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Europe to Tunisia

BerndRos

BerndRos

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Well here I go, taking ferry from Sicily ( Trapani ) tomorrow morning for Tunis and going to take an anti clockwise tour of the country, looking forward to taking the Cali into the Sahara as far as practical. Will be there 20 days then ferry back to Trapani. Got Amazon to post out a Michelin map 744 and ' Eyewitness Travel Tunisia ' plus copied a few articles from www.magbaztravels.com re people's past tours of Tunisia. Won't have the benefit of SatNav as no maps on my database. Likely cover about 2000 miles.

Keep your fingers crossed for me guys......
 
Sounds exciting. Fingers crossed!

(do you need a carnet? I imagine it would be expensive for a Cali!!)
 
Don't think so, tolls very cheap and no VISA required for UK citizens. Last year fuel was only 50 pence a litre so even if it has skyrocketed to say 75p it's still gonna be cheap. Will come back to Italy with a full tank as 1.75 euro a litre here.
 
Was chaos at Tunisia port border control, a porter got into the supposedly secure pre customs area and tried to scam me pretending to be a border official !, did not succeed.

Two hours to get through formalities, totally illogical system, lot of checks, inspections and going off to form queues to get stamps on various docs. Left port in the dark and drove a mile to the local beach, got money from ATM on the way then parked up for the night.

This morning on the few miles to Carthage managed to get a sim for iPad from ' Orange ' 5GB, one month, £12.

Diesel, basic stuff 42p a litre, top notch stuff 50p a litre so filled her up from being in the red for £40 !

Local produced food cheap, pack of 4 Activa 60p, Fanta tin 20p, pack of 2 fresh citron tarts 90p

Only downside I can see so far is the amount of people wanting a tip for services rendered. Such as without being asked, helping you reverse or turn a corner then calling for money, or trying to direct you to an ancient site entrance 10 paces in front of you, that you have seen and are heading for !
 
Try and get hold of some of the cheap and nasty 'copy' cigarettes - I've found they make great currency!

Very jealous. Hope you're having a great time.
 
I'll be in Tunisia myself on Sunday. Unfortunately I won't have my Cali as we are flying in for a week. We will be in Skanes.
Can you put an order in for a week of good weather while you are there.
Hope you enjoy your trip around the country.
 
Update on Tunisia.

Far south tonight, Tripoli on signposts and a heavy military presence as a secure area set up by Tunisians between here and the border which is 50 miles away. Parked by the ' on ramps ' for the night by the ferry to ' Jerba island ' a couple of miles over the way. Ferry cancelled due to wind so I have put the vans back to the wind and braving it out.

250 mile drive today, getting more sandy by the mile. Endless Butchers by the side of the road, Sheep grazing but near their end as Fleeces hanging from the butchers huts and meat roasting. Fuel at few and far between filling stations at 42p a litre. But endless unofficial fuel depots by the side of the road, barrels of fuel and a funnel to fill, sold at a fraction of the filling station prices but not going to chance my injectors with it !

Rubbish everywhere, seems they have more important matters to attend than disposing of litter carefully.
 
Two hours to get through formalities, totally illogical system, lot of checks, inspections and going off to form queues to get stamps on various docs.
Sounds about rite, a lot of job justification. Reminds me of my 4 years doing Overland tourist trips in Africa. Boarders were tedious with 20 bodies & their luggage. The threat of big search was always present, but only happened once.

Sounds like you are having fun.

But endless unofficial fuel depots by the side of the road

Yes they were everywhere, but we never used them, never know what the quality is.
 
Hi BerndRos,
Sounds all good to me, following your tour with interest as it is something i would like to do, my ambition is to arrive in morocco from spain and travel across north africa to egypt, whether it will happen remains to be see, have been working on algeria at the moment
 
Hi John, that would be good but I think Algeria would be a bit iffy, then of course I think you would need to pass through Libya ?

I will leave Jerba in the morning and take about a week working through the north Sahara area as lots to see there. Then work north along the eastern border with Algeria ( but not to close ) . Ferry this morning was a hoot, surprised it stayed afloat with the vehicles and stuff piled on it. 3 mile crossing with Cali....33 pence fare !

This really is a low cost area, had a lad clean the Cali for an hour ( first clean since Turkey ) cost £2, Loaf of Arab flat bread and a Donut type thingy for 20p

Begs the Q, these package tour operators must source the holidays so cheap, then sell on at expensive rates.
 
Been through about a dozen police and army roadside checkpoints today and stopped at four of them, 2 police and 2 army.

At one of the police I was given a superb salute and a warm handshake. Offered my passport but this was waved away. ' Do you have Tobacco ' . He wanted a smoke.

At one of the army one of the guys kept hold of my passport after checking it. ' Do you have Algerian, Tunisian or Euro money ' . I just smiled and held out my hand for the passport. He wanted money.
 
Having left Tunisia, thought I would post a few details of the country as a taster for anyone thinking of visiting there. More details can be found at www.magbaztravels.com including others peoples travel logs and details of campsites and other overnight stops.

Logical route from the UK would be to drive down to Marseille and to take a ferry from there to Tunis. No idea of the ferry firm or costs as I got a return ticket, Trapani ( Sicily ) to Tunis, about 9 hours crossing and ticket cost 274 euro return.

No entry requirements for UK passport holders other than fairly laborious admin checks at the other end. My insurers are ' Comfort ' and I needed a Green Card issued by them at a cost of £17.

Be prepared for lots of attention because a European and any vehicle with a foreign plate will be a magnet. Very safe place to visit, I did not feel threatened at all but the attention you get can be overpowering at times. Be prepared for people asking for money, tobacco, souvenirs etc, that includes Police and Army at the frequent road check points as well as the general population !......

Amazing place, countryside ranges from lush green rolling terrain in the north, down through scenic mountain ranges, then over endless salt flats and onto the Sahara. I travelled a roughly circular route round the country and covered about 1800 miles in my 19 days there.

A few supermarkets can be found but mostly small shops everywhere. Prices for food are very low as long as you stick with local products, imported food prices higher. Typical kebab type lunch with chips about 80 pence ( many times better than what passes for a kebab in the UK ) . Diesel at normal filling stations 42 pence a litre. Cash machines frequent and will take UK cards, often displaying screen in English. Most places including filling stations only accept cash. Alcohol available in ' side areas ' of shops and price wise about the same as mainland Europe.

Roads, mostly Tarmac and in better condition than eastern Europe, other roads are either sand or gravel but as you know that before you enter them, it's your choice.

Campsites few and far between, but for a small fee hotels will let you park overnight in their secure car parks, sometimes showers are available at hotels. Campsites very cheap. Free/Wild camping as safe as any other country, which in my experience means safe. I spent a higher ratio of nights in camps or hotel parks here ( 50 % ) simply to get away from the attention I was getting rather than for security. Other nights were spent free camping in towns in places such as Railway station car parks, by municipal offices, near Police or Military offices.

You will not see many other camper vans, think I saw about five in total. You will experience something very different from anything else you may encounter in Europe.

Would I return ?.....Yes, because it's all pretty mind blowing, fantastic countryside, plus almost impossible to spend money due to the low prices.
 

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