Africa,  Storytime,  TDM,  Travel Journal,  Tunisia

[story time] How did I get scammed in the souk of Tunis (Tunisia)?

It was March 2015, a little more than a year before our departure on our round-the-world trip, and I was still far from being the experienced traveler I have become since then. For the first time I was setting foot in the Maghreb and I was going to suffer (like so many tourists) a small scam, more vexing than truly detrimental.

Souvenirs…

It didn’t happen to me very often, but it was in the course of my work that I traveled. I was invited to speak at a conference in Tunis in my field of activity. I was very excited: first time I was going to set foot in Africa, in a country that resonates with my family history. Just a teenager, my great-great-grandfather immigrated from Malta to try his luck in Tunisia.

I will stay 4 days on site: arrival on Friday afternoon and departure on Monday afternoon.

On Fridays I am taken care of by the organization, I will be staying at the conference venue itself (Hotel Majestic, a rather upscale 4-star establishment). In the evening the speakers (I know most of them) ask the organizer to show us a boui-boui for dinner. He refuses, he is terrified that we will all get sick the day before the conference 😀 It is therefore in a restaurant a little more select that we will dine 🙂



Saturday is dedicated to the conference.

On Sunday, the organization also takes us to visit the city, we will have the opportunity to make a session in a local hammam, great memory!

Some come home on Sunday evening, others on Monday morning. For my part, I had put a day off so that I could come back a little later and enjoy a little more time on site.

So I leave the hotel on Monday morning with a big half-day to walk by myself, without any precise program.

So I decide to go and visit the traditional souk and I completely by chance meet one of the hotel receptionists. He recognizes me and asks me if I went up on the terrace of the X store to enjoy the panorama. I answer him that no, I do not know, and ask him the way.

This is when the trap will start to close 😀

This one proposes to follow me, since he isn’t completely unknown, I am rather confident.

We walk for a few moments and arrive in front of a carpet store that effectively promotes a panoramic view of the city. I thank the receptionist who answers that he is waiting for me. Ouch… I begin to see the blow coming but don’t know how to react.

The salesman welcomes me warmly and proposes me to go up to take advantage of the view which is indeed very pretty.



I go back down in the store where I am obviously waited for by the salesman who tries to sell me his magnificent carpets. Even if the salesmen are very good, there is little chance that I will leave with a carpet, I have no use for it and I have no room in my bag at all. I still leave with a scarf as a gift for Anh.

I go out and the receptionist is waiting for me and offers me to come and have tea in his brother’s store (or his cousin I don’t know anymore, anyway they are all either cousins or brothers :D). I feel the ambush getting ready and politely refuse. But he insists and I can’t get away.

What’s strong is that it’s all done in a very friendly way, without any pressure. It’s only the psychological spring at work: the receptionist was kind to me, he showed me a place, waited a good 15 minutes, and now offers me tea. I would be very indelicate to refuse the invitation.

So here we are in his brother’s store, sitting in an armchair with a glass of mint tea in our hand. And the brother in question begins to introduce me to the perfume extracts that can be used to create a tailor-made perfume. Again I’m not the right customer, I never wear perfume, there’s no way I’d ever buy one. Even though I know I wouldn’t buy it, I’m wondering how I’m going to get out of it 😀

I remember then that Anh asked me to buy black soap. Lucky for me, they have some! So I would leave with the soap and 2 or 3 other bullshit. I don’t remember exactly how much I paid, the equivalent of 15 or 20 € maybe. In any case, an exorbitant price for products that will turn out to be of very poor quality.

What can we learn from all this? I don’t know.

I’m obviously not going to make a generalization out of this little experiment. However, it seems that it is a rather “typical” experience that many tourists encounter.

After our stay in Turkey, we will go to Egypt and then to Morocco where we will be able to live a longer experience of the region.

Unfortunately, we will be on our guard, I would start from the principle that no service is offered in a disinterested way (we aren’t in Burma anymore) and I will systematically refuse to follow someone who offers to show me a place. It’s a pity but that’s the way it is.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *