On the roads between Douz, Gabes, and Tozeur, the oasis and town of Kebilli provides for a good stopping point to get out and stretch. We stopped at a local carpet cooperative in one of the satellite towns near Kebilli to do a little shopping and see how wool is processed into yarn in Tunisia.
Shopping for carpets. I bought a very lovely carpet that now lives on my wall.
Raw wool waiting to be processed. This place takes raw wool from the members of the cooperative, turns it into yarn, gives it back to the members, and then sells the carpets that they produce. It’s a pretty sophisticated operation.
Colored yarn waiting to be turned into carpets. Carpets produced through this cooperative find their way into houses across Tunisia and the world.
The coop shared a wall with the local mosque. We visited on a Friday just before afternoon prayer.
One of our not-so-secret police escorts waiting in the hall for us to finish shopping. Note the dark sunglasses. That’s what makes him secret.
We took a tour of the factory where the yarn is made. The machines were all shut down for the afternoon.
During Friday afternoon prayer services, it is a common site to see motor bikes and shoes overflowing out of the mosques of Tunisia. To continue on our journey, we had to move several motorbikes that had parked too close.
On our way out of Kebilli, we stopped off and visited a new plant under construction. It is part of the expanding business that Karim and his brother run.