Don't think, worth seeing!
On the eve of the vacation, my husband and I had a question: which country should we travel to - Turkey, Egypt or Tunisia? We settled on the latter, which we did not regret at all later. We rested in Mahdia, which is in the southeast of the country. This town is small, but it attracts with its silence and remoteness from large cities, and therefore vacations there can be advised for couples, including children. Initially, upon arrival in the country, you may be unpleasantly surprised by the accumulation of garbage on the streets of cities and towns. But then you perceive all this as a feature of the local color. As the guide explained to us, their utilities are free, and therefore no one is in a hurry to clean up. However, that's their business. The country, meanwhile, is bright, original, the people are proud and beautiful. There is something to see, so get out of the hotel. Be sure to take a trip to the Sahara. Although the trip is 2 days and somewhat tiring due to long bus journeys, it will fill you with a lot of impressions from what you see. This is an extreme jeep ride on the dunes, and camel riding in the desert, which will make you feel a little Berber, and meeting the sunrise on the salt marsh in the desert. There will be an opportunity to buy delicious dates along the way (but not in Shibik! They are a bit dry there, although they will sell them to you for only 1 dinar. It is October and November - the date harvest period) and juicy, ripe pomegranates. The hotel you stay at (a decent little "oasis" in the desert) will have the opportunity to swim in the open-air pools with thermal and fresh water - so don't forget to bring your swimsuit! We were very lucky with the tour guide. Mahomed is an excellent storyteller, fluent in Russian. Thank you very much for an amazing journey.
If you are in Mahdia, be sure to visit Medina, the old city. There, next to the mosque, there is a very cozy cafe under the crowns of large trees (unfortunately, I don’t know what kind of trees), where you can just sit in the shade and silence and taste good and inexpensive coffee. Locals, in general, are quite tolerant of European clothes and female tourists in shorts and tops, but it’s better to respect their customs and not appear half-naked outside the hotel. If you are going to buy spirits, olive oil, oriental sweets, spices, etc. as a gift, then do it in the General chain of stores. The prices there are fixed and low, and the products are of high quality. And in general, alcoholic beverages, except there, you can’t buy anywhere else. Even beer : )
To navigate in their prices, know the ratio of dinar to dollar, respectively 1.5:1. So, for example, a liter bottle of olive oil will cost you up to 6-7 dinars in the same network. A taxi in a small town (Mahdia, in our case) can cost 3-5 dinars, while this distance can be covered in 30 minutes at a calm walking pace. And save money, and healthier : ) A cup of espresso in our hotel cost 4 dinars, and the same in the city you can drink from 0.7 to 1.5 dinars. Be sure to give a tip to the waiters and other staff, as well as thank the money drivers who will bring you and take you from the hotel. On average, from 1 to 5 dinars. And yet, be sure to thank the jeep driver who will drive you through the dunes of the desert - he deserves it : )
