Three days in Tunisia

Ever since I can remember I have been dreaming to travel to the Middle East and North Africa. Call me crazy but I find something incredibly alluring about the Middle East. I love history and culture and I believe some of the countries encompassed in this region are some of the most beautiful and misunderstood countries in the world.

So when a friend suggested either a day trip to Burgundy and the half joking proposal of Tunisia, I jumped on the second option with bells on. Within hours we had booked our flights and just over a week later we were on our way to Tunis, Tunisia.

Of all the places in North Africa and the Middle East, Tunisia was probably one of the countries I knew the least about. I have had a burning desire to go to Egypt (and Libya) for as long as I can remember, and almost saw this dream come true in 2006. I booked a trip to travel through Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Turkey, only to have the trip cancelled a week before I left because Lebanon and Israel went to war. Everyone seemed delighted I was not going to be venturing through the Middle East at this time, especially my parents and a couple of new friends from Iraq, but I was devastated. Especially when my passport returned with my brand new Syrian visa that was never to be used and now considering the state of events is not a place I will visit any time soon.

My Syrian visa, never to be used...

Since then I have gotten closer by travelling in 2008 to Turkey and more recently in 2011 to Morocco. I loved so much what both of these places had to offer and as a result my desire to travel through North Africa and the Middle East burnt brighter than ever before.

Tunis was everything and more than I could have expected. From the minute we landed, the people proved to be some of the nicest and accommodating people I have ever met. The fact that I found and got to play with a cat in the transfer terminal was just the cherry on top!

The day we landed was the day that Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki signed their new constitution and everyone wanted to tell us about it. It was the first thing anyone would mention when we met them and it was an honour to be there on such an important day. Within the first few hours of being in Tunis I had several conversations in French, Arabic and English, eaten my first cous cous and collected 2 phone numbers of people who wanted to show us around. Are you starting to see why I like this place so much?!

  

My first bowl of Tunisian cous cous

So the next 3 days were filled with adventures in the colourful Medina, delicious food, visiting the Grand Mosque, taking in the views from the cliff tops over beaches, navigating our way through ancient ruins all whilst enjoying the beautiful sunshine.

Here or some of my favourite photos from our adventure. Enjoy!