A week in paradise
When one dreams of paradise, the first place that comes to mind probably would not be Tunisia. But for Diana and me, this came pretty close.We have recently had the good fortune of spending a week on an all inclusive four star holiday in the resort of Yasmin Hammamet in Tunisia.
The hotel was beautifully designed in a tasteful and ornate Arabic style, the food fantastic and plentiful, the service charming...all setting the scene for what was one of the most relaxing holidays Diana and I have had in a very long time.
Usually we get bored staying in one place and hire a car to travel around and explore our new environment. But this time it was different...one look at the hotel and the surrounding area and we were mesmerised. Why go anywhere when we had everything here?
So, apart from a couple forays into neighbouring towns to experience Arabic culture and the traditional markets, we stayed mostly in the hotel grounds (quite extensive in itself). Our time was spent lying in the sun reading, snoozing and ordering drinks from passing waiters...what bliss. When we mustered the energy, we would get up and haul ourselves to the pool bar in the afternoons for freshly made pancakes with Swiss dark chocolate or use the hotel's gym and take advantage of the indoor pool being completely empty for some proper swimming. Then, if we got tired of this, we would relax in the coolness of the hotel with a cocktail, or present ourselves in the restaurant at the appropriate time to eat as much food as we could handle. In the evenings we would go for a nice cool stroll around the town or by the beach, then would go to see what entertainment the hotel was putting on for the guests (some quite good, some quite bad), and finished off the day relaxing at the hotel's own traditional Moorish-style Arabic cafe, enjoying mint tea or smoking a shisha. Afterwards it was off to bed and the same schedule again the following day.
On two occasions we also went to the hotel's private beach a few metres away, where we swam a bit in the sea, enjoyed the soft golden sand and entertained thoughts of burying an irritating German boy in it.
What made this even more enjoyable is that my work paid for most of this holiday....It really could not get better than this!
Of course, such a trip could not go by without experiencing a bit of the traditional Arab markets, which is an experience in itself! Some of these markets had very narrow lanes and negotiating our way down them whilst also being harassed by shop owners trying to sell us their goods was quite an achievement. What was interesting for us was the phrases and the style they used in trying to attract us. One person in particular tried the 'complementing the lady' approach, telling me what a wonderful wife I had and how lucky I was...this was despite objections from both of us! Eventually he offered me 5000 camels for Diana. As I felt this was quite an attractive (and I might add tempting) offer, I followed him into his shop, where he showed me jewellery I could buy for Diana with her name engraved on it. As I could not understand why I would want to buy her jewellery when I will be trading her in for camels, I politely declined. He then embarked on a tour around his little store showing off his selection of clothes, shoes, rugs and carpets that would not burn if a lit cigarette was dropped on them (he gave us a live demonstration of this). Realising he did not have much to offer and seeing no camels in sight, I decided it was time for us to take our leave, much to his disappointment. With hindsight it was a relief...immigration would have been a nightmare and, practically speaking, what I am going to do with 5000 camels?!
Another shopkeeper was admirably more honest in trying to get some custom, with the opening line of "I love your money..." I replied with "Me too!" and we moved on. Some shopkeepers tried some British slang they must have picked up from other tourists, such as "come into my shop and have a butchers..."!!
Other ploys used by shopkeepers close to the hotel was to come up and say "Remember me, I'm your waiter from your hotel...please follow me to my shop!" We had been told beforehand to be aware of this. We were delighted to have experienced this towards the end of our stay and had a good laugh as the guy who accosted us first claimed to be from a hotel we were not even staying at! When he realised this error, we had already walked past...laughing.
The store owners always learn a few phrases in different languages to communicate with and impress tourists and usually say hello in their repertoire of languages as one passes by them. We had experienced this a lot in Istanbul so were used to this. What we were not used to and caught us off guard is that now they have also added Polish to their collection of languages! Wow, the Poles really are getting around. Diana and I bet ourselves that the next time we go, they would probably have picked up Bulgarian as well!
One morning we were advised to go to a camel market where people came to buy and sell camels. Thinking this would be quite a sight, we trekked off in search of this and in the process stumbled upon a 'real' market slightly off the beaten track where tourists did not go, complete with lots of loud Arabic chatter, chaos, donkeys pulling carts, makeshift stalls selling anything from tacky household items, fruit and vegetables to live animals, and even hay, where not a word of English was spoken. We eventually found what we were looking for, but the camels were already gone...most likely bought by shopkeepers to trade for the wives of unsuspecting tourists. Instead we were treated to a live sheep market...not as exciting, but a unique experience nevertheless.
Such a visit to the markets would not be complete without the requisite haggling and at times we really did haggle to the bitter end. The key is to walk out the store, at which point you are sometimes followed by desperate shopkeepers dropping their prices...when the price reaches what you want to pay, you walk back into the shop again! However, this did not always work.
The locals are quite shrewd and don't miss an opportunity to try to sell you something..., but at times we were left questioning their choice of things to sell. An example of this was when we were at the beach. It is not uncommon to see locals walking around trying to sell dry salted nuts or tacky jewellery, which very few people showed much interest in. Surely on such a hot day, they could make a killing selling ice cold drinks or ice cream (specially as the hotel did not offer such things at the beach). Generally speaking if I am lying on a beach baking in the sun, I don't usually think 'I could really do with some dry nuts right now' or 'Maybe this is a good time to stock up on jewellery'.
Ever since I was a child, I had always wanted to ride on a camel and my wish finally came true one morning. It was a strange experience but a pleasant one nevertheless, although Diana tells me the site of me running down the road, camera in hand, when I first saw the camel was more entertaining!
There was an option for us to take a two-day Sahara tour during our trip (including a stay in Tattouine where Star Wars was filmed - another childhood dream) but we decided against it. It is quite likely we will be going to Tunisia again so we will be doing these trips next time.
One of the big advantages of this trip which we had not experienced before was that it was an all-inclusive holiday which meant all food and drinks and other facilities were free throughout the day. We took advantage of this and took up some of the activities they had on offer. Diana enjoyed her aqua-aerobics in the mornings and I tried out a bit of archery which I took to quite well, to my surprise.
But of course pictures speak a thousand words so click here to look at our pictures of this trip.
So, apart from a couple forays into neighbouring towns to experience Arabic culture and the traditional markets, we stayed mostly in the hotel grounds (quite extensive in itself). Our time was spent lying in the sun reading, snoozing and ordering drinks from passing waiters...what bliss. When we mustered the energy, we would get up and haul ourselves to the pool bar in the afternoons for freshly made pancakes with Swiss dark chocolate or use the hotel's gym and take advantage of the indoor pool being completely empty for some proper swimming. Then, if we got tired of this, we would relax in the coolness of the hotel with a cocktail, or present ourselves in the restaurant at the appropriate time to eat as much food as we could handle. In the evenings we would go for a nice cool stroll around the town or by the beach, then would go to see what entertainment the hotel was putting on for the guests (some quite good, some quite bad), and finished off the day relaxing at the hotel's own traditional Moorish-style Arabic cafe, enjoying mint tea or smoking a shisha. Afterwards it was off to bed and the same schedule again the following day.
On two occasions we also went to the hotel's private beach a few metres away, where we swam a bit in the sea, enjoyed the soft golden sand and entertained thoughts of burying an irritating German boy in it.
What made this even more enjoyable is that my work paid for most of this holiday....It really could not get better than this!
Of course, such a trip could not go by without experiencing a bit of the traditional Arab markets, which is an experience in itself! Some of these markets had very narrow lanes and negotiating our way down them whilst also being harassed by shop owners trying to sell us their goods was quite an achievement. What was interesting for us was the phrases and the style they used in trying to attract us. One person in particular tried the 'complementing the lady' approach, telling me what a wonderful wife I had and how lucky I was...this was despite objections from both of us! Eventually he offered me 5000 camels for Diana. As I felt this was quite an attractive (and I might add tempting) offer, I followed him into his shop, where he showed me jewellery I could buy for Diana with her name engraved on it. As I could not understand why I would want to buy her jewellery when I will be trading her in for camels, I politely declined. He then embarked on a tour around his little store showing off his selection of clothes, shoes, rugs and carpets that would not burn if a lit cigarette was dropped on them (he gave us a live demonstration of this). Realising he did not have much to offer and seeing no camels in sight, I decided it was time for us to take our leave, much to his disappointment. With hindsight it was a relief...immigration would have been a nightmare and, practically speaking, what I am going to do with 5000 camels?!
Another shopkeeper was admirably more honest in trying to get some custom, with the opening line of "I love your money..." I replied with "Me too!" and we moved on. Some shopkeepers tried some British slang they must have picked up from other tourists, such as "come into my shop and have a butchers..."!!
Other ploys used by shopkeepers close to the hotel was to come up and say "Remember me, I'm your waiter from your hotel...please follow me to my shop!" We had been told beforehand to be aware of this. We were delighted to have experienced this towards the end of our stay and had a good laugh as the guy who accosted us first claimed to be from a hotel we were not even staying at! When he realised this error, we had already walked past...laughing.
The store owners always learn a few phrases in different languages to communicate with and impress tourists and usually say hello in their repertoire of languages as one passes by them. We had experienced this a lot in Istanbul so were used to this. What we were not used to and caught us off guard is that now they have also added Polish to their collection of languages! Wow, the Poles really are getting around. Diana and I bet ourselves that the next time we go, they would probably have picked up Bulgarian as well!
One morning we were advised to go to a camel market where people came to buy and sell camels. Thinking this would be quite a sight, we trekked off in search of this and in the process stumbled upon a 'real' market slightly off the beaten track where tourists did not go, complete with lots of loud Arabic chatter, chaos, donkeys pulling carts, makeshift stalls selling anything from tacky household items, fruit and vegetables to live animals, and even hay, where not a word of English was spoken. We eventually found what we were looking for, but the camels were already gone...most likely bought by shopkeepers to trade for the wives of unsuspecting tourists. Instead we were treated to a live sheep market...not as exciting, but a unique experience nevertheless.
Such a visit to the markets would not be complete without the requisite haggling and at times we really did haggle to the bitter end. The key is to walk out the store, at which point you are sometimes followed by desperate shopkeepers dropping their prices...when the price reaches what you want to pay, you walk back into the shop again! However, this did not always work.
The locals are quite shrewd and don't miss an opportunity to try to sell you something..., but at times we were left questioning their choice of things to sell. An example of this was when we were at the beach. It is not uncommon to see locals walking around trying to sell dry salted nuts or tacky jewellery, which very few people showed much interest in. Surely on such a hot day, they could make a killing selling ice cold drinks or ice cream (specially as the hotel did not offer such things at the beach). Generally speaking if I am lying on a beach baking in the sun, I don't usually think 'I could really do with some dry nuts right now' or 'Maybe this is a good time to stock up on jewellery'.
Ever since I was a child, I had always wanted to ride on a camel and my wish finally came true one morning. It was a strange experience but a pleasant one nevertheless, although Diana tells me the site of me running down the road, camera in hand, when I first saw the camel was more entertaining!
There was an option for us to take a two-day Sahara tour during our trip (including a stay in Tattouine where Star Wars was filmed - another childhood dream) but we decided against it. It is quite likely we will be going to Tunisia again so we will be doing these trips next time.
One of the big advantages of this trip which we had not experienced before was that it was an all-inclusive holiday which meant all food and drinks and other facilities were free throughout the day. We took advantage of this and took up some of the activities they had on offer. Diana enjoyed her aqua-aerobics in the mornings and I tried out a bit of archery which I took to quite well, to my surprise.
But of course pictures speak a thousand words so click here to look at our pictures of this trip.
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