Took THREE louages to get to Matmata from Douz (it’s not really that far… just the way the connecting towns work). Sometimes you have to wait a while for the Louages to leave (had to wait 2 hours for one in Tozeur); luckily no big waits this day though.
Booze in these parts are scarce; with my big 30th birthday in a day or so, we were getting worried. We decided to leave me with the bags at the station in Gabes (one of the connecting towns) while Jen and Jamie went on a mission. Well within 20 minutes they showed up with a flat under arm (they took a cab to the supermarket where sometimes they have it); my jaw nearly hit the ground (and I think many others couldn’t help but notice) when they showed up.
Matmata is a very small, quiet town; it’s claim to fame is the Sidi Driss Hotel, which was the set for Uncle Owen and Aunt Baroo’s (sp) house (aka Luke Skywalker’s) in Star Wars. We ended up staying at a nearby “troglodyte” style hotel which was nicer for less money (rooms are underground with central, circular, outdoor area connecting them… think of Star Wars!!) Landscape around reminded me of Arizona: red sand, rocky, flat-topped mountains, etc.
Plan the next day was to take a private car through 5 or 6 villages and have the driver leave us in Tataouine… ended up raining all night (for the 1st time since we’ve been here) and woke up socked in with fog… so trip was cancelled (too bad – we managed to cut the guys price in half). So before making our own way to Tataouine we went and checked out the Star Wars hotel and had a beer. Parts of the set are actually still in place! (Eddie was in heaven)…
Our hotel room
Sidi Driss hotel
Sidi Driss group
Sidi Driss where Luke ate