Part 4 continued

At this point I must point out that El Jem is a town in the middle of nowhere and because of no nearby sea, it was as hot as hell!!! We must have been in the middle to high 40 degrees here. Our driver had deigned to switch on the airconditioner at this point but unfortunately only two people benefited from this luxury. Himself and hubby who had been given prime position up front. Hubby did however pay the price for sitting next to “the Schumacher” of Tunisian drivers.
We then continued our drive to the El-Jem Museum.

Specialists recommend a visit to this museum before visiting other vestiges of the ancient city of Thysdrus, now known as El Jem. The museum contains many architectonic elements that belonged to the decoration of the city’s superb villas and public buildings and in particular, the sumptuous mosaic pavements, undoubtedly amongst the finest of Roman antiquity.
The museum was built on the site of a roman villa and reproduces its layout: a central courtyard with a peristyle leading into the rooms where sculptures, mosaics, ceramics etc are displayed. These originate from the excavation campaigns carried out in Thysdrus as well as in the vicinity.
The museum has recently acquired a new wing illustrating in a very eloquent manner the richness and diversity of crafts during the roman period.
The museum leads directly into an “archaeological park” including vestiges of the villa known as that of the peacock and of Sollertiana. It is a splendid patrician dwelling with a number of its mosaic pavements conserved in sit. The same area contains a reconstruction to scale of the “house of Africa”, a sumptuous aristocratic dwelling built around 170 AD and discovered by chance in the 1990s. It takes its name from the two mosaic pictures figuring, within a central medallion, one goddess Africa, the other the province of Africa, the only known representations of the African continent.
After a very interesting look around the museum it was time to hit the road to see the Salt Lake. Our guide omitted to tell us that there would be no shops in the vicinity or that we should consider stocking up on anything drinkable.
We drove for quite some distance, passing through many little villages and seeing just how the locals live. Along the road side, we saw tripod stands which we soon found out were used for hanging slaughtered sheep on. How anyone could buy meat from here, where the temperature must be at least 45 degrees, is beyond me.
We turned off the “main” road and started to drive in very sandy conditions. Our driver seemed to thoroughly enjoy himself, waiting for the other landrovers to get ahead and then he would suddenly put foot and drive hell for leather up to the last one, bringing clouds of dust along with us.
We came to a halt where we were all led to the shade of a fairly large tree. Our guide gave us the rundown and we were allowed to walk out onto the Chott and experience it for ourselves.
The Tunisian Sahara starts with the chotts. These salt-flats are frequently quagmires in winter but spectacular curiosities in summer. The salt of the viscous sand-mud mix dries to form a firm crust and shimmers crystalline white for miles and often resolves into a mirage.
When standing out on this surface, one could feel the heat burning you from your feet upward and then with the sun beating down on you, you felt like you were on fire. I could only bear about 5 minutes (enough for a few photos) and then I ran for the shade again. This must have been 50 – 60 degrees.
We got back into the landrover and the first thing I wanted was some water which we had two bottles of. Well, it was as though the water had been boiled.Hubby sat with a bottle up against the air conditioning until it became drinkable. That got us through the 1 hour trip back to the hotel.