Close to the ferry port of Ajim, towards the south west corner of the island is the “Mos Eisley Catina” bar.   The fictional bustling bar full of different intergalactic characters from the original Star Wars New Hope film from 1977.   I didn’t get to stop here, this was a little disappointing, but other bloggers told me its not much to look out from the outside.   A short distance away is the ferry I needed to get to the mainland.

I asked at this police station where I can buy a ticket to get on the ferry from Ajim, Djerba to the Jorf, mainland Tunisia.

After finding someone who could speak English, it turns out the ferry is free for passengers and you only need to pay if you are taking a car along.

Just about to lock the bow doors, before sailing.

The deck is packed quite tightly with cars.   Note that this wouldn’t be Africa if there wasn’t a truck with a couple of goats on the back.

This is where I made my first mistake….   To get to other places you can get a taxi van from a stop a few hundred metres from this ferry port, but to get to the small desert town of Matmata, I should of got a dedicated bus from the main part of Djerba would of taken me straight there, although I’m unsure this boat looks like it could cope with a big bus…

1. Plans – 2. French Connection – 3. My hotel in Djerba – 4. El Griba synagogue outside – 5. El Griba synagogue inside – 6. Markets – 7. Christianity in Tunisia – 8. Ferry to mainland Tunisia – 9. Getting to Matmata, Tunisia – 10. Sidi Idris Hotel New Hope Star Wars filmset – 11. Secrets I learnt about the famous Matmata Star Wars set – 12. Cave homes for would-be Jedis – 13. More what you don’t see in Star Wars at Hotel Sidi Idris – 14. How hospitable is Sidi Idris? – 15. ATM machines and drought – 16. Matmata Nouvelle (New Matmata) – 17. Tunisian butchers and fisherman – 18. Libyan and Algerian neighbours – 19. Jewellery businesses in Djerba – 20. Tunisia and Israel relations – 21. Hara Kebira, Jewish school, soap and TV repair shops – 22. Jewish community of Hara Kebira – 23. Going home

Tunisia is a mostly Muslim country but does still have a functioning Jewish community with many who have already left to Israel, France or elsewhere.

There is a Catholic church in Tunisia but it is empty.  This was only used by Europeans living in this North African nation.   The St Nicholas Orthodox church looks derelict also.

Today, the different Christian organisations that work with the underground church mention there is Christians today in Tunisia but meet in people’s home to avoid persecution.

Christmas? In Tunisia?  In German?   Didn’t see many visitors here in November.   Guess a Christmas by the pool could appeal to some.

This plant can be seen quite a lot here in Tunisia.   I saw this a few times in Jerusalem, Israel.   Its largely thought to be the crown of thorns plant that was given to Jesus before his crucifixion.

1. Plans – 2. French Connection – 3. My hotel in Djerba – 4. El Griba synagogue outside – 5. El Griba synagogue inside – 6. Markets – 7. Christianity in Tunisia – 8. Ferry to mainland Tunisia – 9. Getting to Matmata, Tunisia – 10. Sidi Idris Hotel New Hope Star Wars filmset – 11. Secrets I learnt about the famous Matmata Star Wars set – 12. Cave homes for would-be Jedis – 13. More what you don’t see in Star Wars at Hotel Sidi Idris – 14. How hospitable is Sidi Idris? – 15. ATM machines and drought – 16. Matmata Nouvelle (New Matmata) – 17. Tunisian butchers and fisherman – 18. Libyan and Algerian neighbours – 19. Jewellery businesses in Djerba – 20. Tunisia and Israel relations – 21. Hara Kebira, Jewish school, soap and TV repair shops – 22. Jewish community of Hara Kebira – 23. Going home

Tunisia’s #1 most famous product – dates!   these are not the shrivelled up ones that come in a small box, the fresh ones are really nice!!

This is a huge market where you can buy all kinds of things.

I walked the distance of this road, and there must have been over a kilometre of vendors with stuff for sale and entirely locals out buying.   I rarely saw any other tourists.

Most of the people are selling out of vans and pick up trucks, but also what looks like a converted fire engine.   These pickled vegetables use recycled fizzy drink bottles, something that Arabs in Nazareth, Israel I saw years ago.

Saucepans, electrical fittings and motorcycle parts.   There are a lot of small scooters around Djerba, every teenage lad seems to have one, a little worrying as no one uses helmets.

1. Plans – 2. French Connection – 3. My hotel in Djerba – 4. El Griba synagogue outside – 5. El Griba synagogue inside – 6. Markets – 7. Christianity in Tunisia – 8. Ferry to mainland Tunisia – 9. Getting to Matmata, Tunisia – 10. Sidi Idris Hotel New Hope Star Wars filmset – 11. Secrets I learnt about the famous Matmata Star Wars set – 12. Cave homes for would-be Jedis – 13. More what you don’t see in Star Wars at Hotel Sidi Idris – 14. How hospitable is Sidi Idris? – 15. ATM machines and drought – 16. Matmata Nouvelle (New Matmata) – 17. Tunisian butchers and fisherman – 18. Libyan and Algerian neighbours – 19. Jewellery businesses in Djerba – 20. Tunisia and Israel relations – 21. Hara Kebira, Jewish school, soap and TV repair shops – 22. Jewish community of Hara Kebira – 23. Going home

I really like this place.   Djerba’s El Griba Synagogue is one of these most unusual and famous synagogues in the world.   It was built at the 19th century, although its not particularly big.

The glass cabinet thing top right appears to have prayer requests similar to the Kotel (Western Wall) in Jerusalem.

The wooden bannister around the synagogue has some flowers attached to it.  The blue and white stripes around the archways.

Things I learned about the Jewish community of Djerba:-

1. Almost all Jewish men don’t seem to have beards
2. You have to take your shoes off and wear a Kippur (if you are a man) when visiting the synagogue.  Removal of shoes is common in Muslim religious places and in homes of east Asian countries such as Japan, but the first time I’ve seen in a Jewish community.
3. There are groups of Israelis who come and visit here each year (more on that later and Israel and Tunisia relations)
4. Many of the Jews have jewellery shops in Hamout Souk in the north part of Djerba, alongside Muslim jewellery shops.   More soon.
5. The men were singing prayers when I visited this place, later when I was reading an article elsewhere, I saw the face of the man I saw here, he comes and prays every single day.
6. There is strict security to get into the synagogue following some terror attacks in the past, relatively rare, but two tragic incidents did happen.
7. The garden at the back of the synagogue is quite pretty with a big olive tree, and several of these tall look-out posts.
8. There are only approx 1,000 Jews left in Djerba, most families have 6-7 children, which means probably there’s a relatively small number of families who are quite big in number I think.
9. You have to drop in 1 dinar (UK 30p) minimum to visit the Synagogue.    Of course, it is closed to visitors on the Sabbath, as its a fully functioning house of worship as opposed to this one in Fez, Morocco which is beautifully restored but empty.
10. There were some Muslim women who had come just to visit.
11. There were very few visitors in the synagogue as I’m here in November so there were no more than 6-7 people there when I visited.

This is truly an amazing looking religious temple with a variety of colours, textures and character like no other.

1. Plans – 2. French Connection – 3. My hotel in Djerba – 4. El Griba synagogue outside – 5. El Griba synagogue inside – 6. Markets – 7. Christianity in Tunisia – 8. Ferry to mainland Tunisia – 9. Getting to Matmata, Tunisia – 10. Sidi Idris Hotel New Hope Star Wars filmset – 11. Secrets I learnt about the famous Matmata Star Wars set – 12. Cave homes for would-be Jedis – 13. More what you don’t see in Star Wars at Hotel Sidi Idris – 14. How hospitable is Sidi Idris? – 15. ATM machines and drought – 16. Matmata Nouvelle (New Matmata) – 17. Tunisian butchers and fisherman – 18. Libyan and Algerian neighbours – 19. Jewellery businesses in Djerba – 20. Tunisia and Israel relations – 21. Hara Kebira, Jewish school, soap and TV repair shops – 22. Jewish community of Hara Kebira – 23. Going home

One of these is a synagogue and one is a mosque a short walk away, actually, apart from the tower, they aren’t that different from the outside.   Many of the old buildings in Tunisia are white and blue and little domed roofs including once not used for religious practice.

For me as a Christian, I’ve worked quite closely with Jewish people.  After living in Israel, one of the reasons I wanted to visit this Tunisia, is I believe it is one of the last few mostly Muslims nations which still has a Jewish community left.

When I visited Morocco in 2015, I visited there to see a now deserted Jewish community, synagogues, cemeteries, and implements used with Jewish holidays in second-hand stores – but no Jews left.   Tunisia had 100,000 Jews and Morocco had 260,000 in the 1950s, today there are around 1,000 Jews in Djerba and 500 in Tunis the capital.

With the synagogue behind me, these plant pots are there to prevent car-ramming attacks, something Israel has implemented quite a lot, and European cities have experienced car ramming by Islamic terrorists in recent years have had to plan also.

Visiting the synagogue requires going through a checkpoint due to a couple of tragic terror incidents in the past.   This isn’t that much of an inconvenience, just putting bags through an x-ray machine and walking through a door frame metal detector.

Inside this place looks amazing and very different…

1. Plans – 2. French Connection – 3. My hotel in Djerba – 4. El Griba synagogue outside – 5. El Griba synagogue inside – 6. Markets – 7. Christianity in Tunisia – 8. Ferry to mainland Tunisia – 9. Getting to Matmata, Tunisia – 10. Sidi Idris Hotel New Hope Star Wars filmset – 11. Secrets I learnt about the famous Matmata Star Wars set – 12. Cave homes for would-be Jedis – 13. More what you don’t see in Star Wars at Hotel Sidi Idris – 14. How hospitable is Sidi Idris? – 15. ATM machines and drought – 16. Matmata Nouvelle (New Matmata) – 17. Tunisian butchers and fisherman – 18. Libyan and Algerian neighbours – 19. Jewellery businesses in Djerba – 20. Tunisia and Israel relations – 21. Hara Kebira, Jewish school, soap and TV repair shops – 22. Jewish community of Hara Kebira – 23. Going home

My journey from London to Paris might be the cheapest journey across water to another nation ever.

I like Flixbus, it is a German-owned coach company that joins many different European main cities together.    I didn’t even know that this journey existed cross-continent.  I used Flixbus to go from Vienna to Bratislava to Budapest, an emergency Luxembourg to Brussels last year after an airline strike.

This trip avoids to £40-200 fee of the Eurostar as a passenger, instead, the bus can drive onto a huge carriage of the train.   The downside is this journey is over eight hours overnight and try to sleep in a funny sort of position which made me wake up with cramp.   During the journey, you have to get off the bus and do the formal process of  passport check-in and have time to use the loo and get coffee (from a vending machine)

I like the Paris metro.   If the London Underground was this cheap, then I’d save enough from my commute to work for another trip.  You can get to see a few famous landmarks from a distance.

The Arc De Triomphe is interesting, mainly as I have seen a Spanish have a clone of it in Barcelona, and I think there is another one in Bucharest, Romania.   The most curious thing is no lines between traffic lanes so it’s not obvious how many vehicles can encircle this monument.

I think France has some strict laws on pollution, so older cars including classic French vehicles are absent, this is in contrast to elderly French automobiles which are everywhere in North Africa.   So from another train, I go to Orly airport south of Paris I got my flight to Tunisia.

1. Plans – 2. French Connection – 3. My hotel in Djerba – 4. El Griba synagogue outside – 5. El Griba synagogue inside – 6. Markets – 7. Christianity in Tunisia – 8. Ferry to mainland Tunisia – 9. Getting to Matmata, Tunisia – 10. Sidi Idris Hotel New Hope Star Wars filmset – 11. Secrets I learnt about the famous Matmata Star Wars set – 12. Cave homes for would-be Jedis – 13. More what you don’t see in Star Wars at Hotel Sidi Idris – 14. How hospitable is Sidi Idris? – 15. ATM machines and drought – 16. Matmata Nouvelle (New Matmata) – 17. Tunisian butchers and fisherman – 18. Libyan and Algerian neighbours – 19. Jewellery businesses in Djerba – 20. Tunisia and Israel relations – 21. Hara Kebira, Jewish school, soap and TV repair shops – 22. Jewish community of Hara Kebira – 23. Going home