Tunisia 2009 - Day One

3.00 pm  I'm sunning myself on the private beach of a lovely hotel in Hammamet!  There is a lot to be excited about after the long months of the British summer, we finally made it to a sunnier climate, not to mention the fact that this is my first time on African soil.  Or sand, as the case may be!

Unfortunately David has come down with a bad cold (aka man flu), so he is having a siesta back in the room, trying to keep from blowing all the contents of his head out through his nose.

This is quite a surreal experience because Tunisia is a Muslim country, and I can hear the call to prayers from the local mosque, and yet there is a German woman (and, I might add, quite a scary looking one) sunbathing topless a few meters away from me.  Somehow I don't think she's allowed to do that, to be honest, but I'm not going to be the one to go over and tell her to put her top back on!

5.40 pm  Okay, I can see now!  The sun was so bright out on the beach that I eventually had to give up writing because I could barely see, even with Ray Bans on.  I didn't last long out there, not because of the sun or the heat, but because bugs a lot like midges were biting me.  Pool side tomorrow!

Coming into Tunisia this morning was a lot like when we flew to Hungary last year as far as the chaos and the indifference of the immigration officials goes, only this time instead of getting to queue up with all the other EU nationals, David and I were able to stay together. It has become a running joke that he has to wait ages for me when we go on holiday because, although there are usually only a few non-EU nationals on our flights (in fact most of the time I'm the only one), 90% of the time the immigration officials make me wait until all the EU passport holders have gone through. Now he knows what it feels like! David wasn't impressed at having to fill in an immigration card, mostly because he's bunged up and miserable, but I always have to do that going back to the UK so it's nothing new to me.


Saying that, the Thomas Cook check in lady had obviously never seen an American passport before, so she was very concerned and wouldn't check me in until she had made a phone call to make sure it was okay for me to fly to Tunisia. As if I'm stupid enough to pay money without being sure of the immigration requirements for where I'm going (although I'm sure there are people who really are that stupid).

One of the striking things I noticed after leaving Monastir airport is that there are large posters of the President absolutely everywhere! I know I saw a framed photo of the Queen when we were in Birmingham airport this morning, but this is way beyond that. These are larger than life on the walls, on posters, on billboards ...

Tunisia is very interesting. It is obviously an Islamic country as I said before, but at the same time doesn't seem too different to the Canary Islands or a Greek Island in tourist terms. Apart from people standing in the middle of the guardrail in the middle of the dual carriageway for a chat, that is, and there were lots of goats and sheep with their herders at the side of the road.

We booked private transfers to and from the airport this time rather than do the two hour coach trip where you get to see twenty other hotels before arriving at your own. The taxi driver was very friendly and pointed out things of interest along the way. Okay, they weren't exciting, but they have a large impressive hospital and a brand new airport that is due to open next month.

The Les Orangers Beach Hotel is lovely! Our room wasn't quite ready when we arrived, but we were brought a drink and had to fill in yet another immigration card, as it's the law in Tunisia that visitors have to be registered with the local police station within seven days of arrival. Again David wasn't very impressed, but it passed a few minutes while the finishing touches were put on our room.

Apart from some of the decor in the lobby, it does feel very European. There are waiters running around with silver trays and Germans everywhere!

Our room is fabulous, and I'm really glad David decided to upgrade to a superior room. I've read some travel reviews for this hotel, and although some people have said the upgrade is a waste of time, the sea view is fabulous, and the room is comfortable and spacious.

I'm very tired today after getting up and off to the airport for a 6.00 am flight, and even a bit of a siesta didn't help!

9.52 pm  It has mostly been read, eat and sleep today.  David didn't sleep at all last night in Birmingham, and I just want to relax after a very tense few weeks, so we had two naps!

Most of the other guests do seem to be German, which is good because Germans tend to demand a higher quality of service than the British.  They're a lot like Americans that way.  Every hotel I've been to or seen that has a majority of German visitors is usually the best in the area.