22 August 05
Bound for the "Tunisian Riviera"
After months of wishy-washy considerations about what to do for our honeymoon/holiday—considerations that were complicated by natural disasters, foreign unrest, and airplane crashes—Hanane made an executive decision (with my full support) for a week in Hammamet, Tunisia, the “pride of the Tunisian Riviera.” We bought our tickets two days ago after finding a good package deal, and we are as good as gone. We leave this coming Thursday and will be back 2 September; yes, it’s a short trip but we intend to be lazy and spend most of our time on Hammamet’s famous beaches.
In case you are not immediately aware, Tunisia is located at the very top coast of Africa, wedged in between Algeria and Libya. The country is incredibly rich in history; some of the most famous Roman ruins are there (in Carthage, for example), and it was the home of Hannibal.
At the other end of the sprectrum, some of the original Star Wars scenes were filmed in Tunisia (and the sets are still there); in particular, the scenes on the planet Tatoine where Luke Skywalker’s family lived. Funny, the planet in that movie was called Tatoine (?), and in reality there is a Tunisian city called Tataouine.
Much of Tunisia’s eastern coastline consists of wide, sandy beaches bordered by aqua and emerald seas. Over the years it has become a major destination place for Europeans who have dubbed this region the “Tunisian Riviera” and the “Tunisian Saint Tropaz.”
The coastal town of Hammamet is in the heart of this wonderful strip. The name Hammamet (also called Al-Hammamet) means “the baths”, as there is apparently natural mineral springs to be found somewhere in the region, and the hammams are seemingly quite popular there as well. Whether the mineral springs are part of the hammams themselves, I’m not sure yet, but it’s certainly easy to see the semantic connection between Hammamet and hammam.
Apparently another area of the town, called medina (not to be confused with the city in Saudi Arabia by the same name) is also something to be experienced, with it’s narrow, twisty-turny alleys and walkways. Apparently this is where the main mosque is to be found as well, which I will try to attend on the Friday I’m there.
There’s a few maps of Tunisia to be had online, but unlike most of them, this map of Tunisia actually shows Hammamet’s location; further, if you click Hammamet on the map, you’re taken to this map of Hammamet, which is even harder to find.
There are a number of other online resources you can read about Tunisia and Hammamet, but much of what I’ve found is is either oriented around tourism (holiday attractions, hotels, etc.), and therefore not very interesting, or was on Web sites that employ annoying popup window bullshit that even my Firefox browser wasn’t stopping. Hence, I’m not linking to any of it from here. Search for Hammamet resources at your own risk. (I’d advise you not to waste your time.)
I was not surprised when I read on one Web site that the cultural splendor of Tunisia’s coastal towns is quickly disappearing in the flood of western tourism, European tourism, which apparently is strong in the summer months when thousands of white-skins show up with their speedos and blanket the beaches like bulbous harp seals. Hanane and I will be right in there with the rest of them, but it is a sad notion nonetheless that the worlds gems are all adulterated sooner or later.
(whenever I am reminded of the unbridled expansion of humans on Earth—western, eastern, or otherwise—I always remember that scene from the first Matrix movie, where agent Smith likens humans to a virus; both proliferating uncontrollably while consuming all resources encountered. Frighteningly apt.)
Another Web site has this to say, which was not surprising when you consider Hammamet has become the tourist destination it is:
“Vendors of souvenirs can be irritating on the beach, and some find shopkeepers in the medina a little too pushy and over-bearing.”
Bring-em on! My wife will kick there ass!
Anyway, I will indeed be experiencing Hammamet first-hand, and will attempt to provide a more intersting (and safer) account of this place than what you will mostly find online already. Photographs? Yeah, those too.
