[guide.chat] My Holiday in Tunisia

  • From: "M BOWKER" <bowker288@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: "Guide Chat" <guide.chat@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Sat, 16 Jul 2011 16:21:31 +0100


Getting board yet. Well here's more.

love Malcolm.xxxx


My Holiday in Tunisia.

 4 August, 1998. 

On arriving at Manchester International Airport, Winnie, my wife  and myself 
met up with my daughter and her husband and our two  young granddaughters. We 
checked in and went through customs without any problems and found ourselves in 
the departure lounge with some time to spare. I thought this may be a bad thing 
as my wife and son in law had never flown before and they were getting a bit 
nervous. When we boarded the plane and found our seats we settled down and 
waited for take off. My wife was sat next to the window so she could watch the 
take off. The climb was a bit bumpy and when the plain levelled out, I asked my 
wife what she thought of it. She said that she missed taking off because she 
had put her hands over her eyes. We had a smooth flight and landed at Monastia 
airport at 6 p.m.  As we left the plane, the heat met us. It was like walking 
into a greenhouse. We arrived at the hotel at 7 p.m. and was shown to our rooms.

After dinner, we all went for a walk into Medina. It was quite a long walk and 
although it was dark, it was very hot. We got a horse drawn carriage back to 
the hotel.

It was now Wednesday, the first week and we were going on a day trip to ride 
camels, horses and donkeys. When we arrived, we all picked our camel and went 
for an half hour walk. My camel was called Michael. He was very calm. For those 
who didn't want to ride any of the animals, they followed us in a horse drawn 
carriage with a fringe on top to keep the sun off them because by this time it 
was getting up to about 110 degrees Fahrenheit. I came back on the biggest 
horse I have ever come across. After the riding we went into a Bedouin tent to 
see and to sample the local breed. They have a big round stone, hollowed out 
with a fire inside it. When the stone is very hot the bread mixture is shaped 
and put on the outside of the stone and left for about five minutes to cook. We 
were all invited to sit down to sample the bread, which was accompanied by very 
large pieces of water melon. We then went to see a camel which was fastened up 
to a water wheel and it had to walk round in a circle to draw water from the 
well. This is still carried out today. When the camel stops its keeper puts a 
bottle of coke on the floor and the camel picks it up in its mouth and drinks 
it as a reward. Then the keeper gave us all a biscuit and one by one we put the 
bisket between our teeth and the camels took them from us. I was pleased that I 
couldn't see it, but I felt its big floppy lips.

On the Wednesday Night, we all went for a walk into Medina. It was about 9.30. 
PM. and when we got there we were surprised at the number of people on the 
beach, as it had been dark for about an hour. Apparently, all the Tunisian 
families come onto the beach to wash, eat and relax after the heat of the day. 
There was a slight breeze blowing, which was very hot, so we decided to get a 
horse drawn carriage back to the hotel. We got in the carriage and set off. On 
the way back we came to some traffic lights where we had to turn to the right, 
as the horses got half way round, one of them lapsed onto the floor, pulling 
the other horse on top of it. The driver and a police man soothed the horses 
and eventually got then back on their feet. After giving them a rest, we were 
assured that the horses were alright to carry on.

On the second Tuesday, we went to Port El Kantaoui. This is a marina with lots 
of different types of boats. We went on a galleon for a three hour sail. When 
we got about four miles out the captain dropped anchor. Some of us went fishing 
while others went swimming. We were also given as much food and drink as we 
wanted. I didn't catch any fish. We set sail again and went back to the harbour.

Thursday, of the second week. This was the day that Tunisia was put on record 
as being the hottest place on earth. It reached 150 degrees Fahrenheit. We had 
to be up at 5 O'clock this morning as we were going on an all day safari into 
the desert. We got onto the coach at 6. A.m. taking bottles of water with us, 
as this was a necessity. After about two hours drive into the desert we stopped 
at a place called.

El Jem. This was a Roman amphitheatre and was one of the best preserved in the 
world and the sixth largest. It was overwhelming.

We were able to walk in and around the dungeons and pits where the lions were 
kept. Afterwards, we all got back on the coach and carried on to Gabes, an 
Oasis which was about 165 miles into the desert. When we arrived, it was very 
hot, about 1 60 f We left the coach and got into a horse drawn carriage and was 
taken round the Oasis, which took an hour to complete. Here they grew every 
kind off fruit tree imaginable. The water supply came from underground 
passageways made by volcanoes thousands of yeas ago.

We got back on the coach and continued to go deeper into the south where we saw 
the setting for the Star Wars film. Next, we rode a camel around Matmata, a 
village of Berber families known as Troglodytes. These people scratch a living 
from the.

ground and survive under primitive conditions. Their homes are caves hollowed 
out of the soft rocks. People still live here in caves today. We stopped here 
and had our evening meal which was a traditional Couscous_ It was surprising 
how cool the caves were.

After dinner we boarded the coach yet again for the return journey. Every one 
on the coach had run out of water and we were getting very dry. Our lips 
started to crack with the heat. After driving for a while the police stopped us 
and asked us for water. As we drove on we came to a garage in the middle of 
nowhere, and the driver pulled up for petrol. We all took advantage of this and 
dived off the coach and bought every bottle of water they had. I.
know now how precious water can be as I would have given everything I owned for 
that bottle of water.
 When we got back to the hotel, we made a cup of tea and sat on the balcony to 
drink it. It was 12. Midnight and when the wind blew, it was like the heat out 
of the oven when you are cooking the meat.

Friday, I had decided, after thinking about it for two weeks, to have ago at 
Para gliding. It was a fantastic feeling. 300 ft. up with the wind going passed 
you. At one point, my harness came undone and I slipped down a bit. Fortunately 
I had some one with me and he managed to fasten it up again. Then I went on the 
banana boat which was being pulled behind a speed boat over the waves at a very 
fast speed.

We all had a very nice holiday and came home with lovely sun tans..Malcolm from 
Hyde. Cheshire. England.
Skype name. malcolmbo1



 

love Malcolm. xxxx.

Hyde, Cheshire,

skype name,

malcolmbo1
You Said.


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