Tunisia.com Blog

Tunisias First Gold for 40 Years!

noreply@blogger.com (KrisAziz) — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 12:35:00 +0000

Congratulations to Oussama Mellouli who dug in when it counted to beat the legendary Grant Hackett over the 1500 meters swim in the games.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ajacied/2770445601/sizes/o/

In what is a tough event Oussama beat the odds and delivered the first gold for over 40 years!

Everyone on the Tunisia.com staff and forum wish Oussama all the best and thank him for his hard work. We also look forward to his return which I am sure will be treated as the return of a hero!

To Rent or to Buy/Build

noreply@blogger.com (KrisAziz) — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 17:56:00 +0000

One of the most popular discussions on the forum at the moment and in my house also is the subject of house buying.

http://forum.tunisia.com/tunisian-property-forum/

This discussion has also shown up some of the differences between the thought processes of my family and my wife's family.

I come from Norwich a small city in the East of the UK which to be fair is a very nice safe comfortable city i love it there and aside from being a little bit of a career backwater its not a bad place to live.

I bought a house there for about 140,000 pounds and sold it last year for over 200,000 having owned the house for little over a year. I am not one to say look at me what a lot of money I made actually I feel the opposite I did not want to sell the house but the prices became so stupid i thought better to get rid as i remember as a child my parents loosing money on a house in the last downturn. I also hate the average guy not being able to buy the average house.

Having sold I assumed that I would be able to get a nice priced house here in Tunisia given the strong pound and to put it bluntly you earn a hell of a lot more working in the UK. However surprisingly i have found that houses in the nice areas even in Bizerte (tunis is x2 expensive) are crazier when you compare income levels. I have also come to the conclusion Tunisians are even more addicted to property than folks from the UK.

My wife is pathologically pressuring to buy a house for the following reasons

she wants a house no matter what the cost (to me :-))

houses never go down in Tunisia, never apparently

They will become even more expensive.

I am not a real man unless I buy an expensive house because successful people never rent.

So naturally I have given it some thought but I have the following issues.

A nice house of a suitable standard in a suitable area 300-350,000 dinars (152,000+ GBP)

If i wanted to rent the house (say relocation) I would get about 500-800 dinars per month (304 GBP)

This means to buy my wifes excellent investment would mean that I would enjoy a return of 3% half of what i currently get on the money in the bank.

Another popular way of getting a cheaper house in Tunisia is self build but this has the following issues.

Planning permission

Getting good builders (god knows there are lots of poor workmen in Tunisia if they come at all)

Other monstrous houses cropping up around you.

This on paper however looks like the most business savy method of home ownership as long as you get a good price for the land which at the moment is the problem as land in bizerte corniche is now going for 250-400 dinars a meter.

1000m for a nice sized house = 300,000 dinars @300pm 500m (min for nice house) 150,000 dinars or 65,000GBP

70-100,000 dinars for a house to be built (30-40,000 GBP)

So if you build yourself your looking at a saving of about 50,000 dinars but with all the extra hassle and a house that once rented will give you about 4-5% return.

I suppose it boils down to if you feel prices will go up or come down in Tunisia which I cannot see in dinars but Coyote in the forum pointed out something very important that the dinar devalues 5% each year and if you look at contracts it seems that level of inflation is built into the system. This means that if you buy your house for 100,000 dinars it will need to go up in price each year by 5% just to retain the same value as the hard currency that you bought it with potentially.

I also personally am concerned with how people buy these houses the exact same feelings i had when the market went down in the UK but since this has never happened in Tunisia before i think its an argument brewing with the other half.

At the moment I look at plots of terrain and hope to get a bargain for cash if not I refuse to be pressured as I will simply use the interest on 50k of my savings to rent a 350,000 dinar house and the interest on the rest to kick back and relax and unfortunately I cannot find a more compelling solution that makes any financial sense at all!

If you love ranting about house prices either bull or bear please come to the forum and share your point of view

Forum property discussion

Bringing a car into Tunisia

noreply@blogger.com (KrisAziz) — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 12:15:00 +0000

Hi Just an update on bringing a car from the UK/Europe as I am now taking my new car back hopefully I can already the experienced a great loss of time on this subject not to mention money.

This was a very sorry escapade and is the only bad experience I have had trying to work in Tunisia as an investor.

With all things inport speak to the Douane first and ignore other agencies as you will be dealing with them and they say yes or no.

Tell them what you plan to do and get them to agree before you bring the car as rules change and training/knowledge is not good even of their own processes.

If you find some of this incorrect please feel free to offer what you know :-)

Bringing a car in as an individual:

If you are an expat Tunisian and you have been away from Tunisia for over 2 years and under a certain amount of time you can have.

RS: a plate which allows you to have a car in Tunisia and allows you to sell the car to another rs person.

FCR: Import a car and pay tax on it in the range of 18% percent you are allowed one of these. Car will have Tunisian plates.

Somtimes you will get people offering to sell this (illegal) and this is not advised as they will need to import the car in their name and the car will be theirs for its life until sold to another FCR

Also there are some rues in place for foreign key workers for companies again this to me seemed a closed shop so unless you big Tunisian company gets this for you do not assume you will get it.

Bringing in a Car as a foreign investor

If you read the FIPA do***entation as I did ask them and speak to the customs. You will be told that bringing your car is easy allowing you the pleasure of creating jobs in Tunisia. Alas it is not really easy and you need to have.

1. A commercial enterprise: Not a internet company or service company. This means somthing easy for the customs to understand like a factory etc.

2. Approval from the API: The promotion of industry government body forms to be filled in etc.

3. Approval from the Douane: Yes approval again and they can also say no if they like.

So fo me I made the following mistakes I am not offshore nor am I a factory so in their eyes the largest tourism website about tunisia with over 50,000 potential customers a month for Tunisia is less worthly than a factory and thus I have had zero help at all from anyone aside from Expat Solutions who I pay.

My advice is either if your husband is an expat then no problem FCR but if an investor pay somone to do the papers before you come in the car and have a Tunisian car if at all possible as the upside of this that Tunisian cars at the moment deprecieate much more slowly than imported cars (tunisian number-plate).

Sorry for a bit of a rant but I hope my expensive mistakes help others.

I love Tunisia but you shouldn't have to work 6 months to ge a no and the time i have spend/wasted doing this is would have resulted in a lot more work being done. I am not the only one and this issue happens to lots of folks so be warned!

My New little Friend

noreply@blogger.com (KrisAziz) — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 11:45:00 +0000

Funny Tunisia living here has been so easy I forget that I am not home sometimes, but from time to time you get little things that remind you your not in Norwich anymore.

Today in my office I have a new friend to protect me from the flies.

He/she is a little Menemerus silver (i think correct me if I am wrong) which is a little jumping spider.

What makes this one special is that for some reason he/she seems to love me and keep jumping all over my desk.

Even stranger is that he/she disappears when I get the camera but I will try and get a photo once get a chance.

Below is a image from the net which looks like the same species.

http://opencage.info/pics/files/200_8295.jpg

I do not like spiders but I like them more than flying cockroaches (I had one land on my face once whilst on the phone and screamed like a little girl) but this little one is very different as it is furry squat and positively friendly/brave.

Naturally after my interaction I Wikipedia'd my new pet and discovered that they can jump 50 times the length of their body using a system of internal hydraulics.

Netsurf Corniche

noreply@blogger.com (KrisAziz) — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 13:02:00 +0000

Apologies for being AWOL for a couple of days as I have had to help Hajer launch her new business which is an internet training centre in the Corniche in Bizerte.

You may even see me helping out over the ext few evenings as the staff get settled in.

Facilities are a little thin on the ground in the Corniche of Bizerte so we have installed a suite of 9 PCs, printing an some games systems so that kids have something to do after day and for a cheap price.

If your in bizerte please feel free to pop by and check your email/have a chat.

Tunisia.com wise I have been playing with the forum and changing hosts to make is a lots faster, we also have a new chat platform coming which i hope will prove popular with everyone as we now seem to be getting more than 50 people online on a regular basis.

Regards,

Kris

Eating at Layalina Resturant Hammamet

noreply@blogger.com (KrisAziz) — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 12:28:00 +0000

On saturday myself and hajer went to Hammamet and had a meal in the Layalina restaurant which is part of the Oasis nightclub which is between Hammamet and Yasmine Hammamet.

Upon entering the restaurant you get the feeling that it could be a large city given the very stylish decor. This plus the fact it is part of a nightclub makes you feel that is going to be expensive.

Ironically unlike many places in Hammamet (where you can pay 10 dinars + for a simple pizza) prices are not really that bad with the most expensive dish 22 dinars and most dishes coming in at about 13 dinars average.

Sitting down in the restaurant is a intimate experience as there are only 80 or so covers in the inside though outside there is a large terrace which no doubt will be popular in the peak season which is almost upon us.

Service was thankfully as good as the decor with friendly staff who always filled glasses and where generally attentive. Hajer had the salmon starter followed by steak, myself I had chicken and we both finished with the chocolate fondant as I was reticent to take one for the team and have something else as my wife has been known to keep her options open and eat all of the best dish.

All of the dishes where excellent so in summary if you are looking for a stylish restaurant with good service at a reasonable price try Layalina which is a very professional and stylish place to eat Recommended.

Karim and Bizerte Team kick butt!

noreply@blogger.com (KrisAziz) — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 10:50:00 +0000

Tunisian Enduro championship; (From 27 January to 29 June 2008)

(INDIVIDUAL MOTORCYCLE- INDIVIDUAL QUAD)

Location : (motorcycle and quad clubs of : Sousse-qasr Guilaine-Tunis-Bizerte-la Marsa)

The individual motorcycle competition started in Sousse 27 January 2008: Bernard Vincent from la Marsa won at that race with 20 points and the second was Imbert Gerome from Sousse with 17 points.

Then in Qsar guilane on 23 February took place the second round and Hizem Samir from Sousse was the first in the arrival and got 20 points. But in Tunis on 22 nd March 2008 Sahnoun Sofiane from la Marsa won the race and got 37 points. After that the competition was held in Bizerte and Nouira adel who is also from la Marsa was the first at the arrival .But Bizerte got the first place in ranking because Jmili Hassen participated in all rounds and got the second and third place.

Moreover, in individual quad race Karim Dilou got the first position with 114 points along with the quad championship as he was the first in Ksar Guilaine race as well as in Bizerte one.

In the other hand, la Marsa got the first position after classifying its motorcycle club as the first one in Tunisia with 325 points.

Whereas Bizerte got the same position by classifying its quad club the first in Tunisia with 319 points.

In this regard, the general Enduro ranking for motorcycle and quad is:

1- Bizerte with 408

2- Marsa with 325

3- Sousse with 207

Back from Tabarka

noreply@blogger.com (KrisAziz) — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 11:58:00 +0000

Hi All,

I am back in the office after a few days in Tabarka meeting hotels and most importantly taking some new photos for my travel guide.

Myself Ramzi and My father in law had a wonderful drive from Bizerte to Tabarka which I must say was a wonder in itself with some breathtaking scenery that would befit any epic movie.

Leaving Bizerte we passed the Lake and the miles of farms into the more hilly west of Tunisia driving via the flooded areas near Sejenane where you could see the bridges and tops of the villages that where flooded for a dam.

The vistas kept coming and the weather was fantastic as we drove past farms and fields of fruit with the young children selling via stalls by the roadside. You have to be a bit careful in these parts as you do get the odd cow and sheep wander into the road however i have know for this to happen in the centre of Bizerte so you should always expect the unexpected!

We drove through the town of Sedjenane which is famous for its honey and the nesting cranes which have been provided sites in the old buildings and at the top of the pylons etc.

Pressing on we arrived at the town of Nafzah which had a busy Wednesday market which seemed to run the length of this small town. This was very popular and a great chance to get your hands on some local produce and of the time of writing this Melons where the product of the season with prices dropping from 350>200 milimes per KG a bargain as they are lovely!

We pressed on and duly arrived in tabarka passing the allied war graveyard a journey which had taken us just under three hours.

We headed for our hotel which was the Abou Nawas Montazah 3 star in the z Touristique and checked in for night. We then headed into Tabarka for the travel guide photos and popped in to see the governor of tourism for the region and grab a bite to eat in the lovely port.

Tabarka is lovely and that cannot be disputed what a beautiful place to spend some time. Walking around and taking photos was a pleasure and easy to do given the quiet streets and compact layout of the town. The weather helped also making everything seem to idillic and judging by the laid back nature of the locals life is as such here.

Tabarka is dominated by its bay and by the Genoise castle which proudly rests on a hill in the centre of it. For further information/photos please visit the updated Tabarka guide in the travel section of Tunisia.com.

Don Piccio Resturant Hammamet

noreply@blogger.com (KrisAziz) — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 12:08:00 +0000

When we where at the Meditour exhibition at the excellent Medina complex on the final day we decided to go for a meal together to sign off and given that we where in Yasmine we chose a restaurant there.

Given that this was during a quiet period of the year we looked for something small and comfortable/child friendly for me, Hajer, Ramzi, Samar (my niece) and Sara. Located opposite the Mehari hotel on the front line of Yasmine Hammamet the Don Piccio restaurant faces the beach in an excellent position and I would think that during the day you could enjoy a great view as the restaurant is on the first floor facing the beach.

As for the restaurant itself it is light comfortable and has booth seating which I like as it allows me to have Sarah sitting next to me so she can have some freedom. The staff where friendly and efficient and did not mind that we had Sara and Samar with us causing a racket and jumping about (to be fair the restaurant was quiet).

As for the Menu the selection was Italian dishes many of which seemed authentic and the prices reflected this and the restaurants location with Pizzas starting at 10 Dinars + and other dishes at 10-20 dinars. Also note that they have pork in this restaurant which is either a good thing or if your like us something that limits your choice however I am sure that it tastes better than turkey alternatives and also reflects the authentic feel of the menu.

As I am getting a bit fat I asked for a salad (not on the menu) for 13 dinars and Hajer went for the Margarita PIzza being the culinary adventurer that she is. Both came in good time and the salad especially was impressive (as it should be for 13 dinars) and I can safely say it was the best salad i have had in Tunisia so far!

Summary

A nice restaurant in a good position it is a simple affair inside and comfortable. Excellent salad and good service = good night for those who came I would come again however it is not the cheapest but considering the position and location within Yasmine Hammamet it is understandable.

Recommended

Changing servers

noreply@blogger.com (KrisAziz) — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 11:05:00 +0000

Hi All,

Changing servers again this week so head down and little time for anything nice which is a shame as the weather is lovely outside as usual :-)

Not missing the UK much as I thinking about my fishing trip on Wednesday ;-) apparently i am going to go to an island off the coast of bizerte where I will be hunting for tuna and other large game fish YEY! If I survive I will post the photos and some video though I do not have high expectations as the last time i went fishing I caught a gudgeon and i was about 12 so I am taking a jump into the big league.

We are also heading to Tabarka Next week to update the travel guide there so I will bring you some interesting photos and things to do from there.

Speak soon and keep safe!

KARIM DILOU - Tunisian Hero Finishes 2nd in Sardinia

noreply@blogger.com (KrisAziz) — Sat, 31 May 2008 16:37:00 +0000

Karim is representing Tunisia in the world Quad Bike championships and finished a excellent second behind the home favorite in Sardinia. This leaves him in an excellent position heading into the later races as he sets his sights on the world crown.

Speaking to Tunisia.com

There are basically three different types of Rally-Raids. There are those that take place in wide open spaces, such as Dakar, Tunisia, Egypt and Brazil. The Rally type Baja, as the Rally of Central Europe (Hungary and Romania). And finally there are the Rally type "enduro", as the Rally of Sardinia. Its features are that it is only open to motorcycles and quads, it is more technical, with lots of navigation and an average speed relatively low.

Sardinia is an island incredibly beautiful. A pervasive greenery and breathtaking scenery. Its inhabitants are very open and warm.

The Rally of Sardinia, 2008 edition and the first round of the World Cup of Quads has also been discreet, that controversy.

Named "Rally-raid"! but it looks more like a giant enduro raod-book.

Of the 1230km travelled the variety of tracks was amazing, the course was very technical, rocky, in the undergrowth, and with many changes of direction. Caratérisée this year by many passages TRIAL between large rocks on mountains that exceed the 1000 metres altitude as well as raids on mountain giant stone wheel with grandess marches circles! In my opinion, this was not really adapted to quads!

The navigation was very different from what we know… It was really complicated and it is easy to find yourself on a track upside down!

The Italians are on their land and who are used to seek small trails hidden in the scrubland have dominated the race Quad.

Note that this is the first Tunisian participation in the Rally of Sardinia and elsewhere is also the first in a rally in europe.

Standings after 1st Official Channel of the World Cup:

1 - Andrea Solinas - Italy (Honda 450cc)

2 - Karim Dilou - Tunisia (Yamaha 700cc Raptor)

3 - Ivan Reedtz Thott - Denmark (Can-Am Bombardier 800cc)

Calendar:

2nd Channel: Brazil from 18 to 26 June 2008

3rd Channel: Egypt from 04 to 11 October 2008

4th Channel: Dubai from 26 to 31 October 2008

My Objective: Egypt and Dubai represent the ideal for conditions for me and my Quad. My attendance is not for fun, I aim to win and climb the steps of the podium and thus earn maximum points for the World Cup!

Tunisia.com is proud to be associated with Karim as he is a world class performer and flying the flag around the world!

Paperwork :-)

noreply@blogger.com (KrisAziz) — Wed, 28 May 2008 10:47:00 +0000

I had some great news yesterday as I picked up my work permit and my visa to stay and work in Tunisia.

Some of you may have noticed that I have been quiet on this subject and that of my new car over the last few weeks and this has been for a reason as i have found it impossible to do them myself.

There is provision in Tunis for foreigners to get things done in a simple manner however this is simple from a Tunisian perspective and not from a everything can be done online 24/7 in 12 languages perspective of a UK citizen. Also I live and work in Bizerte which means as lovely as the facilities are in Tunis I find it very difficult to go there at the drop of the hat and indeed over the last few months I have spend 100's of dinars going back and forth etc etc lucky for me i have no hair to pull out.

I was about to go nuts and I was recommended a company called expat solutions based in Tunis who do a lot of work for french investors in Tunisia and folks generally who have not the time not the inclination to sit in queues all day and want to get things done right.

After a meeting with Rashida the managing director it came to light that i had done a number of things wrong.

a) Working in Tunisia

I cannot work for the wife and i needed to be the managing director of Tunisia.com not just a director as it is a small company.

b) Staying in Tunisia

As I have shares in a company I had to go down the route of a not the simple husband/long holiday etc route

c) My car in Tunisia on RS plates

Both of the above need to be addressed before you can proceed. which in hindsight is logical as you need a work permit and permission to stay and they Tunisia will allow you a car to work with.

This meant a lot of paperwork and conversations but thankfully Rashida spoke great english and knew her stuff inside out which meant it was a case of providing our documents and she did the rest. After a couple of weeks i am now in possession of my documents and I am so happy in-fact i have asked Rashida to put together some information for the Business section as I am sure most folks wanting to do something in Tunisia especially those from the UK will need the services her company provides.

I recommend Expat Solutions and Rashida has told me that she can resolve many issues and it is best that people give her a call/email first so that they do not make a pigs ear of things trying to do it themselves like I did.

As for my car now i have the other documentation it has to go to the API for approval and then to the customs and i wait to see if they say yes or no and this should take 2-3 weeks though i have the car on a extension plates (over 3 months) which means I can now use it until August.

To extend a car

Insurance (expensive) I got this from Comar in bizerte (another nice company I will recommend later)

Documents for the car and from the douane on entry.

My details

You got to the douane in Tunis

then to the office fiscal in roue de england (ironically)

pay your vignette (car tax)

return to the douane (yey)

they give you documents

go get a number (we paid 15 dinars for this)

good to go

Lots of back and forth so give yourself a day for this!

If you have paperwork issues or want to start a business/bring a car/renting/buying a house etc i am sure Rashia will be please to help and also mention Tunisia.com recommended you so she gives you a good price ;-)

http://www.expat-solution.com/relocation-tunisie.html (in french but they speak english)

6, Rue Imam Rassaa, 3eme étage 1002 Tunis

Tel: + 216 71 843 690

Fax: + 216 71 843293

Email : contact@expat-solution.com

Regards,

Kris

Back from Meditor

noreply@blogger.com (KrisAziz) — Tue, 27 May 2008 10:44:00 +0000

We finished our second major exhibition in a month at the weekend and this time it was the Meditour exhibition in Yasmine Hammamet which was located in the excellent Medina complex.

The exhibition was a conference for tourism in the Med and also was an opportunity for Tunisia to host VIPs from around the region and show them what we have to offer.

We had a smaller stand this time near the entrance of the exhibition and we got to meet various vips including ministers and also the Director of the Mallorcan chamber of commerce who ironically new my granddad who lives there what a small world!

Me shaking hands with the Minister with AK (Hajers father) and Ramzi.

The minister thanked us for making the website and said how much he liked it which was nice, however i reminded him how much more we we have to do to get it looking as it should.

The conference itself was interesting with the subject being what was happing to tourism in the med with some key points.

Economic problems in Europe will have an effect.

Tourism is changing with people wanting to build their own holidays and also explore more.

Customers want to have more relaxation in the form of beauty treatments etc

Customers want more options such as fishing hiking etc

Customers increasingly like the flexibility of renting apartments over hotels

Tunisia has massive incoming investment from the gulf

I was happy as i left as i thought tunisia.com is key to some of those points as we try and provide a platform via our directories and travel guides to try and provide information to visitors in excess of what they would find in other places and with this information in mind we will work harder still to make the site better.

Hotel Zodiac

For the three days we where at the exhibition we stayed at the four star hotel zodiac in Hammamet yasmine as the gave us a good deal for the stay and also it is very close to the Medina complex.

The Zodiac is a small hotel in a secondary position behind the beach hotels and small still than the Yasmine Marina Palace hotel which I have previously stayed at.

The hotel is unassuming from the front and in among the massive hotels of the area you could be forgiven for missing it.

I have said before that I love small hotels and thankfully the zodiac provided us with the perfect base for the exhibition when you enter the hotel you are met with a warm welcome and this extends to the animation team who even though noticed we where no business (and thus no fun) all said hello in fact all staff where friendly and concerned that we where having a good time which is very important and the easiest thing in the world.

We went for Half board and as we arrived in the evening we went right to the restaurant which is and nice relaxed with a bright and clean dinging room. The food was good without being excellent with the exception of the fish which everyone (aside from fish hater me) loved.

We then walked through the halls to the room which where all very clean and spacious though some elements where a little tiered such as old rugs etc which though very clean where showing a bit of age.

The rooms also where very clean and of a good size with a nice view of the pool and balcony however again showing age a little bit but nice at the price.

The pool areas of the hotel where well maintained and provided a good size indoor and outdoor poll and a small pool in which Sara had her first swim ever!

Summary

Nice small hotel in hammamet

Good value given we negotiated 40TD pppn HB

Very clean and airy

Very nice staff and other customers seemed to enjoy the activities

If you get a good deal I recommend the Zodiac as a nice simple hotel walking distance from everything in central Yasmine. It does the simple things well and provides a friendly atmosphere for your stay.

MIT

noreply@blogger.com (KrisAziz) — Mon, 26 May 2008 12:57:00 +0000

We are every so happy having completed the first day of MIT exhibition in Tunis.

We debuted our new stand new website and ourselves to our potential advertisers at this which is the largest annual tourism show in Tunisia.

We where fortunate to have the time to speak to the director of the show Afif Kchouk who is a very nice man who told us of his ambitions to make the show next year even bigger and better moving it from its current location to the even larger exhibition centre in Kram which will make the show the premier tourism event in Africa.

We arrived on the Wednesday before the show to get started and in true fashion we where putting the finishing touches to the stand literally 5 minutes before the Minister of tourism arrived for his tour of the show. Thankfully all was up in time and we had avery busy show with folks from all over Tunisia coming to see us and tell us about their businesses and also people coming to ask us questions about the website and myself and Hajer. What shocked me was how new we where to everyone and that not many people inside of Tunisia had heard of us which thankfully the MIT show was the first step to addressing this issue.

After 3 busy days the show came to a close yesterday and we headed home to Bizerte very happy not only had we met lots of exciting contacts we had raised the profile of the website, met the minister of tourism (photo to come soon) and Ramzi was on television discussing the website which made his mum so happy.

I will try and get video and photos of all the bits so you can see them and will add them to this post as an when I get them.

I was also fortunate enough to meet up with Essem from the forum who came with her other half to see us at our stand which made me very happy as i love the chance to thank forum members face to face.

I also had the chance to thank Essem for what must be one of the nicest things done by a forum member when she travelled to Tabarka to photograph the grave of another forum members grandfather who lost his life during the second world war in Tunisia. Things like this make me so happy and make it all worth while, Essem and her other half are starting a property consultancy www.aplaceintunisia.com an endeavor in which I wish them all the success in the world.

Kris

Havana Resturant Ennasser II

noreply@blogger.com (KrisAziz) — Fri, 16 May 2008 17:52:00 +0000

Myself and Hajer Managed to get Yosra to look after Sara for a few hours and for the first time in ages we had a meal together on our own which felt so strange we spent almost the entire time calling to see if Sara was ok.

We decided to try out the restaurant near Yosra's apartment which is the Havana restaurant in the new area of enasser in Tunis. The restaurant was quiet as we where eating early and looked promising as it is clearly new and has a modern cum african style to it with the now obligatory plasma screen tv's around the walls to reassure us that someone spent some money decorating.

We where greeted with a smile and sat down as we where both starving especially myself as i have a hankering for creole/Caribbean food. Our first disappointment was the menu which seemed devoid of actual Cuban food and mostly consisted of french dishes which though nice sounding did not match what we anticipated.

We ordered the calamari and mussels for starter (circa 8 dinars each) and then the steak (16 dinars) and large prawns with mozzarella (24 dinars). Once we got into it the food was nice though not fantastically so considering the price which was not exactly expensive but not cheap either.

If your looking for a nice relaxing meal then this is not a bad place but hold in mind the Havana is only in the name not in the food.

Kris

Pass the Parcel

noreply@blogger.com (KrisAziz) — Mon, 05 May 2008 17:45:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (KrisAziz) — Mon, 05 May 2008 10:05:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (KrisAziz) — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 10:00:00 +0000

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!

noreply@blogger.com (KrisAziz) — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 17:05:00 +0000

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!

noreply@blogger.com (KrisAziz) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 20:54:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (KrisAziz) — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 19:24:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (KrisAziz) — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 18:29:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (KrisAziz) — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 09:25:00 +0000
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

noreply@blogger.com (KrisAziz) — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 17:33:00 +0000
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