Road Trip.
A long weekend in Tunisia would not be complete without a mini road trip down the country to visit some of the most incredible historical and religious sights. With ever expanding landscapes and coastal views along the waters, I decided on a visit to one of the most religious mosques in Tunisia, at the gorgeous little city of Kairouan. Then popping into El Jem for the mighty Roman amphitheater before staying overnight at Sousse (city post to come later!). Having Tunis as a base, this was my first time to go on a side trip with just a backpack. It felt like a real adventure, walking and travelling in one direction only and not backtracking or stopping. This exciting part of my travel allowed me to see some of the gorgeous countrysides and of course the unbelievable sites at both cities. This is a lengthy post of my rather long day starting at the capital before ending in Sousse. It was a tiring day but one worth doing to squeeze and fit everything in.
Tunis to Kairouan
From a cultural and religious significance point of view, Al-Qayrawan was on the top of the list for places to visit. My first issue was how to get there. Taking the train seems like a quick and efficient way but with only six trains a day to El Jem from Tunis and no train to Kairouan, it didn't seem like a sensible option for flexible travelling. A quick bit of online research shows that shared taxis or louages are the heart of all medium to long distance travelling in Tunisia. Each city or town has their own louage station and when you get there, you will be able to purchase a ticket at the counter and find the signs for which city or town you want to head to. Give the ticket to the driver and grab a seat. You will have to wait until the whole mini van is full before you make your way to your destination. The louage station in Tunis is the Station Louage Moncef Bey, about a 15 minute walk from Place de Barcelone. It is a big warehouse-like building with a huge amount of mini vans all wanting you to get on so they can make a start.
Kairoune
The journey from Tunis is about 2 to 2.5 hours and takes on some amazing country roads. Kairoune was founded in around 670 by Umayyads and is an important city for Sunni Islamic scholarship and the learning of the Qur'an. It supposedly attracts a huge number or Muslims from around the world, only behind Mecca and Medina.
Zaouia of Sidi Sahab (Mausolee abi zamaa)
Near the louage station is this 17th century building that is the mausolem of one of the prophet's companions, Zama El Belaoui. This follower used to carry around three hairs from the Prophet's beard and is now buried in this 'barber' mosque, a stunning building with incredible colours and interiors.
At the entrance, you can buy a ticket to see all the attractions in town, which is well worth the deal. Have a walk around this place and take in the beautiful tiles and the peaceful courtyard. It is a quiet spot, so there are plenty of photo opportunities. It really reminds me of the mosaics I saw earlier at the Bardo Museum!
Kairouan Central Mosque (okba)
The next stop is at the main site of the Great Mosque of Kairouan, which was established in 670 AD. This UNESCO World Heritage site houses a magnificent and grand square in the middle and beautiful courtyard structures. It is about 9000 square meters and is one of the oldest places of Islamic worship in the world.
You can pop your head into the main prayer area for photos but non Muslims are strictly not allowed to enter. The courtyard itself is grand with the North African architecture and the simple and plain designs!
Mausolee Sidi Abid el Ghariani
I literally randomly bumped into this place, which turns out to be where Abu Smir Abid El Ghariani used to teach. He was a disciple of a famous jurist, Al-Jadidid and was buried in this simple looking house. It is nice to see what a house used to look like and with a little walk around, you will see all those great looking mosaics and tiles again. I don't think I can get enough of those!
Medina & Bir Barrouta
Near the middle of the Medina is this supposed historical site were a camel is used to carry water out of a well. To this day, there is still a poor little camel that walks around in a circle pushing this stick that brings the water from the well. I wasn't particularly fond of this and don't really get the significance of it to be honest!
Road Side Lunch
Before heading back on the road, I stopped by a local spot for lunch. This was probably the most lively and local meal I have ever had. It was literally a shop at the corner of the street filled with locals shouting and having fried fish and meats. It was noisy, sweaty but the food was delicious. The locals joked with me and it was a real laugh!
Kairounne to El Jem
As there was no direct train or louage from Kairounne to El Jem, I had to take a mini detour into Sousse before changing into another louage. It wasn't hard to change and it was probably the fastest and cheapest way of travelling. I really wanted to squeeze El Jem in as I didn't have much time the next day to see Sousse and head back to Tunis. The journey was quite long and the van was definitely more dated and cramped but it went by pretty quickly and without any troubles.
There was really only one reason to go to El Jem and it was for the Roman Amphitheater. Coming here and seeing this massive structure really shows you the influence the Romans had on this region years ago. Although it is nowhere near as big as the one in Rome which could hold 80,000 people, this structure is still huge and could hold up to 35,000.
Built in 238 AD, I had a really good time walking around the insides and outsides. There were not a lot of tourists so you can stop and take your time with photos everywhere.
The views from the opened up seating area gives you a nice view of how grand the whole place used to be. It is worth the mini hike up for the pictures.
Before heading to the viewpoints on the other side, pop into the middle and run around and pretend to be a gladiator! Its nice to have so little people there, you can really run around and pretend to be fighting!
Don't forget to pop downstairs to the pit too!
The final stop is a hike to the top of the amphitheatre for the views. It will give you a view of the expanding town of El Jem as well as height advantage over the rest of the Roman ruins. Truly gorgeous!
All in All
The final leg of my trip was heading back into a louage and backtracking to Sousse for the night. This journey had the longest wait to start - guessing not much people make this journey so late in the day. Everyone had to pay 1-2 dinars more to cover the cost of the last missing passenger. Getting into Sousse was easy and I managed to strike up great conversations with two tourists from abroad and shared some travel experiences. It was a long day but one that was fun and filled with so much history, culture and travelling!
