Gouvernorat de Béja

Yesterday, we had intended to take a train from Sousse to Tunis, the capital of Tunisia. However, upon arrival at the Sousse train station, we were told that the only train of the day was an hour late (insert big unhelpful shrug here); there didn't seem to be a ton of confidence in its timely arrival, or even its arrival at all (insert more shruggies). So we said screw the train, and got on a louage to Tunis.

Our louage driver was quite motivated to reach Tunis, and managed to make the two-hour trip in just 80 minutes. This is what happens when one goes 95 mph and does not ever, for any reason, apply the brakes.

We checked into Dar Ben Gacem Kahia in Tunis, considered one of the top five dars in the entire country. It goes without saying that the Joneses do not generally find themselves in such fine accommodations, and upon seeing our opulent room, immediately began to wonder if they'd allow our common, louage-riding selves to stay. We'll see.

For our final full day in Tunisia, we intended to visit Dougga, one of the finest sites of Roman ruins in North Africa. Dougga is an entire Roman city, covering nearly a full square kilometer, and includes a Roman Forum, temples, an amphitheater, boulevards, monuments, and homes. The site sits atop a hill, overlooking a small Tunisia town.

We weren't certain we wanted to make this trek, which requires a taxi to the louage station, a 90-minute louage ride to the small town outside Dougga, then another taxi to take you the rest of the way to the site, wait for you to explore, then do it all again in reverse. Normally this would be an annoyance, but not an obstacle. But today, the temperature was about 102°F/39°C, and not only are those louages un-airconditioned, the Dougga site sits on a huge, dry, dusty, hell-hot hill.

We decided that Indiana Jones wouldn't let a bit of heatstroke stop him, so we packed lots of water, hats, slathered on the sunblock, and set out in the early morning.

We arrived at 10:30am, and like every other site in Tunisia, we had it all to ourselves (with the exception of a kitten who followed us everywhere). It is truly spectacular- the temple overlooks the entire site, and almost feels Disney-fied in its perfection. Some part of me believes that some bored, rich dude built this in 1945 or so, and people took it seriously as a site of antiquity.

Dougga (or Thugga, as it was known) was built around the 4th century B.C. (note: this is earlier than 1945), by a Berber society. They merged with the Punic Carthaginians, and then with the Romans, and as a result, Dougga is one of the only places on earth that showcases all three cultures in one place. The main viewable buildings are a temple (with its etchings still very clearly visible), the forum, the town homes, the amphitheater, and several smaller ruins scattered around the hillside. All were utterly deserted during our visit, so obviously we managed some amazing photos.

(Haven't you always wanted to sing on a massive Roman amphitheater stage? You know you do. And the acoustics are astonishing- even without walls, any word quietly spoken on the stage sounds as clear as if someone is sitting next to you.)

After several hot, dusty hours, our taxi driver picked us up and returned us to the louage station, and we headed back to Tunis. Upon arrival, we celebrated our successful hell-hot adventure with a massive late lunch at L'Ali, a fabulous Tunisian bistro in the medina. Despite our sweaty, smelly selves and dusty clothes (our shirts even had white salt stains from all the sweat), we were still welcomed into their fancy-pants linen tablecloth dining room. We had a feast of Tunisian salads, brik, chicken tagine, and lamb with apricots. I don't think I've ever been so happy to drink lemonade in an air-conditioned room.

Tomorrow we explore Tunis before our evening flight home.Read more