Day 7 – Deeper into Tatooine: Dust, Silence and the Ksour of the South

We wake up in a place where Star Wars and the real history of southern Tunisia almost literally blend into one another: Ksar Hadada.

We arrived here yesterday evening and spent the night among the characteristic ghorfas that were used in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace as part of Mos Espa.

Before leaving, we take one last walk through the ksar. A large part of it has been beautifully restored. The sand-coloured walls, arches, stairways and stacked storage chambers give us a good impression of what this centuries-old place must once have looked like.

But just a little further on, we see the complete opposite. Here, parts have not been restored. Some of the ghorfas have partially collapsed and entire sections of wall have disappeared. The contrast is striking: on one side, an almost perfectly preserved Star Wars location; on the other, a reminder of just how vulnerable these ancient structures really are.

George Lucas didn't build an entirely new world here. He found an existing one that had already looked otherworldly for centuries.

After breakfast, we start the engines.

Today, we leave the more accessible parts of southern Tunisia behind.

Today, we are heading deep into Tatooine.

A different kind of travel day

This is not going to be a day of driving from one tourist attraction to the next. Today, the journey itself is at least as important as the destinations.

As soon as we leave Ksar Hadada behind, the roads become smaller. Buildings gradually disappear from the landscape and the distances between villages grow longer.

We travel along narrow local roads and dusty tracks through a landscape where you can sometimes see for miles without spotting another vehicle.

Empty.

Rugged.

Dry.

And enormous.

Our 4x4s continue in convoy. Behind each vehicle, a long cloud of dust rises into the air. It looks spectacular, but it also means we have to drive differently today.

We keep more distance between the cars, and speed is completely secondary to safety. Drive too close to the vehicle in front and within seconds you disappear into its dust cloud, with almost no visibility at all.

And although a convoy of 4x4s on an empty track might inspire a little Dakar Rally feeling, this is not a race.

No showing off, no taking your own routes and no blindly following the car in front. Every driver needs to keep watching the road for potholes, rocks, soft shoulders and unexpected oncoming traffic.

We stay in contact using our radios.

We travel as a group.

And we arrive as a group.

Ksar Ouled Debbab

Our first major stop is Ksar Ouled Debbab.

Once again, we see the typical architecture of southern Tunisia: rows of ghorfas, sometimes built several storeys high. For centuries, grain, olive oil and other valuable supplies were stored here.

By now, the architecture is starting to look familiar.

Arches, narrow passageways, sand-coloured walls and dark openings.

All you need to add is a Jawa, a couple of droids and a landspeeder, and the picture would be complete.

But we still have quite a few kilometres ahead of us, so we continue towards the Douiret region.

Further and further from the main road

Traffic becomes increasingly scarce and the mountains draw closer. Small settlements are scattered across the landscape, while some of the old villages seem to disappear completely into the surrounding rock.

This is where we understand why we carefully check our vehicles before setting off.

Fuel, plenty of water and snacks. Fully charged phones, our hotspot and radios. And, of course, any medication that might be needed during the day.

In the larger towns, forgetting something isn't such a big deal. You simply stop somewhere and buy it.

Out here, things work differently.

Shops become scarce, fuel stations are further apart, toilets can no longer be taken for granted and even mobile phone coverage may disappear.

It simply means that you need to be prepared.

And as far as we're concerned, that's part of a proper road trip.

Douiret – built into the mountain

Slowly, Douiret appears in the landscape.

The old Berber village lies against a mountainside, and from a distance you almost have to look twice to see where the rock ends and the village begins.

The colours are almost identical.

For centuries, this location offered protection to its inhabitants. Homes and storage rooms were built against, and partly into, the mountain.

After a few hours on the road, it feels good to stretch our legs.

And as soon as we step out of the cars, we're reminded once again of where we are.

Dust.

Dust everywhere.

On the cars, on our clothes and, by now, inside our shoes as well.

Good footwear is definitely not an unnecessary luxury today. We regularly walk across uneven, rocky ground.

This is absolutely not the day for flip-flops.

Around Chenini – where the roads keep getting smaller

From the Douiret region, we take the northern route around Chenini.

Here, the landscape becomes more important than the road itself.

Sometimes a narrow strip of asphalt winds its way between the hills. A little later, we find ourselves on much rougher roads and automatically slow down.

And we don't mind at all.

This is not a place where you want to rush.

Every now and then, we stop simply because the view demands it.

Engine off.

Door open.

Silence.

No motorway in the background. No noise from a town.

Sometimes, all we can hear is the wind.

If the weather, temperature and our schedule allow, we take a walk towards the characteristic white mosque high above the surrounding landscape.

Here too, we stay together. No wandering off alone because someone has spotted the perfect photo opportunity in the distance. In this landscape, distances often look much shorter than they actually are.

So we take water, wear proper shoes and follow the instructions.

The way a road trip should be

As the afternoon progresses, our cars slowly begin to take on the same colour as the landscape.

Dust covers the rear windows, the wheel arches and pretty much everywhere else it can possibly reach.

But nobody really cares.

This is exactly why we're travelling through Tunisia in 4x4s.

Not to spend twelve days driving along perfect motorways from one hotel to another.

We want to see the country. Drive the smaller roads. Stop in places that no tour bus could ever reach.

And sometimes, simply stand beside our cars in the middle of nowhere and wonder:

where exactly are we?

Ksar Tarcine – deeper into Tatooine

Following the smaller roads, we continue towards Ksar Tarcine.

By now, civilisation feels a long way away.

Once again, we find a ksar that once played an important role for the families living in this region.

But we're beginning to look at these places differently than we did at the start of our journey. We are starting to understand how they are part of the landscape and of a way of life completely adapted to this dry and remote environment.

And at the same time, the Star Wars connection is always there.

The colours.

The shapes.

The emptiness.

The mountains.

The dust-covered vehicles.

If a Bantha suddenly appeared over the top of the hill, we probably wouldn't even be surprised anymore.

The final kilometres

From Ksar Tarcine, we still have a considerable distance to cover before reaching our final destination: Ksar Jouamaa.

It's getting later in the afternoon and the light begins to change. The harsh colours of midday slowly give way to shades of yellow and orange.

We're starting to feel the kilometres too.

And this is exactly when concentration remains important. After following the same cars for hours, it's easy to slip into autopilot.

So we continue to keep our distance, communicate over the radios and, most importantly, keep watching the road ourselves.

A few more small roads.

A little more dust.

A few more bends.

And then we see it.

Sleeping on top of Tatooine

High on a rocky hill stands Ksar Jouamaa.

From below, the complex almost seems to grow directly out of the mountain itself.

We drive up the final road and park our now thoroughly dust-covered vehicles.

Engine off.

Silence.

We've made it.

From Ksar Jouamaa, we can see for miles across southern Tunisia. Somewhere down below are the small roads and tracks we travelled today.

The sun is already low in the sky. The mountains become darker, the rocks turn warm orange and the shadows grow longer.

After such a long day, it almost feels like a reward.

We find a place at the edge of the ksar and look out across the emptiness.

This is exactly why our journey is called Tatooine Trails.

Not just because of the film sets. Not just because of Mos Espa, the Lars Homestead or the places where Luke Skywalker once gazed at two setting suns.

But because of days like this.

Days when Tunisia itself becomes the movie set.

Today, we may have visited fewer world-famous Star Wars filming locations than on some of the other days.

But we have probably been closer to Tatooine than ever before.

We sit for a little while longer as the sun slowly disappears behind the mountains.

Dust on our shoes, sand on our cars and nothing but emptiness stretching out in front of us.

And for a moment, there's really only one thing missing.

A second sun.