About our Tunis Village, El Fayoum, Egypt
Our Tunis village, where we are based with our guest house and stables, is at the extremity of the huge Fayoum oasis, on the West side, on the banks of the big lake Qarun, and at the doors of the desert, on the other side of the banks of the lake but also on the West and South of the village. We may be located in the oasis of Fayoum, but as we are at its borders, we are definitely surrounded by the desert, which you can see from your room’s balcony in our guest house. It is said that Tunis village is one of the most authentic, natural, and peaceful place of all Egypt to stay in. Our location is perfect for any desert activities, and we talked about it already a lot. But what about the village itself, its history, what you can see and do there ?
The story of our village is not very well known and dated. But what people know and can tell, is that the village was created in the 1960’s, by two famous Egyptian poets, who were encouraging people in the rural area to become artists. Some fishermen were also among the first ones to build their houses there. It became also famous then in the 1980’s when a Swiss lady named Evelyne Porret arrived and created her pottery shop in the village, which she turned quickly into a pottery school, mostly for children of the village. Between poetry and pottery, the village started to thrive in a very artistic way, and became famous for that. While walking around the small rural and authentic streets, you can find paintings on the walls, artistic shops and very flowery and welcoming houses. As we explain in our “about us” page, it is also in these years that our family started the business in Tunis village, with first some horses and then the guest house. Indeed, as tourism started to develop at this moment more and more, with Egyptian internal tourism (people from Cairo mostly) and then international tourism, opportunities had to be taken at this very moment. Mohamed Saleh is one of the first one to arrive in Tunis village to create such a business there, one of the first three actually, together with Evelyne Porret and Abdo Goubeir, who was the first one to create a guest house in the village. We can definitely tell that our Mohamed Saleh is one of the creators of the success of Tunis Village.
During your stay in Tunis village, you will be able to explore a very traditional and authentic village, with some rare plants a bit everywhere: you will spot the ‘Bottle Brush tree’, the Spikey Silk Cotton tree, some rose bushes, pomegranate shrubs, olive trees, orange and lemon trees and many arbours with various fruist and flowers. Of course, you can do a bit of shopping, in some touristic or traditional shops, with for sure the most traditional ones of this village: the pottery ones. You will also spot some small art galeries. At sunset time, you can enjoy a tour with a small traditional boat on the Qarun lake. And, what is the most important… You will of course be able to do some tours around the village and in the area with our horses! Apart from the desert trips, we of course organise tours around our stables, for one or two hours. This is also where we can offer some horse-riding lessons.
During our small horse-riding tours, you will enjoy a peaceful walk in the wonderful fields of the oasis, where you can observe the rural life, with workers working their fields, with cows, camels or donkeys. You will then be able to enjoy some galops on the two main beaches of the Qarun lake. To finish, we can also go touring inside the very center of the village with our horses, which is a very cool experience. While crossing the village on our way back to the stables, we can stop to buy some drinks to have with us on the horses, during the way back!
Life in the village is peaceful and quiet. During your stay, it would be the perfect balance in between intense and exciting trips in the desert, with horses and safari cars!
Something else, not to be forgotten, that you will be able to enjoy during your stay in our village: the traditional Egyptian food of Fayoum. Not that the food is different from other places in Egypt, but people from Fayoum and Tunis village have their ways to cook. Tunis village is very famous for its delicious duck cooking!
Last but not least: a pottery festival is organized in Tunis village once per year, called the annual “Tunis Pottery Festival”, from the 3rd to the 6th of December. During this festival, ceramics and handmade potteries are exhibited of course, but there is more: bedouin bird show presentations, documentaries and old movies exhibition, theater shows, and Bedouins’ group shows reflecting the richness of Fayoum’s culture and heritage.
Welcome to Stable Tunis and our adventures !
