Day 7 - Friday 28 May 2010
Photos by Robert Cunningham & Mark Dermul.
Waking up in the
middle of the set dressing of the
Lars Homestead at the Sidi Driss hotel in
Matmata is quite an experience.
Do you remember the last time you opened your eyes and your
first words were ‘Oh, wow!’? Exactly.
Since we weren’t
really in a big hurry – today would simply be a long jeep
drive back to Houmt Souk on the island of Jerba – we took
the time to have a long and Star Wars themed breakfast. In
the movie, Luke and his guardians Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru
drink some sort of blue milk. Needless to say that – thanks
to UK Pioneer Terry who brought the blue food colouring and
exact replica cups from the original company – we had our
very own blue yogmash as well during breakfast.
Terry borrowed
Mike’s Sandtrooper gear thus claiming the title of being the
first UK member of the 501st garrison to troop at
this location. Good times! But alas, soon came the time to
say goodbye to this wonderful place.
The jeep drive to
Jorf was hot and uneventful, but
the crossing by ‘le bac’ to Jerba was able to cool things
down a bit, thanks for a wonderful breeze. We continued on
to Guellala, the village where
pottery has been an artform for hundreds of years. The men
create the pottery and the women are responsible for the
intricate paintwork on them. Souvenir time!
Then we drove on to
Houmt Souk where we could leave
our bags at the hotel Marhalla and relax for the rest of the
day. Some of us went out to buy souvenirs, others stocked up
on harissa, a wonderful spicy tomato/pepper mix served with
every meal as an appetizer (you dip your bread in it). Hmmmm…
In the hotel’s inner
courtyard we spent the remainder of the evening with some
cool drinks and exchanged stories and experiences. We even
had Terry read us from his own sci-fi comedy book
Kangazang
(I would recommend it to everyone) before hitting the sack
one final time.