When you think of Star Wars film sets from Episode IV: A New Hope, I am betting that the first few that spring to mind are the interiors and exteriors of the Lars (named for Owen Lars – the uncle of Luke Skywalker) home. On day four of our Tunisia trip we would be lucky enough to visit the site where the interior shots of the Lars home were filmed and I was so freaking excited.
Hotel Sidi Driss (also sometimes written as Hotel Sidi Idriss) is located in Matmata which is a solid two hour drive from the city of Tataouine. I tried to contact the hotel in advance to see if we could stay the night but as they have no email address and no website as well as a phone number that seemed to be out of service, I was not able to make that happen. However, as cool as it would have been to sleep here, it was just as amazing to be able to visit at all.
Here is a little reminder of what this site looked like in film:
After entering we were greeted with the main Star Wars theme music playing as we walked through the entrance – a very fun touch! Then there we were, the only people there, indulging our true Star Wars nerdery in full – bloody perfection.
Now, the famous viewpoint overlooking the courtyard is mostly fenced off (likely to protect tourists from hurting themselves) but after a little bit of recon I found a flattened section of the fence that I was able to cross to get that iconic view of the Lars home – and it was bloody fantastic! That being said, I don’t recommend anyone else be naughty as I was – ‘do as I say, not as I do’ and all that.
Next up we drove to the traditional home of a local Tunisian family. We were invited to look around and explore their home before being offered a delicious meal of flatbread and assorted dips. They didn’t charge us for this experience but we felt it was only right to leave them with a generous tip as it was a lovely way to rest and recharge.
And boy oh boy, I was certainly glad we had had that relaxation. When I was liaising with our lovely guide about our itinerary he gave us an option one night to spend the night in the city of Douz or to stay at a tented camp in the Sahara. Now, I have spent nights in tented camps across numerous countries (Oman, Jordan etc) and usually find them to be rather ‘meh’, but as Dad had never done such a thing and the hotels in Douz looked rather inauspicious, I decided that why not, let’s have a night in the Sahara.
Jamel had also told us that we would have the opportunity to go on a camel ride if we wanted and I’ll be honest, I just immediately assumed it would be a scenic 15 minute jaunt about the dunes at sunset… but you know what people say about assuming!
We arrived to the departure point at around midday and were soon informed that this camel ride we had committed to was actually a 2+ hour trek through the desert in the blazing sun to reach the camp…
Suddenly I was not so keen, lel.
When Jamel sensed my hesitation he was oh so sweet and told us that it would be more than okay for us to bail on the camels and simply drive to the camp and there was a big part of me that wanted nothing more than to say yes to that offer, but I don’t know, there was also this sense that we had come this far, shouldn’t we just give it a go?
Despite me being the shorter of myself and Dad, I was given the bigger (and wider) camel, which meant my adductor muscles were immediately going through it.
Riding a camel is also seriously harder than riding a horse, the constant need to correct ones balance means that simply relaxing and enjoying was out of the question for me and I spent at least the first twenty minutes of the ride holding on for dear life whilst playing out what falling off would look like in my head and trying to work out how to fall that would cause the least injury possible… lel.
Eventually I relaxed enough that I worked up the courage to pull out my phone and grab a few pictures, all while cursing Rachel Weisz for making this look so bloody easy in The Mummy.
After two hours our butts were bruised, our hands were mildly sunburnt and we were so happy to finally arrive at the camp!
Now, I must say, overall, this camp was pretty meh. Much like my other experiences at desert camps it was just kinda a let down and the sand dunes in this spot were easily the least scenic ones I have ever seen, but the tents were comfy and the dinner we ate here was easily one of the best meals we had during our entire time in Tunisia.
After dinner we headed to bed early for a long and well deserved sleep under the stars, for tomorrow would be our most Star Warsy day yet.
Stay tuned for an epic day featuring a whole lotta Star Wars sites in the desert!
Hotel Sidi Driss: This hotel is supposedly operational but good luck actually making a booking! If you have opted to rent a car and wing the trip you may be able to just rock up and try your luck? Otherwise, just visiting in the daytime is an absolute treat
Camp Wad Erramal: Once again I cannot find any internet presence for this desert camp but honestly, you can probably give this one a miss. If you want an amazing desert camp experience I’d recommend heading to Wadi Rum in Jordan
Tours by Jamel: We absolutely loved our trip with Jamel and truly couldn’t have asked for a better guide. We booked our trip with Jamel directly via whatsapp messages, you can contact him through whatsapp on +216 98 202 283 or check out his website by clicking here
Remember: Many hotels and companies in Tunisia are hard to book from overseas – if you have a phone that can make international calls and you speak Arabic or even a little French you’ll probably have an easier time with this
