If you go on a tour in Tunisia then chances are that Chebika is one of the place you will visit. There is a modern town, where people actually live and then up on the mountain it the old town, where the locals lead tourists through. I know that sounds like this is tourist trap, but this is Tunisia, it's all relative, there were maybe 20 tourists in the town.
Some interesting facts about Chebika, firstly it's almost in Alegeria, you are just 8km from the border here. It is or at least was know as the 'Palace in the Sun' which is a name it lives up to by the way, it's in the middle of the desert, and it was maybe 10am in the morning when we were there and at least 35 degrees C already, but follow the man up the mountain we did.
Given it's in a desert it is perhaps ironic that the reason no one lives in this town now is that it was abandoned in 1969 after a flood came through and killed many people. At that time it was a berber town, before that it was a Roman Empire outpost
Also the trees in the shot is where we are headed on our walk, we will go up to the top of the mountain and then work our way back into the oasis
This is the view from the mountain, of other mountains...
and there is something about those distant cliffs which feel a little wild west movie from the 50's or maybe a painting that we had in our house which was done by my great grandmother in her youth, of some cliffs that are not in Tunisia, but about 30km up the road from where I'm sitting in Melbourne.
There was also a Ram statue on the mountain, which seems both out of place and entirely normal.
Then it was a descent back down to the valley between the mountains, and small river and of course some data palm trees, because again this is Tunisia
In fact you can see the path of the river if you follow the trees - a true (if small) delta
and in fact there is even a waterfall
