Stars above the Sararah

Im back in the capital city, Tunis, as there are a few more things I wanna see in the North, namely Sidi Bou Said, that some nice Tunisian commented on. Ive heard about it from almost every Tunisian here, so it seems worth the effort to see (plus its only 20 km away)

I dont really think words can express the beauty of the saharah. its a desolate area of nothingness. The silence is deafening, and the sun is blazing. I cant wait to be able to post some pics in a few days, it really was stunning.

It turned out that the other people who were supposed to come with us backed out, so it was just me and the guide, Jamil, for the day. Communication was at an all time low, as my french is terrible and broken, as was his english, but we ended up having a good time and sharing some laughs. We headed out on Camel for about 10 km, most of the afternoon, camped out for the night and came back in the morning, so it was a bit shorter than i would have liked, buyt i didnt have the time or money for a longer trip. but even though i was out there for only 1 day, I understood the harshness and beauty that is the Great Desert. I was amazed to see a fair bit of life out there, even a huge flowering plant, which Jamil explained is used for fever "medicine of the saharah" as he put it.

in fact, everything there had a synonym ending with "...of the saharah", camels were the "boats...", these huge insects that whizzed across the sands were the "4x4's ..." etc. We made a fire, cooked some Couscous, and sang until the stars came out. Now, the one thing that really blew me away were the stars, not only were they so numerous, you could actually see EVERY constellation, but they were very very bright. I found myself in a daze just stqring at them. Truly unforgettable.

And it really does hit extremes in the desert, temperatures around 40 C during the day and plummiting to near freezing at night, I had 3 or 4 thick wooly blankets that they provided and found myself still chilly. Of all the places ive seen here, with all the culture of the Roman Ruins, and the arab lifestyle, nothing compares to the saharah. It was worth the entire trip, and I encourage anyone out in this part of the world to see it for yourself, it will not be in vain.

so, all in all, it was unbelieveable. haha, and as a perfect way to contrast a night in the desert, I stayed in, without a doubt, the worst hotel on this planet last night. granted, it was cheap (like 5 bucks), but it had all the markings of a shithole. From the cigarette butts on the floor of the room, to the nonexistent mattress, to the shared toilets with logs of deuce floating in them, to the complete absence of hot water, to the complete lack of windows; it was another "unforgetable" experience. I mean, Ive seen some bad places, and am really not picky when it comes to where i sleep, but this took the cake.

ok, im off to see some more culture, I think I will try to sleep in the airport Tuesday night as my flight leaves early and I do not want to miss it, plus i can save 10 dinars, which means I can splurge on a good dinner the night before!

I will definitely post when i get back to London, and will pick my favourite pictures from my trip, Ive looked through them and I got some good ones. Im out.