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<\/a><\/p>\nWe stop along the way at les voyageurs cafe<\/em> coffee shop as neither Mohammed nor Mondher had breakfast expecting to get it at my hotel.\u00a0 They told me there would be breakfast but the corner was pitch black the whole time I waited outside and I had given up when they arrived at 7 AM this morning.\u00a0 They seemed as confused as I was by the hotel\u2019s lack of service to its customers.<\/p>\n While they drink coffee and cappuccino respectively, I mention the radio doesn\u2019t seem to be playing Cheb Hosni.\u00a0 It was a reference to the last night when we were at a caf\u00e9 and a song came on the radio that Mondher said was a favorite of his 20 years ago.\u00a0 Mohammed said this Nigerian singer, Cheb Hosni, was like a Bob Marley.\u00a0 Mondher took offense saying Bob Marley was old; Mohammed pointed out the song playing was 20 years old and was therefore an \u201coldie.\u201d<\/p>\n For the record, the song was apparently by Collette Nancy, a Lebanese singer who both guys admitted was very attractive.\u00a0 I wished they\u2019d said she was very hot right now.<\/p>\n Around 11 AM, four hours after leaving Tozeur, we arrive in the city of Kairouan, which Mondher tells me is pronounced like \u201ckato-one\u201d or making me ashamed for my home country he also tells me, \u201cit\u2019s like \u2018Kato Kaelin.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 It has me thinking about what legacy we will leave behind, all of us collectively and each of us individually.<\/p>\n Kairouan is also where they shot a lot for \u201cCairo\u201d in Raiders of the Lost Ark<\/em>.\u00a0 In reality, it\u2019s one of the largest cities in Tunisia, settled in the 7th<\/sup> century by Muslims and therefore considered the fourth holiest city in Islam (behind Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem).\u00a0 The reason being that the very first mosque in North Africa was built here.\u00a0 But more on that in a moment.<\/p>\n In the meantime, Mondher takes me on a strolling tour of the medina…<\/p>\n At one point, he takes me to the Well of Barrouta.\u00a0 This was a fabled innovation to get fresh water into the medina.\u00a0 A camel would turn a wheel that propelled a water wheel to draw jugs of water up and dispense it.\u00a0 A recreation was there and for a dinar I had my photo taken with the camel.\u00a0 He was no Sultan.<\/p>\n After that, I was taken on a photo scavenger hunt for the various filming spots of Raiders\u00a0 Mondher pointed to this balcony as one in the basket chase\/shoot out scene.<\/p>\n And here\u2019s a spot where they were supposedly searching for the baskets.<\/p>\n Down this alley the monkey motorcycle spy ran\u2026 and so did I.<\/p>\n He told me this is where Indiana Jones was ducking behind a corner.\u00a0 (In a moment I\u2019ll tell you about how I had the wrong scene in my head and how frustrated I am with this shot).<\/p>\n In this doorway, Marion smacked a guy with a frying pan and drug his body inside.\u00a0 The carvings remain the same; they framed out the rest of the door for the movie.<\/p>\n And this is where a truck blew up.\u00a0 THE truck.\u00a0 The one that makes Indy think he\u2019s killed Marion.<\/p>\n As I said above, Mondher\u2019s English has gotten worse.\u00a0 I get the impression he\u2019s kinda tired of showing me around too.\u00a0 He keeps telling me about the last group he took, just the other week, two friends from North and South Carolina.\u00a0 They loved both Star Wars and Indiana Jones and they brought still frames to recreate shots and props.\u00a0 I think he\u2019s trying to tell me this to prove he knows where things are and also to have me see how crazy some people are.\u00a0 As is often the case with tours, I don\u2019t like hearing about what other people did or got to see that was better than my tour.\u00a0 Lie to me.\u00a0 Tell me the other people had rain the whole time, that they had a miserable time but that for me?\u00a0 For me this is auspicious weather and I\u2019m lucky to get to see X or Y.\u00a0 As he tells me about this last tour, I just feel inadequate, like I should\u2019ve done more or prepped more.\u00a0 As with other tours when I\u2019ve heard how much better people were and how much more fun the other had, there\u2019s that feeling keeping up with the Joneses.\u00a0 Speaking of which, the few times I tried to recreate him, I realized I\u2019m no Harrison Ford, no Chris Strompolos, or Sean Patrick Flannery.\u00a0 If you squint I might be George Hall.\u00a0 There\u2019s a gait and attitude to an action hero, and a really great one runs with purpose.\u00a0 I lack\u2026 everything.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n As we round the corner we stroll past the Kazbah, the military fortification built to defend the Medina.\u00a0 It\u2019s now a five-star hotel.<\/p>\n And the alley near it leads us to that oldest mosque in North Africa.\u00a0 Originally built in the 7th<\/sup> century, each successive king add his own enhancement\/touch to make it bigger and bigger.\u00a0 It was finally deemed finished in the late 8th<\/sup> century.\u00a0 Because it was around mid-day, the mu’addhin<\/span> had already called the faithful to prayers.\u00a0 As is proper and right, there isn\u2019t supposed to be visitors strolling around inside while services are being held so I only took this shot from far away.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n We are driving.\u00a0 And have been for some time.\u00a0 About an hour after we left the medina, they show me this:<\/p>\n It\u2019s a binder of the walking tour sites of the medina.<\/p>\n They show me the book of photos and scenes … an hour… AFTER we leave?!\u00a0 WTF?!<\/p>\n Here are the photos of the ones I did kinda see… and by the numbers you can tell just how many I failed to see.<\/p>\n It\u2019s actually kind of insulting.\u00a0 We missed quite a few spots or we were at the wrong angles on some.\u00a0 I\u2019m annoyed and say in a rather snippy tone, \u201cYa know, as a constructive suggestion, it\u2019d be a lot better to show this to clients BEFORE touring the Medina.\u201d\u00a0 Mondher is in the front seat, flipping through the binder, holding it up now and again to show me photos of places and saying \u201cRemember when I took your photo?\u00a0 Same place.\u201d\u00a0 I guess.\u00a0 Mohammed has to suggest in Arabic that he actually hand the book to me so I can see it.\u00a0 I say this because after Mohammed\u2019s words, Mondher almost begrudgingly hands the binder back to me.<\/p>\n Am I in a foul mood?\u00a0 Am I just done?\u00a0 I don\u2019t know.\u00a0 I think I\u2019m justified in being gobsmacked that this is all happening AFTER the visit.<\/p>\n They just want to get home.\u00a0 I get it.\u00a0 They know with the ferry they won\u2019t get back until 1 am, or at least that\u2019s how long it took on the last tour.\u00a0 All I know is that this day of travel and minimal touring is a really cruddy way to end MY tour.\u00a0 I\u2019m feeling very let down and I guess it\u2019s my fault for not being better prepared.\u00a0 At least that was how I was feeling up until they showed me THEY had materials they could\u2019ve shared with me in the several hours we were driving north this morning.<\/p>\n Disappointing.\u00a0 Very disappointing.\u00a0 But maybe I\u2019m just done with the whole thing.\u00a0 Maybe it\u2019s me.\u00a0 \u00a0It\u2019s always me.\u00a0 I travel alone but people think that\u2019s sad and that makes me sad.\u00a0 I think I\u2019m prepared but once the trip starts I feel woefully unprepared.\u00a0 I finish the tour and resign myself to my own inadequacies \u2026 and then I find out I\u2019m even more to blame for not being more aggressive in asking questions.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been self-conscious about interrupting the guides; conversations in Arabic\/French assuming they\u2019re discussing important things \u2026 or even if they\u2019re not it\u2019s rude of me to interrupt.\u00a0 I\u2019m feeling cheated and responsible for being cheated.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n We drive on.\u00a0 And on.\u00a0 And on some more.\u00a0 We arrive in Hammamet, a former fishing and farming powerhouse that\u2019s grown more into seaside tourism of late. It\u2019s about 50 km to Tunis.\u00a0 I\u2019ll be staying here tonight.\u00a0 Mohammed takes a call and tells me another driver by the name of Khalid will be there tomorrow at mid day to take me the rest of the day.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n We wind our way through the traffic congested cityscape.\u00a0 After about 15 minutes, Mondher tells me they are taking me the city streets so I know where I am for tonight and tomorrow.\u00a0 I haven\u2019t been paying attention for the last fifteen minutes.\u00a0 Once again, information I could\u2019ve used BEFORE the tour started.<\/p>\n Mohammed says he will try and find a caf\u00e9 for lunch near the hotel.\u00a0 I tell him they clearly just want to get going, that they should just drop me off, and that this day has been really, really poor.\u00a0 They say because I\u2019m not feeling well.\u00a0 I tell them, no, because the tour has been really, really poor today.\u00a0 I point out once again that they showed me photos of the Medina AFTER the tour.\u00a0 Mondher tells me the photos are not part of the tour, that the itinerary just says we will take a tour of the Medina and he thought he\u2019d show me the photos \u201cjust because.\u201d\u00a0 That\u2019s the worst kind of excuse for poor customer service \u2013 making the slight seem like a value added bonus.<\/p>\n They drop me off at 2:05 PM at a hotel best described as a family resort where mom and dad can leave the kids to run wild and they can ignore them.\u00a0 The lobby is as if I\u2019ve been shrunk and swept into a gigantic ash tray; the cigarette smoke here is worse than any place I\u2019ve been in Tunisia\u2026 and there has been A LOT of smoking in Tunisia.\u00a0 It\u2019s also a cacophonous madhouse with house music playing from one bar, kids screaming at an air hockey table, and a reception filled with travelers waiting to check in.<\/p>\n Mondher checks me in but there\u2019s a problem with the reservation.\u00a0 They\u2019re arguing in French and Arabic but I know a customer service screwup in any language. \u00a0I finally ask if anyone speaks English.\u00a0 A manager comes over to tell me he speaks many languages, English, Dutch, German \u2013 perhaps I\u2019d like some Russian.\u00a0 I hold up my hand and say to him, \u201cSir, I\u2019m having a really bad day here and I just need to know what the situation is and what is happening.\u00a0 In English.\u201d\u00a0 People seem taken aback.\u00a0 The manager, the desk clerk, and Mondher all say in unision, \u201cit\u2019s no problem.\u201d<\/p>\n I want to scream.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n Eventually the snafu is worked out and I\u2019m given a key, in a room about as far from reception as possible.\u00a0 As it\u2019s recommended in the tour papers, I tip Mohammed and Mondher but hold back a few dinar at the last minute, spiteful and preferring to just have the excess dinar go to waste in my pocket on my return to America than to give it to them.\u00a0 It\u2019s a petty thing to do and I immediately regret it\u2026 and yet am also still incredibly angry and disappointed in this day and retroactively in this tour as a whole.<\/p>\n I do then what one should never do \u2013 I compose an email.<\/p>\n March 3, 2018.\u00a0 3:05 PM Tunisian Time<\/p>\n Dear Joshua and Kevin,<\/p>\n I’m writing this from a place of anger and disappointment and I’m tempted to hold off on sending it… but I’ve reread it a few times and while there are grammar errors and typos I feel like it properly expresses my feelings at the moment.\u00a0 As a result, I think it IS important to send it now, so that’s what I’m doing.<\/p>\n This email is to let you know that today\u2019s final day of touring was so disappointing and such a colossal insult to me as a traveler that it has negatively impacted the goodwill and memories I had in the previous days.<\/p>\n I was willing to overlook the leaking toilet that spilled feces on the bath floor at the first hotel, the almost uniform poor food at the all of the hotels where each was seemingly confused that I would want to eat at their establishment.\u00a0 This confusion was most especially true at Hotel Sidi Driss and Residence El Oued.\u00a0 The latter was so ill-prepared to serve breakfast that I skipped it entirely.\u00a0 The second day (this morning) I briefly had someone in the kitchen area before they turned out all the lights at 6:30 waiting for\u2026 I don\u2019t know what\u2026 though they didn\u2019t understand a request for only a glass of jus d\u2019orange<\/em>, un boisson<\/em>, I tried my best to overcome the language barrier and use any word or pantomime I could but it was a disaster.\u00a0 My French is terrible and my Arabic is non-existent.\u00a0 This is my fault, I know.\u00a0 The food at Sidi Driss was barely edible and despite being yelled at by the management who didn\u2019t realize I was a guest, I took it all in stride as the crappy tourist trap price to be in such a place.<\/p>\n I also accepted that Mohammed and Mondher would speak to each other during the drives in French\/Arabic and occasionally Mondher would tell me something in English.\u00a0 That\u2019s fine \u2013 that\u2019s part of the deal.<\/p>\n But today\u2019s long drive from Tozeur to Hammamet was totally unacceptable.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t want to interrupt their conversations and so for long, long, LONG stretches was just left to my thoughts \u2013 all fine though when Mondher did tell me something it almost too me by surprise.<\/p>\n When we arrived at the Medina Kairouan I told Mondher I needed a WC which he acknowledged and then proceeded on with the tour, ignoring the bathroom need.\u00a0 I suppose that\u2019s in keeping with the famed story of Raider of the Lost Ark shooting there when everyone had dysentery and that being the story for why instead of a big action scene with the swordsman, Indy just shoots him.\u00a0 Neither Harrison Ford nor Steven Spielberg had the strength to shoot the action and it\u2019s a great moment.\u00a0 What was not such a great moment was the wandering of the Medina.\u00a0 Mondher would point out a few things saying this was in the movie and I\u2019d take photos and we kept wandering.\u00a0 We arrived at the oldest mosque in North Africa but it was prayer time so we just took a single photo from the outside at an angle.<\/p>\n Finally Mohammed drove to get petrol and I was able to get to a WC.\u00a0 Forty-five minutes later on the drive, Mohammed and Mondher produced a binder with photos of the medina both in the film and today along with a map\u2026 something that would have been FAR more useful to see in the HOURS drive leading up to the Medina.\u00a0 To have Mondher flip through the pages in the front seat and say, \u201csee, remember when I took your photo there?\u00a0 Same place.\u201d\u00a0 Mohammed had to tell him to pass the book to me to look at.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t believe I might have actually been able to appreciate the place and see more of the specific sights had this book been given to me even as we were walking the medina.\u00a0 Instead, it felt like insult to injury.<\/p>\n The men continued their conversation about I know not what in Arabic and French and I was left to stew with my thoughts of disappointment.\u00a0 Maybe it\u2019s me, maybe I\u2019m burned out and didn\u2019t ask the right questions.\u00a0 But given that they had this information packet and didn\u2019t bother to share it with me until well AFTER the visit?\u00a0 That\u2019s maddening.<\/p>\n We drove on.\u00a0 And on.\u00a0 And we arrived at Hammamet around 1:30 PM.\u00a0 They drove me the streets and at some point Mondher told me \u201cthis was to give [me] an idea of the town.\u201d\u00a0 They told me a driver named Khalid would take me onto Tunis tomorrow at noon but they were heading back to Djerba today.\u00a0 They took me to the hotel and after a series of snafus at check-in, they\u2019ve left me here.<\/p>\n What a waste of today.\u00a0 Had I known this was a nothing day, much like the first travel day, I might have booked my flight out tomorrow rather than spending another day here in Tunisia.\u00a0 I thought though that given the itinerary I needed to be here another night.\u00a0 How wrong that is.\u00a0 Given the lack of touring and general isolation I\u2019ve felt in this, I have to say the negativity of the day makes me actually regret the money I\u2019ve spent on this tour.\u00a0 That is NOT the way you want your tour to end.<\/p>\n My general impression today was that Mohammed and Mondher just wanted to make the long drive back to Djerba.\u00a0 They told me last tour they didn\u2019t get home until 1 AM because of the ferry.\u00a0 I gather I was more an inconvenience and just needed to get dropped off as quickly as possible.\u00a0 At least that\u2019s how I felt.<\/p>\n Again, maybe it\u2019s me.\u00a0 When I mentioned what a disappointment this was to Mondher and mentioned the photos being shown AFTER the tour of the Medina, he said that the photos were not part of the tour, only the walk through the Medina was and he was just showing me the photos now \u201cbecause.\u201d\u00a0 As we walked through he would tell me, \u201cthis is where they shot X,\u201d or \u201cthis is where they shot Y.\u201d\u00a0 In fact, he told me the tour group before me had brought props (maybe that\u2019s who did the binder?) and raved about them, as he had done during the Star Wars locations.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know if he was trying to make me feel better as he was often saying he felt sorry that I was traveling alone.\u00a0 To be honest, I\u2019m okay traveling alone and it really only becomes an issue when someone else makes it an issue.<\/p>\n And to be doubly honest, given how today went, I deeply regret using a tour group at all and should have perhaps just done my own research and handled it all myself.<\/p>\n Again, and again, this is NOT how you should feel at the end of your tour.<\/p>\n I am very, very disappointed.\u00a0 I sincerely hope Khalid shows up tomorrow at noon.\u00a0 I don\u2019t not have a very good feeling about anyone at the moment as I feel like I\u2019ve paid a lot of money to be told how sad I am and to be ignored as I don\u2019t speak French or Arabic.<\/p>\n Fingers crossed I can leave Hammamet tomorrow and Tunis on Monday.<\/p>\n Sincerely,<\/p>\n Kevin Hanna<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I hem and haw and send it anyway, preferring to document in the moment my feelings and let somebody else sort it out\u2026 but that\u2019s also why I hastily add a line or two acknowledging the folly in composing and sending an email in this state.<\/p>\n I decide the only thing I can do to try and salvage the day is to go for a run.\u00a0 So I do.<\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> \u00a0<\/a><\/a> \u00a0<\/a><\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n