Cactus fences, or a trip to the country of Magreba....
This spring, there was a choice for a summer vacation - either Kemer, or Crete / Kos / Greece or Tunisia... At prices - almost the same, so I settled on a visa-free new country - Tunisia, especially since it is a former French colony, that is, there should be a difference from Turkey, at least. I bought vouchers for the whole family for a month, through the joint venture, through Pegasus.
The flight was scheduled for 8 am, the day before I learned about the transfer to 10.30 (in principle, a common thing lately). The most interesting began a couple of hours before departure. The representative of Pegasus announced to all passengers of the upcoming flight to TU (I don’t remember the number) that the flight was postponed to 18 pm . . the reason for this was learned only some time later from the Aeroflot representative. Due to an accident with an aircraft of this type, it was decided to transfer everyone to Boeings. We waited a bit, then we were taken to the hotel by minibuses, given the opportunity to rest, fed a free lunch and brought back to the airport in a comfortable bus. And when they arrived by minibus, the door jammed, the men tried to open it from both sides - it didn’t work. I had to step over the last seats and exit through the rear door of the gazelle. As you can see, the beginning of the trip was intriguing. Already at the hotel, we talked with other vacationers who were waiting for the rescheduling of the flight at their airport for almost the whole day, it seems that it was Sverdlovsk.
At night, they flew to Tunisia normally, all passengers were divided into two flights. I won’t write about the hotel itself here, I’ll write down the details in the report. Money was exchanged at the airport, the rate here is more profitable - 1.35, and at the hotel - 1.32. Then they came again for an exchange, keep the receipt, it will come in handy for the return exchange.
I want to share my impressions of the first trip to the country of Magreba. . To North Africa. There is still something in common between Turkey and Tunisia, it slips in the customs, mentality, habits of the locals. Our hotel was located on the Skanes line from Monastir, 5-7 minutes from the railway station. Therefore, we made independent exits to two cities - to Monastir and Sousse.
First of all, we decided to go to Monastir, as it is located 2 stops from our hotel. Their train * in our opinion - an electric train * bears the proud name of the Metro. The ticket was bought at the station, the cost, like many other things, I found out in advance on the Internet from traveler reviews /thanks to the Internet! /. There were 3-4 cars in that train, soft 2-seater comfortable seats, air conditioning, there were no doors between the cars . . just one common corridor along which the controller tirelessly walks, giving relief to those who did not have time to buy at the station. Above the doors hangs a map of the subway line with stations in two languages - eng. (conveniently) and Arabic. The landscape outside the window quickly flashed. . a lot of cacti. . a lot of garbage along the roads. . . Even more than a lot. This unpleasantly surprised us... And also - cactus fences....Any fence loses its meaning if there are cacti... but here - just an abundance and variety of their varieties. No need to spend money on fences between fields-gardens . . everything will be done by nature itself . . yes, and few people want to climb over the cactus fence))) This really made us smile)).
Monastir itself we did not get a good look at. Lots of vendors, everywhere, on every street. We felt like some kind of bait for them / or the sun was to blame for everything, we got a little tired in the 45-degree heat from the habit, away from the sea breeze). We already know for ourselves - there is nothing to take in hand. Give - and say "present". You say "thank you" and walk away. They immediately extend their hand and pronounce the price, but it is difficult to give back the goods, since you are already a participant in this transaction. After one such option, they already swore off taking something, they simply said - "la" (in Arabic - "no") or in English. We walked along the Ribat *an old majestic fortress of the 5th century on the seashore. They did not enter the museum-mausoleum, they took a ride in a carriage, agreed with the charioteer for 10 dinars. He made a circle around the fortress, drove past the mosque, through the narrow streets of the city . . In principle, they just rested).
We had a little rest at the hotel and went on an excursion Tunis-Carthage from Pegasus (63 dollars per person, if you buy on the day of arrival, if on other days - later - then 68 dollars). The guide we came across was very talkative, it was not boring, he told historical facts with notes of irony and humor. I've been going on this tour for a long time, so I had a lot of fun). Carthage, as Carthage is called locally, as a connecting thread of the present and the history of mankind. You know, you still have to go there. There are many sculptures and mosaics in the 2-storey Bardo Museum. It even displays the first surgical scalpels and other instruments.
From Carthage we went to the city of artists - SidiBuSaid. . . A beautiful place, white walls, blue doors and windows. The town is on a hill, from the top point - a wonderful view of the sea. Beautiful. And again, from the central square on the mountainside - thickets of various cacti . . just a miracle). In this city, we found a General store, in principle - the usual prices, they bought extra virgin olive oil at 7 dinars per liter, maybe. and overpaid, but I didn’t want to run around the streets and bargain like that)).
Then there was the capital of Tunisia - the city of Tunisia itself. You know, after all, it was a little cleaner there than in those cities where we were. We walked along the main street from the local Big Ben (majestic clock) to the local Notre Dame * after all - a former French colony). beautiful . . majestic... Not far from Big Ben there is a nearby street there is a Russian Orthodox church from the Moscow Patriarchate, built in 1956.
We saw the barbed wire fencing, machine gunners in special clothes, armored personnel carriers . . But as the guide told us, this is already like a decoration). I don't know, it all looks really impressive. But the machine gunner allowed tourists to take pictures of himself, and this confirms the words of the guide))
The second independent exit in a foreign country was a trip to Sousse. We moved more confidently. In the city, they immediately found the Medina (old town, market), about which I had read on the internet - a lot of goods at reasonable prices. Behind the high old walls was really a market. We stumbled upon a fish . . Oh . . in the heat of the counters with fish . . the smell... I didn’t get a special impression there). An ordinary market, on the shelves - the same thing, the sellers practically grab the sleeve (a la Turkey), inviting them to come in and look for a watch / bag / bracelet, etc. for 1 dinar. In short, our whole family came from there . . Or we don’t know how to bargain in the east, or simply . . * some other reason).
We walked a little, looking for the malls of the Yasmina market * I read it on the internet, but did not find it. We got to the Sula Center, rested a little in the shade of the air conditioner on 3 floors of a store with fixed prices. We took a taxi and for 9 dinars (overpaid) we got to the port of Port El Kantaoui, which is located in a recreation area for fairly wealthy comrades). On the way, the taxi driver told the news of the city and showed local sights - "to the left is the Boro-Boro disco, there are a lot of shifted young people", "we are passing by a Russian pub -" Forgive me, grandmother ", etc. The port itself is small - there are many snow-white yachts, catamarans , boats, etc. You can just choose a trip for yourself, which we did - we paid half the cost of a trip on a pirate yacht with fishing and lunch for 40 dinars for 3 three adults, waited half an hour before sailing, paid extra and go ahead. almost motley - many local - a group of young girls, couples on their own and with children, a group of very elderly, tourists - foreigners and we. drinks - mineral water, cola, fanta. Then watermelon went, there were no restrictions - as much as you want, take as much. After that, we anchored and the captain offered to swim . . Hmmm . . Many 10 minutes ago in this sea threw watermelon rinds. There were not enough people who wanted to plunge into the sea far enough from the coast - 4 people along with the captain. He generally got real pleasure from this - he dived in a mask and snorkel like a fish). We stood at anchor for a while, no one remembered fishing, except for my husband, but most of the passengers were women, so he did not insist. We returned to the port, the whole trip took a little more than 2 hours, but we do not regret the money and time. It was good. It was interesting to watch the passengers - they would say something and laugh all together - both old and young). There was a feeling that just a big family decided to enjoy a trip on a sea yacht.
We went back by taxi. Taxi drivers are very competitive. Agreed for 10 dinars to the hotel from the river port. we were driving fast, my husband was afraid that the taxi driver at the hotel would say - 10 for each. We have already observed such a picture at the gates of the hotel, a family arrived by tuk-tuk (a moped with 4 seats) and they had to go to the reception to find out about the payment. Everything worked out for us - he did not require more than 10 dinars. The result - 2.4 - metro train, 9 - taxi, 40 - on a yacht, 10 - back to the hotel. It's still cheaper than a tour from the hotel, given that we paid for all three of them, and the guides - about $ 37 for one.
10 days on a ticket, in reality - 8 days turned out, because the departure was at 12, departure from the hotel at 9.45.
In general - Tunisia is interesting as a new country. Beautiful, historical, instructive. Once again I was convinced that you need to know English . . oh, how it is necessary! ))). But at the expense of another trip here - I don’t know... the annoying behavior of sellers was a little annoying * in the Emirates this is not the case, I was convinced from my own experience, although it is also an Arab country. And one more nuance - purchases are not much cheap here. I will not argue with those who wish to bargain - anyway, everyone remains with their own opinion.
I do not regret the trip here anyway - a new country, flavor, relaxation. It was for the sake of which we went to this relaxation.
