Отдых класса четыре звезды Four-star vacation

This is our first All Inclusive holiday in Tunisia. Vime Helya in Monastir was chosen at random, without reviews, mainly because of the low price for 4 stars. Then it turned out that these were promotional prices, the hotel was reconstructed in 2007, and prices will increase next year. So we were lucky : ) At first, the proximity of the airport scared me (across the road), but then it turned out that it was even a plus: you can hardly hear the planes, but you can see it very well (beautiful! On the first evening we sat on the veranda, it overlooked the runway, on the neighboring hotel and the sea, and drank Ukrainian cognac for each successfully landed plane. Then, when 6 planes landed in 10 minutes, we realized that we would get drunk : )), reverse currency exchange is possible at the airport; prices for souvenirs can also be found at the airport for review, because every Monday at the hotel there is a mini-bazaar, where you need to bargain to the point of frenzy, their prices are higher than at the airport.
It is best to buy souvenirs on excursions and especially in Kairouan (do not buy in Sidi Bou Said, everything is expensive and you need to bargain for a long time to the normal price). Immediately I write the prices for souvenirs:
- dates (take 1kg boxes with large dates, best on a salt lake, costs 5 dinars, half a kilo - 3 dinars, - at the airport 10. In a mountain oasis, take large packages of dates for 1 dinar (but they are worse);

- desert roses - from 500 millimeters to 1 dinars for medium ones (take it from a salt lake or in a mountain oasis, take your time, the choice is large, you can find chic specimens); colored quartzites (not amethysts, as you will be told) take jeeps at the station for 1-2 dinars;
- at the troglodyte caves you will be offered luxurious white goat skins. Trade the big one for 12, the small one for 9 dinars;
- all ceramics, magnets, dishes, jewelry, key rings, tambourines, leather belts - only in Kairouan (prices from 1 dinars for small things like magnets and key rings, from 1.5 dinars for plates, 8 dinars for salad painted ceramic set);
- olive oil - only SFAX, pistachio halva, mint teas, with verduna, etc. , olive oil soap, clay shampoos, take anywhere, prices still do not differ much. We picked up at the store in the parking lot an hour before Kairouan;
- leather jackets made of good red nubuck, very thin, they took for $ 150 in a hotel store, bargained for a long time, started at $ 350  .
The famous "Tibarin" (date liqueur) was taken to duty free before departure (a little expensive, but the quality is guaranteed). They also took a set of Tunisian wines (wine lovers, I recommend) and gilded bracelets, pendants and earrings for ladies (made in Spain, but for Africa, very beautiful). There are also miniature trays with the inscription Tunisia and a guarding hand, very elegant and inexpensive. Everything with souvenirs.

About the hotel: we were settled immediately and with a normal view, but then we often heard from the Russians that they waited 3-4 hours for check-in and everyone had a view of the road. There are a lot of Russians (which is sad), but even more Spaniards and Italians, a lot of Germans. The amenities in the room are normal, but the TV does not come with a remote control, the floors will not be washed or will be very rare (at first we gave the maids 500 millimeters, but nothing has changed, and we stopped). There were problems with flushing in the toilet, but we solved it without dinars, we just stupidly approached the reception every hour and said: “Hello, we have a problem, drainage does not work. ” They nodded to us and took notes, but did nothing. Then, when I stupidly repeated the whole phrase for the fifth time, they gave up and fixed everything. The same thing happened with switching the shower, but everything was decided after the second stupidly uttered phrase: "Hello, we have... ". There were no more problems, except for the fact that towels are taken in the morning and brought at 4-5-6-7 o'clock. One time they didn't deliver at all. After the second stupidly uttered phrase: "Hello, we have... " towels were brought (for some reason in double size).
Food: OTPAD! For two weeks, the menu almost did not repeat itself. In bulk: seafood, fish, veal, lamb and even pork, chicken / turkey, side dishes, fresh / stewed / baked vegetables, salads, salads, sliced ​ ​ u200bu200b, savory snacks (do not try pickled cucumbers! Or try with a glass of cold white wine. Then same goes for pickled anchovies). There were days of Spanish and Italian cuisine (that is, ravioli, pizza, paella, tortilla, flan, hot smoked tuna, which was butchered before our eyes, etc. I generally keep quiet about meter-long desserts! Fresh dates on the branches are something amazing, be sure to eat! There were watermelons, melons, apricots, plums, grapes. By the way, there is a free gym (not so hot, of course, but I went every day before dinner for an hour. Just with such food as in this hotel you can easily in two weeks In the restaurant, red and white wine is free, even if you fill up, which many tourists from Russia did with success.
We took four bottles of Ukrainian cognac with us for the evening final chord on the balcony (it was enough for us), and drank local whiskey in the evenings (of course, not whiskey at all, but pleasant, after it my head didn’t hurt and I drank easily). I recommend everyone to try espresso, they have it luxurious. By the way, for those who will be in the African Colosseum, I highly recommend going up to the cafe at the exit and ordering Arabic coffee. You won't taste coffee like this anywhere else! It has the consistency of hot chocolate, but with such a coffee aroma! We were late for the bus, but we drank it anyway, it was a sin to leave such a divine drink. By the way, drink more of their mint tea with pine nuts - delicious! For every sip you get a nut, and even for the last one! In Sidi Bou Said, behind the bazaar on the rise, there is a good teahouse, very colorful, and the tea is very tasty, they give sweets, and sit barefoot on your knees with a smart look. Tea costs 3.5 dinars there, but in general in other places 2 dinars.
Sea: wonderful, transparent, gentle, with soft sand. True, it stormed twice, there were heaps of algae, but we still jumped in the waves and shouted that we had free thalassotherapy. In the high season, there is a problem with sunbeds (sunbeds and umbrellas are supposed to be free, but we sometimes popped a dinar as needed). We got up at seven o'clock, put our towel on the first line on the umbrella and went to breakfast. Somewhere at 7.45 came to the beach and got a sunbed. Everything, a place is provided for the day, we lay all the days in the first line. Although one sunbed was taken away after dinner, they put it on a sun lounger in a towel. But we, cunning crests, began to mark our sun loungers every day with a marker and tied them to the umbrella with a cord. We sunbathed from 8.00 to 11.00 and from 15.30 to 18.00, so we did not burn out and got a cool tan. Almost everyone burns out on the first day, the cream does not really save, the sun is still more dangerous in Africa than in Turkey or the Crimea, so be careful, do not rush to get all the sun on the first day, sunbathe in the shade for at least the first two days, otherwise you will shed tears in the room. We stuck to our schedule, so in the last days we had the luxury of lying in the sun a little longer, toasting the last spots that weren't tanned enough. They took a DVD player and movies with them, after dinner and a cup of espresso they lay in the room and watched movies until the heat began to subside.

Kayaks and catamarans on the beach are free. On the last day, the swimmers had strange burns, like stripes. Most likely from a jellyfish (someone says from some kind of sea grass). Keep in mind.
By the way, we didn’t take the safe, although everyone else used it, we were advised to just lock everything of value in a suitcase with a code, we did just that, we didn’t lose anything, even when we left for two days in the Sahara.
Entertainment: a children's disco begins at half past nine in the evening, and shows at about ten. We liked the travesty show, the two guys were very good at portraying singers like Cher, Anastasia, Marilyn Monroe, etc. It was a good tambourine show with belly dancing. The rest didn't, to be honest. Somewhere at 12 midnight, a disco begins indoors at the main entrance to the hotel. The repertoire varies, but the DJs don't mind if you bring your own CDs (we did). There are many animators, there are funny ones, but they work mainly with children and by the pools, and we were only at the sea, and we only got beach volleyball. Most of the staff and animators know very few words in Russian, so learn French or Italian, although English is also understood.
We were supposed to have two evenings at the a la carte restaurant, but, frankly, we just didn’t want to go anywhere after the buffet (or sit and wait smartly for the grill or something else to be prepared instead of the buffet).

Excursions: we went to Carthage (1 day) and Sahara (2 days), were very pleased, although there were minor remarks. Do not travel with children under 12-14 years old, you will suffer. Carthage impressed, delighted, upset, delighted, but they gave only half an hour, and for those who are fond of history, this is very little, to the point of insulting, I didn’t want to leave straight, I wanted to climb everywhere slowly, look at the bay where the strongest fleet in the world stood, represent Hannibal in the Council of Carthage at Byrsus. But then we walked around the mosaic museum for an hour - interesting, but tiring, to be honest. Yes, and do not confuse the ruins of ancient Roman baths and the ruins of Carthage on Birs (the guides are very fond of passing off the terms as the remains of the so-called Roman Carthage). Sidi Bou Said is noisy, bazaar, but the sea view is really beautiful. Then lunch, then the museum, and to the house, to the hut.
Sahara: a camel ride is just a sensation (be sure to wear their Bedouin clothes, I didn’t, then I regretted it when the wind blew, I was covered with sand from the dunes). A jeep ride is just an adrenaline rush, believe me, it needs to be experienced. The African Colosseum is impressive, but don't believe that Gladiator was filmed there, Gladiator was filmed in France. Palm juice is delicious, it looks like sweet kvass, but don’t believe that you were treated to it in an oasis, it’s just a piece of palm grove on the side of the road; ) Troglodytes are interesting, but we were brought to one cave, and then there were whole cave complexes, but we drove past. At lunch they will offer tea and coffee - do not take it, then it turns out that they are paid. The "lunar" landscape is really impressive. Overnight accommodation on the edge of the Sahara is tolerable, there are no TVs in the rooms, but getting up at 4 in the morning is therefore not necessary. We didn’t go swimming in the thermal pool, but all the women of Balzac’s age spent the whole evening there and were delighted. Dawn was met on a salt lake (cool, the sun literally rises before your eyes in a matter of minutes). In a mountain oasis, a waterfall will not impress you, and do not even think about taking bathing accessories with you, you will get more dirty than you swim, the water is ankle-deep, you will have to wade to the waterfall, then you will run around wet and dirty and think where to change and wipe off. Live salamanders for sale (beautiful). They drank Arabic coffee, but not tasty, just custard in Turkish, without spices. By the way, the road to the mountains to the oasis is very picturesque, worth shooting on camera. You will be able to remove in a jeep with great difficulty. It's a bit dangerous on a camel, you can drop your camera or camera, and sand is undesirable for optics. In the Sahara, be sure to film from the jeeps when they hover at the edge of the steep descent towards the Star Wars set and you are prompted to get off.
The exchange rate is the same everywhere. By the way, the cost of excursions is also set by the state. Tipping was given only to the bus driver - a dinar. In duty free, dinars will not be accepted, they cannot be exported at all.
In general, we were satisfied with the rest, it was one of the best holidays. But we understood something else - you can’t save on vacation, so that later you don’t get nervous about the quality of food, accommodation, sunbeds, etc. I think that after the level of Wim Helya, we are unlikely to want to go to three stars in Hammamet or Sousse.