After a restful night in what was by far the most luxe hotel we had stayed in during our Tunisian adventures it was time to get back on the road and make our way towards the city of Kairouan – a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The drive from Tozeur to Kairouan is a solid 4.5 hour drive and so to break up the journey our ever thoughtful guide had planned a few non Star Wars related pit stops for us along the way.
Our first stop of the day was Chebika Oasis.
Also known as the ‘Palace of the Sun’, this natural oasis is located just 8km from the Algerian border and is a popular place for tourists and locals alike to go for a lovely and very doable hike. Interestingly, since visiting I have learned that this oasis was used to shoot numerous scenes from The English Patient – Tunisia is certainly a popular destination for filmmakers!
We parked the car and this was literally the view from the carpark… ridiculous.
From there you take the pathway through a few shops on the left and simply continue climbing. There are a bunch of abandoned homes on the hill that are pretty interesting to check out so make sure to resist the urge to ascend as quickly as possible.
Jamel had me slightly concerned that the hike would be difficult as he made sure to emphasise the need for closed toed shoes (which I didn’t have) but it was actually a fairly easy hike, the pathway is uneven but not at all difficult to traverse and I would say you would easily be able to manage this walk even if you only have a low level of fitness.
After the ascent, next comes the descent. Along the way you’ll find men selling old fossils and crystals for fairly reasonable prices, I ended up buying a few for my wife as she is obsessed with that sorta thing.
Once you have climbed down 100 or so steps you will find yourself with an oasis and spring that look almost too pretty to be real.
I mean, is this not unbelievably gorgeous?!
If you look closely at the water you will easily find a whole bunch of cute little frogs that call this spring home – so adorable!
As we continued forwards through the canyon towards the ever amplifying sound of running water I continued to marvel at the beauty of this place, it reminded me a lot of some of the wadi’s I had visited in Oman.
Eventually we made it to the sweetest, smallest and most picturesque little waterfall – it’s not hard to see why this area is called an oasis!
After we left Chebika (and stopped for a little sweet treat) we were back on the road and heading towards our next stop.
Enter Mides Canyon, lovingly referred to by locals as the ‘Grand Canyon of Tunisia’.
The walk along the rim is easy and the views are gorgeous. If you need a place to stretch your legs and break up what is a long drive, this is absolutely worth stopping for.
By late afternoon we had arrived into the holiest city in Tunisia and UNESCO World Heritage Site – Kairouan.
Now, normally Jamel would have taken us straight to our hotel and we would’ve proceeded with a full day tour of the city the following day; but as we had a mid afternoon flight out of the capital of Tunis the next day, he encouraged us to head to the medina that evening as he (correctly) assumed that as we were Star Wars fans we would also be Indiana Jones fans.
Kairouan Medina was founded by the Umayyads in 670 CE and was designated a UNESCO site in 1988 as a result of its well preserved network of ancient walls, streets, minarets, gates and more. It is an interesting enough place to visit on its own, but made even more interesting when I learned that 19 scenes from Raiders of the Lost Ark were filmed there!
Basically, anything set in Cairo in Raiders was actually shot here in Kairouan – pretty bloody cool if I do say so myself.
I have attached a couple of stills from some of these scenes to give you a visual.
Wandering through the gorgeous alleyways was a perfect way to spend our last evening in Tunisia – we had truly had such an epic week indulging our inner nerds!
Stay tuned for our last day in Tunisia featuring an Andalusian town, one of the oldest mosques in Africa and more!
Chebika Oasis: This unmissable oasis is free to visit, an easy hike and oh so gorgeous. I cannot recommend it enough!
Hotel Continental: We stayed at this hotel in the city of Kairouan and it was lovely and comfortable, the hotel also do a buffet dinner on some nights and we found it to be fantastic value, click here to learn more
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: Packing a pair of sneakers is probably not a bad idea, but a sturdy pair of Birkenstocks will also take you far
