Djerba is covered in small mosques, hundreds of them, and the visitor who sets out to find the quiet ones soon realises that you cannot ride more than a few kilometres without passing a whitewashed dome. Tlakine is one of those village mosques on the island's interior, set among olive and palm plantations between Houmt El Souk and the villages to the east. Most Djerbian mosques belong to the Ibadi tradition, a distinctive branch of Islam that survives in only a few places, including Oman, Djerba and parts of the Mzab in Algeria. The island's Ibadi community took refuge here when persecuted elsewhere, and built mosques that look more like fortresses than places of worship.
The shape is characteristic: thick walls, sloped buttresses, small windows, and a squat dome or a series of domes, all painted in lime wash that is renewed every year. Some had minarets, but many do not. The plain look is deliberate, since the Ibadis value simplicity, and several served as places of refuge when pirates raided the island in past centuries. Nowadays many are still in use, and a few have a small school attached for Koranic study. As a visitor you will often have to admire from the outside unless someone invites you in, and good manners say not to enter during prayer.
The riding here is easy and relaxed, with narrow tarmac lanes between stone walls, cacti and olive trees, and little traffic away from the main roads. Houmt El Souk, about seven kilometres away, is the island's main town, with more than sixty thousand people, and has all the fuel, cafes and shops you need. A good break is the covered market at its heart, where you can buy olives, dates, harissa and the island's famous sponges, and eat grilled fish near the harbour.
The best time is spring or autumn, when the sun is warm but kind, and the whitewash looks dazzling against a blue sky. Summer is hot, with temperatures often above thirty-five degrees by midday, so start early.