14 Feb? Includes a visit to the American WWII cemetery. Plus the obligatory photo of me.

My leg pain has increased. Seeking medical help. May go home early. Not in the mood to post updates.

Monday, 12 Feb. Absolutely ridiculous travel day. Early drive to Constantine’s airport. Flight to Algiers, about 150 miles west. It’s worth noting that Tunis, our ultimate destination, is about 150 miles east of Constantine.

After an hour’s delay, drove to a local modern mall for lunch and a look-around. It was an unremarkable mall, except for the discovery that businesses in Algeria do not accept credit cards! That we only learned the fact now reflects how uninteresting the country’s products were. nobody had bought anything.

After an hour there, we returned to the airport. Spent well over 90 minutes in line for immigration. To get out of the country. Each person, citizen or foreigner, spent no less than two minutes in front of an agent, while he did I-have-no-idea-what. Just crazy. I stress that this is to leave the country.

Made it to the gate in time for the flight only because it was delayed. Even though it was only a 90 minute flight (east), they served a small meal. Chicken, of course.

Recapping Algeria. Cheerful people. But very proud, which I think makes them quick to anger. The Ruins were all I’d hoped for, though my leg injury severely restricted my enjoyment of them. Constantine is a remarkable city of bridges, though the abundance of trash tarnished the views and my memories. Algiers’s infrastructure is badly damaged, perhaps beyond repair. The total lack of a view of any upper class society (not a single high-end car on the roads) indicated to me that the wealthy hide their money and toys in Europe. Despite being a democracy, the government seems to have a boot pressed firmly down on any progress. It was an interesting visit, but I wouldn’t say a fun one. No way would I ever return.

Sunday, 11 Feb. The ruins are about 40 minutes outside of Constantine. On a hill. Gorgeous views. It’s easy to tell that the town went through several centuries of building and rebuilding. Different styles of construction. My leg felt so much better until, going down, I landed awkwardly and re-injured myself, perhaps worse than before. Time will tell.

Had a fun lunch at a very cheerful family-run business. It was the first really good meal I’d had in Algeria. Essentially Spanish rice and a chicken leg.

Visited a large, picturesque mosque in the afternoon. Farewell dinner had lamb, beef and chicken. It was okay.

Saturday, 10 Feb. Much nicer city than Algiers. More organized. Well, as organzed as a city can be that has a deep gorge running through its center. The “City of Bridges” is an apt nickname.

First was a tour of the Palace of the last Dey, before France’s takeover. On the exterior it’s not unlike any normal large residence. But the interior has a host of different mosaics, wall paintings, courtyards and doors. Fantastic doors, in my opinion. Hand carved, with slightly off right-angled corners. There were various features in the palace that were unusual enough to separate it from all the other palaces I’ve visited. Well worth the visit. (An aspect of courtyard fountains I didn’t know: one purpose was to make enough noise to drown-out confidential conversations.) As with everything else in Algeria, the condition of the palace was poor and undocumented.

From the palace we headed to the cliff wall, then walked alongside. Through two tunnels that had openings along the walls. The opposite side had a man-made walkway, no longer in service, that looked frightening. Far below was a simple bridge, then around the corner we met a pretty top-level bridge, built by the French in 1912. Great views, though a heavy cloud cover diminished its beauty. Also, very sadly, the walls were covered in trash. It was already clear that trash was a country-wide issue, but the fact that people would throw trash into an otherwise beautiful gorge was disturbing.

After crossing an impressive pedestrian bridge (and climbing up five stories to reach ground level), we had lunch at a restaurant seemingly cut out of the cliff’s wall. It was very crowded (Saturday) and service was horribly slow. Over two hours. Food was okay. Following lunch we walked through the casbah. This one was alive with activity. An inordinate number of shops sold women’s clothing. No carpet shops.

From there we toured the streets where metal is beaten into trays, teapots, etc. Dozens of small shops, all at work (Saturday). I printed a photo of one older man and got a small tray and bracelet for the effort.

I skipped dinner, choosing to buy some snacks and rest my much-improved leg.

Friday, 9 Feb. Road is new and mostly bump-free. Several police checkpoints. Frequent old (30 years?) watchtowers along the way. Lots of barren, but green landscape.

Lunch was soup and grilled chicken. I passed on the chicken.

The Djemila ruins are huge. Because of my sore leg I covered only a small portion. Maddening. A nice small museum had relocated mosaics.

The Constantine Hotel is a step up in hospitality. Nice view of two bridges, one old, one new. The rest of the view is old buildings and trash. An immense number of Satellite dishes on all the buildings.

Dinner included shish kabobs, with beef! Also tried couscous, made up of semolina, veggies, and beef. The beef was excellent.

Wednesday, 7 Feb. This time the flight was on time. Largely empty plane. Had several meals at airport lounges. Showered in Frankfurt, which is better than sleep.

Flight to Algiers was crowded and loud. Algerians are clearly a very social people. Customs was difficult. The form to fill out was in French/Arabic. The agent was uninterested in helping out. A more experienced and friendly agent helped me out. Had to go through security to exit the airport. Police were everywhere.

Drove straight to the restaurant where my companions (who all arrived yesterday) were having dinner. One was absent and injured, apparently tripping while getting out of the European-style bathtub. They are difficult. Word was that she’d have to get surgery for a broken wrist. She might go home. I may never see her. The other five women are a talkative lot. Our Trip Leader/guide, Hachem, is all one would expect. An outspoken agnostic. Skillfully juggling several balls in the air. Dinner was chicken soup and chicken shish kabob. I’m detecting a trend.

After holding my hand through the checkin and room inspection, Hachem was thrilled to hear I wanted to visit the bar. He introduced me to some of his friends, then rushed off to the hospital. All the friends were similarly agnostic. Lively conversation about Algeria.

Flight to San Francisco delayed a little. Then a little more. Etc. The last delay was in the plane, on the ground, waiting for a gate to open up. Missed the next flight. Spent 45 minutes while the United clerk struggled to find an alternative. Stuck in San Fran overnight. Hotel shuttle was a long, horrible ordeal best not explained. Lots of fast walking. My leg, which I spent the weekend resting, is now in constant pain.

I’ll arrive a day late. Sad.

Monday Feb 5. Setting off for Algeria and Tunisia. (Yoriko is in Japan.) Why these countries? Roman ruins mostly. There are a lot of them. We were scheduled to visit Tunisia on a Med Cruise in 2015, but a terrorist event made the cruise line reconsider. I also had a trip scheduled in 2021, but the pandemic happened.

Algeria is one of the more difficult countries to get a visa for. An expensive visa too. There is some danger involved too. The guide says our bus will be escorted by police. We were told that binoculars are illegal in the country. Odd. My camera, much more powerful than binocs, will be okay. We aren’t going anywhere near the bordering countries, so it should be safe. Algiers and Constantine, with a main road in between.

Tunisia doesn’t require a visa, nor a police escort. The State department includes dire warnings for the borders of Tunisia too, but we’re not going there. No police escort. More Roman ruins. Some Star Wars film locations.

This is a fairly short trip (21 days). I’m not adding any time before or after. There will surely be events that are repeated experiences from my trips to Morocco and Egypt. A camel ride, for example.

At the moment I’m sitting in San Diego airport, watching a serious rainstorm. The flight to San Fran has been delayed, but I should make my connecting flight. I’m in the United Lounge, where I’ve been entertained by a man at the bar talking on his phone with his outdoor voice, then by an unhappy baby. Lounges aren’t what they used to be. Good food though.