Tunisia.com Blog

Pass the Parcel

2008-05-05T10:45:00.000-07:00

I have just got back to the office so frustrated.

It is not often I get miffed but then I am getting a reputation in Bizerte as the English moaner (even though by UK standards I am patient). Today I had a wonderful example of how Tunisia can improve as a business destination which I hope will happen soon.

I posted myself a box from the UK which had a push-chair, modem, storage and a lens for my camera.

I put from Kristen Heavens to Kristen Heavens and the address as my office address as sitting in queues means that I am in my office till late most days (moan moan).

Ok so happily I go to the post office to get my parcel (I have never had an international one come the office lol even though I pay fed-ex courier). The lady tells me that as its a company I have to go to customs head office I say no as it is personal things and if this was the case then why did you waste my time and send me a note telling me to come here an alien concept in Tunisia is the value of peoples time it seems. The lady in the office said that maybe the manager could help me so to come back in 30 minutes. I asked for a definite time she will be back "no" and could I book a time as I am a busy person "no" lol so I guess if i want my push-chair I better come back.

Ok so i came back to the office that thanks be to god is round the corner and then returned half an hour later to complain to the post office manager where i was told again that I would have to go to the douane office arrrg!

So I go with my assistant (essential) to the customs and I go from person to person and after seeing 7 people and spending 40 minutes I am told that I will need to write a letter and wait for the Director of Bizerte customs to come back and stamp it and guess what come back in two days which is really good as I get paid to sit in queues lol

Lesson learned

Do not commit the crime of having personal parcels delivered to you work address and god help you if you do not live near the customs office.

----end of moan---

Show Must Go On

2008-05-05T03:05:00.000-07:00

Hi All,

We finally got there and got the new website design up no doubt we will have to carry on changing things for a while as you can test and test but there are always the odd thing that comes up when you launch a new design.

I hope that you like it which so far most people say they do especially the menu which is a lot easier to use than they old one and it stays in the section you are in also so no more having to go up and down to get the menu!

The serious business starts now of updating the information and we have created a new section called "things to do" which is where we place the directories of hotels etc which replaces the old hotels directory. I hope that the MIT show this week will give us a head start updating this information as many operators will be there.

Speaking of the show we have been running about trying to get the stand ready which has been hindered by me being sick for the latter part of last week which was a real pain :-( the good news is I was sorted out right away by the local pharmacist who expertly understood my hand gestures and hooked me up with the requisite remedy that had me out of the toilet and on the road to recovery.

Car:

As you may remember I brought a car with me when i came over 2 months ago and guess what it still is not on Tunisian number plates. I finally gave up in Bizerte and headed to Tunis to sort out this and other papers for the company and I found the answer to everything (why I did not do this in the beginning). It seems to me that as a foreign investor it pays not to be clever and try and sort everything out locally your are better to go to the API in Tunis as boy it makes a difference as they have seen it all and speak English making the whole process a lot more understandable. I now have to have a load of paperwork redone which is a pain but it looks like i will be able to get to the bottom of my paperwork nightmares as i am allergic to papers especially in french/arabic.

Once this is completed I will add a guide to the site to sorting out car in Tunisia!

Property:

I am still no nearer buying or renting a place since I got here maybe I am just lazy and my mother in law is looking after me too much but i also have to have a little bit of a moan about the Bizerte rental market which to me seems very expensive and not really the standard it should be. I have looked at a few houses now and the rents are as much as Tunis especially when I am there as my face increases the price lol I have now been consigned to the car until the price has been stated. Another factor which is fair enough is that rents to nuts during the summer period and a house that is 400 goes to 700 during the summer months which though good for bizerte is a pain for us international businessmen (funny saying that) looking for a good quality rental for a reasonable price. Another couple of bug bears I have with the Bizerte real estate market are that people think of nothing of fibbing about the location of a property and will do everything to avoid telling you to location so you can drive passed (as you can usually say yey or nay from a drive by) what is described as corniche can be miles away. My personal fave which makes me go arrg is when I go to see a house and it is not finished ie no paint etc and the price is still high (500 d/m +) I mean do you want me to finish your house for you lol!

As you may now (I bang on about it all the time) I am a bear on UK property and sold up on exiting the UK feeling that things have to come down though not gloating as yet it seems that I was right and property is on the way down. I am now annoying my wife (who wants to buy whatever the cost) here as i get the same feeling about prices in Bizerte Corniche as I cannot justify buying here either lol I mean even at a nutty 1500 (681 GBP) dinars a month the house would still cost you 400,000 (181,000 GBP) dinars to buy which is well under 5% return (not including taxes etc) which when your getting over 6% in a savings account makes you feel like just sitting pretty or investing in a business which is what I am doing. I am sure this annoying the wife as I promised her a house and she cannot understand having money but not diving in there as the Tunisian tradition seems to be get a house first and then worry about money later but in my family we are tight fisted and pride ourselves on always being pragmatic (or loosing as little as possible LOL).

I can even see our next argument as we reached a semi compromise we would by a plot of land suitable for a nice house 1000m2 or so possibly in La Grotte which is the cove next to the corniche which is beautiful but undeveloped not permission, no utilities etc real green field.

View Larger Map

The idea is to buy here and forget about it for a few years and then build when Bizerte expands out here but get this the price for this opportunity 250 dinars per m2 lol which means 250,000 (113,000 GBP) before you start your house LOL! At this rate I will have a UK house again sooner!

See US at MIT stand 98! 8-10 May 2008

2008-04-22T03:00:00.000-07:00

Hi All,

I am pleased to confirm that Tunisia.com has confirmed attendance at the 14th Edition of the MIT exhibition in Charguia in Tunis.

The exhibition is enjoying its 14th edition and is an excellent window to the Mediterranean tourism market featuring hundreds of exhibitors and features a wide spectrum of tourism businesses including Hotels, restaurants, car rental, tour operators and air sea and land transporters.

The exhibition itself has a history of being an excellent event with over 20,000 people coming to the last edition its growth has been on such a scale that it will be moving to the larger Kram exhibition centre next year for the 15th edition.

We are located at stand number 98 and we hope to see you there! the exhibition is open to the public and i am sure that you will have a great time seeing what the Tunisian and Med tourism has to offer!

http://www.mit-med.eu

12, rue Ibn Rachik- 1002 - Tunis

Tél. : + 216 71 893 215 - Fax : + 216 71 784 013

Email : tourisme.infomit @ gnet.tn

Congratulations Mohammed!

2008-04-21T10:05:00.000-07:00

I hope you had a good week last week! My week was mostly taken up with the celebrations of my brother in law Mohammed's wedding.

The big man and his lovely wife Huda married and had their party in Ras Jebel which is a small town outside bizerte.

They are both in Hammamet on their honeymoon so if you see them say hello!

Meditour 2008 Tunisia!

2008-04-14T13:54:00.000-07:00

Today we booked Tunisia.com a booth at the important Meditour 2008 conference in Yasmine Hammamet.

This is thee place to be in the Tourism calendar and is where the movers and shakers of the Med Tourism Industry will be to discuss and to plan the future of the regions tourism.

This is not only an honor for Tunisia but shows that Tunisia is playing its part in regional affairs.

MEDITOUR 2008 will take place in Yasmine Hammamet (Tunisia) from 21st to 24 th May 2008. In the Medina Complex.

We should be in hall one and I will confirm our stand number so that if your attending the conference you can come and pay us a visit.

Naturally we will be showing the new design of the website and looking to meet and greet our visitors, sponsors and potential advertisers in the wonderful surroundings of the new medina complex see you there!

For those of you wanting further information please visit their website which is

http://www.meditour-2008.com/english

Nipping Down South Part 2

2008-04-12T12:24:00.000-07:00

Day 2 the lizard train

We woke up early and quickly ate breakfast and headed off to Metloaui which took the best part of an hour. The station itself is very easy to find and on a busy day such as today you can simply follow the tour buses. The train leaves in the morning at 10:30 give or take 10 minutes as for prices it seems it is 20 dinars for tourists and 15 for Tunisians naturally ley tatakallem englise in such situations and the 15 dinar tickets were ours.

The train itself is a antiquated style train which i was told was a bey train and illogically was furnished with armchairs situated a meter of so apart so I recommend getting there early if you need a seat as they we where full when we got here but some good soul gave up their seat for Sara bless them.

It was a busy trip on the day we went with all of the train full but all seemed in good spirits and thankfully the train was not so full as to be uncomfortable.

The train itself is on a line to a phosphate mine and as such you can see around the station the hallmarks of heavy industry. As soon as all where on board the train horn sounded and we were off.

The train worked it's way through the town and into the hills giving us the chance to view some fantastic views on its way to the phosphate mine itself where it changed trucks and worked its way back. The train also took it's time and stopped so that everyone could take a photo though you had to be careful when jumping off and not to be left behind.

On a nice day like the day we had you had to be crazy not to enjoy the great views and the rid itself which was not too rickety my only complaint was the western music which I thought was tenuous as this was not the runaway mine train and i would much prefer Tunisian music as the vistas deserved a more authentic soundtrack.

I managed to get some half decent photos but with a zoom lens rather than the walk about one I have at the moment I would have managed to get some really good photos.

Once we finished on the train we got into the car and headed back on the long journey to Bizerte.

This was only a 3 day excursion and I will cover all locations in more detail in our travel guides section and also add further places soon starting with the north of Tunisia. I will be down south again for sure in december for the Sahara festival and god willing before.

Please hold in mind that if you intend to come down here to drink lots of water and plan ahead there is nothing you cannot do but make sure that you are ready for heat and if you have a hard time walking people to help you.

If you have any questions please either comment here or feel free to post in the forum.

Nipping Down South

2008-04-12T11:29:00.000-07:00

Having worked on the new Tunisia.com design for a month or so we all thought we needed a break before the crunch next two weeks so we decided to nip down to Tozeur for a few days i say nip as Tozeur is a good 8-10 hours drive from Bizerte but we thought it would be worth it so that our friend Adam can see how Tunisia changes from the lush green to the Desert and so that he can get a snapshot of what the South of Tunisia has to offer.

We Started off at five in the morning and drove down firstly through Tunis and then down passed Hammamet/Nabeul and then on toward Kairouan (watch out for crazy drivers on the road there).

We stopped for a quick look at the large mosque but it was closed (opens around 8am) we then set off towards Gafsa. The road to Gafsa is lovely with trees lining the route and many small stands selling olives and olive oil (I will take more photos when I update the Gafsa travel guide later this year.

We pressed on through Gafsa and once the other side the landscape changed even more into desert and to Saras pleasure we saw our first group of camels by the road.

We arrived just after lunchtime in Tozeur (fast driving!) where we checked into the Dar Cherait Hotel which was lovely (I have posted a full review in the post before this one). This hotel was in the style of an old arabic house though to me it looked more Moroccan than Tunisian but that didn't matter as all agreed that the hotel looked great

The outside of the hotel

The main lobby of the hotel so large you need a wide angle lens!

We where all a bit knackered as you may expect so we headed out for a quick pizza outside the hotel which we found to be a bit expensive by Tunisian standards and not that nice however it was so hot and we where so past it by then we went back as soon as possible and hit the bed for some deserved rest.

After a nice evening meal which was a bit disturbed by Sara deciding she wanted to be the evenings entertainment we enjoyed the lovely gardens of the hotel. This hotel is apparently owned by a patron of the arts and you could tell as the hotel was like walking around a museum with a great selection of little cubby holes and lovely pieces of furniture which sara loved.

We decided to do the touristy thing and book a tour for the following day and we decided on the Termeraza, MIdes Chbika tour by Tozeur-Oasis-And-Sahara-Tours which cost 120 dinars for the one car which was for half a day. Excited about the tour we headed off to bed as we had a 8am kick off which as people married to Tunisians know means I was going to be raising the dead the following morning.

The next day

After a nice breakfast we managed an impressive 8:30 start (for us) and Amore the very nice guide from TOAST arrived in a new Land-cruser and we setoff to the first stop in our mini tour which was the famous mountain oasis of Tamerza.

Tamerza

We pressed on to the fantastic oasis of Tamerza which is supposedly the largest oasis of its type in Tunisia and on what was becoming an increasingly hot day a welcome stop.

We pulled into a stop where the abandoned village began (the locals lived in the new town at the bottom of the hill), and then walked passed the cafes and stalls onto the incline which lead to the top of the hill. The walk is like a circuit were thankfully everyone walks in the same direction as it is a pretty rough passage and I would ensure that if you have older people/disabled or small children with you that you have assistance so that you can enjoy the fantastic views.

Once you get to the top of the incline (marked by a strange stone goat) you have a small pass to walk through which reminded me how fat i have become and that I must warn those of you over 40" you will have a tight squeeze to get through this.

Once at the top I took a number of photos (in the slideshow) and then began the walk down into the oasis itself. This is a beautiful place and i loved the little channels cut so that the water was directed to the inhabitants showing that this was a lifeblood for the town when people lived here which considering the heat (mild apparently) would not be something that I would do. Amazingly there where a number of frogs living in the small pool in the oasis how did they get there?

After taking loads of photos which i will use for the more detailed travel guide section on the town we headed back for a drink in the stalls at the end of the walk 10 minutes of relaxation and then back into the cruiser for the next stop on the tour.

The Waterfall and the Old Town
After leaving the Oasis we drove to another oasis with a nice waterfall and wetland, one can only imagine the joy of finding one of these in the old days when traveling during a hot day. Again we found that their where little frogs (one pictured in the slideshow) which seemingly where a different sort than the ones in the other pool. My father in law decided to buy a baby palm tree for the garden in Bizerte and we took some photos and headed to our next stop.

On the road to Mides we passed the Tamerza palace hotel which had a fantastic view over the old town which was destroyed by flooding and then abandoned. The next time I come I will definitely take a walk down there as it looked very interesting, on this visit however I was on a timeframe and had to be content with a couple of photos and left wishing the canon EFS fairy would leave me a 200x lens under my pillow.

The Canyon of Mides

We pressed on and then came to the canyon which was impressive especially as folks seemed to live right on the edge of a certain death drop. The sides of the canyon where flanked by stalls selling textiles, stones and all manner of things I wanted to go into the town however again I was a little pressed for time and Sara vocally wanted to bring proceedings to a close again I was thinking I will return for more detailed photos and history when I come for the festival in Douz in December.

Having finished taking photos I joined the others who had got back into the car and we headed back to the hotel not enough time for me but then the half day tour crammed in a lot of sights in a short period of time and is something i would definitely recommend going on when in tozeur.

The afternoon

After the tour we headed into Tozeur for some lunch and then returned to the hotel for a swim and short kip. After this I decided to drive with Adam and my father in law for a quick visit to Nefta.

The drive to Nefta is an nice flat straight road that really gave a lovely relaxing feeling with little to distract on the side of the road aside from miles of desert. As the night drew in we pulled over and the silence is something that you just do not get when living in the city. As for Nefta itself you are struck immediately by the size of the forest of palms this indeed is a paradise in the desert. Even the town of Nefta itself is nice with wide streets and women and children walking about.

The town lies above the oasis on the other side of the road which leads to Algeria and as you pull over you feel compelled to go into oasis and explore.

As the night was drawing in we only paid a fleeting visit to the Oasis and steered clear of the tourist path fearing death by land-cruiser it was fascinating to see agriculture and small towns in the oasis you get the feeling that living here is nice especially for a date lover like my father in law who was contemplating sending my friend Adam to certain death up a 50 ft palm to get some for him.

With night drawing in and Hajer calling me to come back for dinner at the hotel we drove back via a lovely mosque where we stopped for Maghreb and then we headed back down the road windows down feeling the warm desert air we are definitely coming back even if it is for this feeling alone and next time I am staying in a tent as I love the ambiance.

We arrived back at the hotel for our evening meal and went to bed excited about the Lizard Train and the drive home.

I will post the details of day two in my next post :-)

The Dar Cherait Tozeur in Depth Hotel Review

2008-04-12T02:25:00.000-07:00

Myself and Hajer with some guests stayed at the hotel Dar Cherait Tozeur for two nights so that my friends could experience the fantastic south of Tunisia.

Getting there

Finding the hotel is simplicity itself as it is located in the middle of the “zone touristique” on the main route. If you have a problem finding the hotel simply ask as it is one of the most famous hotels in Tozeur. Once you arrive you can usually park in the front of the hotel though space is limited which we found a couple of times when we returned to the hotel during the evening after nipping out.

View Larger Map

The Hotel

When you arrive at the hotel is it feels like the name suggests that you have been invited to a large private house as the front is both elegant unassuming and welcoming. This extends to the entrance and the sumptuous lobby area you are immediately struck with the attention to detail and the craftsmanship of the hotel however be aware that this is not the typical Tunisian style and is more of a Arabic palace generically which I am sure experts would say was more Moroccan/Syrian given the opulence an dark woods used. This however is nit picking as my guests where well impressed and felt like they where staying with the Bay of Tunis.

Checking in

The reception is located to the right once inside the hotel and checking in was straightforward aside from the small fact that we thought the hotel was 78 euro per room per night for a four star (as on some websites) only to find that the hotel was 5 star and actually more like this per person ooof. Having driven from Bizerte I took the beating and paid out though please hold this in mind when you book.

Check in was smooth after this and and I departed now skint to the rooms.

The Rooms

You walk from reception though some lovely halls with art and little coves, which Sara loved and this opens up into lovely courtyards where coloured tiles reach up the three floors of rooms. This everyone agreed was lovely though we did note that disabled access to the lower floor was seemingly non existent (we had a pram) so please hold this in mind when booking this hotel.
Given the fantastic communal areas we felt a little underwhelmed when we reached the bedrooms themselves. We had a triple room for the boys and a double for me Hajer and Sara.
The Triple: Three queen size doubles in a large room with patio the beds looked a bit old as did the furniture inside the room along with the television. Given the hotels antiquated style it gets away with this if you where staying in a modern hotel you would not be satisfied with this at the cost we paid.

The toilets where in an old style with nice tiles which fitted in with the ethos of the hotel but did not offer anything opulent or unique for the price range.

The Double: This room featured a tile clad plinth on which the bed stood which was hard but comfortable this initially had a better impression than the free standing beads in the triple room a metal cot was provided however it was missing an end to it which made it to dangerous to use for our active baby*

The bathroom again featured nice tiles and was large with a powerful shower nice but not as spectacular as the hotel outside the room.

Both rooms featured air conditioning but not excellent units and I found it difficult to get the room really cold.

* An important thing we noticed about the rooms is that given the style there are a lot of hard edges to surfaces near the bed and in the bathrooms the double beds in particular featured a base which was tiled which a step that I slipped on and supped my toes at least 5 times during my stay this may be a concern to those with small children, elderly or clumsy like myself.

Outside

Outside the rooms you have a little covered patio which to be honest we didn’t use for anything rather than drying clothes as it doesn’t have a great view. However again once you walk around to the main hotel the gardens are lovely featuring bits of art and artisan items (albeit some Moroccan in style). This hotel is lovely to look at you forgive the long walk from the room to the pool as the bridge heading to the pool and the pool itself is so lovely. The pool is an elegant affair and when I am a billionaire I will have one just like it as the tiles are so lovely there are not kids pools or spas with the pool it is simple and has a building next to it which houses a café and sauna facility.

Service and Dining

The fantastic décor extends itself to the dining areas of the hotel, which carry on the theme the service was efficient rather than attentive but gave no reason for complaint and the food also was good rather than excellent with a nice selection of Tunisian dishes. I would rate this good as it was not wonderful given the 5 star rating of the hotel and the price having stayed in some fantastic hotels in the past.

Breakfast

Breakfast again was nice without being fantastic coffee was not good (becoming a theme for me in hotels) same as with evening meals nice without being opulent.

Animation

This hotel was lovely to walk around and admire he paintings and artefacts however aside from the pool and music during meals there was little to do so I would guess children would be bored as little entertainment was obviously available. There is a spa in the hotel but this was at extra cost which seemed reasonable given the prices at other 5 star hotels for similar services.

Indoor pool

No indoor pool was found at this hotel I guess it is never cold here ;-)

Summary

This is a beautiful hotel I was told that the owner of this hotel is the governor of Tozeur and that he is a man of artistic taste, from his hotel this is obvious. I left the hotel feeling that I wanted to build a little version of it for myself in a more Tunisian style. For those of you wanting to feel like your back a few hundred years and enjoy your coffee like the Bey this hotel is for you. I give the theme and hotel itself 5 out of 5.

However this hotel is not perfect and thus I cannot give it 5 stars as the rooms are not of the same standard as the public areas of the hotel and if a hotel wants to charge 5 star prices and be 5 stars it needs to be judged as such, also the service was nice and friendly but not attentive we found ourselves looking for someone to serve us a coffee a number of times. The rooms need an overhaul with safer fixtures and fittings better televisions and just the same amount of love as the entrance and halls then with a little better service this hotel would be fantastic.

Overall Rating 4 out of 5: Hotel 5 Rooms and Service 3.5 if you have the money I recommend this hotel you will forget the rooms but the building will stay in the memory and photos for a long time.

http://www.darcherait.com.tn

Please feel free to discuss this and other Hotels in our forum

If you feel this review is unfair or incorrect please either comment or email me at support@tunisia.com

Digital Desert

2008-04-08T10:33:00.000-07:00

Apologies for the lack of postings I have been without Internet for over 3 days now which has been really really annoying. We have managed to make progress on the new design but still arrrrgh! I cannot live without Internet anymore I am literally connected in all aspects of my life.
After some horrible weather things are looking brighter and I hope in the next week or so take my friend who is over from the UK to the south for a tour for a few days (if I have internet to finish the new design!).

This week Ramzi and myself are looking to confirm our attendance in the Mediator conference and possibly attending the MIT conference also. We need to raise our profile as Tunisians assume that we are based far away.

The MIT conference is running from the 8-10 May in Charguia and is one of the large conferences that take place for the tourism industry in Tunisia. I will confirm on the blog if we are exhibiting there so that if anyone is about they can come and say hello!

MIT Exhibition details: www.mit-med.com.tn Tel: 00 216 71 89 32 15

Ok Thats it for now I am now going home to get packed for the drive down south I will take some photos and video for you all.

I hope to take in the desert train this time and also get some new photos of El Jem if possible I will also be doing another hotel review which I will place on the blog once completed.

Keep safe and speak soon!

Kris

In Depth Review: Yasmine Marina Palace

2008-04-02T00:54:00.000-07:00

Now that I am in Tunisia full time I am going to review more hotels and also go more in depth than the usual review that is available in the hotel details in the hotels directory.

The Yasmine Marina Palace is situated in a secondary position behind the marina in the centre of Hammamet the hotel doesn’t have direct beach access however it is very centrally located and next to where the action is.

This hotel is available through all of the major online travel agents in the UK and we paid 39 pounds per room per night for two rooms half board.

Agrandir le plan

If you are driving to the hotel it is simplicity itself to find as you head into Yasmine and then take the left before you get the marina and there you are.

Arrival

The hotel itself is different from the monolithic hotels that are the norm in Yasmine and makes a nice change especially as I have a soft spot for small hotels. You enter the car park and you can park right outside the nice looking hotel building which is a nice pale terracotta colour and logically has a clean nice large entrance which welcomes you in.

As with most modern Tunisian hotels this hotel has a nice large airy lobby which along with the clean shiny finish gives the hotel a welcoming if not spectacular introduction this is not a large hotel but immediately you feel this is one where you are not going to get lost in either (or very tired walking around).

You turn to the right where you have the usual change and reception desks where the staff where informal but quick to assign us our keys and send us up to our rooms.
As we left the main entrance the hotel began to feel a little more dated than the main entry areas however nothing unclean most importantly. Again I liked the compact layout and ease of navigation within the hotel.

The Rooms

Our first stop was the outside facing room (sigh), which Hajer assigned to our guest, as she never takes the room without the view. The room was a good size with two queen size beds however the outside room was a little dark and the view was just of the side of the next hotel.

Feeling a little guilty myself and Hajer moved on fingers crossed our room would be the other side of the corridor and thankfully it was and enjoyed sun and pool views which instantly made it three times better than the other room. The room itself was a nice if not large size and had good storage and logical layout. The slightly dated feel extended to the furnishings of the room, which though clean looked a bit passed it along with the bathroom finish and broken shower.
The television had BBC world and one or two channels from Italy, Germany and France but not enough to make this a feature, reception was mixed on these channels. For those of you that need a mini-bar this was not present neither was tea/coffee facilities.

The balcony was a good size for two people to sit and chat and enjoy the view which was quite nice as the gardens and the outside of the hotel are nice with a good size pool as I have stated before I like a nice well formed small hotel which can feel like home from home.

Outside

Once moved in we went for an explore around the hotel, the pool areas looked well maintained aside from some build up of grass that could have been swept away but generally the pool was nice and we could not be too harsh as the weather was not so good before during or after our stay. The dining room of the hotel extends out of the back with the outside restaurant underneath however this was closed during out stay.

Service and Dining

Now as I mentioned before there is no way that anyone would prefer an outside room to a view room in this hotel so I was asked to call and try and change the room to one our side so that we both enjoyed the views/sun. I called reception and was told to call back in an hour as if I was lucky that maybe I might be able to change (thanks for doing me a favour!). Naturally I called back and this time the lady told me no immediately no sorry just no which I found strange as the hotel was as dead as a doornail save for a group of students. I was told that if I called back again that they would see what they could do again as if doing me a favour I replied that as this was a four star hotel I would leave the matter in their capable hands and enjoy my stay needless to say I heard nothing.

The staff in the hotel seemed to have a good command of English as well as Spanish and Italian and German, which was good as everyone in the hotel was from another country. We headed into the dining room a little early as we had driven from Bizerte, the room itself was clean and laid out in the usual hotel style and all of the food looked clean and well presented though not spectacularly so. We where seated where we liked which was nice and everyone made a fuss of Sara which was nice however this was slightly ruined by the fact that a couple of the waiters took great fun at us for the next hour or so which made for a unprofessional and uncomfortable experience which is a shame as the head waiter was a nice professional sort.

As for the food itself it was ok but standard rather than amazing and the selection really didn’t change for the two days we where there. Salads and bread where nice though so it wasn’t a total disaster. We had a couple of cokes, two bottles of water and one beer for our guest and this came to 10.800 which not cheap was not expensive.

Breakfast

For me the most important meal is breakfast and this was basic with nothing exceptional the usual fare with a crepe and omelette stand for those wanting something warm. I love savoury crepes so I asked for an egg and salami one thinking to myself that this would be easy, however the chef told me that only chocolate and jam was available. Shame as I was the only person there at the time and little things go a long way for me.

Bars and Disco

I am unable to review the disco as this was closed along with a number of the shops in the hotel. The bars of the hotel are standard clean and cosy however we did mistakenly think that we would be served sitting down which the two staff located at the bar disagreed with deciding to chat for 15 minutes rather than come serve/tell us we had to come to the bar which I think is wrong for the bar of a 4 star hotel with only us in the bar.

Indoor Pool

The indoor pool is adequate clean and used by the guests and is easy to get to from the rooms in the hotel.

Summary

I left this hotel feeling a little mixed as I liked the building, which felt compact with a nice pool and easy navigation to and from the different areas. Even the rooms though dated where a good size and comfortable if not wonderfully so. The location is also good as if you get bored you simply walk to another place and the beach is not far, some no doubt would prefer a place right on the beach itself.

What let the hotel down in my eyes was not the building or the décor but the service as for every member of staff who was nice (chambermaid, head waiter cocktail barman) there where ones who simply couldn’t be bothered. A one stage we sat in the bar and a senior manager/owner came into the hotel which at once got the staff moving and we joked to ourselves that we would love the same level of service.

At the price we paid this hotel is not competitive with others which offer more for the same if not a little more and others which are not 4 star but love their guests more so if you get a good price and nice weather you can really enjoy being at the Yasmine marina palace as the pool and location are good however do not pay over the odds or you may feel a little underwhelmed.

Hotel 2 out of 5: Nice building, tired rooms and halls and mixed service if the latter can be resolved then it would have been over 3

Please feel free to discuss this and other Hotels in our forum

If you feel this review is unfair or incorrect please either comment or email me at http://www.blogger.com/support@tunisia.com

New design

2008-03-25T04:18:00.000-07:00

How I love my new lifestyle I wake up and go for a coffee without needing ten pounds and always go home for lunch. The problem I have is getting anything done at all since everyone is so laid back, I have had to resign myself to only achieving one or max two tasks a day as even walking through Bizerte is to run the gauntlet of bumping into a relative and to be engaged in a conversation for 20 minutes.

We have made good progress this week with the information being pulled from the old website and placed into a file for data cleaning before being inserted into the new design. You see this time we are changing the system from asp.net custom system to a more cost effective php platform which should be easier to maintain now that I am in Tunisia and there are no so many .net coders here especially with something bespoke. After years of experience with websites and online marketing I am defiantly a proponent of the 80/20 rule which means that if something does 80% of what you need work with it if 20% of what you need then build it yourself custom.

With the new system we are implementing CSS and JavaScript compression to improve the speed of the site as with the new design we have more graphics and updated the design to look better on larger displays. We are also looking at how to get users more involved with the site and trying to get user generated content and feedback into the website which for us and our customers is a win win situation.

We have also been speaking to some large Tunisian companies to be involved in sponsoring sections and providing information on the site and we have some big names already confirmed which has made me very happy as the stage after this is to overhaul the information on the site as we work to make it all that it can be. As you may or not know we had over 50,000 people on the website in January and February which is an important milestone and just shows what can be achieved especially as we know more than anyone how much better we can be.

Mouled Mabrouk!

2008-03-20T08:05:00.000-07:00

Today is a holiday in Tunisia and they are coming thick and fast with today being the birthday of the prophet peace be upon him.

We also have youth day and Independence day incoming so the office is closed today.

For many Tunisians and my Tunisian family included this is a time of reflection of the amazing man Mohammed was and the enlightened message bestowed upon him by Allah.

This celebration is somewhat of a discussion point in the Arab world as some believe that as the prophets birthday was not celebrated during his lifetime it is a innovation and thus not permissible and fear that celebration will lead to idolatry.

However we in Tunisia have a more enlightened view that it is important to remember the prophet Mohammed peace be upon him and think about the message and if this is in the context of happiness and family then so the better.

Assida

A special treat for those who like it is assida (I am famous for not loving it so much) which to give the dish its full name is Assidat Ez-Zgougou.

This is a desert and as you can see from the posters in all Tunisian supermarkets it is a big deal come Mouled

http://www.khaoula.com/assida_zgougou.htm.

This mousse comes in white and dark varieties as is usually prepared the night before to allow it to set and is then topped with luxury nuts and sometimes a metal looking chocolate.

Like every time I say I do not love something, Tunisians profess that maybe my mother in law/wife makes bad assida and their wife/mother is the true Assida Master only to be down hearted to discover that like fish I simply do not like it that much.

That aside everyone else loves it and I am sure you will also!

Up and Down

2008-03-20T03:37:00.000-07:00

Working in the office got off to a good start with the ADSL going down. My goodness what a slave to technology I have become no ADSL is like no electricity for a business like mine.

It is a lovely day outside and today we are going through the schema of the hotels database for the new website which will improve the work done on the current website which has a weak search and indexing system for the hotel information.

We definitely need to import the old reviews and then hotel information from the old website and this is what will take the time as we aim to get everything up for the end of the month.

Second week of April: New front-end design and website running on the new system.

End of April: Hotels/restaurants/nightclubs/tours/attractions review system

There are going to be a few changes to the way the new hotels section will work as we need to make money so that we can improve the website more so we are going to try and charge hotels in exchange for further information on their listing.

Many hotels have had lots of bookings from out site so I guess I am not being too cheeky to suggest that some money would be due.

The design itself is a lot more commercial and a bit larger to accommodate more information and searches and most importantly to bring the website up to date.

I am looking forward to getting this completed so that i can get on with the business of traveling and updating the site.

This weekend I have a freind visiting me from the UK so i will take him to Tunis centre and also to the craft exhibition in Kram which is a great visit for those intrested in handicrafts.

Busy Week

2008-03-07T07:34:00.000-08:00

Another busy week in office and unfortunately mostly bills and sorting things out. So far I have spent more time in queues etc than working and this is something that is a big shock to the system compared to the UK.

I have already closed a bank account as I am not prepared to wait for more than thirty minutes each time for service only to find that they person I am supposed to be seeing is away for lunch. I was then told i had to see the director of the the bank to close my account, funny how when you open an account they are not interested and when you cose one the vips want to see you.

I had productive meetings with some potential sponsors of the sections on the new website design which is due over the next couple of months.

As you may or may not know the move is not just to a new design but also to a new platform so this is a biggie and thus is taking a great deal of my time.

I was due to go to Tabarka to review the travel guide for this destination this weekend but the weather is so bad I thought I better leave it for a better day as around the Bizerte are one can never be too sure what water features have been added the night before during heavy rain.

Lastly and most importantly Sara crawled for this first time today funny I know that a billion babies have crawled the earth before mine but it is like that no baby has ever crawled before and no I can no longer leave her on her own as she is now mobile!

Vote Sara 2008

2008-03-03T06:33:00.000-08:00

There seems to be a fever gripping my in laws this week the online competition for best looking baby on the website of the large supermarket geant.

www.geantmonbebe.com is the website of the competition which naturallyhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif our daughter has been entered into. This is a good idea from the marketing department of geant as Tunisians are baby crazy and love to dress up and show off their little ones.

I will post a link so that you can all vote for Sara :-)

http://geantmonbebe.com/photo.php?SID=&idbebe=483

kaftan's and Scarves

On Sunday we also took some photos of some clothes for the souk website i must invest in some more lighting but i am happy with what we achieved with such short notice.

The clothes are lovely and I will increase the range if they prove to be popular and i hope to photoshop these and the new lanterns in time for the end of the week so that we can get them ready to buy.

Regards,

Kris

The week So far

2008-02-27T00:58:00.000-08:00

After chilling out most of the weekend it was down to the business of sorting ut what had happened since I have been away and also sort out some of the paperwork for the car.

The car

A real pain in the bum I was hoping to sort this out myself and give a guide on how to do this however it seems this is another complex element of paperwork and visits to offices. After a few hours of going to offices and wasting my time I have decided to give this to my accountant to do and this would be my advice to you. If you’re a totally exporting company or an off shoring company you get it for free however since we are not (majority exporting due to Tunisian advertising) it looks like I am going to have to pay a lot more unless Hajer is deemed to qualify for ex pat discount. I will keep everyone posted to the outcome of this.

The Office

The office is lovely and I see that my custom Tunisia.com lantern has arrived (we can do these for customers if requested) and I have been to Mublitex to buy a board room meeting table (make sure you get 10% off when shopping there at least though the prices are not so bad. This should arrive this afternoon after ordering on Saturday. I will send some photos once this has been done.

The weather is lovely at the moment and everything is so exciting as I have lots of things to do life is good thanks be to god.

My Cousin in law Karim also came to see me yesterday and told me that he is part of the Tunisian national rally team on quad bikes and asked me if I would like to be a sponsor and have the Tunisia.com logo on the bike etc as he competes to be the world champion so naturally I said yes and I hope to get some action photos and information updates on his progress over the next couple of months as he travels around the world competing. I will also see if I can get to go watch as he competes in some lovely places such as Sardinia and Dubai which I would love to visit. Make no mistake this is also dangerous and exciting and something that I would not do myself but all power to him as he is excellent and also flies the flag.

Arriving in Tunisia

2008-02-26T03:04:00.000-08:00

After moaning about the food I better give credit where is it due and the crossing itself was very smooth and on time. Once we arrived in Tunisian waters the police setup a passport control desk on the 6th floor and I was able to do the passport procedure there.
Once we arrived the exit was a smooth as the entry and we progressed to the police and the customs section.

I was stuck in customs for over two hours as I debated the cost of having my flat TVs with me. I managed to get the demanded tax down from 700 to 500 dinars however I was told that this was still too much but at the end of the day it was this or leaving a fragile bit of equipment there which I did not want to do.

I was assisted by a man who spoke English as I was kept behind for another 5 minutes as he begged me for money no settling for anything less than 20 dinars which really annoyed me.
My tips for customs.

• Don’t show them things unless prompted as maybe they will miss things as they are a bit lazy.
• Do not show money as it seems that the exercise is to remove money from you and do not make the mistake I did of having money in a bundle as people see it and then try and beg at the end. Have 10 dinars or so loose if possible and if you have to change money in the customs do so so nobody can see.
• Prices are negotiable I was asked for 700 and then paid 500 however I was told that 300 would be possible.
• When you have a car make sure that all the documents are in your name as this was a pain as the car was German and the customs folks didn’t understand the export papers all that well.

Thanks be to god I got out and met Hajer and Sara at the exit and we drove to Bizerte for a deserved relax.

The Day of the Ferry

2008-02-26T02:14:00.000-08:00

I got the Marseilles in the early afternoon before the day of the ferry so I decided to have a stay in a hotel not far from the port so I chose the Etap hotel which is near the airport which is about 20 minutes from the port. Bless my tomtom which I can recommend as it took me to the front door of the hotel.

The hotel itself is basic however nice and clean with a room costing 41 euro a night +5 euro for buffet breakfast and also WiFi is available for extra cost.

After a relaxing sleep I left the hotel at 7 am to avoid any stress travelling down to the port. The port for Tunisia is on a road that hugs the cost of Marseille so head down the 55 road and keep to the left once you see the ports keep on this road and then you will come to a sign on the road listing the exit for Tunisia and Algeria.

When I got to the ferry port gates I was over two hours early and they where closed this was very stressful as Tunisians queuing is never nice especially in a car on a small roundabout with French policemen getting annoyed. My advice is that if you are a bit early go passed the entrance and park in the nice large car park for a few Euros and relax as the gates will open about 2 – 1.5 hours before the 10am check in.

Once open inside there is plenty of space and you park in you car and wait to go up to the white booths where you will be checked in and the passport tickets and carte gresse which is the V5 of your car for those of you with UK cars so make sure you have this. The god news is that I didn’t have to pay any extra money for the height of the car ☺

Once through this you get into another queue where police men will walk passed with the objective of checking for stolen cars. Once through this you drive passed the Douane, which is the customs cabin where if you are exporting your car you will need to stop and ask the very nice policemen for a stamp.

You then co through passport control and you get into another queue which is the holding place prior to boarding the ferry which is parallel.

The port buildings are old and not that nice which could be said for Marseilles itself which seemed very industrial however the landscape and old buildings looked lovely from my limited visit.

Boarding the Ferry

After waiting in the line for a hour we began boarding the ferry and this was a very standard procedure where you just follow the man and he tells you where to go.
Once out of the car you find your floor and then your cabin and enter the code on your ticket and this will let you inside.

At first impressions the boat is clean if a little tiered in décor the rooms are functional and for me everything worked I had a standard inside cabin and it had four bunks for those not travelling alone. The room had a toilet and a shower which worked well which was nice.
After a little kip I explored the ship and took some photos and had a coffee which at 1.3 Euros was expensive for Tunisia but ok for Europeans (espresso). The staff where chatting about and this gave a relaxed atmosphere and I found myself being spoken to in English so that is not a problem for those concerned.

After the cabins there are two decks with restaurants and cafes the first has the restaurant for booked meals, a la carte and then the self service restaurant.

In the middle of these is a staircase which reaches up to the large café with tvs internet café (which wasn’t open during my voyage) and access to the top deck where I took a couple of photos.

I decided to pay extra for a meal with the inclusive crowed and paid 28 Euros which gave me access for the meals during the voyage. The restaurant itself was ok however the service and food not so great I was placed on a table with some gentleman who where also on their own and not greatly impressed with having an Englishman plonked in front of them. I however managed to get a conversation going and this made the meal pass quickly as the food was not so good a simple affair of salad, shrimp beef with rice and then cheese and apples.

Following the meal I decided to go for a walk about and then to the cabin for some more rest as I had a couple of dvds to watch on the voyage.

For my next meal I decided to try the cheaper self service restaurant. This restaurant was unexceptional however the staff where helpful and to my surprise I found that the same food was here as in the other restaurant and it came in large portions also and with coke etc I paid just over 10 Euros.

In summary if you have kids or want to save money I would bring food as it is better value and you may not like the food on board. The a la carte restaurant maybe better but if you do eat on the boat the self service food is the same as the inclusive restaurant and more relaxed.

The big drive

2008-02-26T00:19:00.000-08:00

Right the roof box is on fine now and I have already started the journey and made great progress during the night after dropping off Hajer at Heathrow the journey I am typing this from an Autogrill outside Marseille.
The drive down was very smooth and I am so happy with the new car which has great composure and fuel consumption, the roads down through France are so good and so quiet compared to those in the UK I guess this maybe down to not having 71 pound two hour rail fairs which make almost any scenario cheaper than taking public transport.

You do have to pay for the roads however and I found that the first leg costs about 19 Euros the second 36 Euros and the third well I am not off the road yet.

I slept for a few hours in a service station to get that authentic trucker feeling as I wanted to get down to Marseilles so I can sleep in a hotel down here possibly one of those F1 jobbies as they are nice and cheap about 15 Euro.

You have to check in at 10am on the day for the Thursday ferry to Tunis so I will pull up at the nearest one possible to mitigate the stress. I also note that the ferry has a limit of 2.2 m height and I think the car with box is 2.3 so this will be fun tomorrow though I was told by the ferry company that I can pay a 120 Euro fee and this will be fine but we will see.

2008-02-26T00:17:00.000-08:00

Today we took delivery of our new car which I am going to drive down to Tunis this week. We decided on the golf plus as we wanted something a bit larger this time now that we are in Tunisia full time now.

I purchased the car from Germany and I have no problems recommending European direct and particularly Charles Wilson who sorted out the car for me and also all the export paperwork for the car to be taken down to Tunisia. When Charles visited the German customs office to get the export plates for the car that said to him that their was a preferential rate when a eu-1 form was produced which would see the duty lowered from 16+% to 6.5% which is certainly lower than the 25% duty that I have been told of before however as the gentleman said to Charles we will see what will happen in reality.

Charles told me that buy purchasing a VAT qualifying car from Germany I can claim the German VAT 19% from the purchase price which is refunded after export.

Once I drive the car back to Norwich I will then get the roof box on which I have been told is far to large or the car so that will be the next challenge.

Boxed up and ready to go

2008-02-16T03:33:00.000-08:00

Sitting in a room now waiting for the new car to arrive so I can start to fill it up.

It looks like I will be on the Thursday ferry out of Marseilles to Tunis so I have a lovely drive accross France to look forward to, Hajer is taking the plane so its me and a car full of stuff heading over so if you see an English guy with a roof box bigger than his car then you know it is me.

I will post some photos when the car is here to kick of the log of taking a car to Tunisia.

Victory

2008-01-30T05:49:00.000-08:00

A great performance which should fill everyone with confidence heading into the game with Angola .

Buying a Car

2008-01-30T05:00:00.000-08:00

As we are going in a few weeks we are actively looking for a left hand drive car to take over to Tunisia as Hajer wants to visit France on the way which I feel is a very good idea as I am always up for some kind of road trip.

View Larger Map

Now that we are heading over to Tunisia full time we have decided to sell our polo 1.2 which we bought a couple of years ago at the car souk in Tunis I really want a diesel as I will be racking up the miles driving about now that I am going to be full time on the site.
I am finding it a little frustrating finding a nice car at the moment, as the following seems to be true.

• Left hand drive cars are cheaper from people in the UK than right hand drive cars.

• Left hand drive cars are more expensive than right hand drive cars when bought from a dealer.

For example we are looking for a diesel hatch you know the usual golf/1 series etc type vehicle with a budget of up to 10k. I have bought loads of cars in the past and I love to try and get a bargain which is what makes it so frustrating as you know your paying 10k for a car which you would get for 7-9k in the UK.

Naturally my first port of call is for a LHD in the UK however the illiquid market for such cars and our narrow specification means that the prices from dealers are about 5k more than what I would want to spend in the UK. I am therefore looking at the option of importing a car from Germany where the selection is greater and the prices though more dear are not so bad. I am speaking with some import services and I will give more details and possibly a recommendation if this works out but so far it looks like a professional service that suits us because you get the export docs and everything ready to go.

If you do get your car from the EU remember if your taking it to Tunisia you may be able to get a refund on the VAT if your buying an ex company car or a car that was leased prior which I would assume would be a good number of cars from auctions etc. For example n such a situation you would buy the car and the dealer would give you the VAT paperwork which you could then get a VAT refund for once the car is out of the EU.
Once in Tunisia we have a couple of options.

RS This is ex pat/foreigner plates where you pay a fee (900+ dinars I think) and you get to have the car but only as a foreigner and can only sell to another foreigner in the same situation.

VAT This is the nice large bill it you wish to make the car Tunisian which will allow you to sell the car and also for everyone to drive it in the family.

Once I find a suitable car and dole out some money I will post again and document the process of bringing a car into Tunisia from the UK.

Livin in a Box

2008-01-24T02:53:00.000-08:00

I have forgotten the liberating feeling of not being bogged down with possessions but it has come back with a vengeance over the last couple of days as I eBay and giveaway a lot of the stuff that I have been hording.
What amazes me is that wherever you live your stuff tends to expand the area in which you live which for me makes moving a very stressful situation. This time however as we are changing continents it feels a lot better as we are moving things into storage and selling some of the items that I have kept but really never used.
This has also allowed me to justify a treat or two for myself as I have taken the plunge and got myself a Mac book pro which is my first Mac and so far so good as Sara can testify as she loves it more than me.

I have also treated myself to a new camera and some lenses as I am determined to become a better photographer and also take product photos myself. My first test drive with the camera was at my cousin in laws new shop “world of silver” which has just opened and I have added a selection of their lovely products to our shopping website here. I took the product photos myself and aside from a little too much flash I am happy with the results.

Silver Products

I am going to miss the BBC especially the football coverage as yesterday I managed to get the live Tunisia Senegal match which was especially good for my football mad wife and seemingly football mad baby.

As for the match itself Tunisia started well but Senegal I am afraid to say where the better team in the second half and aside from the screaming equaliser Tunisia really didn’t deserve to win and should consider themselves lucky to get something from the game. It seems to be the same story as the last ANC where guys are good but not that good enough to get the glory lacking that extra gear to really get into teams and press home the advantage.

The second goal from Senegal in particular was a soft goal and should be something the guy’s look to cut out in the games coming up. But the good news is that we didn’t loose and thus all the cards are still on the table however better is required to take the trophy in this competition with some of the other teams looking really strong and Tunisia lacking a bit of pace and power upfront I was so frustrated with Dos Santos getting bossed about by his marker and it would seem without the physical weapons Tunisia need to really raise the intensity and aggression in the coming matches.

Saying that the goals where excellent as have been many in the competition so far.
Anyhow back to the mountain of paperwork I have to fill out I am not going to miss these bills…..

The Big Move

2008-01-19T17:06:00.000-08:00

It seems like every blog post I make is introduced with an apology about how or why I have not updated the blog for such a long while. This is another one of those posts although this time with a twist.

It was a hard year last year balancing a new baby Hajer finishing off her MA and zoomzoom the company I work for in Norwich remaining a busy place with all workload a busy web agency brings with it.

Running a website like Tunisia.com is a harsh hobby as you struggle to make the website all it can be and as the subject matter is so wide and the opportunities vast as Tunisia is a dynamic place, with a large number of new projects in the pipeline which promise to make it one of the most exciting economies in the med over the next ten years or so.

As you may or may not know during my last trip to Tunisia myself and Hajer opened a Office in Bizerte and hired our fist member of staff in Ramzi and it immediately become obvious that this was a step that we should have made a long time ago as we try and change the site from a good website to a great website. This also confirmed something that we knew from the start that having an actual office for the site cuts it a lot more in Tunisia as people are still getting used to the internet as an advertising channel, and very mush like to have that personal contact that necessitates a presence.

As we fitted out the office and started the preparations for the new design which should be with us by the end of Jan, it became obvious that working on the website is where my passions lied and I became increasingly frustrated by the large opportunities that came and went when I was in the UK. Then out of the blue came the option to leave zoomzoom on good terms and I decided to take it.

So as I type this blog entry I am sitting in a pile of mess in our rented flat preparing to make the big move to Tunisia. With Sara a baby the house sold and parting on good terms at work there never will be a better time as it is sad to say the costs of living in the UK made it a choice of taking out a 150,000 mortgage over 1k a month to buy a medium sized house @300,000 so with houses falling at the moment it finally made up out mind to take the plunge and see how it goes.

It is planned that from the middle of Feb I will be in Tunisia full time with a plan to overhaul all the information on the website and also try and keep this blog more updated with the goings on which I hope from this point on will be a lot more exciting.

If anyone wants our new office address it is…

Office A2
DR Building
13 Janvier Square
Vue Porte
7000
Bizerte

And last but not least I would like to recommend zoomzoom for anyone wanting to overhaul their website and or plan a online marketing campaign as they are all such nice people and good at their jobs.

Although I am leaving it is on the best terms and I wish them all the very best for the future and all the success possible.

I am now going to look to buy a left hand drive car now and I will catalogue the process of bringing a car from the UK to Tunisia.

Regards,

Kris