Sunrise @ Doha airport
Red Car Cafe, close to the train station (from Tunis to Tozeur) We know nothing about the menu... FRENCH...
I don't know how did Terence order this Kabab. Yummy!
Waiting for the over-night train from Tunis to Tozeur Departure at 8pm and arrive Tozeur at 5am!!!
Arrived Tozeur, 5:30am and the hotel is not open yet. We stayed at the 24-hours cafe.
Go Sahara with our dream car - Prado!
Oasis in Sahara - We joined half day tour to three oases (Chebka, Tamerza and Nefta)
We started our climbing....
On the top of the sandy mountain!
The landscape looks like the Grand Canyon!
Head Scarf hanging outside the stall.
Dun Dun... Sahara fashion icon! The location of the grass on head represents "I'm married!"
Terence looks silly! haha
Rug stall in Tozeur Medina. (Medina: Old town, full of narrow alleys, mosques, oriental markets and unexpected courtyards. It also has many mysterious and colourful doorways beyond which are ancient palaces and wealthy homes. The medina is centred on an axis formed by the Greata Mosque and its many surrounding souks.)
The sunset view from hotel's balcony.
Entrance of Tozeur hotel. Very decorative!
The first day of SAHARA tour. The white area next to the road is the salt lake. Mainly export to Europe use on the road in winter.
The salt lake looks so calm and pretty! Just like I'm in a snowy place....
You'll never know it's dangerous. I'm too exciting to step on the "snow" for photos... and... drop into the salt lake... after this small accident, I found this in my travel guide... "For most of the year it is dry, with only a thin layer of water remaining here and there, becoming an intriguing desert "carpet" that consists of minute salt crystals shimmering with blue, white and pale-green... ... ... The route links Kris (near Tozeur), with Bechri (near Kebili). It is best not to stray away from the road, as the lake bed in this area may be dangerous.) ... it's too late...
Luckily, I only get wet on my left foot below my knee.
Nice view of salt lake.
COOL~
My servant to clean up my shoes.. Yes, this is Terence!
We arrived another special landscape for photos. See my good skill on head wrapping? Terence is talking with his mom!
Arrived a camel station! And we are having the camel ride. It is quite scary when the camel is trying to stand up / lay down.
After this ride, Terence told me this camel ride is not what he thinks. "I always think that we have to ride the camel at sunset for hours to the location where we set our camp..." Don't you think this is too tough for us?
My cute camel.
It is so lovely and not rejecting my kiss! Camel kiss photo, inspired by the bookcover of "Lonely Planet - Tunisia travel guide".
Terence and my cute camel.
The camel station.
This is one of the soak in the Sahara. Pretty hand painted ceramic tablewares.
The ceramic cage (on the left) is the lamp cover.
Rug stall. Some of the rug is made of camel's hair.
Spicy market. The saffron selling in Tunisia is a lot cheaper than HONG KONG. Cinnamon, pepper, paprika, rosemary, saffron and tumeric are very common to see in the spicy market.
Dun Dun... time for introduce about Food in Tunisia. Salad - not common to have fresh vegetables. Even you are lucky enough to have a dish of vegetables, it is cold, and not even boiled. Only can find cabbage, onion and carrot mixed with salt water, sometimes with black pepper. (Don't dream of olive oil and vinegar.) Olive is very common here. It serve with many different dishes.
Brik - A typical Tunisian snack consisting of a thin pastry with a savoury filling (the most common is egg). The pastry taste like our spring roll but this is a very oily dish.
Chorba - A spicy soup with tiny pasta shapes or barley granules (chorba fric). Usually madae with lamb or chicken stock. Before the next dish, I have to introduce you a very popular spicy condiment - HARISSA! Often served with Olive oil, olives and fresh bread as a starter. But they also use this to cook all dishes. Even this soup and the couscous!
Stewed lamb with Couscous - Steamed grains of semolina, served with lamb and some carrots and pototes in Harissa (the spicy condiment) and tomato sauce. This is Tunisia's most famous dish. Couscous is the rice for them. And we didn't eat rice in 16 days.
The camping site for our first night in SAHARA. This camp site is in Ksar Ghilane. With Berber (the Sahara people) style tent.
The hot spring pool - one special attraction of Ksar Ghilane is bathing in the palm-fringed pool that is fed by the waters of a natural hot (not that hot, just same as our body temp.) sulphur spring. Looks warm here, right? Now is around 13 - 14 degree I guess. But night temperature drops to just a few degrees above freezing... This pool is surrounded by small cafes and restaurants where souvenirs can be purchased such as a desert rose or a warm woollen cloak with a hood - the traditional clothing of the desert people. And many people still wear it nowaday!
This is the view behind our campsite. We saw it after we climbed up a sand dune.
It looks easy to climb.. but it required a lot of energy!
Pretty sunset in Sahara.
This is our campsite! The fence is made of palm leaves. Palm is a very important plants in Tunisia. They well use of every part of palm. They use the trunk for housing, or decoration and even make bowl and dishes. The fruit of palm is Dates, Dec is the harvest time. Tunisia is the world's largest producer of dates. And the leaves is widely use in fence making which is easily found in desert.
Animal Travel to Sahara! Animal travel means being an animal and enjoy travel to different places. We bought the animal hat and bring it with us to travel. In the Animal Travel group, we have around 10 members to do the same silly thing as us! haha.
Giraffe is enjoying the breeze in Sahara.
Up above the sand dunes.
This is the Sahara bread. A very simple recipe by the Berber, made a very touching bread (imagine you are holding a HOT bread in a freezing temperature. And it's the only HOT bread we had in 16 days!)
Same soup...
Cold and hard french bread found in every meal. Serve with Harissa and Olive.
Fried egg with not salt added. I wonder why they don't add some salt in most of the dishes....
Stewed chicken with potatoes and tomatoes. No salt added again... and too many pototo in Tunisia's dish. Meat cooking is not good here (Tunisia), they love to cook it for ages... therefore, no taste.
Stunning stary night. Worth to stay in freezing weather for enjoy it! We met a meteor together!
Explosure for 60s for shuttle for this kind of stary photos.
Sunrise! We can't sleep much coz of the freezing temperature. Even we got a very comfortable double bed in the tent with wool cover and comforter, but it is still very cold. We are happy to welcome the sun!
Nice pattern on sand!
The sun is coming out!!! You can see the smoke comes out from the hot spring! This is fed by deep underground springs and artificial reservoirs, provide oases witih a constant supply of water.
Same place, same time, different location you put the focus from your camera, got a very different picture. See the next photo and this one... you'll know.
Moody one! But men is a better jumper I believe!
Worth to get up at 5:30am. A Sahara sunrise!
Animals are waiting for Sunrise!
Desert plants. They are tiny but they are STRONG!
See who visit our site last night?
The hotspring pool in morning. Looks hotter.. and actually, it's hotter than in noon.
A curious giraffe.
A very stylish lantern at the campsite. On the way to washroom.
Requested by my mom, picking her a stone as gift. This little stone I picked and now is rehome! Leave the place it born - Sahara, to a big city - Hong Kong.
Western Sahara is powder like white sand. Eastern Sahara is brown rocky sand. This pic shows we are moving to Eastern part of Sahara.
Chenini is a ruined Berber village in the Tataouine district in southern Tunisia. Located on a hilltop near a modern village of the same name. Chenini and the surrounding Tataouine district are also associated with the Star Wars film series. Many scenes for the movies were filmed in the area; one of the moons of the home planet of Luke Skywalker was named Chenini.
Cute girl in the village.
Cat can be found in everywhere.
Are they trying to build a house?
The oldest structures on the hillside date back to the 12th century; some of the buildings are still used to store grain for the villagers living in the valley below. Chenini is a regular stop on southern Tunisia's ksar trail, along with the villages of Douiret, Ksar Ouled Soltane and Ksar Hadada.
Visit one of the house.
Life can be very simple.
They have big backyard for keeping animals. Such as goat, donkey and camel.
The first dog we met in Tunisia. Not many dogs in Tunisia. But tons of cats. This one looks like Husky, pretty!
Many people still live in this village. I wonder how the elderly back home...
Let's sing, "It's yesterday once more.. sha-la-la-la-la..."
Can you see how we feel about this meal? Actually, we don't want to eat... and no hungry feeling... the main reason to eat here is.. get energy for the trip. Poor!
Lamb couscous .. again and again... this is the 4th same meals..
So happy to leave the restaurant!
Ksar Ouled Soltane - the most interesting and best-preserved fortified village in Tunisia. It is still used to store grain and olives. Rising up to four storeys that are set around two courtyards that are linked by a narrow corridor made of palm wood. The older courtyard dates from the 15th century, the newer one was built in 1881.
So brave! Terence climbed up to the 1/F by those deep and narrow stairs.. and even stand on those palm wood!!! What about if you know it is built on 15th century?
How can they get back to their room in mid-night?
There is a painter selling his paints in this village.
Ksar Ouled Soltane The Ksar meant a fortilfied granary with rooms, which were placed cylindrically around an inner courtyard with a well concealed entrance.
Courtyard - were a feature of every ksar. Some larger ksour had more than one courtyard, link with a special passage. Courtyards were the main scene of Berber social life.
Entrance gate
With very stylish stairs.
Connections between the house.
How old are you?
Ksar Haddaada - main point of interest of this small village is its superbly restored ksar, which is one of the most striking complexes of former fortress-granaries to be found in southern Tunisia.
Nice mountain view of the road.
Our driver laugh when we asked him to take this photo....
Another small village built on the mountain.
A real Berber house. The family is still living here.
This is their room. And they only use this string to get back to their room.
Interiors of the bedroom.
Interiors of the dining room (I guess).
Their pet!
This porcupine is very stupid. It hurts itself by its own pin. And we found that its nose is bleeding! The Berber keep this to get the mouse away.
A big door knocker
A large notice in front of the main gate informs visitors that in 1997 George Lucas used this place as a location for the Star Wars prequel, The Phantom Menace.
It has been converted into a small hotel.
A gate in the Star War movie I think.
The hotel owner told me winter is the low season. Therefore, no guests in this hotel today.
We are in the star war...
Leave the Star War hotel, we arrived Matmata. This is the hotel we live on the 2nd day of Sahara trip. This is the troglodyte home. The houses have been dug out of the rock to escape the intense daytime heat. And also keep the room warm in winter.
We live in room 5. The door without lock, no windows and with 4 beds in the room.
again and again...
I think everyone know it... famous couscous.. WE WANT RICE!
The next morning...
The yard is pretty!
Cutie cat.
The boiled egg surprised us! The first breakfast we can have different food and escape from the french bread!
Finished the 3 days in Sahara, we take train by our own to visit the next city in Tunisia. Today is the holiday in Tunisia...
Wait train at the station for about 2 hours...
Nothing but waiting...
Study hard...
Doing record for the trip.
YEA! The train runs normally during holiday!
What are you thinking?
Doing records again.
The train is quite comfortable. And this is not FIRST CLASS.
This guy try to communicate with me.
Arrived Sfax. We visit 5 hotels but still can't find a suitable one. Finally, we find a hotel with good price and nice enironment. We are happy to see the bathroom after 3 days in Sahara and spent an hour for shower. At around 4pm, we were so hungry as we only ate a boiled egg this morning. And go out to find something to eat. Unluckily, today is holiday. Many shops closed and we found a cafe but no food are serving. Suddenly we saw a little shop not far away and saw this!! @u@;; CHICKEN!
Grilled chicken is not ready yet. Therefore, we choose the fried chicken.
Cat's life in Tunisia.
YEA! Chicken looks good, smell good too! But if you give me some salt, it will be perfect!
We ordered the bread.. but we have to wait for an hour...
Remember the illustration about "What you see in the picture? An old woman or a young lady?" This old lady 90% looks alike the old woman in that illustration!
View from hotel room.
Our bed.. like a battlefield.
Lovely glass lamp... looks like pineapple!
Bathroom.
Breakfast! New item for us is the "Salami" actually it is Luncheon meat.. and Yogurt! The Yogurt taste good in Tunisia!
Even the reception in hotel can't speak English. Thanks my colleague - BON BON buy me a Arabic phases book. This is the first time we use it!
The best travel guide in this trip, DK Eyewitness Travel Guides. Although a bit heavy, but full-colored with details illustration. Behind is the Medina of Sfax. This is one of Tunisia's best preserved old quarters and conforms to Islamic principles of architecture. At its centre is the Great Mosque, which is surrounded by the town's souks.
We are waiting for the Medina gate open.
The stall's door in Medina.
Every door is different. And they looks unique!
Motif always appear on the door. The most common motif is FISH. It means bring you luck!
Street in Medina.
Narrow street gives shader.
Mm... How big is the key?
Chocolate bar?
Pretty window frame.
Door knocker - present on every door. They are often in the shape of a large circle or a hand. The one on the right are usually used by men, the ones on left are used by women.
The gown for bridal. So sexy!
Another meal ordered by body language.
Outcome...
We ordered three different fillings.
A popular transport in Tunisia - Louages. THis is shared taxi, do not run to any particular schedule and depart only when they have a full complement of passagers. Offer greater convenience!
Amphitheatre at El-Jem This former punic town - Thysdrus - declared itself on the side of Rome during the Third Punic War in AD146. This built in 230 - 238 this is the world's third largest Roman amphitheatre and the best-preserved Roman relic to be found in Africa.
The highest seats - provide a breathtakinig view. The games could be watched by over 30,000 spectators.
Not much clouds in Tunisia. The sky is always blue!
Today's special programme: Zebra Vs Giraffe
Giraffe is the winner!
Corridors - lead to all levels of the auditorium, which measures 427m in diameter.
Cats are waiting for food at the restaurant.
French bread again. But with another spicy sauce for dipping.
Fried egg with fries. Fries again!
Going to louage station to another city.
Pretty house
Today is holiday, we can't get on the louage finally. A local guy who is going to Sousse (same location as us) found a old car with driver to go there. For DT5/head (HKD30). But the car is really really old.
The car keep running in 40mp/h.
Cute little boy of the driver. And this is his wife.
See? As I told. The car is really old. Luckily, we arrived safely!
Our hotel in Sousse. It's located in Medina. Very stylish, old but clean. And it is cheap! We stayed here for two nights.
"Don't miss the Sunday market in Sousse!" Can you imagine that is what the guide book said? This Sunday is still the holiday of Tunisia, so no animal market today. If not, we are able to see camel market and even the goat market.
In Sousse, we find a supermarket! Carrefour!
Goats on road is very common. The keeper bring them out for eating everyday.
A pretty mail box on the wall of a house.
Why they can hang some raw meat next to those clean clothes?
Medina at Sousse
In Tunisia, doors are regaraded as symbols reflecting the fortune and happiness of the households within. They built of palm wood. Usually painted blue, though they can be brown or yellow. Only doors leading to public baths or marabout mausoleums are pinted in green or red.
3 brothers.
You can say no graphic designer in Tunisia. But you can't say no artist or painter in Tunisia! They draw everything!
Easy to get lost in Medina even you have a map on hand.
A african drumer.
This is the fruit of palm tree - dates.
Taken from the mirror.
The hotel we stay in Sousse, even got a little private garden. No view to see as their building style is high wall to make shader to keep cool. But it's comfortable to sit there and do my travel records.
Records with map
Blessing from the bird.
This photo we took from the roof top of the hotel. We can see the Mediterranean Sea!
The stairs of hotel.
Go out for our late lunch at around 4pm.
Cold weather with cold boring salad.
again.. hard and cold french bread.
Grilled Chicken with Tomato beans. Nice.
More about Harissa A traditional Berber paste made with hot red pepper, garlic, tomato puree and olive oil - appears on every Tunisian table and is eataen with almost everything. No wonder we taste the same for every different dish.
Today is cloudy, but the Mediterranean Sea is still pretty!
A quiet and calm beach in Sousse.
A big hotel behind us and people loves to stay at the cafe for a whole noon!
I just like a watercolor painting!
The water is clear and no trash!
It's quite annoying people keep saying "Jacky Chan" to you here!
I think it is a paradise in summertime!
After a beach walk, I back to my little secret garden to finish my records. We bought a little pack of nuts at the stall. It is yummy!
Sunset at 4:30pm here. Suddenly I can feel some red above my head and I stand on the chair to find out what's happening... The magic moment!
I back to my seat, and the whole color changed.. the garden changed into PINK!!!!
I stand on the chair again and saw this! Magic moment!!! So Magic!! I yelled, "HEY, I need to go to the rooftop to take pic!"
This 2012 feel magic moment took at the rooftop!
Stunning!
And it gone...
We can see our garden from rooftop.
The next day, sunrise. I can't remember how many sunset and sunrise we met in the trip. Seems almost everyday.
A big louage station in Sousse.
Arrived Hammamet. We choose the hotel which I do the research on internet. The hotel is really nice with cheap price! (around HKD230) This is taken in our room!
Very spacious and clean! The only complain is.. TV.. do you think we can see the tv on the bed? The TV is tiny!
With pool view balcony!
They decorate the bed with flowers picked from their garden.
The road outside hotel.
The second HK people we met in Tunisia. The first one is ... Jacky Chan... @ a VCD shop.
cotton pad cloud.
Tiles are pretty!
Dried red pepper
Hammamet lies on the coast, halfway between Tunis and Sousse and has best beaches in Tunisia. (We think that Sousse is better as the sand is more powder like and smaller wave.) Hammament attracts over half a million visitors a year!
We can't see the ending of the beach!
Pretty tiles bench. Facing the sea but do you know what is behind my bench? It's the graveyard!
We arrived the Sousse Medina at the end of the seaside path.
The medina here compare with other cities in Tunisia, here is more quiet and less commercal activities.
This cat is playing with the rug!
The second dog we met!! Cutie little dog!
We found a nice restaurant...
But also those same food...
We eat pasta almost every meal. We sick of bread... But every pasta is cooked with Harissa.
Yea! Not french bread again!
Not tasty pizza.
Pretty little purple flower.
See the hand motif? This is "Hand of Fatima". This is a common talisman that is thought to ward off bad luck. Many Muslims believe that the hand has the power to protect and bestow blessings. Fatima is an idealized mother and whife. The five fingers symbolize not only the five pillars of Islam, but also the Muslim prayer that is repeated five times a day.
Tiny TV.. we can see even with glasses.
Pretty ceramic lamp cover
See the effect on wall?
What a touching breakfast!!! Not french bread! Butter and jam! Yogurt!
I'm so happy!
I love this door! Can get some fresh air in when it is sunny. You can close the windows on door too!
We rent a car with driver from Hammamet hotel. For a whole day trip to three heritage sites at Central Tunisia. This is the first one - Zahouan
Zaghouan is a charming little town that lies at the foot of Jebel Zaghouan. During the time of Tunisia's Roman occupation the place was called Ziqua. Zaghouan is famous for the superb quality of its water and its mountain springs. What you can't see is.. even today is a sunny day, we are freezing!!!!!
You can find a lot of decorative column on the ground.
The site keeper.. gave me two stones from the heritage building as a "GIFT"... @_@
Fossil on ground.
Every words is still clear enough to read. But it is not English.
Aqueduct for ancient Carthage
The second heritage site - Thuburbo Majus It lies in a beautiful valley surrounded by hills. The Roman settlement was established in 27BC, close to the Punic town. In AD128, after a visit by the Emperor Hadrian, Thuburbo Majas was granted the independent status of a municipium, and later, in AD188, it became a colony.
Freezing.. The site is quite big.. we spent almost an hour to walk around.
Thuburbo Majus - one of the most scenic ancient ruins in Tunisia
The mosaics on the ground. You can still clearly see it nowaday! More than that, you are able to STEP on it!
Even under the sun, we are still freezing!
You are still able to find very good condition of the sulpture at the site.
Broken ruins.
We always walk away for exploration.
The colonnaded exercise yard
See? The mosaics is on the ground for centuries but still in good condition!
Lunch at a food stall near Dougga (our next heritage site).
Grilled chicken again. But not tasty and very dry!
The rain started when we were having lunch. The weather is extremely bad when we arrived Dougga. We got off the car, walked in the rain in freezing weather. And suddenly, the sun come out again!
Dar el-Achab Located below the forum, southwest of the Temple of Tellus, this dates from AD164. It was probably originally a temple but is named after a family that once occupied the site.
Roman Villas (3rd century AD) The houses stand along a paved road. The most intact villas included the House of Dionysus and Ulysses, the House of the Terfoil and the House of the Seasons.
Nice view from DOUGGA.
Dougga is the best-preserved Roman city in North Africa. It was originally the seat of the Numidian king Massinissa, but was under Roman administration from the second century AD. It was accorded World Heritage Site status by UNESCO in 1997. Families continued to live among the ruins until they were relocated in the 1950s.
Olive tree with Olives. The production of olives is an important part of Tunisia's economy.
Will the column stay still after 10 years?
After the rain, the sky is clear and nice!
I don't know why there are numbers on the bricks... and why then can write on the heritage sites?
Animal travel to Dougga
Capitol Built in AD166, this is one of Tunisia's most impressive Roman monuments. The four front columns support the remaining fragments of the temple pediment, which features a status of Antoninus Pius.
We are not finish the whole Dougga yet but we have to finish it as the rain comes again. This is our last stop in DOUGGA, the theatre I guess.
The weather can change suddenly.
Back to Tunis, we get the train to another seaside city.
Pretty huh? Here is Sidi Bou Said.
Our plan is, stay one night at Sidi Bou Said. But the hotel is expensive with no view. We tried another one but it's full. We have our lunch at a roadside restaurant and the kabab is Great!
No suitable hotel for us tonight.. we returned back to Tunis.
We searched for 4-5 hotels in Tunis, some of them are too expensive, some of them are not good in condition. Finally, this is our choice. We called it a Mongkok hostel. It located at the small street and many shops surrounding. Not expensive, small but clean.
The room with a heater which is not able to switch off... It's ok for me as I always feel cold here.
Pretty street lamp.
We take a 3.5 hours louage to here - Tabarka
This is the outlook of our hotel - Mimosa It looks like Lego house.
Room with nice sea and garden view! And it costs around HKD360 for a night with breakfast and dinner!
Harassa pasta again.
... ...
This one is yummy. But not the fries.
What included here? Chicken, Onion, Lemon, Lamb and their horrile red sausage!
Weather change again.
Chinese ink painting!
This is the old fishing port of Tabarka.
The red-tiled roofs of the Genoese fort can be seen from almost any point in town.
International Jazz Festival (late June) every year.
Les Aiguilles (The needles) as seens from Tabarka's beach.
A little further west from the harbour stands an ochrecoloured rock formaton. Sharpened by the constant erosion of wind and rain!
Dinner at hotel.
That soup again... but no grain inside.
This is a very yummy scramble egg!
My fishes.
... ... meat is not tasty even in hotel.
Over-cooked caramel pudding... taste of bitter.
Great! There is a fire place! Really cold!
We tried to go to the fort. But on the way, it rains! Luckily, I got the raincoat in my backpack!
After a long climbing, we arrived the fort! But it is not open to public...
Rainbow above the sea.
Grilled chicken and pasta for lunch again after the walk to the fort!
Poor little cat hiding itself in rain.
Freezing rainy day...
Back to hotel
Hotel dinner. The first time we had beef here.
Yea! The fish is much bigger than yesterday! Yummy!
Tunisia dessert - like pudding with almond.
Bad weather again.
Louage to Tunis. 9 people included us.
Kabab again.
Yummy, but very sick about the cold salad and cold fries.
The spegetti is hard and cold...
Going to Sidi Bou Said once again. Train on marine route.
It looks like a loaf of bread.
La Marsa Was one of the district of Punic Carthage, and known as Megara. Today, it is known for its beaches and is the favourite weekend playgound for Tunis's residents.
Turkish Coffee... sorry, it's not my cup of tea.. too sweet..
Cafe Saf-Saf The guidebook said, "It is wroth stopping for a while at Cafe Saf-Saf, to enjoy a snack, a glass of mint tea or a Turkish coffee. Look out for the well on the terrace which dates back to the Hafsid period. Sometimes a camel working the well's wheel can be seen"
This is the camel which work at Cafe Saf-Saf.
The entrance of Cafe Saf-Saf.
Pretty windows at Sidi Bou Said.
Blue door with studded ornamentation It was Baron d'Erlanger who gave Sidi Bou Said its blue and white color scheme. The scores of blue doors in the village are only superficially identical. In reality, they differ from each other in terms of size and their ornamentation. The most popular motifs include moon cresecents, stars and minarets. Blue and white dominate the streets and courtyards. The white walls provide a striking background for deep blue shutters, ornate window grilles and colourful doorways.
Very typical housing at Sidi Bou Said.
I think I really get thinner after 1x days at Tunisia... We eat very less.
The village has grown in size and beauty. Its smart streets are full of flowers; the freshly whitewashed walls reflect the strong midday light.
It remains an artists' village, full of galleries and studios.
Cafe Sidi Chabaane Cafe with prmenade with an amazing view over the bay.
My favourite pineapple juice and traditional Tunisia mint tea. Serve with traditional Tunisia dessert which is too sweet and not able to eat.
Enjoying the sunset
Everyone want to get a good seats for a sunset drinks.
The cafe here, really gives us the feeling of HONEYMOON!
Stunning sunset!
I never seen this sunset before!
A very calm harbour after sunset
Art gallery at Sidi Bou Said
The whitewashed walls reflect different color of different moment in a day.
Bye, Sidi Bou Said. We are leaving and heading to Tunis again.
Tam Tam Restaurant at Sidi Bou Said.
Waiting for the train.
See what we are doing?
The Theatre at Tunis
Night view of church
Back to our first meal restaurant in Tunis - Red Car! Once again, the Harissa with bread.... I bought four tubes of Harissa back to Hong Kong!
This is the best chicken breast I ever head. Juicy and tender.
I don't know how we ordered this dish. As we ordered "Fruits de mer" and I searched on net Fruits de mer is a seafood dish traditionally made of raw and cooked shellfish. I think it is miced lamb.
Crepe for breakfast. Once again, we totally don't know what is the ingredients. Luckily, the waiter here speaks simple English. He told us one is "cheese", one is "fish" and one is "egg". Therefore, we ordered 3-in-1.
Finally, we had HOT breakfast on the 15th day in Tunisia!
Looks nice!
I'm hunger for HOT BREAKFAST!
Pretty train tickets!
Waiting for the tram to Bardo Museum. This is the last day here and today is "A Day in Museum"! We planned to visit a few museums in the last day!
Entrance of Bardo Museum The museum has an unrivalled collection of Roman mosaics dating from the 2nd to 4th centuries AD that once adorned the homes of some of Roman Africa's wealthiest citizens. As well as priceless mosaics, the Bardo contains a huge number of items from other periods including Punic funeral masks, Greek bronze statuary, Islamic tiles and finds from a ship that went down off Mahdia in the 1st century BC.
This unique mosaic kept in the Bardo Museum, Tunis, shows a Christian church. It gives some idea of the original appearance of the early churches whose ruins can be seen in many of Tunisia's oldest towns.
Early Christians used the Greek language in their liturgy and writing. The first Christian text in Latin was written in AD180 in Africa.
Bath
Christian tombstone Usually in the form of inscribed tablets. Tombstones that bear images of the deceased are quite rare.
Mosaics were a popular decorative element during Roman times. The mosaics would have been laid by travelling teams of artisans and were used to line the floors and walls of public baths and to adorn the facades of public building.s Mosaics were composed of tiny pieces of stone, marble or brick.
Marble statue in the corridor.
The mosaics is a very large piece placed on the floor. I don't know how the peole can make this geometric patterns. This is represented another style of mosaic art, which was developing along with a realistic trend.
The Romans believed in many different gods and goddesses. Jupiter is the King of the gods, and god of rain, thunder, and lightning.
See how big is Jupiter's foot! This picture reminds me one of the HONG KONG old advertising, and the product for healing the foot skin problem. hahaha.
You can see how large is the mosaics picture. Subjects were taken from everyday life, religion, agriculture and so on. Later on they began to feature images from mythology as well as floral and aquatic motifs.
Decorative ceiling This lace style is not by paint. Can you imagine this is the engrave?
Not a small area, but the whole dome shape ceiling!!! But I wonder how to clean the dust...
Every part is a masterpiece!
We met Jonas Christainsson at the Bardo Museum!!!!
The signs of the zodiac
Carthage Room This room has a fine collection of statuary from Roman Cathage. At its centre is a monument to Augustus from the 1st century AD. The floor mosaics date from the 3rd century AD and once decorated wealthy homes in Oudna.
Left the Bardo Museum, we took tram. And we found this modern handle which made of plastic and wrote "Made in China" on it!
Pretty tram!!
Taking TGM train to Carthage for other museums visit. This old man in a very Tunisia style!
Lazy cat
You can easily take postcard like photo in everywhere. Tunisia is a very pretty place!
My dream house located at Carthage, facing the Mediterranean seaview!
Another stunning view out of the Oceangraphic Museum.
Whale's bone
Edelweiss... Edelweiss... Every morning you greet me Small and white, clean and bright You look happy to meet me Lonesome and slowly You bloom and grow Bloom and blow forever... Edelweiss... Edelweiss... Bless my homeland forever...
A very big supermarket at Carthage. This is one of the reason why I want to live in Carthage!
Walking to Byrsa Hill... We get lost!
Finally, we arrived the St Louis Cathedral. Carthage was founded in 814BC by Phoenician colonizers. By the 4th century BC it had become the major force in this part of the Mediterranean. The Punic wars led to the destruction of the city although it rose again under Roman rule. It was subsequently conquered by the Vandals, who were replaced by the Byzantines in the 6th century. Following its capture by the Arabs in AD695, Carthage gradually fell into ruins.
Carthage Museum After the visit to Dougga, this Carthage Museum is too small and not much to see.
You can see the whole ruins in this photo. Very disapointed.
And the museum blocked most of the part. Not able to walk through the site. And this is the most expensive museum we visited.
Foundations of Punic houses.
Strange plant.
Marble sculpture in the museum.
We are very disapointed about the Carthage Museum. We don't feel regret to spend a whole day and rent a car to Dougga.
Display of the fallen parts from column.
I don't know why they can put those fallen parts into a wall...
The cathedral was built in 1890. It was dedicated to the French King Louis IX who died of the plague while laying siege to Carthage in 1270. The building has not served as a place for worship since 1964 and was rebranded in the 1990s as the Acropolium de Byrsa. It is now used as a venue for classical concerts and exhibitions.
Pretty mail box outside the house.
Our late lunch at Carthage after we finished all the museums visit. Yummy but expensive.
This costs around HKD60!!!
A 4:30pm lunch.
The first yummy Baguette with fillings (French bread) we had in Tunisia.
Stray cat, asking us for food.
The last sunset in Tunisia. We had a very special gift my a little girl when we arrived Tunis by train. A woman said her daughter want to send us a kiss at the platform. She really did! A kiss on Terence and my face!
The next morning, this is the last morning here. We rush to the Medina to shopping.
Breakfast after shopping. At the crepe shop again. With Hot chocolate and crepe!
Arrived airport safely! Waiting for check-in.
The last soft drinks.
The Qatar Airline food is good! We had the first bowl of rice after 16 days in Tunisia! And the food is hot and yummy!
WOW... President butter!!!! YUM YUM... Not Harissa with Olives again!
Another set, Chicken and potato.
Pretty skyline!
Waiting at Doha airport for transfer for 5 hours. And our plane will departure at 2:30am.
Terence's Birthday Dinner. Although it's hamburger, but it's really expensive. Around HKD140 for a combo (burger with cheese, fries and soft drinks) + a roast beef burger.
Quiet Room at Doha airport. Provided a sleeping place for us!
