Monastir - El Jem - Sfax

Sat 6/5/23

Today we went out to take pictures of the medina early before activities start at 7am to avoid the crowds. Only after that we had our simple breakfast at the hotel at 7.30am, consisting of croissant, bread, eggs, strawberry, coffee and mint tea. 

our breakfast set

We checked out after breakfast and drove to Monastir via the coastal road, which is just about 25km away, or 30 minutes drive. We parked at a car park nearby the Monastir ribat and paid TND 2 to the parking attendant. It was a beautiful sunny morning in Monastir. The Monastir ribat was bigger than the one in Sousse. We didn't enter the ribat today and only took pictures from the outside as we were just making a short detour on our way to El Jem and Sfax. 

clear skies and blue sea at Monastir

ribat of Monastir

watch tower at ribat of Monastir

For the drive from Monastir to El Jem, we took the toll road via the A1 highway. The toll cost TND 1, paid by cash. El Jem is like the colosseum in Rome, an oval shaped amphitheatre from the 3rd-century Roman empire which could hold up to 35,000 spectators, and a Unesco World Heritage site. The entrance fee is TND 12 per person. It was scorching hot by the time we reached El Jem at 12 noon. 

Amphitheatre of El Jem from the outside

Amphitheatre of El Jem from the inside

Amphitheatre of El Jem arena

the vault (self supporting arch) of the amphitheatre 

After visiting the amphitheathre for an hour, we had lunch of the barbecue lamb set with fries and salad and orange juice which cost us TND 35, quite on the high side for one meal as the stall was located right in front of the amphitheatre. There is no official parking for the amphitheatre, the 'parking attendant' asked for any amount as 'donation', so we gave him TND 2, but he asked for TND 3.

complimentary bread and soup

barbecue lamb set 

After lunch, we drove another 80km (about 1 hour) to Sfax via the A1 highway with the toll cost of TND 1.3. We would be staying at Ibis Sfax (TND 185 per night, no breakfast). Free welcoming drinks is also provided, which we chose latte and capuccino. We were quite drained from the hot sun in the morning and afternoon, so we didn't venture out to the medina (it was not a walking distance from the hotel) and had early dinner at Zaitouna restaurant. We looked for 2 other restaurants via google maps but to no avail, either the location was wrongly mapped, or the restaurant is no longer in operation. So we settled for Zaitouna restaurant. We had coucha d agneau (lamb stew) and lamb cousocus. Dinner cost TND 43 which we tried to pay with credit card, first Partner In Crime's, then mine, but both failed, so we had to pay with cash. We had just successfully paid for the hotel Ibis a few hours earlier with credit card. 

our compact room at Ibis Sfax

complimentary bread with olive and harissa

complimentary shorbat soup

lamb cousocus

coucha d agneau (lamb stew)

This evening was also the first time we fuelled up our car (unleaded or sans plomb), which cost TND 2.525 per litre. Paying by credit card at the petrol station was also unsuccessful, despite filling up at Shell. We planned to walk and buy some groceries from a shop nearby the hotel, but cancelled it after we saw a gathering of people nearby. We were already warned by SOS International to avoid any gatherings in Tunisia due to the rising political tension in the country. Security at the hotel was also tight as we had to screen our luggage in the X Ray machine before entering the hotel.