What lies beneath
Ben Stubbs overcomes claustrophobia to try underground
living in Tunisia.
Sleeping underground is a nocturnal activity that is usually
assigned to rodents, criminals on the run and miners. On the edge
of the Sahara in southern Tunisia though, in the town of Matmata,
sleeping beneath the surface is a novelty for the tourists who want
to experience authentic desert life in one of the town’s
underground hotels.
Houses, or buildings of any kind for that matter, are
conspicuously absent on the approach to this sandy hamlet of 1000
people.
In this desert outpost, where temperatures regularly exceed 50
degrees in summer, the Berber people of southern Tunisia have been
living underground for generations - it’s their subterranean
approach to escaping the overbearing heat.
The town of Matmata has a few cafes, mosques and hotels above
ground, surrounded by rolling sand dunes and clusters of resilient
date palms. Most of the citizens of Matmata however have decided
that the only way is down and have dug their dwellings into the red
clay of the hills.
As we head to the Marhala Hotel on the edge of town, the sky is
cobalt grey and smells of rain; something that the people of
Matmata haven’t seen for three years we’re told at a cafe.
The sculpted terracotta exterior of the hotel building resembles
something from The Flintstones. As we walk through the archway and
then descend into the hotel we are greeted by the friendly patron
wearing a camel-coloured desert turban and watching a television
that is protruding from a crevice in the cave wall.
There are 25 rooms in the Marhala Hotel, along with a bar,
dining cave, immaculate bathrooms and an outdoor barbecue area that
looks up to the stars.
We are shown to our underground room at the end of a long
tunnel. We settle into a bizarre experience - reclining on a
comfortable bed while reading a book by lamp light, buried six
metres underground. Part of the appeal of these troglodyte
dwellings is that the temperature stays relatively constant year
round; the walls of our own whitewashed little cave radiate warmth
as rain falls above us for the first time in years.
Heading out in our wet weather gear we take in the sights of
Matmata; a wrinkled 87-year-old Berber lady, Fatima, shows us
around her underground museum, allowing us to see the olive
presses, carpet making and embroidery of the Berbers and the caves
where the cooking and domestic chores are done by the underground
dwellers of Matmata.
Fatima is dressed in a shawl and coloured assaba headband and
her face is covered in blotchy tribal tattoos, which is a tradition
of the Berber people. Once a woman is married, her husband tattoos
her face with the markings and symbols of his tribe to warn off any
potential suitors who might be looking for an underground tryst in
the desert.
The Berbers of Tunisia are the indigenous people of North Africa
and have lived a semi nomadic existence for thousands of years in
the deserts as Roman, Byzantine and Arab rulers claimed the lands
of Tunisia. In response to the conflicts in the region and the
extreme weather of the sun-baked plains, the Berbers headed
underground. Their houses are usually dug out around a central
courtyard up to six metres deep; rooms are tunnelled out by hand
and connected by sturdy tunnels.
We climb back above ground from the museum and meet Ahmed, a
tour guide who proudly shows us his own “pimped up” cave, complete
with high-speed internet connection, a drinking well and a
satellite TV antennae poking up above the blist-ering surface.
Not far from our hotel is the main attraction that draws people
to Matmata, the infamous Hotel Sidi Driss. The hotel was used in
the Star Wars films as the bar in Mos Espa (the one where Luke
drinks blue milkshakes with all the extraterrestrial characters)
and as the location for Luke’s childhood home in the more recent
films.
Later that afternoon over a cup of mint tea, we’re told that the
crucifixion scene from the Monty Python film The Life Of Brian was
filmed nearby (the “always look on the bright side of life” tune is
sung from the hills overlooking the underground town).
Impressed with Matmata’s film credentials we head back
underground to the hotel for dinner in the “dining cave”. Mountains
of Tunisia’s specialty, couscous, are served with lamb, vegetables,
tomato soup and an assortment of pastries that all use the Tunisian
date. As we relax around candles and listen to travellers telling
their tales with Tunisian folk music drifting through the halls,
the place has a wonderfully cosy vibe, nothing like the
buried-alive visions I was having before we arrived.
Late in the evening with the rain still falling above we finally
retreat to grotto number 15 and drift off to sleep. In the dark and
toasty cave my dreams are permeated with thoughts of hobbits,
Princess Leia and the mole from The Wind In The Willows.
As daylight gradually peeks into the central hole we end our
stay at the Marhala Hotel and head back up the tunnel into the
pouring desert rain.
Looking out across the freshly wet roads and muddy puddles
across town I wonder if it might not be a good idea to head back
underground for a little while longer.
TRIP NOTES
* Getting there: There are no direct flights
from Australia to Tunisia. However, it is easy to arrange follow-on
flights from Egypt or European capitals with airlines including Air
France and British Airways. From Tunis (the capital) there are many
domestic flights to nearby Gabes with Tunisair. See http://www.tunisair.com. There are
train connections, bus and louage (share taxi) options going
through Matmata.
* Staying there: The Marhala Hotel is operated
by the Touring Club De Tunisie. Double rooms including dinner and
breakfast start at 15 Tunisian dinars per person (about $14
dollars). Phone + 216 7524 0615; see www.touringclubtunisie.org.
Source: The Sun-Herald
Posted
on
Monday, January 28th, 2008 at 12:13 am under