One of the hardest things for visitors to Tunisia to get to grips with can be the way food is handled. I'm not talking about the actual cooking, but the way it is often sold, especially in the markets and local areas. It is not unusual to see a Tunisian picking up fish and smelling it before handing over his or her dinars - when I mentioned this to a local he looked at me in amazement and commented "You don't expect me to buy bad fish do you?" Bread is often sold by men and boys on the roadside from a stack, sometimes still warm, tucked under their arm. All this may be anathema to the 'elf and safety' brigade but trust me, I've never been ill from eating in Tunisian homes. Tunisians shop for food on a daily basis, often having fridges but only a small freezer compartment for things such as ice so most meals are cooked from fresh seasonal ingredients, although the supermarkets stock many of the things we get here, apart from frozen foods.

i know what you mean aslemma.its the same in goa - the markets are brilliant, the fish are laid out on the ground and the chickens are still alive with just their legs tied. a boy goes round on a bike selling bread and rolls.people are wary of eating at the shacks but i know they shop each morning at the market and only buy as much as they think they'll need. sometimes they run out of what you want to order because of this. and like you i have never been ill from eating there yet (fingers crossed!) its funny because you hear of outbreaks of food poisoning at "posh" restaurants here!

Yay brill new topic!

Just 'cos you mentioned ketchup I have to mention that the tomato ketchup they use in Tunisia is sooooo much nicer than anywhere else! At home I rarely have ketchup with anything but in Tunisia it's more like would you like some chips with your ketchup??

It is not unusual to see a Tunisian picking up fish and smelling it before handing over his or her dinars - when I mentioned this to a local he looked at me in amazement and commented "You don't expect me to buy bad fish do you?"

Isn't it funny how different countries have so many different customs? I have been reading up a lot about Gambia lately in preparation for going in November and apparently smelling food is a real big no no there and you would be looked upon as very rude. I'm looking forward to going somewhere different at the same time as feeling sad that i won't be going to my favourite kantaoui. oh well will just have to start thinking about next year!

It's very quiet round here this weekend!! Where is everyone?

I've been staying over with a friend but am now back on here. Anyway, I'm sure people are getting sick of seeing my name come up so I'll try and stay schtum for a while.

Aslemma,

Far from it, whenever I see your name I light up.

Bless you. I've no further news of a dentist in Sousse yet but it's early days. There doesn't seem to be many people out there at present but I'll be back on 22nd. I'm really looking forward to meeting up with some of the ex-pat community in the area who lunch every Thursday. I'll also be meeting Pittie from the Netherlands for the first time which will be lovely as she will be staying in the same hotel. Thank goodness we've all got Tunisiana SIMs in our phones which saves a fortune.

I keep saying i'm gonna get a Tunisiana sim but never seem to actually get round to it oh well maybe next year lol I just top up my old orange payg sim with about£10 or £20 and use it rather than my contract one so i'm not coming back to a big bill. First time I went out there was in 2000 and I had never been abroad before and didn't want to go but went under duress as my aunt had let my mum down......how glad am now I that I did go lol Anyway to cut a long story short i arrived home to a phone bill of £353 eeeeks lesson learnt and it's never happened again!

I got my Tunisiana SIM about 3 years ago. If you top it up with 10 dinar it preserves your number for 6 months or 5 dinar for 3 months, so I used to send it out with an English lady called Lisa I met on here so she could use it in her phone, and top it up. This helped her and kept my number if I wasn't going to be back within the 6 months. Now I simply bring back a top up voucher and do it from here.

Sounds like a good plan, will definately look into that for next year. Unless of course I win the lottery, in which case my Tunisian villa by the beach will have it's own landline!! I wish!!

In which case you can let me have your number so I can tell you which flight I'll be arriving on.

of course meantime we will just have to keep on dreaming!

Aslemma,

Hope you have a wonderful trip. As I am only going for a week, I doubt there is any point in getting a Tunisian Sim. I will take my UK mobile, and if I need to make any calls will use their taxiphones.

There are taxipohones everywhere. They are very good and much the cheapest way of making calls to England. Whatever you do don't use the phones in the hotel unless you want to take out a second mortgage!!

what is a taxiphone please ? is it like our public phone boxes ? hubby and myelf will be taking out mobiles with us , but for cost sake would prefer to use phone boxes . Only going for a week , but leaving two supposed to be adult children at home and always like to let them know we arrived safely .

Not exactly like our phone boxes but you will see lots of yellow signs saying TAXI PHONE outside buildings throughout Tunisia. There will usually be a few phone booths inside and sometimes a man sitting at a desk who will give you change and any help you may need. It is definitely a more economical way to keep in touch with home, especially if you can let your family know in advance what time you are likely to phone them. I usually just set up a text on my mobile to say I've arrived safely and press 'send' as soon as I land.

Llindy

You will find a a couple of taxiphones in the shops around the marina in pek. As far as I remember there is one opposite the boat resturant (Neptune).

thank you both for your replies 7 weeks today and i will be there

Aslemma,

Do you know where the nearest Taxiphone to the Tej Marhaba is?