6am......the air is fresh, not thick from the blow torch heat that will be upon us in a few hours. We slept with the windows open to take advantage of the cool desert night. Huge mistake. Remember it is 6am. The sound is hard to describe, it is one you know, we all have heard it.  How do I manifest the wobbly echo in your mind's eye so you can appreciate the shock of this unexpected wake up call.  From sudden quiet to rock concert, the blast of the prayer's call comes directly at us, from the tower of the fourth holiest mosque in the world.  A real toe tapper and we are directly across the street from the concert.  The nice part is, if you should happen to be a heavy sleeper, you can catch the next show as it will happen 4 more times today.

Check out the view from our room.  The Golden Yasmine hotel is impressive, built inside the walls of an 11th century fortification, we almost don't want to leave...

Today we are going to visit the mosque that got our day going. It is a big deal.  Situated in the UNESCO World Heritage town of Kairouan, the Great Mosque, also known as the Mosque of Uqba, is one of the oldest (670 AD) and most important in all of Tunisia.  It is still used as a model of design for future mosques. It is big, its perimeter measuring almost 1400 ft.  To get in, we must enter through the main gate and be outfitted with a jellaba, women must cover their heads, shoulders and legs.  Once inside, it is impressive.  The main courtyard is paved with flagstone, sloped gently to a drain in the center which collects and filters rainwater onto a 9th century cistern.  There are over 400 pillars in the courtyard and a 115 ft minaret (the source of our wake up call) built in 728.

 This is the filter for the water I spoke about. Water is hard to come by in the desert.  They were very inventive, this is from the 9th century and could still be in use today if needed.

Leaving the mosque, we did a walk through the Medina and toured a holy palace called "Mosque Sidi Sahbi". Then we hit the road for Sbeitla and some amazing Roman ruins.

During the drive through the countryside, we observe a more rural Tunisia and have some time to reflect on our journey.  Borrowing a phrase from a friend, who after reading our blog commented "Tunisia is a colourful place".  It is so true, there are so many beautiful sites.  The people are friendly and warm. About the only thing we see that is hard to understand, is the complete disregard for the environment. I am talking about garbage....human consumption, strewn about indiscriminately.  It is a sad sight to behold and it is almost everywhere. We hope that this gets addressed as it is not the image you would have to leave with.  The villages are small and offer some unique photo opportunities but there is poverty in Tunisia.  The average monthly income is around $300 CDN. Many in the rural areas live on much less than that and it shows.  In some ways, it is the price of political freedom. The economy, driven primarily by tourism, was severely damaged by the revolution of 2011 (Arab spring).  Those in the rural areas suffered most.

The severed head advertises fresh meat.

This is a black market gas station.  They are in virtually every small village in the southern part of the country.  While gas is cheap from our perspective, about $1 per litre, it is not for the locals.  In order to have access to cheap fuel, locals make the trip to Libya.  Once there, they load pickup trucks beyond imagination with ten gallon plastic jugs full of fuel for next to nothing.  Covering the cargo with nets tied to the truck with rope, they return with their highly combustible bounty.  The roads are not a smooth sailing, but given the number of roadside stations we have observed, the drivers must make the trips regularly.  This is a small station, some of them are significantly larger.

Above is a roadside BBQ.  At first blush, not really unique.  Look closer. The sheep is hanging at the ready, just order your choice of cut, the butcher/chef will carve it off, right there on the spot and grill it up.  Who wants seconds?

After a good 1.5 hours in the 4x4, we can make out something rising from the desert floor, it gets bigger as we close in, we can tell it is special.

Roman bath with the Mosaic still

 Visible.

I could drone on incessantly about this site, but I won't.  I will say that you will be hard pressed to get this close to a roman relic such as this anywhere in the world.  Super impressive place and very quiet. So you can really enjoy the experience.  The pictures tell the story.

What a day?  Tonight we will be staying in Tozeur. Tomorrow we ride the Lizard Express and visit a desert oasis!

Be well

Salam