Hammamet, Tunisia

Pyxis
Karen & Richard
Sat 2 May 2009 00:00

Saturday 2nd May – Hammamet, Tunisia

36:22.403N 10:32.776E


Today was a hot and sunny day here in Hammamet – we are now south enough to be enjoying warm days. Just as we were finishing breakfast, Rosi and Otwin popped round with some Tunisian wine for us that their friend had bought back. It is the same wine that we had bought in Tunis so we were delighted to get our hands on some more.


After lunch we went for a ride on the local bus into Hammamet itself. The buses are the large bendy variety and you have to be quick about it getting on or the driver drives off without you. The procedure is to hop on at the back where a conductor is seated and sells you your ticket. You then have to work your way to the front before you can get off – it's not a good idea to be going only a few stops when the bus is busy!


Hammamet is a 10-15 minute bus ride away and we alighted near the train station as we had been recommended this area as a starting point. From there we walked into the centre and into the Medina. The medina is spotless, I even saw someone painting the wall of one of the houses, it's certainly not like the ones we saw in Bizerte and Tunis. The shops, however, were the same as Tunis, aimed specifically at tourists, and offering the usual fare of shoes, clothing and artwork.


We found our way out of the medina and saw a German BrauHaus across the way with beer being brewed on the premises; at the equivalent of £4.50 for a litre we decided it was a little steep for the area and went on our way – I wonder if that is why the place was empty.


As we walked along, we found a tourist information office and went in for a map. We had been managing well so far but thought it would be nice to look at a map to see if there was anywhere else we wanted to go. Big mistake; oddly, once we were using the map, we got completely lost. We must have walked a couple of miles trying to find our way back to the bus stop, even asking directions a few times to make sure we were going the right way.


The up side was that we passed some local shops on the way and picked up some fresh vegetable and some prawns for dinner. Tonight I made a Thai curry with the prawns – delicious. Unfortunately I won't be able to find the shop again to get more.