Listen to the Silence and Enjoy the Peace and Quiet, Far Away from People
In a faraway little mountain village called Douiret, in the Southern region of Tunisia, which is further south than most tourists ever venture, you will be almost all alone. Here you can enjoy the silence - it's almost as if you're inside a cotton ball, that's how quiet it is. With awesome mountain plateus all around (I think they somehow resemble those in the movie Cars), and with ancient ruins, you will have plenty of time to think, meditate og read a good book.
When I was here with a small group once, we firstly explored the accomodation, which we had almost to ourselves. There were only 3 other tourists there that night. Most of the rooms were carved out in the mountain itself, kind of like a cave. And even though it was chilly outside (it was the end of February, so basically winter in Northern Africa), the temperature was good. These ancient houses were built like this to be chilly in the scorching heat in summer, and to keep the heat inside in the winter. After exploring the lodging area, we wandered around the old, unhabited village. As we wandered uphill and peeked inside the different houses, we asked ourselves why the people who once lived here had moved away. The sun had set behind the mountains and the call to prayer, that one usually hears here, came from the whitewashed mosque.
In the evening we were served a tasty three-course meal in the restaurant. It included local Tunisian "brik" https://toneandtaste.com/recipe/brik/ and soup as the entree, couscous with chicken for the main course, and for the dessert it was a vriety of seasonal fruit, dates and mint-tea.
After the meal we played a game, and then went out to look at the stars. This far away from the city lights it's possitble to see plenty of stars shine really bright on the night sky. We were so blown away that we forgot to take pictures of it.
We had chosen this accomodation called Gîte de Douiret because we had planned on doing a little hike in the mountains to the next village - Chenini. We had a guide with ut on the hike between the two villages, and he could tell us more about the area, and pointed out one of the oldest olive trees in the south. On the hike we also passed a water source. In the desert! And just a kilometre before we arrived to the next small town, we saw another whitewashed building.
"The Moqsue of the seven sleepers" is a mosque with quite an interesting legend, both in the Christian tradition with young Chrisitan men from Ephesos, and from the Quaraan where it's known as "the people in the cave". Legend has it that seven believers sought refuge in a cave to escape persecution. While they were in the cave, they fell in a deep sleep that lasted several hundred years. At last they when they awoke, the world had completely changed, and in the Tunisian version it is said that they lived on as muslims until they died and were buried next to this mosque. What is special about their graves next to the mosque is that they are almost 4 metres long (= more than 13 ft). The legend says that their bodies continued to grown when the young men were in the deep sleep, that is why these graves are huge.
Interestingly, inside the mosque there are some Christian signs and symbols as well as Muslim and Berber (Almazigh) symbols, suggesting that there has been Christian believers in the area at some point.
This hike was very different than Norwegian hikes. Firstly the landscape and the mountain formations were very unique. Multiple places there were distinct evidence after erotion, and the guide said that this region was under water, many centuries ago.
Secondly, even though this was in the end of February, the temperature was warm enough to trek in these southern mountains. It is not recommended however, hiking here in the summer, as it is scorching hot. But no matter the season, one should always remember to bring good hiking shoes, enough water, and sunglasses and sunprotection when in this area!!
All things considered this was a great little hike with so much history to learn! I highly recommend to travel and hike here if possible:)
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