Gabes is the beginning of a journey through what is the fascinating oasis of Tunisia that contains all the mystique of the Orient: art, culture, history and endless desert horizons.

The Ghorfas of Medenine boast a variety of souvenir shops and in the past the multi-floored mud buildings served as dwellings and storage areas for the semi-nomads of the region. A Ghorfa is a collection of buildings that form part of large complexes with hundreds of buildings grouped together around large courtyards.

Surrounded by desert is the sleepy village of Douz that was once a thriving camel trading centre. Now it contains markets and is also the location of the famous Sahara Festival.

The Torra Ruins in Mansurah are a further highlight of the journey across the Tunisian oasis. The sun beats down relentlessly on the boundless Sahara and individual palm trees appear as green guardians of the oasis.

Tozeur, the ‘Eden Of The Desert’, is a safe haven for almost twenty villages. Its unique architecture is highly impressive and the walls of its houses consist of loam bricks that form geometrical patterns.

Nefta’s new town with its nearby souk quarter is situated in the east. On the western side is the older district with its sacred buildings and twisting alleys. For more than a thousand years the town has been the religious centre of a mystic Moslem sect known as the Sufis.

As the shadows of evening begin to fall and the light of the setting sun illuminates the Tunisian oasis in a spectacular purple light this everything combines to make this a most memorable and atmospheric experience.