Sousse, Tunisia

Our arrival in the port of Sousse was met with overcast skies, however by the time the customs officials cleared the ship the sun was brightly shining and waters for our tendering were calm.  As we exited the Showroom at Sea (formerly The Queens Lounge) our passports and entry cards were examined, stamped,  and passed by officials.  It must have been more frustrating for our captain and crew, as the paperwork and delay seemed excessive.

None of the tours the ship offered seemed to cover what we needed ashore, as Barbara’s research plainly led us to seek out the Medina inside the ancient walls and the Souks within.  AS we neared our destination we were greeted by a couple of locals who engaged us in conversation with very good English.  The second, an older gentleman, appointed himself as our personal guide for the morning.  We did not mind as he seemed harmless and enjoyed sharing time with us.  We told him what we were in search of and we soon found ourselves in the “government” store with “fixed prices” and the proprietor was anxious to sell us a carpet.  Barbara was in full photographer mode which was frustrating to our guide, as he was anxious for us to move on  the the vendor he had in mind. His manner of moving Barbara on was to say “Come on Mommy, come on”! Finally he handed us over to a young salesman who was confident he had just been handed a couple of American suckers.  His starting price for two of the above pictured “T-shirts” was $140 US.  He couldn’t understand it when we offered him what seemed acceptable to us.  We finally settled on $25 for two, only later to find a “Government” store with a price half that much.(See photo).

After a respite for lunch in a “hole-in-the-wall” fast food café, which was a great local dish for less than $5 US, Barbara was now in full shopping mode and in her element as the locals loved to haggle over prices.

Pictured to the left is one of the hundreds of small ships within the walls of the Medina.  Never once in our shopping  were we made to feel uncomfortable or our safety threatened.  These are gentle merchant folks just trying to get by as they are experiencing life without an oppressive government  on their backs.

Later in the afternoon another shopkeeper “adopted” us an we went on another guided tour which lead us deeper within the walls and to the doorway of the local Imam.  At the end our impromptu walk he did ask us for what ever change we had – no threat – just a gentle plea.

One of the many quotes that we receive each evening with our sweet chocolates, says perfectly how we feel about our travels to other lands and the people we meet: “Travel is more than the seeing of sights, it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living” Miriam Beard (Courtesy of HAL)

I’ll close this entry with  a picture of a very satisfied shopper/photographer.

Next: Gabes,, Tunisia and a different look at this poor country.