Tunisia: Mahdia and Monastir

The last part of our time in Tunisia was spent soaking up the coastal sights of Mahdia and Monastir.

Certainly the beaches and the blue Mediterranean Sea looked inviting. But, still a bit cool in early April for me to be taking a dip.

It won’t be long though before these towns come alive with tourists from the northern hemisphere. For now, things are quiet. It’s still Ramadan which means cafes and restaurants are closed; some for the duration of Ramadan, others open at 8pm.

Look hard enough though and there’s always a cafe or two open for coffee. Everything else is open: markets, patisseries, boulangeries, shops.

Mahdia is rather nice and easy, and set on a picturesque peninsula.

Mahdia Musee is small yet interesting. There’s a collection of oil lamps from the Colosseum and there’s also this 3rd century fabulous sculpture.

A most-generous-with-his-time museum attendant asked if we wanted to see another section of the museum. Of course we did, so we followed him out the back and up several flights of stairs to this incredible view over Mahdia.

A further surprise awaited us though, and this was ‘the bomb’. We had heard a mighty explosion for the first time in El Jem and then again here in Mahdia. At the time no one seemed bothered by it, so we followed suit.

This very loud explosion, we were told, heralds the end of the daily Ramadan fast – at sunset.

Mahdia is where we experienced severe water shortages. Water is turned off to households at 9pm and not turned on until 7 am. There’s some serious discussions here around the allocation of water for tourism and industry since each is vital in securing economic growth. We will see.

After Mahdia, we headed to Monastir on the train. Pleasant and roomy it was until 3 stops short, it came to an abrupt halt due to an electricity fault.

The train driver walked through the carriages, telling passengers to alight and get a taxi. A two foot jump from the platform and a walk across the tracks helping young mums with prams and toddlers in the pouring rain and howling winds added some spice to an otherwise uneventful trip.

Anyway, Monastir was excellent. We enjoyed relaxing views from our room, walks along the beach, checking out the ribat (fort) and museum as well as marvelling at the hive of activity as the town prepared to welcome their President.

Saied was in town to pay his respects to ex President Habib who died 23 years ago and is entombed here in Monastir.

Close to Monastir is Sousse. We dropped in for a few hours visiting the beach and museum.

For our last night we stayed in Hammamet where it’s all about the beaches and resorts, and a short 50 minute drive to the airport in the morn.

We sold our souls and stayed in a touristique hotel on the beach complete with several swimming pools and a half kilometre long buffet breakfast and dinner (I exaggerate, but you get the picture).

The restaurant’s main man greeted me as I walked into dinner and hearing me speak insisted that I follow him to the buffet where he proudly showed me the English specialty food – copious quantities of hot chips, sausages, gravy. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that when in Tunisia, I eat Tunisian – cous cous and all. I am guessing, probably correctly, that a lot of Brits holiday in this part of Tunisia.

We leave Tunisia – a little wiser about travel, people, religion and politics. It’s certainly an easy country to travel independently; tolerant and welcoming Tunisians ensure that. We enjoyed our time here very much, but we are acutely aware that the next few months are crucial.

President Saied says he will reject the terms of the IMF $US 1.9b bailout, saying ‘Tunisians must count on themselves’.

I’m unsure of the dictats to which he refers, but as an outsider looking in, I’m willing to hedge my bets on more strikes, more protests as the economy continues to struggle. A shame because Tunisia 🇹🇳 offers so much to travellers.

We are checking out today – thanks Tunisia – so enjoyed our time here.

Napoli bound.