ALGIERS, ALGERIAUp before six to walk to the bus to the plane to Algiers. Arrived at noon and this time, took the bus to town-- a fortunate move, since the long road is mostly urbanized and would have made lousy hitch-hiking.
Algeria does not give up its secrets as easily as Morocco does; their break with France was more recent and more violent, so their present policy is more anti-French. Although everyone speaks it, there are very few signs in French; instead of removing the old French street signs, they get their message across by scribbling over them. Between this and the fact that no one anywhere sells a map to this giant city, I'm operating slowly.
The way to speed things up is with money. SPEED ≈ $$$. It got me to Algiers when I couldn't go on foot. It got me a room when I had no more time to look for a cheap one. It got me a taxi to the Niger embassy when it would have taken too long to find it on foot, although they told me to come back tomorrow. This is unfortunate because:
1. My Algerian visa is valid for only 15 days, approximately the length of my upcoming trans-Saharan trek and the clock is ticking;
2. If my guidebook is accurate (rare), the bus south from Tamanrasset runs only on the 1st and 15th-- if I'm delayed here more than a day, I'll be stuck in Tamanrasset for two weeks.
Everyone told me that Algerians are crazy and I shouldn't come here, but except for government positions and pompous soldiers, everyone is very helpful. It's a good thing, because otherwise this city would be impenetrable.
PHOTO CREDIT
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