Kairouan, Tunisia
Our Explore group was entirely British with the exception of us "Yanks", and two "Aussies" traveling for three months. Phil and Elizabeth had just come from Libya with Explore, and were going on to Morocco after Tunisia. We inundated them with questions about Libya, and most of their answers (primarily regarding accommodation and food) left us without a desire to see it....yet. In the future, yes.
The on-the-road portion of our tour started in Kairouan, considered the fourth holiest city of Islam - after Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem. There are two famous mosques in the city, the Mosque of the Barber, and the Great Mosque. View image
Judaism, also had a long history during the early Middle Ages in Kairouan with many famous and important Rabbis who studied there.
We walked from our Hotel Tunisia through the walled ramparts into Kairouan's famous Souk/Medina with all its traditional crafts. The Souk is surrounded by walls but it was easy to find your way around (one way in, one way out). Kairouan merchants rely on tourism for much of their income and I certainly didn't mind going in and out of every single shop that looked promising. Kairouan will always be remembered as the place I bought rugs #1 and 2.
Rug #1 was stacked in a "used and abused" pile, with stains, dirty and very cheap....perfect for our bathroom floor. Thrown in the washing machine at home (cold water, delicate), it came out nice and clean! By the way, those are gazelles woven into the rug -- I thought they were horses or camels until told different.
Rug #2 was in a shop that was a former palace. That's why it pays to walk into the shops even if you have no intention of buying.
inside old Kairouan Palace
This took a lot of time - negotiating, going through stack after stack while two assistants unrolled, shook out rugs/carpets with dust flying everything...until we spotted this one. Hand woven by at least two Berber women for months, over 70 years old, probably used by nomads in their tent, with all the colors of "Joseph and his coat of many colors." Very, very unique with lots of detail View image but with one teensie problem...the colors were completely wrong for our house.
What to do? Bought it anyway. It was just too glowing to pass up, and it was heavy! I was already thinking - "overweight luggage."
Many movies have been filmed in Tunisia besides Star Wars. In Raiders of the Lost Ark ... the "Cairo" street scenes were filmed in Kairouan. That's why I kept thinking, "this looks familiar..." when walking around Kairouan.
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