Tunisia chapter nine
Sunrise over the Sahara, a Berber house, Star Wars locations, The Seven Sleepers Mosque, and the Chenini old town.
My alarm goes off before the dawn. I pack my bags and carry them with me to the mess tent. It’s dark, the doors are locked. I find a bench, sit down, and wait.
I don’t have to wait long before there are signs of life. A switch is thrown and lights flicker on in the tent. The door opens and I’m let in.
Boutheina and I and I share breakfast with the Japanese couple and their guide. We’re all up early to catch the sunrise over the Sahara and continue on our tours. We have a packed schedule today and many kilometers to go.
Mohammed loads us into the car and we set off in the semi-dark. The skies are beginning to lighten and we stop in the middle of a sea of dunes. I wander off into the desert to stake a spot to watch the light change.
It’s a beautiful sunrise. I watch the light change and shift to illuminate the dunes long after the sun is up. When I finally get my fill I turn to see Mohammed searching for me. He sees me turn and heads back to the car as I make my own way there.
We drive through the dunes towards the main road, the landscape gently flattening as we reach the edges of the national park. When we reach the main road we turn left towards Douz. Mohammed speeds ahead, ignoring the whine of the speed alarm. I put headphones in to drown out the sound.
We drive to Ksar Tamezret and stop for the view before heading to Matmata to visit a traditional Berber troglodyte home.
Fouzaiah welcomes us in through a doorway cut into the earth, passing through a small foyer before entering a large courtyard. From the outside, I would never have guessed something so spacious would await me on the other side.
I hear laughter and voices and look up to see the sky shaped into a circle by the walls of the cave. Fouzaiah’s daughter and Firaz are looking down at us from the ledge. I’m surprised at how high the walls are, not imagining that the hill had been built up so high.
Fouzaiah sets a table with bread and olive oil mixed with honey. She bids us sit and eat and pours tea from a metal pot. It’s delicious. I sit and eat and wish for more.
Boutheina leads me back out and I climb the hill to look down into the home. Looking out at the landscape, you wouldn’t guess this structure were here if you were walking on the plains. It reminds me of the churches carved from the rock in Lalibela, Ethiopia, how you could walk upon the rock and fall into them if you weren’t paying close attention.
We drive a short distance to a larger complex next door that houses a museum within its maze-like interior. I don’t thing Boutheina expects me to explore but I do, and find her back outside wondering where I’ve gone. It’s massive inside, with rooms and displays of Berber life, though it’s devoid of life inside. I don’t see a single soul working there.
A Tunisian family wanders the courtyard, their children climb upon the walls.
Our next stop is Luke Skywalker's home on Tattooine, now the Hotel Sidi Driss. It’s a kitsch location, not quite what one might expect if one were a die-hard fan looking to make a pilgrimmage to this site. Star Wars music plays as we enter and walk past reception into the main coutyard. Portraits of key figures from the saga are painted on blocks laid here and there. But there’s no sight of Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru.
From Luke’s home we drive across Tattooine in search of more Star Wars locations. The landscape is beautiful, more vivid than the film suggests, full of mountains and shrubs and clouds that mask the sky.
We eat lunch in a cavelike restaurant within Ksar Hedada, a walled village now known a shooting location for the Phantom Menace. Afterwards, Boutheina gives me some time to explore on my own. The main complex has since become a hotel. A faded banner shows sills of the a young Anakin Skywalker tinkering on his pod racer and wandering the streets of the town.
I climb onto a roof in hopes of seeing the town that surrounds this walled section and succeed in seeing the tops of the nearby mosque, but little else.
From Ksar Hadada we drive once again into the desert landscape following signs for Tataouine. We drive across the plains and then wind our way up into the mountains, circling around a wide canyon.
We stop at the end of the road. We’ve reached Chenini and the Seven Sleepers Mosque. The legend of the Seven Sleepers dates to around 205AD. The Islamic version appearing in the Quran tells of sleepers who are persecuted for their faith and spend 309 years in a cave, during which they grow to be four meters tall. The Quran doesn’t reveal the cave’s whereabouts, though long graves fill the cemetery beside the mosque, supplying evidence for this location.
Boutheina leads me in and around the small complex. Another guide leads a group that has hiked here and we watch as they descend down into the canyon floor. I wonder where they’ve started, where they’re to spend the night.
We retrace our route and head to the Old Town of Chenini. Firaz parks at the base of the mountain and we climb up a sloping path to the top.
It’s a very scenic spot and I wonder if it’s shown up in films. It seems a perfect location for any number of sword and sandal epics, or a far flung spy thriller. But today it’s quiet, the streets filled mostly with tourist who have come to climb along with us and admire the views.
When we reach the top the skies clear for a moment and the sun shines on the stones. For a brief moment it appears a city of gold.
Boutheina buys us tea from a cafe at the top and I sit outside and sip the hot liquid. It’s windy and cold and I’m thankful for the warm it provides. I stare out over the town and the valleys and am incredibly happy to have come. It’s a very atmospheric place and it’s become one of my top favorites on this trip.
From the Old Town of Chenini we head east and then north back towards the coast. We’re to overnight on the island of Djerba, almost 140 kilometers away.
We drive to and through Tataouine and I ask the driver to stop when we see a playground dedicated to Star Wars. I appreciate how the town has leaned into its fame.
It’s almsot night by the time we make it to Djerba. Boutheina checks me into the hotel and leaves me with an early morning wake up call. It’s the off season and there’s not much to do. It’s too cold to enjoy the pools or the beach and too late to boot. I eat dinner in the dining room and then head to bed, visions of lightsabers and blasters flashing through my head. 🇹🇳
30 December 2025
