Algeria, I love it!

Dearest friends,

This week, we were travelling through Algeria (officially called "the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria", what a name for a country!). Algeria is bordered in the northeast by Tunisia, in the east by Libya, in the west by Morocca, in the southeast by Niger, and in the north by the Mediterranean Sea.

One of the cities that we have visited is El Oued, also called the "pearl of the Sahara". It is a very picturesque town that attracks many visitors en tourists.. The architecture is one of the most fascinating examples of desert architecture in the Sahara. Desert architecture is a human solution on how to use air and let in breezes to the maximum so that the temperatures inside is reduced as much as possible.

Something very special about this town is that it is watered by an underground river, which enables palm cultivation and the rare use (for the desert) of brick construction for housing.

El-Oued has a reputation of being a good place to shop, many of the products sold here, are not available in shops in other parts of Algeria. Carpets is one of the best buys, as well is leather Shoes. I have bought some delicious fruit over there.

It was such a nice town to visit! (http://lexicorient.com/algeria/eloued.htm)

Another town that we visited in Algeria is Djanet. Djanet is a charming laid back place, as close to the classical picture book of an oasis as it can be. There is nothing of special interest there, but that doesn't mean that it isn't worth while visiting.

It is a neat little town surrounded by low hills, with it's large palmeries, it looks very relaxing. This feeling is retained even after returning from a long trip into the deep desert, in contrast to most other saharan towns these days, that convey that 'return to civilisation' feeling with all the noise and polution.

 

 

 

In this picture you can see the market in Djanet, with local population. The local backery is open in the small hours before dawn, when most streks begin, so we could obtain fresh bread at the last minute of departure. Lovely!

 

So, this was it for this week.

I hope you are all well my friends!


Greetings,

Marlies