lucas owes tunisia; big time

tunisia is an amazing. i was there in 2005 on a tour that circled from tunis in the north, southeast to kairouan, sfax, el djem onto matmata and touzeur in the south; then back via le kef to tunis. the roman ruins are superb, the people are lovely, food, drink and weather is great.

roman amphitheatre - el djem

subterranean roman house - bulla regia

floor mosaic in situ roman house - bulla regia

so why does lucas owe tunisia a couple of quid? well ... the landscape is very striking; hence lots of films are shot there - star wars, raiders and english patient. but i reckon lucas used more than the landscape for star wars. part of the trip was a camel trek into the sahara. two seconds after meeting a camel for the first time you realise that they look and walk like the AT-ATs; then at night they make noises exactly, and i mean exactly, like wookies.

astride an imperial walker

a "wookie" at dawn

... he also used the troglodyte town of matamata for skywalkers' home; nicked the name of the village of tataouine for the planet...lucas, thief *shakes fist* pay the locals some royalties

matmata aka tatooine

my room at the cave 'hotel' - matmata

view from my room to the cells below - matmata


the bar at the hotel next door - the hotel sidi driss aka the skywalkers'

touzeur aka mos eisley