Got back yesterday from a week in PEK, ramadan did not have any effect on the holiday.
The Golf Brau was open all day and evenings and served both food and beer, Dunkel and Hellas. Wonderful place with good food also, pizza and tomato salad excellent with a nice beer. Octopus salad also worth a try.
Around the Marina they were serving food and drink during the daytime. I would personally rather drink seven up or coke than alcohol free beer as it leaves an bad aftertaste in your mouth, a bit like cold stewed tea. Yet the waiters are so desperate to get your custom they will tell you anything. We would probably have sat down for a diet coke on a hot day anyway but were assured it was alcoholic beer. It was indeed alcohol free, when we then asked for a bottle of Celtia next they would not give us any .... they said because of ramadan. Rest my case, but why tell such blatant lies ... I know many Muslims in the UK and if they lie during the month of ramadam in theory it negates the whole of their fasting. These people are either not strict Muslims or this does not apply in Tunisia.
We of course had a wonderful holiday,.... after 4 visits now you ignore the lying and conmen, its quite funny really at times. It maybe that as the country is so poor they have no choice but to stretch the truth. The old waiter in your hotel routine wears a bit thin when approached every 200 metres on the 15 minute walk to the Marina. I just ask them which hotel is that ... and they get the message normally or guess the wrong one. Gotcha. One elderly couple on our flight fell for it and then surprise surprise spent 3 hours in a carpet factory. They were not at all happy. Its a bit like the Tunisian equivalent of scratch cards.
I would not go again in October the weather was not that good for our week. First four days acceptable with plenty of sunshine but the holiday was spoilt a little by bad thunderstorms on last 3 days. Could not leave hotel at all for one day, it was that bad an umbrella was a waste of time.
gert-jan
Got back today from Sousse Tony and only managed to get half drowned once Luckilly it cleared up on Friday as we went to the Medinat Alzhara Sound and Light show in the evening and of course they couldn't have done it in the rain. A really spectacular storm last night but I didn't venture out and watched it from the window of my room. The weather certainly caused havoc with the phones though.
What a shame with the sound and light show,I was looking forward to your report on it,missed you this last week,Ramadan is over now I think.
Sorry I missed you too Crispy, especially as I always go to PEK a couple of times. The Sound and Light show actually went ahead and was excellent though, being Tunisia, things were a bit chaotic to start with. As I travel independently I arranged to go to the show with a friend and her Tunisian fiance. The first three taxi drivers hadn't a clue about it, though it is advertised all round Sousse. The fourth driver took us part way there where we were met with a very small louage who took us the rest of the way - as suspected, taxi drivers from Sousse are not allowed into the area. The louage driver however gave us his phone number and collected us after the show, depositing me right back at my hotel before taking the other couple to Hammam Sousse. As the show is advertised for tourists and Tunisians they really need to get their act together, as Tunisians don't actually make use of reps to visit places. I'll do a report later and try to post a few pics, though as I haven't gone digital yet I'll have to wait to get them developed and put on disk, then I'll see what I can do.
Any idea on ramadan dates 2008
For 2008 Ramadan will be from September 1 - 29 and Eid ul-Fitr (the celebration after Ramadan) September 30.
Thanks aslemma, that means we miss it this year, just.
It gets earlier by approximately 11 days each year. I was thinking of going out again on 28th Sept to catch the end and Eid but may put that trip off until November this year as I'd rather like to include a visit to the Douz Festival. The dates for that haven't been announced yet so I'm not making any plans at this stage. I'm out to Sousse this coming Sunday for a week and keeping my fingers crossed the weather is reasonable as it's been rather uncertain recently.
Might alter the dates slightly if we will be unable to buy some
You are unlikely to be able to buy bottles of alcohol in the shops during Ramadan though there will be no problem in having a drink in your hotel. In the old days tourists were able to buy it, but they tightened up a few years ago and now that the Ennhada party leads the new government I very much doubt things will change, or certainly not in favour of the tourist.
As least for the locals, sunset in Tunisia will still take place fairly early in the evening compared to here at that time of year. Muslims up here in Scotland have a very long fast when Ramadan falls in the summer and it will get worse for them over the next few years. By the time it gets to 2014/15/16 there's only going to be a few hours each day when they won't be fasting and in 2016/17/18 it will coinicide with the main exam periods in schools, colleges and Universities.
SM
Despite assurances that the government do not intend to make drastic changes to the feeedoms previously enjoyed in Tunisia there are many of us who are somewhat sceptical and the hard-line Salafists are already ruffling feathers in many areas. This is obviously here but I think it will be some time before we see how things actually work out for the country.
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