La Goulette, Tunisia - North Africa

Wednesday May 28th 2014

Weather - Overcast, possible showers 14-20C (we actually had a small shower of rain)

An overcast morning as we sailed into Tunisia at 8am today. Here are a few photos taken from our balcony:

The Splendida cruised into a very narrow harbour & reverse parked into a small space with the precision of an expert parking a mini minor :)

We heard drums & a band playing from the terminal, welcoming us ashore.

Then they paraded camels along the dock.

The dock area seemed very clean

We were booked on a tour so found our way to the coach around 8.45am & were taken on a tour first of La Goulette, which turned out to be very dirty with garbage thrown everywhere. Then our guide took us on a walking tour through little side streets & lanes with markets everywhere & vendors trying to sell whatever the had. We also saw lot's of ornate doors which indicated the wealth of the owners.

Next was the obligatory visit to a carpet/rug shop. They were very nice, but quite expensive. I made a huge mistake in showing a slight interest in some hand woven silk bedspreads & the men from the shop wouldn't leave us alone. They even reduced the price from 895 to 350 euros but I had to eventually be very rude before they let us go. I guess that is there way of life but we found it very uncomfortable when we were unable to browse without the men trying to force you to buy. Mike had a similar experience when he was looking at a pair of shoes. The seller tried to take him into a back room to deal. We had to run away & hide from him after that! This pressure selling just makes me more determined to refuse to purchase. 

Some ceramics & jewellery for sale:

A lady handmaking rugs:

Mosaic tiles on an old building

We agreed this was an interesting visit, however have no desire to go back. Traffic was terrible with vehicles in bad repair & dirty (including the many police cars). We saw a couple of accidents & many near misses. Police with guns everywhere you look. Our tour had 2 guides, one at the front & one behind to protect us. 

We are now back onboard & have just left the port now heading towards Barcelona, Spain arriving on Friday.

More soon.

Betty & Mike