"El Mahdiya" Mahdia by maykal

Mahdia was not on the plan....but then, with a few days to fill, I thought, "sod it, why not!" So, a return to my first ever Arab town 8 years later...it was much better this time, fewer tourists, not as hot, and much less hassle.

Thé akhdar dans le Place du Caire, Mahdia

Last trip, I had only taken a few photos, taking rather too much heed of Lonely Planet's advice on photography ("always ask people before you photograph them"...so I hardly took any at all...of anything... being so worried that someone would come rushing over and berate me for it!!!), so this time my mission was to snap every corner of the city if possible.

I'll get round to updating this page soon...for now, all the info is from 1999, and quite a bit appears to have changed...but for now, just a photo or two...

Mahdia beach

<<<1999: Unfortunately, I didn't get to see much of Tunisia during my week long stay - the main reason for going was because I was heading to <a href="http://www.virtualtourist.com/m/.133814/207/?s=F">Syria</a> for a year to learn Arabic, and this was just a brief introduction to the Arab World. Although mainly a beach holiday based in Mahdia, I did get to visit Monastir with my brother, and the city of Sfax, which was my first taste of travelling alone in a foreign country. I did enjoy my week in Tunisia, despite my brother getting sunstroke. It made me realise how little Arabic I had learnt during one year at university in England, and also how quickly my French was deteriorating - it was quite entertaining to try to explain diarrhoeia to a chemist with a few words of terrible Arabic and a lot of sign language!!
If you are interested in learning Arabic, please see my <a href="http://www.virtualtourist.com/m/.133814/7/?s=Q">Middle East</a> page for details.
<a href="http://www.wunderground.com/global/stations/60750.html">
<img src="http://banners.wunderground.com/banner/gizmotempbig/global/stations/60750.gif" height=40 width=467></a>

I enjoyed Tunisia, although I certainly didn't see the best it has to offer. In fact, reading the official tourist literature for Tunisia you might think I went to a completely different place! For that alternative look at Tunisia (i.e. how your hoilday is supposed to be), take a look at <a href="http://www.tourismtunisia.com/">THIS!</a> >>>

• Pros:Old town, walks on headland, great beach, big hotels a long way from centre
• Cons:Big zone touristique, touristy rubbish on sale, local kids can hassle you
• In a nutshell:More and more development means Mahdia will be ruined soon...go quickly :)