TravelEatShopSleep.com: Fall Break, Exploring Southern Tunisia

Exploring the small town of Douiret and our "hotel" Le Gite de Douiret

We arrived late in the afternoon, not knowing quite what to expect in regards to the hotel where we had reservations. What a pleasant surprise!
We drove on the outskirts of the new town of Douiret, looking for the town on the hillside where the original townspeople lived until 1969. That year, they had rainfall that lasted 22 days, and it flooded and ruined many of the caves where the people had lived for centuries. Hence abandoning these caves in the hills.
We could see a white mosque on the hillside before the hundreds of cave dwellings came into focus.

The small parking lot was many steps below the actual hotel, so we lightened our loads and only brought up whatever was really necessary.

Our room was a cave, clean and whitewashed inside, and was a consistent cool temperature. There were half dozen or so rooms around a courtyard with a men's and women's bathroom. It was all kept clean, toilets flushed fine and there were showers. Meals were included in a lovely dining area with thick walls. The food was pretty good, although some of us were getting tired of couscous since it was served daily at all the hotels and restaurants. The hotel and setting was amazing and very comfortable. I would recommend this experience to almost anyone, but maybe not the 5-star hotel traveler.

Which cave is ours?

The cavemen picked their caves.

We had the bathrooms just across the
courtyard from our room.
Notice the solar panels on the roof.

Looking at our room and the rest of the ruined village on the hilltop above.
We will explore that in the morning.

The view from the hilltop was gorgeous, you could watch the sun set and the colors slowly change across the valley on the orange-hued, dusty hills. We were out in the middle of nowhere and the stars were bright!