Thugga Life 4-evah

So here I am in Tunisia (and wrestling with a Tunisian keyboard; apologies in advance for typos). Tunisia couldn't be more beautiful, and the Tunisians couldn't be more friendly. I,m having a blast.

So far, the visits have been just about all Roman, all the time; today I went to the city of Dougga (the ancient Thugga): an absolutely amazing site sort of in the middle of nowhere, in the hill country of north-central Tunisia. I should have some good pictures when I get back; in the meantime, here is one of the highlights (not my photo), the 'Libyan-Punic' tomb:



This bad boy is pre-Roman, probably the cenotaph of a Numidian king. Outrageous Hellenistic architecture (I love the chariots and lions) even if it's not so subtle in its message...

Lots more cool stuff at Dougga, and the best part wqs that the site was almost completely empty. In fact, I've seen hardly any tourists at all outside of Tunis; I asked the caretaker at the casbah of Le Kef, and he said that it wqs because of the World Cup... the only people traveling are old people, folks who don't like sports and Americans...