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| Tunisia; La Goulette ...... Tunis | |
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| Topic Started: Nov 17 2010, 03:16 PM (356 Views) | |
| Kahu | Nov 17 2010, 03:16 PM Post #1 |
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Another country which presented itself on this trip was Tunisia ..... and there was some misgivings expressed when people found out we were going there. Like Albania, I found it a pleasant surprise. There was some discouragement at first because NZ and Tunisia don't have any diplomatic representation in either country. The nearest diplomatic post to get a visa to visit Tunisia was in, ....... wait for it! Tokyo, Japan! ...... I was not keen to bundle up our passports and send them off into the wide blue yonder where the Tunisian diplomatic service has the reputation of working slower than a snail ...... according to the travel agent. Anyway to cut a long story short if I bought a tour through Holland-America their blanket visa system would see us through providing we did not stray off by ourselves. One of the principal areas I wanted to see the site of ancient Carthage, of Hannibal crosses the alps fame, and which was of course sacked by the Romans after the Third Punic War. I wasn't disappointed, there is quite a an easily accessible archaelogical site immediately below the Presidential Palace right on the shoreline. We were warned not to show too much attention to the Palace's security fences, with cameras, as there were quite a few dark suited 'tourists' just ambling along in that area. Despite being sacked and the fields sown with salt and the inhabitants taken off into slavery ....... Cathage was subsequently rebuilt by the Romans, because it was too valuable a food basket needed for the Roman economy to ruin. The remains are in quite a good standard of preservation, not withstanding a rise in the sea level since those times. One of the most spectacular was an aqueduct which transported water from the Atlas Mountains, some 75 miles down into the city. A further develoment has been the uncovering of the city's water cisterns which are still capable of holding water. These are massive feats of ancient civil engineering and I really marvel at the skill of those men. The first picture is just a general view of some of the ruins ....... the second, is a section of the huge aqueduct system still largely intact in a Tunis suburb. Edited by Kahu, Nov 17 2010, 03:19 PM.
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| Vanilla | Nov 18 2010, 11:13 PM Post #2 |
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Blue Star Member
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Again never visited Tunisia, my late father fought there ( Tunis ) he always wanted to go back, sadly he never did. As for Albania, that seems to be becoming a popular tourist area, fact, the late Norman Wisdom was idolised by the Albanian's, they couldnt get enough of him. So maybe it was he who brought it to our attention. biggrin 04 Edited by Vanilla, Nov 18 2010, 11:16 PM.
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| Kahu | Nov 19 2010, 12:42 PM Post #3 |
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My uncles and FIL passed through Tunis too, but as part of the 2NZEF they were chasing round trying to cut the Germans off from Tunis. However, I've got to admit that I never really found Norman Wisdom all that funny! |
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| Kahu | Nov 19 2010, 12:54 PM Post #4 |
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Shopping in the souk is a bit of an experience! The souk is a long winding roofed market street, with all sorts of shops crammed in ....... fruit, vegetables, spices, meat, barber's shops, carpets etc I suppose being a tourist I was fair game ........ I swear there must have been at least ten 'shop assistants' hovering around, and the moment I saw something that took my eye, they pounced! Then they all started talking at the tops of their voices (it seemed) ...... hey we've got a real patsy here! All this was a bit much, so I started to move outside, and they followed and kept up their sales pitch. I didn't get out the door until I bought something! That was my first experience of buying something in that environment. After that, I was a lot more prepared and haggled starting at half the asking price, and I've got to say that I did get some bargains although I never paid the full price. It certainly is something to get used to ...... I think they enjoyed the process, and after a while I did too. The first picture is just a view of one of the 'shops' ...... the pathway outside would be a little over 3m .... so with crowds passing through it it is really cramped. The second picture is a view of one of the carpet weavers in the shop where I had my first taste of 'north african trade' ....... these carpets are quite different to Turkish carpets in that these are woven ...... killims. Edited by Kahu, Nov 19 2010, 01:06 PM.
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| bazza41 | Jan 11 2016, 10:58 AM Post #5 |
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Did you visit the Ancient port of Carthage which had the commercial harbour originaly lined either side with whare houses for trade goods. At the end there were large gates blocking further entry to the Naval Administration Island. Altho very little stands today there is one original slipway where naval craft were pulled ashore for maintenaince. |
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| Trotsky | Jan 11 2016, 11:36 AM Post #6 |
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Big City Boy
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What did the Romans do about the salt? I am guessing it was more symbolic than purposeful because salt was never as cheap as it is now so it would have been impossible to actually destroy the soil. <I always root for Hannibal in any depiction of the Punic Wars. I haven't won yet.> |
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| Durgan | Jan 11 2016, 11:45 AM Post #7 |
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Veteran Member
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Well I could never understand what Hannibal was doing wandering around Italy for around 20 or so years. It appeared to me to be about as useful as Moses living in the Sinai. i might add the Carthaginians got fat and lazy and ate them selves to death and basically farmed out all their necessities. They appeased until they could no longer put up any resistance. Another shocker is to this day there is almost no Latin influence manifest in the whole area of Africa. |
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| Kahu | Jan 11 2016, 12:17 PM Post #8 |
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There were large gates and there was a restricted entry as I remember. We were there before the last president was ousted, and we were constantly warned not to be seen photographing in restricted areas. Despite that the few people we met who spoke english were friendly enough. |
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| Kahu | Jan 11 2016, 12:34 PM Post #9 |
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True enough, but with the local salt pans readily available there was enough salt to destroy the arable lands for a year or two. Carthaginian influences lived on in other areas ... In a small medieval walled town on rugged hilltop in Sicily (Erice) , I saw the remains of the Carthaginian temple Cult of Astarte (Venus). Strabo, Pliny and Tacitus wrote of it. Thucydides mentions the Elymians of Eryx and Egesta (Segesta). In 406 BC, an important sea battle took place in the nearby waters between fleets of Carthage and a Syracuse, with the latter winning. Later, in the First Punic War, Eryx fell to the Carthaginians, and in 260 BC Hamilcar destroyed it. It was much contested by Greeks, Carthaginians and Romans, then reached by the Arabs in the chaotic years following 827 as part of their drive toward Palermo and other parts of western Sicily. Writing in the twelfth century, the Arab geographer Idrisi observed that the women in this town were among the most beautiful in Sicily. Later, Ibn Jubayr also wrote about it. Source Link https://youtu.be/RjmQ5zECheA |
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| Kahu | Jan 11 2016, 12:38 PM Post #10 |
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That was strange, but I think it was matter of resourcing and rearming an ancient army. |
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| bazza41 | Jan 11 2016, 04:37 PM Post #11 |
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Hannibal Barca had an enormous impact on Roman society "Hannibal ad Portas" -Hannibal is at the gates which was directed at children when thet misbehaved. Further south Roman influence at Le Kef is Roman Dougga and in good condition with Roman streets and wonderfull mosaics El Jem has the 2nd largest Colliseum around a century younger than Rome,s Out in Tunisian Sahara close by Khsar Gillane is a small Roman fort---all in all an interesting place to visit |
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