Tunisia - On the Way to the Oasis Ksar Ghilane

On the way to Ksar Ghilane we drive endlessly through the desert. Here the desert is stony, almost gravel. The road looks great, but it is not. We are well advised to drive slowly, to meet the potholes and the secret bumps with composure. 

But there are two sides to everything: The quiet driving allows us to see the surroundings much better. Further on, we see the mountains, small huts on the sides of the road, actually inhabited. Some of the inhabitants wave to us happily. We wave back. 

After 80 kilometres of dead straight road, we get a hint from the sat nav: please turn off. We turn into the side road and the sat nav is silent again. Only in 65 kilometres is there another bend. Instead of cruise control, steering control would be appropriate here.

We only interrupt our journey for a short break at a hot spring, which is surprisingly hot and smells like rotten eggs. Always a sign of exorbitant healing properties. 

The locals come here and bathe their feet or themselves completely. I only dip my feet in briefly, it's really too hot for me. And the whole surrounding area is not exactly inviting to linger, here the rubbish rules the appearance.

A little later, our highlight of the day (we think until then). A wild herd of camels strolls through the desert and just crosses the road. We dash to the side of the road and take a good look at the camels, which are all dromedaries here. There are very light ones, very dark ones and of course the "real" camel-coloured dromedaries.  

Quite happy, we drive on at some point, finally drawn to Ksar Ghilane. Ksar Ghilane is an oasis town known for its thermal springs. There are also some historical sights, including the ruins of the small fort of Tisavar and the Roman road that runs through the desert. The area itself is known for its nomadic tribes who have settled in the desert for centuries, maintaining the traditions and cultures of the desert.

When we arrive at the oasis, which is already surrounded from afar by the many date palms and thus visible from afar, we look for a place for Felix, throw ourselves into our most beautiful (and indeed only) bathing costumes and nothing stops us from climbing into the pool with its fantastically beautiful thermal water. 

Get out of here? Certainly not today!

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Merci for "travelling with us

We are thinking about taking another break from travelling in the summer and visiting our families in Germany and Switzerland. One of the ideas is to organise a Lecture about our long journey to the Persian Gulf to prepare. If you would like to, what would interest you the most? We will also tell stories here that don't find a place here on the blog. We're thinking of the Bern and Berlin area - simply because we have family there. But other places are also conceivable. Feel free to write to us.

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