Kairouan, in the northern-central part of Tunisia, is the home
of the oldest mosque in Africa and as such is Islam's holiest
city there, second only to Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem. Because
of its historical, cultural, and religious significance, the
entire city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Jongleur and I
visited Kairouan on 23 and 31 May 2002. The first time we took a
louage (shared taxi) from Monastir, leaving early in the morning
so as to get there before the Great Mosque (the aforementioned
oldest in Africa) closed. The drive is about an hour and a half,
depending on how aggressive your louage driver is; your mileage
may vary. The first time we went our driver was so smooth he
kept a glass of mint tea on the dashboard the entire time and
never spilled a drop; the last time we came back, our driver was
younger and very enthusiastic, in other words almost killed us.
He told us he was "champion du route," as if daring us to
contradict him. I told him all the louage drivers in Tunisia
were the champions a