Tunis-Sousse

 Fri 5/5/23

Happy birthday to Partner In Crime!

It was an early morning rise for us as sunrise is at 5.20am. We went to the rooftop to see if we can catch the sunrise, and also took some pictures there. Our breakfast would only be ready by 8.30am, so we asked to drink tea at the rooftop while waiting for breakfast. We also went to check our rental car at the municipal council car park to make payment, but there were still no one around at 7am.

Our breakfast was lovely, consisting of bread, cold cuts, fruits, shakshuka, juice, coffee and tea. After a hearty breakfast, we made our way yet again to the car park, and finally there was a parking attendant there at 9.30am. We paid for the overnight parking for TND 2.5 (1300 hrs to 2000 hrs) and another TND 2.5 for half day today (0600 hrs to 1300 hours). 

our breakfast spread

shakshuka

After that, we walked to the Tunis medina and souk, a Unesco world heritage site, which is a straightforward walk from our Dar. The medina were already bustling with people and activity. So it is advisable to take pictures of the doors and narrow streets of the medina before 9am. We only wandered around today to take pictures and would only be buying souvenirs on the final day of departure. Since today is a Friday, the Zaytuna mosque was closed and would only be opened at 3pm for Friday prayers. So we only took pictures from the outside. We also made our way to the modern side of the medina to take some pictures.

doors of Tunis medina

inside Hammouda Pacha Mosque

minaret of Hammouda Pacha Mosque

exterior façade of Zaytuna mosque

minaret of Zaytuna mosque

kilim 

robes

tajine

Medina Tunis - a Unesco World Heritage site

narrow cobblestone streets at the Tunis medina

narrow streets of Tunis medina

Bab al-Bahr

After another round of escalope ougane for lunch, we left Tunis at 1pm for our next destination - Sousse. The drive from Tunis to Sousse was 150 km and took about 2 hours via the A1 highway. The toll cost TND 6 which we paid by cash. Our accommodation today is at Hotel Medina Sousse (TND 98 / EUR 29 / RM 145 per night with breakfast) which is located near to the medina and ribat (fort), which is also a Unesco world heritage site. We parked at the medina car park which cost us TND 10 for overnight parking, paid by cash. A lot of things still need to be paid by cash in Tunisia. 

on the A1 highway

at an intersection on the A1

exit to Sousse

toll booth at A1

people selling goods at the toll booth

can pay by cash at the toll booth

our simple room at Hotel Medina Sousse

parking near the medina

After checking in and refreshing ourselves, we walked to the Sousse ribat (both a fort and a religious building), and made our way up the observation tower. The entrance fee cost TND 8 per person. The Sousse ribat is not as impressive as the kasbah that we went in Rabat, Morocco though. From up the tower we could see the Gulf of Hammamet. I read that the ribat in Monastir is better (although it is not a Unesco World Heritage site), so we would make a detour there tomorrow. The great mosque of Sousse, built in 851 during the rule of the Aghlabid dynasty is located next to the ribat.

domed tower of great mosque of Sousse

ribat of Sousse 

the watch tower of the ribat of Sousse

view of the port, great mosque and Gulf of Hammamet from the ribat watch tower

the courtyard of the great mosque of Sousse

in the prayer hall of the great mosque of Sousse

a typical cafe located around Tunisia

shops of the Sousse medina

For dinner tonight, we had thon (tuna) brik and beef kamounia at El Ferdaws restaurant, which is within walking distance from our hotel. There was no orange juice available, so we were given strawberry (fraise) juice. It tasted quite good actually. Total cost for dinner was TND 24. After dinner, we walked along the Boujaafar beach. It was quite cold and windy tonight. We saw a few abandoned hotels near the beach. We then walked back to our hotel and retired for the night.

beef kamounia

thon (tuna) brik

Boujaafar beach at night