotion to further lure me in my purchases, but I turned him down. All I wanted were the two bowls, so I took my money back from his hand. Then he agreed to sell the bowls for 20 dinars ($6.66). He even looked in my wallet to tell me that I had 20 dinars sitting there!

The trick to bargaining is for both parties, the seller and the buyer, to feel good at the end of the transaction. In this little encounter, neither of us was happy, and the seller said so under his breath, which I ignored. I had all I could do to get away.

In another of my encounters I wanted one copper plate (the size of a saucer). The seller offered to put my name on it in Arabic. I agreed. I asked him the price and he didn't bargain; he said it was 5 dinars ($1.66). I gave him a 20-dinar bill, and he gave me back 10 dinars. I asked for the other 5 dinars, and he wouldn't give it to me. Instead, he held out a 10 dinar note saying that is what I gave him. So the lesson I learned in the souks (a $1.66 lesson) is to hold my money until the seller is ready to make the transaction.

 Tons of cats patrol the neighborhood for rodents when they are not lounging in the sun or begging for food from passersby. (One of the women in our group spent a lot of time feeding the cats on the streets from the scraps of our meals. She was like St. Francis of Assisi taking care of them!)

The great Mosque sits proudly in the Medina. Five times a day the people are called to prayer in a chant that has been recorded and projected from the single minaret or tower. This call to prayer makes cities and towns enchanting and exotic places.

A cool café. I looked for it after our formal tour but couldn't find it. Instead, I had coffee on the street with a group of friends.

Doors

Doors are fascinating in Tunisia. Here are my favorites in Hammamet. This one is my favorite style where it incorporates a garden. The one on the left below is the entrance to the women's hammam, a bathhouse where they scrap you down and heat you up for a skin treatment that is relaxing and lasts about a month. The one on the right is a residence. The left knocker at the top of the door is for women and the one on the right is for men. They emit different sounds so those inside have an idea of who to expect. Sometimes there is a knocker on the lower right of the door that children use to announce their presence.

 

Tourism is king in Hammamet to the point that in the high season the streets are blocked with traffic jams of cars. 

This sculpture of the three mermaids welcomes visitors to this beautiful seaside town. I would come back here for a January vacation it is so appealing and generally inexpensive. 

Street scenes

Hammamet is a vibrant and busy city. It has lots of shops with lots of colors. Here are some street scenes taken from our tour bus as we passed them.

 

 

 

Taxis seem to be a favored mode of transportation in Tunisians towns. Here they are awaiting their next gig. They are yellow with a lit marker on the passenger's side. If it is green, the taxi is busy. If it is red, it's available for hire. 

 

I would return to Hammamet for a January vacation where the sun is out but the winter heat is not as intense as the summer heat. And, the tourists are minimal. Our guide said that there are many Airbnbs operating all year round. And, the town is about an hour away from Carthage and the Tunis-Carthage International Airport. A fast and comfortable coach service runs from the Tunis city bus station to Hammamet, so you must take a taxi from the airport to Tunis (about 30 dinars or $10) and catch the bus to Hammamet. Taxis are always available in town.

Resources

Hammamet -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hammamet%2C_Tunisia

 Turks in Tunisia -- https://enwikipedia.org/wiki/Turks_in_Tunisia

 

Tunisia -- Tozeur

How many people have ever heard of Tozeur? Not many and certainly not me. However, this small town (population 116,000) is an important oasis in one of the hottest areas of the Sahara Desert. It also has a long and ancient history that continues to this day specifically because it has water. 

The oasis with its hundreds of thousands of palm trees that are able to survive due to the underground springs was an important stopover for caravans traveling through the Sahara first for the Romans, then Byzantium and the Vandal Kingdom. During these times the city's name was Tusuros. It was also a former Catholic bishopric. The Arabs renamed the city Tozeur after they conquered these lands in the 7th century.

Today, irrigation sustains the trees where dates are grown and exported. And the town still serves as an important crossroads in the desert for the tourism industry.

Our travel group visited Tozeur to experience this important oasis, its palm trees, brick industry, and its medina.

 

 

Palm trees  

This man is 63 years old and he has worked on the oasis' palm trees all his life. While he is still able to do his job, which includes climbing to the top of these trees to pollinate them, he hopes his sons do not follow his example. He wishes a better more urban life for them. 

    

Our local guide, Safar (right), shows us the date, the fruit of the palm tree. Dates are a major export and industry for Tozeur. Tourism is its other asset, like these carriage rides that transported us from the hotel to the palm tree farm.

                                            

                                                   

Irrigation is key to the palm tree's survival since temperatures in this arid region can go as high as 120F degrees. Since the 13th century the trees have depended on natural underground springs to sustain them. In fact, Tozeur means "water spring". Palm trees, however, need water that is 73F degrees. To understand how water is pumped from the ground and cooled for the trees, see my other blog, "Salt Lake".

 

Bricks of Tozeur

Tozeur is noted for its yellow/brownish brickwork as well as its traditional Berber geometric patterns that cover the facades of most buildings in the old city. This brick is government-protected so that only buildings in this area are allowed to use them. 

Below is the process for brickmaking. The first step is to mix the clay with sand and water.

The mix is put into forms and dried.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bricks are scraped (left) to make them smooth and then stacked to get them ready for the kiln.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The bricks are placed inside the kiln, which is fired up with dried palm branches.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the bricks are "cooked" in the kiln, they are stacked to cool for four days when they become yellow ochre in color.

The bricks represent the true soul of the city and are the hallmark of Saharan architecture. Below are examples of the city's brickwork on public buildings and in the medina.

 

Medina

A medina comprises residences, a market, a mosque, and military protection. Among the products sold in the Tozeur medina's market are dates, pickles, and carpets.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cats are everywhere in Tunisia. But they have a specific job in medinas: to rid the streets of rodents. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Arabs built onto old Roman walls and buildings. The large stones are Roman and the bricks are Arab.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Tunisians have many legends and superstitions. Our guide told us of one where a girl who wants to marry throws a stone over her shoulder to ensure her with a husband. If it lands in one of the cubbyholes of this wall, she will get her wish. A few girls got lucky as the photo on the left shows.

 

 

The medina had a couple green doors like this one, which indicates a small mosque is on the inside.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hotel

 

Tourism is Tozeur's second biggest industry. We stayed at this beautiful hotel where each guest room was on stilts. The dining room was beautifully decorated and it accommodated three to four groups. 

We had a super dinner, one I'd been looking for: grilled meat (shish kabob of turkey, lamb and beef) and grilled vegetables. The lamb was the best and the turkey was tasty while the beef was dry and tasteless. 

My bedroom had all the comforts of home plus a fruit bowl of oranges, apples, and dates on the table ready to eat. (I can't get enough Tunisian dates!) There was even laundry soap in the bathroom, which I needed for my jeans that smelled of camel slobber, the result of a camel wiping his nose on me while we were out riding them in the desert. I hung the jeans out on the porch and they were dry by the end of the day.

 

 

 

 

 

 Breakfast was delivered to my room by a woman carrying this basket on her head and a box of juice, coffee, milk, and water in her hand. It consisted of an omelette, a French croissant, butter, and jam. The woman comes in quickly, sets down the food, and leaves.

The only problem with this room was the heater/fan above the bed. It was on all night and ended up drying up my throat and giving me a cough and cold. A few days later I had diarrhea. Ugh! However, this unfortunate turn of events gave me a chance to meditate on what it means to be sick while traveling.

One strange thing about this hotel was the Internet. It is available in only one place: the restaurant/swimming pool. It was interesting to see that once we arrived at the hotel, we all rushed to this hot point to check our phones since we had gone a day or two without Internet service. Funny how we get attached to this technology! Meanwhile, Cathy, one of the women in the group, shared 15 of her desert photos with me. She is an artist and her iPhone takes fantastic shots. I guess my next phone will be one of these expensive phones. It's so easy to get sucked into this stuff.

 Resources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tozeur

TunisiaTourism.info