"Very hot...." Sousse by leics

I took myself off to Sousse on what turned out to be one of the hottest days of my stay. Fortunately, I was there by 8.30 am (by which time it was only 'hot', not 'very' or 'extremely' hot) so I did get chance to enjoy a good wander round before I gave up.

Sousse is an ancient city...it started off as Hadrumete, a Phoenician city (maybe 9th century BC) and was later where Hannibal kept his navy. It's always been an important port and has had a variety of names under Tunisia's various occupants. Soussa was its Arabic name, and so it has become Sousse.

It's a large city now, third largest in the country, and also a major tourist spot. The purpose-built resort area of Port el Kantaoui is near where I was actually staying: not unpleasant in itself, but entirely bereft of any real interest for me apart from people-watching. On a hugely busy Sunday afternoon I enjoyed the jolly group of young Algerian lads who'd clearly had a brilliant 'pirate ship' cruise and announced their arrival back in port with much singing, chanting and traditional dancing.........the many, many local ladies (and, I think, some Libyan and Algerian visitors too) having a jolly good splash and swim in the sea, complete with full-lengthrobes and headscarves........the joyful kids of all ages and all nationalities who whizzed around the place, regardless of the heat.......the sandcastle-buidling and the dam-building and the games of football, volleyball, ball-and-ball (walking back to my hotel along the beach was extremely difficult!)...the super-swish yachts, one of which had its own pet hawk sitting comfortable on the deck (untethered and with no jesses, as far as I could see). Just lots and lots of people having a brilliant time at the seaside. I liked that, even if it's not my personal scene.

But Sousse proper was different. It's grown and grown, and now (I was told) the government wants it to be a centre for education, with new colleges and universities being built. Tunisia is a country with a very large percentage of young people. Around the edges of Sousse you can see the very poorest houses, where rubbish abounds and open drains gleam with oily sewage, children play in the dust and small groups of thin sheep and goats, watched over by their shepherds, try to scratch food from the parched soil under the olive trees, or snuffle around in the rubbish......

There are some truly ancient sites in Sousse, a few of which I did manage to see (although not as much as I wanted). And there is much history tucked away as well.......

The only bit of the Kasbah I could see!

First, having found my way through the Medina gate and into the oldest part of the city, to the Great Mosque. This dates from the ninth century AD, an austere place with plain walls. An inscription runs around the courtyard wall and wide, unrailed steps lead up to a small domed minaret (apparently this type of staircase is common in Arabic countries). Originally it had two defensive towers, to keep watch over Sousse's harbour, but these have long gone.

Then, having abruptly cut short the visit 'to a friend' which the mosque keeper insisted upon (the friend just happened to keep the jewellery shop across from the mosque) onwards to the Ribat. I liked this place very much; it still had an aura of the past about it. Dating from 821, it once formed part of a signalling chain which could pass a messages from Egypt to Morroco overnight ...pretty impressive.

On into the medina souk. It was just waking up really, lots of shops still shut, people too lethargic to hassle me much, a riot of colours and smells (drains and sewage as well, I'm afraid), narrow alleyways and so many, many Roman columns scavenged and reused for building.

I did lose my bearings, I admit. I was aiming for the Kasbah, which has a museum with Roman mosaics, but it took me a while to find my way. And the Kasbah is at the highest point of the medina, and it was getting hotter and hotter........ Having huffed and puffed my way there, with many a stop in the shade for water and rest, I found that the restoration scheduled for completion at the end of 2009 was still ongoing. A very nice workman told me no, the museum was shut. There was nothing I could see.

Hey ho. Back into the medina, walking the streets and spotting the Roman bits, into the souk to try and find Kalaout el Koubba museum. I found the sign but I just couldn't find the building....and by then it was seriously, extremely hot and I knew I was getting both over-heated and dehydrated. Time to call a halt.

Roman column in the medina

So I wandered slowly back to the incredibly busy Place Farhat Hached and sat in the shade, having purchased an over-priced bottle of water. When I queried the price, the chap said 'Tourist price' and I thought 'Why not? At least he's being honest!'.

I people watched, and traffic-watched (and listened). A huge ship was parked just across the 'square' (it isn't actually square at all, more of an elongated oval), its cargo of stone/gravel/whatever being unloaded by crane into huge trucks, which then forced their way through the traffic with horns blaring and gears grinding. The poor policemen with their whistles didn't seem to be having much effect on the chaos, but most people seemed to know where they were going, even if they were risking themselves and their vehicles in the process.

Having cooled down a bit, I walked up the shoe-shop-lined Avenue Bourguiba to find the 'Noddy train' back to Port el Kantaoui. Touristy, I know, but an open-sided road train was far more appealing than a hammam-heat bendy bus, even if the train was incredibly bumpy. And it provides employment, and income, and that is a relevant issue.

Sousse had far more to offer me than I managed to see. Apart from the museums, I couldn't face the walk to the catacombs or to the House of the Tragic Poet, a small Roman site.

So I suppose I'll just have to visit again sometime! :-)

• Pros:Lots of history, excellent for wandering....
• Cons:Traffic
• In a nutshell:Wander the winding lanes