It began in Africa: Tunisia and the Star Wars Pilgrims

The North African country of Tunisia really could be classed as out of this world; the dune riddled nation provided the setting for the fictional planet Tatooine, Luke Skywalker's desert home planet, that played a major role in several of the Star Wars movies.

Tunisia's sparsely populated land and dusty geography provided the perfect location to create Tatooine's dune seas, expansive desert wastes and rocky outcrop, and fans of the Star Wars books and films continue to make the pilgrimage to Tunisia to visit this iconic setting. Nowadays you're likely to find the locals a little more friendly than the fictional Jawas, the pygmy-like scavengers of technology, or the hostile Sand people (also known as Tuscan Raiders) with whom Luke has a nasty run in with during the 'first' film, Star Wars - A New Hope.

Luke Skywaker's home was filmed in a subsoil abode in the real troglodyte town of Matmata. Here, residents make their homes by burrowing into the soft sandstone and visitors can still see some of the murals and set dressing of the Skywalker's homestead from the movie at the Sidi Driss Hotel, in Matmata.

The outside of the dwelling, where Luke observes the two suns, is part a dry, white salt flat called Chott el Jerid, that stretches across central Tunisia to the oasis of Tozeur and Nefta. The Dune Sea - the vast expanse of sand in which C3PO and R2D2 wander aimlessly is known as La Grande Dune, and the gully in which they are captured by the Jawas, is east of Tozeur at the Chott el Jerid.

The spaceport town of Mos Eisley, which was described by Obi-Wan Kenobi as a "wretched hive of scum and villainy" and is a hang out for intergalactic smugglers and others from the space criminal underworld, is in actual fact Aijim - a sponge fishing town near the lle de Jerba. And if you'd want to see where Jedi knight Obi-Wan's remote home was located, you'll find it to the north of Aijim, overlooking the Gulf of Gabes.

Unless you can hitch a ride with Han Solo and Chewbacca on the Millennium Falcon, you'll probably have to find an alternative form of transport. Thankfully, although Tatooine was in a galaxy far, far away, Tunisia isn't; and Star Wars Fans will be pleased to hear that the country is surprisingly well served from the UK; there are plenty of cheap flights to Tunisia from airports around Britain.

Other destinations that are part of the Star Wars pilgrimage include: Tikal in Guatemala, which played the Massassi Outpost - the rebel base on the fourth moon of Yavin; the Palazzo Reale near Naples Italy, which played host to Theed Palace on Naboo from the Phantom Menace, and Krabi Province, Thailand which provides the setting to Kashyyyk - the Wookie homeworld.

So, grab your light sabre, don your Darth Vader mask and use the force to follow the Star Wars pilgrimage around the world.

Andrew Regan is an online, freelance author from Scotland. He is a keen rugby player and enjoys travelling.

Source: http://www.articlecafe.net/Article/It-began-in-Africa--Tunisia-and-the-Star-Wars-Pilgrims/67111
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