The entrance to Hotel Djerba Erriadh. We would cerainly recommend this place - it is friendly and clean.
|
You have . .
breakfast in the
courtyard of Hotel Djerba Erriadh, an old converted
merchant's funduq (similar in style to a caravanserai) right
in the middle of Houmt Souq, the main town on the island of
Djerba. The birds that woke you this morning twitter as they
dart in and out of the bougainvillea vines that climb the
walls to the sky above.
Most tourists come to Djerba to lie on Sidi Mahres Beach
situated further south from Houmt Souq, but there is much more to
this island that swimming and windsurfing.
After breakfast, you stroll down Rue Mohammed Ferjani to the
small shady square near the old French church, then turning right
you can see the unusual oast house style minaret of the Mosque of
the Turks.
Walking along Rue 2 Mars, you will come across an old cemetery
that lies against the buttressed walls of the mosque. The old white-washed headstones
gleam in the morning sun.
Adjacent to the cemetery is the government carpet shop, and
here you can watch the skill of the girls as they weave silk
carpets. They offer to tie some of the strands around your wrist
as a souvenir. You decline shyly - you are not buying today so best not get their hopes up.
You have all day, so why not stroll out of town towards the
port and sit by the Borj el Kebir, the old fort from which the
Spanish were routed by the Arabs in 1560 and the 500 skulls of
the vanquished were left piled on the shoreline for a few hundred
years as a message to others sailing past.
|
Combining Djerba with a trip to the Berber villages of Ksar Ouled Soltaine, Chenini and Douirat is a good idea.
Other Tunisian places of interest:
The Berber Villages
Ksar Ouled Soltaine
Bizerte
The Carthage Coast
Dougga
El Jem
|
If the tide is running out, you can sit for a while and watch
the locals troll the mudflats in search of shellfish as the boats
lying in the cove roll onto their sides.
Back to the twisting lanes of Houmt Souq, you can stand and
watch the daily fish auction, the small lots strung on date
stalks; or just simply stroll through the market and perhaps buy
some fresh fruit. The pace is quicker in the market, but no-one hurries you.
For something really different in this Islamic land, you can
pay a visit to the El Ghriba Synagogue at Er Riadh. Djerba has
had a Jewish population since 600 BC, and although there are now
only around 1000 followers of the faith on the island, the
synagogue is maintained as a centre of learning and
pilgrimage. [Check to see if the synagogue has been repaired after the bomb attack in April 2002]
Tonight you will have dinner at Restaurant La Mamma on Rue
Habib Bougatfa and enjoy the tasty local (and cheap) fare. The
printed menu is really just a rough guide; the fish of the day
will depend on what the chef thought was a good buy at the
auction that morning.
Then back to the funduq - the birds will wake you again tomorrow,
and perhaps then you can have a day on the beach.
More Photos of
Houmt Souq
|
