Tunisia - 30 September 2010 (1)

 Sfax

Western Gate to Medina

After a reasonable breakfast, Vic, Caroline and I met up to walk to the medina.  The policeman directing traffic on the roundabout at the end of the road kindly stopped the traffic for us.

Southern Gate to Medina

There were arcades alongside the shops on the next road, which meant we could walk in the shade.  The medina was surprisingly close and it did not take long to get there.  We went in through the western gate.  It was still very quiet, so we walked straight out through the southern gate to see the French colonial buildings.  The town hall was in front of us, looking very Arabic with the palm trees in front and with its dome and clock tower, resembling a minaret.

Sfax Town Hall

French Colonial Buildings

We walked on down to the port and could see the cranes used to unload the ships.  There was a railway line and a main road between us and the sea, so we took a few small risks: we walked across the railway line and managed to find a gap in the traffic to cross the road.  It was not really that exciting when we reached the sea, but we could see lots of small fish in the water below.

Train on the Track

Crossing the Railway Line

We walked along the road for a while until we came to a crossing.  A train came along, showing that the railway line was far from being disused.  We had to avoid puddles as we came to the level crossing and some of the cars would have splashed us if we had not stood well back and waited for a large gap in the cars before negotiating the largest puddles.  Then we found ourselves in a large open area around what must have been an old harbour.  There was a single café, but not much else yet.  If it had been a similar city elsewhere, this would have been a very trendy area, with cafés, bars, shops and a few expensive apartments.  Perhaps it will be developed one day.

Shopping in the Medina

When we got back into the medina, it was much busier.  Near to the entrance I bought a round loaf.  Its texture was a bit like naan bread and it was so hot, I could barely hold it.  Then I went in search of a torch to use in the underground cave hotel we were staying in.  I had brought a maglite torch with me, but the batteries had leaked and done irreparable damage, so it had ended up in the bin.  There were no torches on display on any of the stalls and I could not remember the French for “torch”, so it took a while to make people understand what I wanted.  One of the stallholders took me under his wing and we went from stall to stall, hunting for torches.  It took quite a while before we struck lucky and I got a very powerful torch for just D2.500 and its battery for D1.500.  I have never seen a battery like it.  It is large and square with two metal flaps at the top.  I showed it to a retired electrician friend of mine the other day and he said it brought back memories.

Local Clothes on Blond, Western Models

Wooden Utensils for Sale

Vic wanted to stop for a coffee, so we had one in a small café, where we could sit on some very high stalls and watch the shoppers walk by.  I kept my camera out as we walked through the medina.  Canaries in cages sang to us as we walked.  There were lots of clothes stalls, but they mostly sold traditional long clothes for women.  They were in bright colours and were displayed on models – many of them blond, though I never saw a blond Tunisian.  There were also many shoe shops.  Lotfi had said that Sfax was the shoe capital of the world.  Luckily, my sandals were proving to be extremely comfortable, so I felt no need to buy more shoes.  At the far end of the medina, we looked out to the open market below.  Then we headed to the gate nearest to our hotel.

Veggies and Water

This northern section of the market was busier.  It contained many fruit and vegetable stalls and young men were struggling through the narrow alleys dragging heavily laden carts.  Other stalls sold nothing but wooden kitchen utensils.  We should probably have taken the opportunity to buy more items to eat during our journey, but at the time we did not realise that we would appreciate some decent food.

It was only 10.15 when we got back to the hotel, but it was a really hot walk back.  Once again, the friendly policeman helped us to negotiate the roundabout near the hotel.  At the hotel, I had a quick cold shower, finished packing and then it was time to leave the room.