Kairouan Warnings Or Dangers

We arrived in Kairouan shortly after 7. This was the biggest city we had been in since Tunis and we struggled to find our way around in the car. The hotel we planned to stay in, Hotel Sabra, was right by the medina but we were struggling to work out where we were. The streets had no names or on the odd occasion they did have a name it was in Arabic. We pulled over in the centre of town to look at a map and a guy on a bike knocked on our window and asked could he help. He said that Hotel Sabra was closed and that we should try Hotel Tunisia.

Now we should really have known better than to listen to this as it's one of the oldest tricks on the book but we were exhausted after a long day of travelling and we had forgotten what some people in the big cities were like.

We followed the man to Hotel Tunisia (which was just a few streets from where we were), and parked outside it. He was waiting for us of course and followed us in. I would happily have let him go there and then but he seemed keen to stick around. We had a look at two rooms, chose the second and handed over our passports.

The owner was friendly and even though there were a few strange looking guys hanging around in reception it seemed like a nice enough place. Our friend was still around and asked us if we wanted a tour of the medina tomorrow. I explained that no we didn't and thanked him for his help. He asked for something for helping us find the hotel. I joked and said was it not him just being friendly and hospitable. In the end I gave him 2D. I wasn't too pleased though. He started recommending a restaurant nearby to us, one we made a point of avoiding later.

So he did find us the hotel and we only gave him a miserly 2D. But later that evening as we walked to the medina we passed Hotel Smara. It was open for business and not closed for renovation ... Consider it a lesson learned:)