Camp sites were few and far between except in the touristy areas around the Sahara. It was, however, perfectly acceptable (and safe) to stop overnight wherever you could find a suitable quiet spot. One night we stayed at a coach park next to the ancient Roman amphitheatre at El Jem. Mr. Google informed us that this Tunisian colosseum was considered a superior example of the famous one in Rome – but I have a feisty little Italian friend who would dispute that!
Earlier that week we had spent the night on a quiet piece of wasteland 200 metres back from the main road. We said hello to a few inquisitive passers-by and later, as it got dark, a local man came over to ask if there was anything we needed – and assured us we would have a peaceful night. He explained that the wasteland where we were parked was, in fact, the local cemetery. We did indeed have a quiet night sleeping next to all those departed souls.
At the coastal town of Mahrès we spent the night at the top of the beach, tucked behind a hotel. The seaside town had a “modern” feel with a shopping mall and some strange modern art works on the promenade.
Looking more closely at the dilapidated infrastructure of the town we saw broken pavements, flaking paint, cracked walls and rubbish piled in every corner. We felt the place would have been more appealing if the city fathers had concentrated more on repairing the old rather than commissioning the new.
We met a friendly German couple travelling in an expedition truck similar to ours. The husband, Christian, was keen to talk shop and he was soon up in our truck swapping technical information with Tony. His wife was across the way next to their truck and I thought I would give her a shout to tell her where her husband had disappeared to – so I asked Christian what her name was. I called out to her but got no response, so called her name twice more, yelling loudly. She eventually she came over. Apparently Christian had told me her name was a very rude word, German equivalent of “fat arse”. He thought it hilarious, she not so much!
