On 24 September 2010, I flew to Tunisia for the three week tour called “Carthage to Cairo”. It covered three countries and promised to deliver an overdose of spectacular ancient ruins – Phoenician, Greek, Roman and Egyptian. It didn’t disappoint.
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| Tunisia - Ampitheatre in El Djem |
Unfortunately, I flew back to England with two unwelcome passengers – campylobacter and salmonella. It has taken five months, a much delayed Christmas, four doses of antibiotics and a course of steroids to finally feel fit enough to write up my tale of the trip.
Since the tour, all three countries have undergone political unrest. As we watched developments over Christmas and New Year, Tunisia and Egypt seemed to mirror the turmoil in my guts. The ongoing situation in Libya is much more worrying and we can only hope for a good outcome in the near future.
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| Libya - view from Theatre at Leptis Magna |
It may be that it will be a long time before anyone can go on a similar tour and, whenever the whole area reopens to tourists, things will not be the same as they were last year.
However, the ruins have endured for many years and will continue to impress when the tourists return. Meanwhile, I hope that you can enjoy them through this blog.
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| Egypt - Pyramids at sunset and the Giza skyline |
