In retrospect, we should have pushed on past Gafsa, but we don’t like traveling in the dark. The bus didn’t end up being a good choice over the louage – even if we had to wait for the louage. The bus was packed, and wasn’t comfortable. We stopped in many small towns. Arriving in Gafsa as the sun was setting, we found our three star

Hotel Maamoun (the highest rated hotel in town). In a word, it was awful. The carpeted hallways looked like they hadn’t been vacuumed in years and were strewn with garbage – like something out of a bad movie about living in the projects. The first room we were offered actually had what looked like blood smeared on the wall. The second room was marginally better. We were tired, and since it was supposed to be the nicest hotel in town, we chalked it up to experience and slept with our clothes on. We walked around looking for a restaurant that was better than the hotel’s restaurant but without success.