I arrived in Tunisia on 9/18. It is a country where there are few dogs, but hundreds of wild cats prevail on the streets; where cars are afraid of pedestrians; where most men love their own country and are friendly to tourists; where most Muslim women are hard to talk with – it is even hard to say hello to them, they live like men’s shadow, shy and inactive.
Sep 17-18: I arrived in Tunis, and waited for bus for almost 30 minutes. I tried to ask some Muslim women who were standing next to me, but it seemed that they didn’t speak French or even didn’t want to try to speak French. They just coldly waved their hands and ducked away without even looking at me. I turned to another boy who saw me being rejected. He gave me 2 dinar and told me to take a taxi, “Because”, he said, “even if you take the bus, it just bypass downtown. It will be too complicated”. I didn’t want to take his money, but he passionately insisted on that. I didn’t expect at all this kind of help upon my arrival. I thanked him and took off.
The tax dropped me at Place du 7 Novembre 1987, and it took me an hour to find Augerge de Jeunesse in the narrow street of medina.
Place du 7 Novembre 1987
Already used to Hutong in Beijing, but it is still surprising for me to see some place so narrow and so crowded. The narrow streets were lined with small boutiques. Those owners would boldly stare at you like they’ve never seen a Chinese before, and ironically everybody tried to say “hello” in Japanese to me.
Sep 19: I got up early and took metro leger No. 4 to Bardo Museum. Tunisia doesn’t have a tight control at the metro entrance, and you can just walk in from the other side without buying a ticket. The museum and actually all tourist sites are free for students if they have a ISIC card. Part of the museum is closed, and it is filled with mosaic excavated from sites allover the country. They are absolutely beautiful.
Sep 20: I went to buy flight ticket from Tunis to Algiers this morning. Tunisair insisted on seeing a flight ticket I bought from Algiers back to the U.S. in order to sell me a one way ticket, otherwise, they say I have to buy a round trip because they want to make sure that I won’t stay in Algeria. I almost wanted to make sure if I was in an airline agency or an embassy.
At 11am, I took the train to Sidi Bou Said. It is a highly commercialized tourist site. Scenery is good, but besides that, there is not too much to see. One hour is more than enough.
Dar el-Annabi
Took the same train back to Cartage Demech. Cartage ruins are on top of hills, there are also a museum and a church.
Cartage Site
The ruins have almost nothing left to see now, and the museum is very small, only first floor exhibition has English illustrations, but the ticket is 9TD. The church L’acropolium is separate from the ruins site, very simple inside, almost nothing to see, but ticket is 5TD. I suggest not going in.
L'Acropolium
Going downhill from the back of L’acropolium, and west along Ave de l’Amphitheatre, you can find Roman Amphitheatre among the woods. People can see the whole thing from outside, except that you cannot go in the underground portion, but an overview is enough.
Across the street toward North is La Marsa Cicterns. It seemed that no ticket is needed, but the guardian would want to show you around for tips. But he can only speak French or Arabic.
Sep 21: I returned to Cartage to finish the rest of the sites. I got off at Presidential Palace, and Damous el-Karita Basilica is not far away. The guardian only speaks Arabic this time. He dig out an old dusty Roman light from a corner of loose sand and asked 5TD for it. 
We finally agreed on 3TD, but I don’t know if it is real or not.
Going along Rue Ali Relhouane, you can see another site which is not marked on Lonely Planet. It looks like a church, but I don’t know what its name is.
Alone Ave 7 Novembre are all the best sites in Cartage. Roman Theatre is a site well renovated, and is used for events nowadays, not very interesting. Roman Villas is well worth the ticket, especially the garden and guest room.
Garden View of Roman Villa
Mosaic on the floor of the garden is as fresh and vivid as new, definitely beautiful. I met a couple from Swaziland here. They like traveling a lot. “This place was such a gorgeous place thousands of years ago, but look what is left today”, they said to me, and they are absolutely right. Antonine Baths is the best site in Cartage. You can find all tour groups and a lot of people here. It will give you some idea how luxury the ancient Romans are.
Sep 22: I went to Bizerte by train early in the morning and arrived at 8am. It is a small city with good views. You can overlook the whole city at Spanish Fort, half a day is enough. I lived with somebody on coachsurfing.com, and he took me and another friend to Corniche in the evening. You can see the north-most point of Africa from here. Transportation posed to be a problem when we came back. Public transportation is not dependable, and there is no number you can call for a taxi – they are all run by individual drivers.
Mosque in Bizerte Kasbah
9/24: We planned to go to Ichkeul National Park. Three of us took the louage to the park and then hitchhike. It is 7 miles going in, a pain in the neck without a vehicle. We were lucky to get a Arabic professor from the University of Tunis who took all of us in, but we only stayed for an hour in order to get a ride with him back. It is a nice park that looks like Lu Gu Lake in Yunnan province in China, but time of visit is very important. You are supposed to be able to see a lot of birds and animals, but only in winter like January and Febrary.
Tabarka
Sep 24: My local friend suggested me go to Tabarka, so I changed my plan. Tabarka is very much like Bizerte, nice little town by the ocean, but I don’t know if it worth it to do pay a special visit. I only stayed 2 hours and left at 12:30pm to Bulla Regia. Going this way, you will be dropped off at a road crossing, and then there is 3 km walk in, which takes 40 to 50 minutes, a little too long if you are carrying a lot of stuff. However, it will pay off. Bulla Regia is one of the must go places in Tunisia. It is a vast area of Roman ruins with few tourists. Make sure you go to House of Amphitrite in the north side. The mosaic on the floor is the best I’ve seen during my trip.
House of Amphitrite Mosaic Floor
I came out at 5pm and there was no bus any more. I had to hitchhike to Jendouba, but it is not too difficult.
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