Saturday, April 12, 2008 – TATOUINE

We left Douz early. Our first stop was the side of the road in the mountains. Our bus had broken down again. Sharif replaced the broken belt and we were on our way again. Our next stop was the “troglodyte” village of Matmata. They call it a troglodyte village because the houses are carved into the rocks and look quite primitive. They’re not primitive at all, as we discovered when we stopped at a house near the roadside. We were invited inside, offered bread and mint tea, and encouraged to look around.

Views from the troglodyte home:







There was a room for the family’s goats near the entrance. Inside there was a store room, kitchen, two bedrooms, and a work room that contained hand tools and a loom. On the walls and ceilings you could see tool marks from the adze used to carve out the rooms. It was really impressive and ingenious.

We stopped for lunch in Matmata. We ate at the Hotel Side Driss, which is a troglodyte hotel with rooms carved into the mountain. Apparently some parts of Star Wars I was filmed at the hotel, but none of us could recall any scene featuring the hotel.

Lunch shots:







Our next stop was the ancient central market in Medenine. The market is lined with ghorfas, or storage rooms. In the past each family in the surrounding had its own ghorfa, in which they stored grain and other products for consumption or sale. Families from throughout the region would meet once a week to exchange goods at the market. We learned that in recent history the ghorfas in Medenine were converted to hostel accommodation, which explained the electrical hook ups.

Views of the ghorfas in Medenine:





Next was Ksar Haddada, another ghorfa site that was converted to a hotel and then abandoned. According to the sign outside, they filmed Star Wars IV there in the late ‘90s. It did look like some of the places on “Tatouine”.

Views from Ksar Haddada:







Our final stop for the day was another troglodyte village, or perhaps a troglodyte city, called Chenini. The entire mountainside was covered with paths and doorways into houses carved into the stone. It was a wicked walk up the hillside but worth the effort to see the ancient houses up close.

Views from Chenini: