So, the Fabulous / Frightful Four ride again…
Am off for 5 nights of girly mayhem in Tunisia – solely chosen as its a new country for my list, which the others – Vicki, Nicky & Sophie – have kindly agreed to go for.
It starts well (BA flight at a pleasant daylight hour, rather than the usual Cheapskate Airlines 4am-job), though will certainly descend into chaos on arrival (Tunisia one of those countries where you annoyingly can't get currency in advance, so am anticipating the inevitable bunfight with cab drivers, arguing over exchange rates into the Euro and trying to get pairs of us into separate cabs, ending up at their cousin's carpet shop / scrubby B&B / brothel, not the hotel..)
And then there'll be the cultural bit – endless hours trogging round Carthage trying to winkle Vicki out of the dull bits once the three of us have had our fill of the main sights.. and sites… having taking the usual round of comedy photos wrapped round ancient pillars and troglodytes.
And then the flying bit - if the dodgy Tunisian internal airline actually exists and we actually have the seats we've paid for – heading down to the charmingly named 'Tozeur', to do 'the desert bit' – not that we've actually booked anything. Amazing how having 4 of you travelling somewhere means that each person thinks the other three will surely have sorted something out – and in this case the answer's been no! Oh TripAdvisor, come to momma… Think there are some knackered Star Wars sets down there, and bound to be a bit of dune buggying or the like…
All interspersed with a few drinks (assuming we can buy some somewhere), a bit of sunshine, some mooching round the various souks and mosques (great quote from one of the girls when I said I was packing a sarong to hide my shoulders/hair in the religious sites: 'Is a dress ok?' – Its about covering up, not looking smart, numpty!)
And quite possibly a 'whose bum gets groped the most' contest – sadly I suspect I have lost that one before we even leave, unless they like their women 'well-covered' as my elderly friend Olga used to describe me.
All the while making sure no-one thinks we're American as they aren't the flavour of the month over there right now (bit of a serious travel ban in palce actually, so hope the locals can spot a plummy London accent) and its European passports brandishing as we go…
All of course topped off by Vicki emailing yesterday with the too late question of 'do we need any jabs'? Resulting in her then claiming she won't be eating any salad, ice or any street food while we're there as Typhoid and Hepatitis are biggish risks. Hey ho – it's going to be a very dry old plate of grilled meat for you my girl…. or houmous breath for a week.
Tales and photos to come – we're back very late next Wed eve x