Tourist Attractions in Tunisia

You can't take any dinars out of Tunisia.

At Monastir airport there is a customs man (after passport control) who asks if you have any dinars left. I did have a 10-dinar note...he was happy for me to spend it on a beer/coffee.but I don't know what he'd have said if I had more.

The duty-free shop only accepts euro.

If you end up with lots of dinar, and have to change them at the airport, you'll pay for the privilege. And there's a limit to how much you can change anyway; only up to a third of what you have exchanged during your visit (keep all your receipts to prove this).

It's much better to just change a bit at a time as you go along. The rate is fixed, so it doesn't much matter where you do it.

We were warned that the vendors would ask high prices for everything. You should pay much less. Do not be intimidated by their hard sell. I walked away when they told me they could not sell me a painted plate for my offer. The vendor chased me down the street and sold it for my price.

Falling in love with a Tunisian man... Fake love? (also called Bezness)

"Bezness” is a term used for describing “local men having relationships with tourists to get money out of them.”

Tunisian men have developped a business consisting of seducing Western women to get money and gifts from them and sometimes to get a visa out the country. They often have several relationships at the same time and get regular visits from their various "girlfriends" at different times of the year to keep a flux of money coming in.

When before they would only try to get a visa, now they want to take all they can from you beforehand. They flatter you, seduce you, they pretend you are the one and that they love you. As soon as you are in love, they start asking for money “because they are so pooooor” and you are too involved to say no!

Strangely (!), they usually target the fat, old or ugly!

Obviously, it’s because older women are more likely to have assets such as a house and that they are more likely to succumb to the attention.

I came across that practice during my stay at the Caribbean World Hammamet and wanted to warn others. It can be seen all over Tunisia, as well as many countries such as Dominican Republic, Turkey, Egypt.

You will find more information on the net, for example on tunisianloverats.com.

"Bezness” is a term used for describing “local men having relationships with tourists to get money out of them.”

Tunisian men have developped a business consisting of seducing Western women to get money and gifts from them and sometimes to get a visa out the country. They often have several relationships at the same time and get regular visits from their various "girlfriends" at different times of the year to keep a flux of money coming in.

When before they would only try to get a visa, now they want to take all they can from you beforehand. They flatter you, seduce you, they pretend you are the one and that they love you. As soon as you are in love, they start asking for money “because they are so pooooor” and you are too involved to say no!

Strangely (!), they usually target the fat, old or ugly!

Obviously, it’s because older women are more likely to have assets such as a house and that they are more likely to succumb to the attention.

I came across that practice during my stay at the Caribbean World Hammamet and wanted to warn others. It can be seen all over Tunisia, as well as many countries such as Dominican Republic, Turkey, Egypt.

You will find more information on the net, for example on tunisianloverats.com.

Unique Suggestions: Don't believe everything you are told.

Fun Alternatives: Keep your distance.

We stayed all inclusive, and were given a wristband that we had to wear all of our stay.It was a plastic one that needed to be cut to be taken off, so no way of undoing it and taking it off and putting it back on again. The wristband showed we stayed at the hotel and were all inclusive.
We went down to Sousse town one of the days and came across no fewer than 4 "chefs who worked in our hotel". and one guy who said he worked in our hotel shop. The first one came up to us all smiles saying he recognised us and that he worked in our hotel restuarant and was on a day off. All he wanted to do was direct us towards a "government shop" that had reduced prices that day, he was basically giving us the heads up. After we had walked away (and not towards the gov shop either) and another guy approached us, we realised that they recognised our wristbands and were using that to come up to us. Looking around at other tourists in the area, they all had different coloured wristbands on. Apparently, after talking to our rep about it, the men get a commission if they successfully direct someone to the gov shop and they buy something.

Unique Suggestions: Bring something that will cover your wristband! I had left my watch in the hotel, otherwise it would have covered it over, but even a fabric wrap around your wrist, or long sleeves, would help.

Fun Alternatives: Find a way of opening the wristband without breaking it! Hard to do, we had to bite it off at the end of our stay as we couldnt access a scissors.

hi i reconise you from the hotel i work there.
il show you the best shops to go in, just come here to my brothers/fathers/mothers/daughters/2nd cousins 5 times removed etc..
they chat for 10 mins and then demand money for their time.
they dont work at the hotel they just check out the all inclusive armbands.

Unique Suggestions: say well its nice to see you maybe il catch up with you in the hotel, sorry i havent got time to chat now.

Fun Alternatives: another good way is to say ehhh sorry im a bit deaf, wave your arms about abit and pretend to not have a clue what they are saying, frustration on their part usually works.

My first stop at Carthage is the Roman Amphitheatre, where gladiator fights of a smaller scale than probably those at Rome, were held. It was a beautiful Sunday morning and I was loving the clean air, the clear blue skies, the crisp chill in the air and the fact that I was alone at a major tourist destination. Suddenly, an old man steps out of the trees and shadows, heads towards me and proceeds to speak in Arabic, or was it french? He holds out a few "Roman coins" on the palm of his hand, supposedly dug up from the site. I couldn't quite understand what he was saying and sensed something fish. Unfortunately, I could not find it in my heart to be rude to the man who seemed to me almost as ancient as Carthage itself. My ever helpful taxi driver, on the other hand, had appointed himself my personal bodyguard and proceeds to drive him away. Apparently, the old man was trying to sell me "Roman" coins that weren't so ancient after all. This tip may be about a tourist trap but for some reason, I couldn't be very pissed at the old man. I took his photo; he blended so well with the ruins you'd think you had run into one of them Phoenicians. Because he made such a beautiful picture, I have pardoned him and will never post his photo here.

We were approached in our hotel and informed that there was a trip that was included in the price of our holiday to go to a mosque, a visit to a market and then on to see the local women making carpets.
The mosque was near the market and the "guide" pointed at it and said "see the mosque" then we where marched round a food market where there was only food stuff for sale and the meat stalls had sheeps heads and cows heads staring at us, scary for small children.
Then on to see the locals at work, to be precise, a rug factory, where you are encouraged to buy a rug, if you dont want to buy one then you are left sitting in the entrance hall for as long as it takes them to sell to others on your trip, in the heat with no offer of a drink or any sign of friendliness.

Unique Suggestions: Dont go unless you are intending to buy a rug it is a waste of half a day