Tunisian shopping

Shopping Tunisia style.

The narrow dark alley way cluttered full of herbs and spices, maps,
puppets, sweets, wooden bird cages, glass chessboards and every other
holiday souvenir you could imagine possible entices tourists like flies
to a web, and that's exactly what it is, a trap. Once you enter the
dark entrance hands creep out of the darkness, strong arms grab you and
try to pull in every direction. Smiley faces that imitate friendship
emerge out of the shadows and then the voices, every type of language
in every tone "Yes Sir", "please, thank you" Broken English, French,
Arabic.
This is a market. Tourists are ordered here by the tour reps who dub
it the best and cheapest market in Tunisia. After splashing out
hundreds of pounds to get to Tunisia holidaymakers will travel from all
parts of the country to get the best bargain, and their moneys
worth.
Each individual market stall is very well stocked and appealing to the
eye, a dedicated shopper would find it a pleasure to look over the
authentic wooden drums and knee high smoking pipes at their own
leisure, although this market is not for the weak. Once you have
entered there is no going back, the windy street lined by beggars and
market traders seems more like an obstacle course, dodging the hands
and articles being shoved into your face. A firm " No" will do you no
good, stopping to talk makes the traders believe that you are going to
haggle and buy from them, while simply walking through with your eyes
fixed to the ground and ears closed aggravates their desire for genuine
good manors. The market traders tend to become aggressive and angry if
simply ignored.
The market is, however, a great place to shop for those who enjoy the
excitement of a busy market and satisfaction of getting something for
cheaper than expected. Cigarettes are thrust into your face for under
two pounds. Hand carved ornaments of love Gods, Budda's and African
hunters could exchange hands for pennies. Children's toys 10 Dinar,
five pounds to you and me. "Lovely Jubbly" the trader exclaims in his
television learned English. In the still developing and quite poor
areas of Tunisia five pounds is a lot of money for the market traders,
and we "rich English" are definitely worth the energy, false smiles and
hassle if we spend some of our wealth on their goods.
Those who take a more relaxed view on shopping can visit the Sula
Centre at the foot of the market entrance. A five-floored, high class
and extremely calm environment, with all the items that are available
in the market, laid out on highly stacked glass shelves. Wooden floors
covered in handmade carpets sweep the entrance hall and draw you deeper
into the Aladdin's cave. Gentle music hums in the background
occasionally broken by the exaggerated grasp of a tourist, "Oh Dan,
come and look at this!" The army of shop assistants who line the shop
with baskets, suspiciously eyeing the customers who's hands are too
empty looked bemused at the sight of these rich people groaning in
ecstasy at the beautifully crafted items in their store.
The slightly higher prices pay for the privilege of being able to
browse around the shop in peace before deciding whether to buy
anything, this is real value for money at last to get the peaceful
holiday I paid for. The Sula centre offers a guarantee of quality that
no market stall could ever.