"Beled Tunis al-Baahi :@P" Tunisia by maykal

I have never planned to visit Tunisia, it just sort of happens.

My first visit, in 1999, was prompted by my university course in Arabic. I was preparing to spend a year in Syria, and having never set foot outside Europe before, this was quite a daunting prospect. So to get some sort of idea of what to expect, I persuaded an older brother to come with me somewhere "Arab" for a cheap beach holiday. Looking around for cheap charter flight-only deals, the only thing in our price range was a flight to Monastir in Tunisia, returning a week later.

I refused to stay in Monastir, deeming it too touristy, while my brother refused to go anywhere but the coast and wanted to stay in one place for the whole week. We compromised and came up with Mahdia, a picturesque old town with a beach which is slowly growing as a resort but not yet spoiled. I enjoyed the holiday, while my brother deemed it a disaster...I suppose it was from his point of view, as the hotel had no swimming pool (I booked a budget place) and managed to get diarrhoea for three of the days. Where he saw extreme heat, dirt and tea that came without milk, I saw an ancient town that looked like Italy but felt like somewhere eastern, somewhere exotic.

On that trip, I took a trip by myself down the coast to Sfax, the second city, and where there were few tourists in Mahdia, there were none whatsoever in Sfax. The old city was a magical place for me as it was totally different to anywhere I had been before.

Mosque, Nefta

When I announced my intention to spend part of my Easter holiday in Tunisia, friends at home looked at me astonished. "Why Tunisia?" They know my travels in the past seven years have taken me to countries whose names they've never heard of, villages marooned in steep-sided valleys, cities where officials are confused and suspicious about tourism. Tunisia however has been on the tourist map for as long as I can remember. Flicking through my first ever holiday brochure aged five, I remember marvelling at camels and palm trees in places like Hammamet and Monastir. As well as package holidays to the beaches, soft "adventure" tours take groups to desert oases and ruined Berber villages. Having seen the desert Sudanese style, I imagined Tunisia's desert south to be somewhat toned down. Tunisia's image as a whole didn't really attract me...safe, secure, easy, reliable, Francophone...just about everything I despise! (French...please don't take offence, I'm only joking!)

Then one day looking at a map of Tunisia, i noticed that all the tourist "ghettos" seemed to be in one place, in a line down the coast...Hammamet, Nabeul, Monastir, Sousse, Port El Kantaoui, Mahdia, Jerba, Zarzis. The adventure tours all seemed to concentrate on Tozeur, Douz, Matmata...but what about the north? What about the capital? The mountains? The Tell region?

Idly surfing the net when I should have been translating an article about Arab politics, I found myself on the British Airways website. There was a flight sale on in January, and as I scanned the various offers, one destination leapt out at me. Tunis for 90 pounds return! An idea formed in my head...

I arrived in Tunis in March, no idea where to stay, no idea how long I would stay in this capital. I had a rough plan of things I wanted to see...Bizerte, Le kef and a return to Sfax were the main three, but apart from that I was free to see what happened.

After a couple of days in Tunis, I went north to Bizerte, then headed south via Beja to Le Kef, not far from Algeria. Tunisian hospitality took me to Gabes, then I made my revisit to Sfax before taking the train up to Tunis again. I managed to fit in two very different coastal suburbs, Hammam Lif and Sidi Bou Said, before flying back to England and coursework deadlines.

it was a great trip, just what I needed after a particularly gruelling term at university, and even though i did have a few days of rain and clouds, the sun did come out for most of the trip.

Alfayn wa saba'a (2007)

Well, one year on, and BA had a similar deal, but this time I decided to explore Algeria too. After my Algerian visa fell through, I was left with 3 weeks to fill in Tunisia. It was great to be back in Tunis again, staying with friends, but I hadn't really made plans as to how to spend the rest of my time. A trip into the mountains by Nebeur was cold enough to persuade me I needed to see something of the south, so I followed my nose down to Gafsa, Tozeur, Nefta and Kebili, before hitting the coast at Sfax and spending a few days relaxing on the Kerkennah Islands. I returned via Mahdia (much nicer out of season) and the hillside Roman remains of Makthar.

Again, I didn't rush, missed out many of the famous resorts and attractions (although I can now say I've been to Sousse and Kairouan, albeit only the louage stations!), and still feel 3 weeks isn't enough for this country.

Cat, Nefta

I can't boast to have seen everything in Tunisia, even though it is considered a "small" country. It is actually the size of England, and having lived in England for most of my life, I still only have a rough idea what that country is all about! I've spent a total of six weeks in Tunisia, scratched the surface of a handful of towns, seen little of the major Roman ruins, lounged on beaches for a minimal amount of time, and not yet ventured south of Gabes. Much of what is shown in the tourist literature is all about places I haven't been to. For these reasons, I don't really feel qualified to give my opinion about this very varied country.

In the check-in queue at Tunis airport, I eavesdropped into a few conversations from returning tourists. Ahead of me was a group of "more mature" passengers, dressed sensibly and comfortably with classic novels in their hands ready for the plane. They talked of fascinating archaological ruins and the lack of disabled facilities in their hotels. Two girls whose clothes left little to the imagination complained loudly about being hassled by Tunisian men, yet praised the cheapness of beer. Two families were exchanging holiday reports behind me..."never again, the food is all funny"..."wonderful beaches"..."my kids enjoyed the Star Wars set"..."we rode on smelly camels"..."didn't think much of the nightly entertainment in our hotel". Two men further down the line chatted about the rounds of golf they'd enjoyed, while behind them, a middle-aged man was dressed as if he'd just been auditioning for a part in The English Patient, neatly pressed khakis and a crisp white shirt, sleeves rolled up to show off a desert tan.

Tunisia is different things to different people...those in the queue had all had widely different holidays to each other, and I had had a different one to all of them. What will stay in my mind about Tunisia? Crumbling medinas, photogenic doorways, coffee and croissants in smoky cafes, French and Arabic blended at every opportunity, the friendliness of the people, eating my first Brik a l'oeuf and having egg yolk dripping down my chin, chatting about politics while smoking chicha in an all night cafe in a petrol station overlooking a factory belching out toxic fumes....

This page will follow the format of my general Turkey page, an index and summary of the pages about individual towns that I visited, and a general introduction to Tunisia and its culture.

Not everyone will agree with my take on Tunisia, but as I said, these are all opinions based on my seven weeks in the country. I might have hated something you enthused about, while my favourite thing was probably the one thing you couldn't stand. But as I said, every visitor to Tunisia has a different opinion on the place...this is mine...

• Pros:Great for independent travellers, easy to get off beaten track, cheap to get to from Europe
• Cons:Some extremely touristy places, can be very very windy on coast
• In a nutshell:Deserts, mountains, beaches, ruins, old cities...Tunisia has everything