A trip to Tunis, Tunisia

The video has been taken during my holiday trip to Tunis, Tunisia in North Africa on March 2011.
The trip was scary, dangerous, fun, and intriguing.

The protests of the Jasmine revolution heated back up one day prior to our arrival. After leaving the airport in a taxi, we quickly learned that the police closed many of the roads to the hotel. The crowds of people were too thick to maneuver a taxi to the hotel. The taxi driver put us to the street, and he pointed “that way”. While trying to walk, the volume of protestors increased, and people were signaling for us to avoid danger and to turn back. A school teacher put us in his car and said he would help us reach the hotel. But after a short drive, we were surrounded by crowds of people. People started to stampede in the direction of the car with bloody noses, beaten arms, and burning eyes from tear gas. A man rushed the car, hit the window glass, and pleaded with us to go back. There were broken stones on the ground and wire fences on the sidewalks. We became very frightened, and we asked the teacher to turn back away from the riots. We did not want him to be at risk trying to help us. Uncertain what to do, we asked him to take us to another hotel. He took us to a hotel about eight blocks from the center of the riots.

The second day soldiers lined the streets at our hotel. Early in the day, we walked the streets looking for a restaurant. After returning to the hotel, we saw police cars and a tank blocked the road in front of the hotel. Suddenly we heard machine guns. It lasted nearly thirty minutes. We waited for it to stop while keeping away from windows to avoid being hit by stray bullets. Later we learned that 3 young people were killed on this day of the protests. Across the street from our hotel was the radio station that was spearheading the revolution. Many soldiers were standing at the corner of the revolutionary radio station.

On the third day we left the city center and went to a summer resort on the Gulf of Tunis. This resort was being used as a stopover point for refugees from Libya.

After we visited a town named Sidi Bou Said. It is famous for its white/blue houses. Another town named La Marsa sat beautifully on the coast. We also saw the Carthage ruins. Among the highlights are the ruins of the Roman amphitheatre and the thermal Antonine Baths.
We also visited the North African American Cemetery from World War II. Perhaps my favorite thing was riding a horse and petting a camel on the shores of the Gulf of Tunis.

Tunisia is a beautiful country in North Africa. Although worry never left us during this trip, we persevered and had a great time.

360 degree panorama:
turkishpanorama.com/tunis/