This is the second in a series of four posts about Star Wars in Tunisia. Please click here to read last week’s installment on Jedi cloaks.
Djerba (or Jerba) an island in the Mediterranean Sea off the Tunisian Mainland claims to be the “land of the lotus eaters” of Homerian fame. It is popular as a beach resort destination with sun-seeking Europeans.
While Matmata in southern Tunisia assiduously promotes its Star Wars connections, Djerba is rather understated about it. This 2008 Sydney Morning Herald travel article, for example, makes no mention of the fact that Ben Kenobi’s house is located on the island. Most organised tours don’t go there either, from what I can see.
An old mosque called Sidi Jmour on the unpopulated western side of the island served as the home of Ben Kenobi (as Obi Wan Kenobi was known in his post-Jedi years) in the original Star Wars movies. It’s in a remote spot, there are no buses to the site and it’s not sign-posted with anything Star Wars related. We only found the place because we knew what to look for.
We didn’t have a car or bicycles so we decided to hike part of the way. We caught a taxi from our hotel in Houmt Souk to Borj Jellij, an old lighthouse fort, on the far north-west coast.
Borj Jellij
When we got there we were uncertain about which road to take – there seemed to be several flat, dirt roads that all looked the same and there were signs pointing to the airport. Fortunately a Tunisian guy came over to say hello. He was keen to practise his English and show off his knowledge of Australia – he knew that Sydney was the biggest city but Canberra was the capital, that we have kangaroos there, and that much of the land, like Djerba, is quite arid. He drew a map for us and set us on our way.
Our path southward was a dirt road, flooded in many parts. The land was flat and covered in low vegetation and sandy soil. The shoreline was rocky but the sea was clear and a lovely turquoise colour.
After about an hour and a half, we came to an abandoned mosque complex. There were white buildings with domes and arches, out on a point so that the sea was on three sides. This was Sidi Jmour – or Ben Kenobi’s house.
It was weird to see it because certain parts of the building, and particular angles, were familiar from watching the films. Other aspects were wholly unfamiliar, such as the seaside location. It felt almost as if they had transported Ben Kenobi’s house in Tataouine to a new location and then expanded it.
The site is completely abandoned. There is a road but that is all. There is no one there to manage the site or sell a ticket. We could walk around and go inside – where there is interesting graffiti as you will see below – as we pleased. We had the place completely to ourselves for the first half hour.
We were quite tired at this point, especially since we were walking in trainers rather than hiking boots. Fortunately, while we were checking the place out, an older French couple arrived by car. They offered us a lift further south to Adjim, from where we could catch a bus back to Houmt Souk. It was quite a fun road to drive down and the guy was really into the challenge and the gamble of choosing left or right around a puddle or mud slick. It lent a sense of adventure and fun to the experience.
When we got to Adjim, we saw our first sign post to Sidi Jmour – of course, by now we had been there and done that.
The next post in the series will be published next Monday. Please subscribe so you don’t miss out.
Related posts: Star Wars series
Also: Other posts on time travel. (The events of Star Wars happened ‘a long time ago’, don’t you know?).
Great post, and lovely photos! I enjoy reading about stories that are off the beaten normal path. Great find.
Another perfect post that is making our trip to Tunisia sound more and more like a necessity! My son is going to flip out when he sees this post. Thank you!
.-= Dim Sum, Bagels, and Crawfish´s last blog ..Imagine Childhood =-.