Thousand Layers of Tunisia

Meet at 23:00 at Suvarnabhumi Airport, 4th floor, Emirates counters (Row T near Gate 9). Flight EK 377 departs at 02:00 for Dubai (about 7 hours).

Arrive in Dubai at 06:00 and connect on EK 747 departing 08:40 to Tunis-Carthage, arriving 12:35 (Tunisia is six hours behind Thailand). Visit ancient Carthage, half an hour outside Tunis, home of the great rival of Rome, with its city ruins, ancient port, temples and Roman baths, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Drive 1 hour 45 minutes to Dougga, the grandest Roman city in northern Africa, covering about 65 hectares, well restored and a UNESCO site since 1997. Continue 2 hours to Kairouan, a religious and cultural centre since the 7th century and a UNESCO World Heritage city, and spend the afternoon at the Great Mosque of Kairouan, Tunisia's largest place of worship.

See the ancient Aghlabid water system in Kairouan, then drive 1.5 hours to Sbeitla, a Roman city that was briefly a capital in 646, with its arches, fortress, theatre, forum, church, baths, temples and market. Continue 3 hours to Tozeur, a Saharan trading town known for pottery and its oases. Pack a small bag for the next night, which is spent in a cave-style hotel reached by 4x4.

Take a 4x4 to the Chebika Oasis, the country's largest natural date-palm oasis (about an hour of walking over hills and canyon, not difficult), then the Mides Oasis, a deep canyon with a small river below, like a Grand Canyon in the desert. Drive about 1 hour 45 minutes to Douz via the Chott El Fejaj salt lake. In the afternoon ride camels in a group in the northern Sahara until sunset (USD 25 per person, not included). Then visit Chenini, an ancient Berber village in a hidden valley.

Visit Ksar Joumaa, another old Berber village, then Matmata, where some Berbers still live in traditional troglodyte houses dug 5 – 10 m into the ground around an open pit with rooms cut into the walls. See the Sidi Driss hotel, a filming location for Star Wars: A New Hope. Continue to Sfax, a Mediterranean port founded around 849 and home to the country's first fishing port.

See the El Jem amphitheatre, built in 230 – 238, 122 m wide, 148 m long and 35 m high, holding up to 35,000 spectators; a UNESCO site since 1979 and a location for the film Gladiator. Drive about an hour to Sousse and spend about an hour in its UNESCO-listed medina. Continue to Hammamet with a wine tasting at a local winery (included).

Visit the Spanish Fort, surrounded by a local market on the Mediterranean coast, then Sidi Bou Said, a former fishing village 20 km from Tunis with blue-and-white houses and clifftop views over the Gulf of Tunis. End at the Medina of Tunis, a UNESCO-listed old market full of shops, cafes and crafts, with free time to shop.

Visit the Bardo Museum, which holds one of the largest and best-preserved collections of Roman mosaics in the world. Then fly from Tunis on EK 748 at 14:55, arriving in Dubai at 23:30 for a connection of about 3 hours 30 minutes.

Depart Dubai at 03:05 on EK 384 and arrive at Suvarnabhumi Airport at 12:05.