Jerba - Jim - to Sousse
Pictire: Street scene at Houmt Souq, Jerba
Click here to see our Ofoto album from Jerba
Last wrote from Gabes, where we were recovering from a long day of travel across the south of Tunisia, ending with an escape from a Star Wars misadventure. With this experience in mind and a re_read of the LPG for Tatouine, Dusty decided he didn't want to go there all that much after all. The ksours sounded interesting there, but we began to realize we would need something other than public transport to reach them, and there was plenty to see in Tunisia without having to hire special, so we decided to divert to the island of Jerba instead.
As usual the trip in the louage was tedious. This one became even more so when the driver joined the km long queue to get on the ferry. Fortunately there were coffee shops and fruit sellers at the roadside, so we could sit in the shade and wait for the louge to appear. People were friendly as usual, and patient. Eventually the louage was squeezed aboard one of the ferries for the short trip over the waterway to Jerba island.
The jerba terrain is flat and scrubby, the architecture known to be distinct, though we had to look hard to spot the characteristic bldgs. Eventually we reached the main town of Houmt Souq in early mid day heat. It was a pleasantly small town with a laid back feel. We soon discovered it had an intriguing medina laid out in a way attractive to tourists, with some resonable hotel possibilities in old funduqs, or caravanseries. We wandered the old streets calling in on them until we found one called Erriadh with tile faisance around a courtyard and even in the rooms. It was a quiet and comfortable place.
We enjoyed wandering about the place. The people had a distinctive robed dress topped with a practical straw hat, and no one objected to our taking pictures. The markets were riots of color, pottery being one of the products here, along with berber carpets, and leather goods, especially shoes. There was a small covered souk, and dozens of alleys, which we got to know predictably by evening. We ate dinner au fresco and went around the streets that had been teeming in the cool of dusk now almost deserted at ten a.m. except for the carnival site with its rides and people eating cheap meals and watching animations where favors were being handed out to kids by an actor in traditional costume.
We thought to stay another day but next morning after a stroll to the old fort overlooking the quaint harbor we decided to move on. We really enjoyed Jerba but the tourist zone with its famous beaches didn't appeal, and we didn't look into organizing transport the ten km between Houmt Souk and the plages. So at noon the next day we presented ourselves at the Louage Station and got a transport going to Sfax.
The ride took several hours including the return over the ferry. Fro,m Sfax we decided to risk a louage to Jim where the Roman amphitheater rises from the plains. The louage filled in only half an hour, and an hour after tha we were wandering around the colliseum, though not inside, as it was closing in only a quarter hour (at 6:30). We then caught a louage to Sousse arriving there at around 9 at night, after a wait in Jim. We took a simple room in the medina for the night and next day went to Kairouan. More about that later.
Click here to see our Ofoto album from Jim
Click here to see our Ofoto album from Jerba
Last wrote from Gabes, where we were recovering from a long day of travel across the south of Tunisia, ending with an escape from a Star Wars misadventure. With this experience in mind and a re_read of the LPG for Tatouine, Dusty decided he didn't want to go there all that much after all. The ksours sounded interesting there, but we began to realize we would need something other than public transport to reach them, and there was plenty to see in Tunisia without having to hire special, so we decided to divert to the island of Jerba instead.
As usual the trip in the louage was tedious. This one became even more so when the driver joined the km long queue to get on the ferry. Fortunately there were coffee shops and fruit sellers at the roadside, so we could sit in the shade and wait for the louge to appear. People were friendly as usual, and patient. Eventually the louage was squeezed aboard one of the ferries for the short trip over the waterway to Jerba island.
The jerba terrain is flat and scrubby, the architecture known to be distinct, though we had to look hard to spot the characteristic bldgs. Eventually we reached the main town of Houmt Souq in early mid day heat. It was a pleasantly small town with a laid back feel. We soon discovered it had an intriguing medina laid out in a way attractive to tourists, with some resonable hotel possibilities in old funduqs, or caravanseries. We wandered the old streets calling in on them until we found one called Erriadh with tile faisance around a courtyard and even in the rooms. It was a quiet and comfortable place.
We enjoyed wandering about the place. The people had a distinctive robed dress topped with a practical straw hat, and no one objected to our taking pictures. The markets were riots of color, pottery being one of the products here, along with berber carpets, and leather goods, especially shoes. There was a small covered souk, and dozens of alleys, which we got to know predictably by evening. We ate dinner au fresco and went around the streets that had been teeming in the cool of dusk now almost deserted at ten a.m. except for the carnival site with its rides and people eating cheap meals and watching animations where favors were being handed out to kids by an actor in traditional costume.
We thought to stay another day but next morning after a stroll to the old fort overlooking the quaint harbor we decided to move on. We really enjoyed Jerba but the tourist zone with its famous beaches didn't appeal, and we didn't look into organizing transport the ten km between Houmt Souk and the plages. So at noon the next day we presented ourselves at the Louage Station and got a transport going to Sfax.
The ride took several hours including the return over the ferry. Fro,m Sfax we decided to risk a louage to Jim where the Roman amphitheater rises from the plains. The louage filled in only half an hour, and an hour after tha we were wandering around the colliseum, though not inside, as it was closing in only a quarter hour (at 6:30). We then caught a louage to Sousse arriving there at around 9 at night, after a wait in Jim. We took a simple room in the medina for the night and next day went to Kairouan. More about that later.
Click here to see our Ofoto album from Jim
