The Lézard Rouge, Tunisia
A wonderful old train journey through spectacular gorges and desert scenery in the luxury of a train that once belonged to the Bey of Tunis.
Rotate to landscape to view slideshow
Le Kef is a three-hour bus journey South of Tunis.
We arrive in time to have a look around the kasbah, the old fort that overlooks the city. It is interesting, but the main highlight is probably the views over the surrounding countryside.
Our hotel at Le Kef is probably the worst one we have ever stayed in (the one in Suez would run a close second) but for the price we are paying you can’t expect too much (the bedroom is clean but the shower and toilet area were inadequate to say the least). I regret my choice, but it’s only for two nights, so I convince Jen it will be alright.
Make sure you pay a visit to the Musée des Arts et Traditions Populaires. This ethnographic museum in Le Kef is one of the best of its kind; excellent displays covering arts and crafts and traditional customs that help you understand the local culture.
The caretaker at the museum was excellent. He spent a lot of time explaining the displays and answering our questions.
Our real reason for staying at Le Kef is to use it as a base to visit Dougga, the old Roman town about 70km North. Dougga is a site of some of the best Roman ruins around.
A wonderful old train journey through spectacular gorges and desert scenery in the luxury of a train that once belonged to the Bey of Tunis.
Dougga is one of the best of the ancient Roman town sites we have seen, a good rival to Ephesus in Turkey.
The old village of Tamerza was abandoned in 1969 after 22 days of heavy rain destroyed the traditional mud brick structures.
Serra San Bruno is high up in the mountains of Southern Italy. You get there on a twisting road that snakes up through the highland forests.
Trees hang over the road to create a tunnel that filters the sun and cools the air. Snow signs warn that, in winter, this could be a more tortuous trail.
The Reporters Memorial in Bayeux is an avenue of white remembrance slabs of stone, each seven feet high, and each recording the names of reporters who were killed reporting conflict.