Finding the Abandoned Lèzard Rouge (Tunisian Royal Train)
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- čas přidán 6. 07. 2024
- The Lèzard Rouge (Red Lizard) is a historic Tunisian train built in 1910 for the use of the Bey of Tunis. The beys were the Husainid monarchs of Tunisia from 1705 until 1957. After independence, the Lèzard Rouge was converted into a tourist train in Gafsa Governorate, taking passengers from Metlaoui to Redeyef, passing through the spectacular Selja Gorge. This amazing train was last seen on the tracks in 2017, so I went to find out what happened to it. Along the way we revisit a panoramic canyon on the Algerian border that I first filmed one year ago, head back to the Grande Cascade, enjoy incredible views of Midès Gorge and stumble into the middle of an active phosphate mine!
⏱️TIMESTAMPS⏱️
0:00 - Intro
0:47 - Panorama Canyon
2:10 - Grande Cascade
3:25 - Midès Gorge
4:52 - Redeyef Train Station
5:51 - Selja phosphate mine
8:41 - Found the Lèzard Rouge at Metlaoui
MORE DETAILS
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Great vid again, loads of places I wouldn't think of going. The Lèzard Rouge is looking a bit worse for wear, but not too bad - if you check out some of the recent pics of it when it last travelled, it was 'rough' then, but a few nice cushions and carpet and the seats get spruced right up. Definitely hope that is running again once the track is ready, tourists love trains.
You're right, it wouldn't take much to get it back into luxury condition! I'm just worried that if left out there unsupervised the elements, along with vandals, might damage it more seriously.
Thank you for exploring Tunisia and doing such detailed videos! Amazing! Seriously, I don't think anyone did something similar before because they didn't have the time or patience to go through all the bureaucracy and difficulties that Tunisia have. As a tunisian I can only say "what a shame!" All the monuments are abandoned and not maintained and the worst part... I don't think this will improve any time soon unfortunately :( but there is massive wasted potential I guess :/
Thanks for the support. I am very excited to share Tunisia's incredible heritage and tourism sites with a wider audience via my CZcams channel and (in 2022), my new Bradt Travel Guide to Tunisia. Hopefully videos such as this will help with efforts to preserve some of these amazing historic sites and artefacts.
I really appreciate your determination to discover Tunisia despite the endless closed musuems/touristy places. I hope it won't shortened your stay, you're doing an amazing job there 👌🏽
Thanks for the support! I have actually lived in Tunisia since mid-2019, and hope to be here for another two or three years. It is a very strange time to be writing a tourism guidebook to any country, but it's OK, I can cope with a few closed museums and tourist sites. I look forward to the day when the pandemic is over and things are open again. Hopefully my new book (out in 2022) will encourage a few more international tourists to come and explore Tunisia, as well as encouraging Tunisians to explore more of their own amazing country!
I mean I am of Tunisian descent but born in Europe and you definitely inspired me to visit more, hopefully when covid is over. You're really doing a good and useful work 💪🏽
2017 marks the last major rainfall in Midwestern Tunisia and yet the government hasn't fixed roads and railways.... I recommend you visiting Gafsa, roman baths, museums, beautiful Oasis and it's said to be the oldest city in north Africa with the oldest discovered religious structure in the world.
I went to Gafsa after filming this video. I will edit and upload something from the governorate capital soon!
Hi!
Another great video.
I appreciate the hard work you’re doing to show us Tunisia and the landscape of South Western.
Keep up the good work.
❤️♓️❤️♓️❤️♓️❤️♓️❤️
Thanks! One positive from this seven day lockdown is I have time to edit together my long backlog of footage. Expect plenty more videos over the coming weeks!
INCREDIBLE
I am following after your footsteps.
Hoping to get into seljia tomorrow!
Feasible with a small car, you think? How many $ did you have to slip the guy at the entrance? :)
Sorry, I have only just seen this. Yes, you can get down to Selja in a small car. Tarmac all the way from Tunis. And no, I didn't bribe anyone, they were perfectly friendly and let me in without any fee!
Did you get down there? How did it go?
I am going to Tunisia in 6 weeks. Where do i book to get on this train?
I am not sure if it is up and running during the winter period. I suggest reaching out to this group. Think summer 2024 is when it is slated to restart: facebook.com/le.lezard.rouge/
But if you want to go and find the actual train, the location details are available in my Bradt Guide to Tunisia, which I suggest you pick up in print or e-book formats before heading to Tunisia!
www.amazon.com/Tunisia-Oscar-Scafidi/dp/178477751X/
@@ScafidiTravels thank you. Let me check!
@@Dented_Battle_Armor I have also asked my followers on Twitter (twitter.com/BradtTunisia) and on Facebook (facebook.com/BradtTunisia/). Follow along to see if they respond with anything useful!
@@ScafidiTravels thank you very much sir
Who allowed you to go in the Train ?
To where, the actual mine site?