a culture shock to be fair (Hammamet Medina (Tunisia))

Member Name: sarlozzer

Product:	Hammamet Medina (Tunisia)
Date:	09/06/09 (14 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: can grab a bargain

Disadvantages: dawnting

I went on a holiday to Tunisa last September and wanted to visit and experience some of the more traditional parts of the country, so i decided to visit the medina which was the old city.

This is defintitely a very traditional area where there are many souks (handicraft shops) which sell items, everything from carpets, bird cages to jewellery and nick nacks. The souks are surrounded by tall walls and are a maze of little windy streets, interlocking. The souk owners stand outside the entrances trying to entice customers in, its more annoying and hastling than anything else which put me off a lot. One good thing however is you can haggle prices of products down (if you any good), i usually started by cutting the price down by half and then they haggled it up a little.

To be fair i found the whole experience pretty dawnting, even though i had previously been to Egypt and Israel which were very similar, but was very interesting to understand how other cultures work. Even though the shop sellers can come accross rude and intimidating i believe you have to understand that this is their way of life and you are in their country, if you are polite you can have a laugh with them and even get a great bargain (if you want a peice of tourist rubbish).

Summary: an experience to say the least