The many faces of Algeria

[Al-khiyal]

The many faces of Algeria

by Sarah Richards

June 6, 2008 -- Seldom has opening a hotel room's shutters in the morning been such an exuberant experience. Ahead, the periwinkle-blue water of the Mediterranean blends seamlessly with the horizon. Only now do you understand why the capital of Algeria has inspired so many luminaries, from Pierre-August Renoir to Albert Camus. With its glistening white buildings rising up from the sea, this beautiful port city is known as Alger la Blanche.

I had allotted 10 days to visit this mysterious and misunderstood country. By the end of my visit, I was promising new friends that I would return.

I would hardly be the first. Algiers is, after all, a gateway to Africa. Traces of the city go back to the 7th century BC, but Algiers truly began to develop as a port when it became part of the Roman Empire in AD 146. Different warring interests ruled during the centuries to come, but on June 14, 1830, Algeria's latest chapter unfolded when a fleet of French ships landed.

It took 132 years for the country to shake off French colonization, although evidence of that rule is still everywhere, from pâtisseries that sell the best croissants I have eaten to the National Theatre building, which is modelled after the Paris Opera. If you speak French, you will have no trouble getting by.

Many of the city's most interesting places are within walking distance of the Grande Poste, the main square and a preferred gathering place. Follow Didouche Mourad St. (Michelet St. during French rule) south to visit stores that sell everything from brightly painted mosaics to the chic scarves women use to veil themselves - a growing and controversial practice in Algeria.

Indeed, in many ways, Algiers often seems schizophrenic, teetering between different identities. The streets are full of hurrying cars, yet the wave of a single police officer can still bring everything to a confusing, sweaty halt. Some women veil themselves, but an equal number do not. You'll even catch the odd young woman wearing tight jeans. Men wear suit pants with short-sleeved shirts, exhibiting a sort of worn elegance more fashionable than most men in U.S. airport lounges.

Incidents of terrorism still occur in the country, like the bombings last December in Algiers that killed several dozen people, so a substantial police presence is found at such tourist sites as the Monument of Martyrs, a 30-storey-high rocket-shaped structure that is the dominant shape on the city's skyline. It was built by SNC Lavalin, a leading builder of Algerian infrastructure, and is worth the 15-minute cab ride from the city centre.

The tourist-friendly Riad el-Fet'h shopping centre is close by, but save your time for the Museum of Armies next door. Its exhibits on famous guerrilla leaders like Ali La Pointe, a.k.a. Ali Ammar, who died fighting for Algerian independence from France, are fascinating.

Walk north from the Grande Poste and you'll enter the great Casbah of Algiers, a UNESCO World Heritage Site full of markets and buzzing with people. There is everything from stores selling clothes and butchers' shops with sheeps' heads on display to old mosques and the remains of the citadel.

It can be hard to find some peace in Algiers, so if you're looking for a break from the noisy city, hop in a cab to visit the stunning 19th-century Notre Dame d'Afrique Cathedral. Built on a hill and finished in 1872, the cathedral offers a stunning view of Algiers. The messages of saintly gratitude engraved by French colonists on the church's inner walls offer an eerie trip through time - yet another reminder that you are not the first foreigner to be drawn to this country.

I'd arranged my trip into the desert through the Association for Development of the Sahara, which promotes eco-tourism in the region. While a weekend was definitely shortchanging the Sahara, work had kept me tied up longer than expected. After taking an hour-long flight to the southwestern city of Béchar, I was driven by my guides Mohammed and Hammou to the desert town of Taghit. "You'll see that the entrance to Taghit is a little special," Mohammed warned.

As our car pulled up over the hill, Mohammed downshifted to first gear. In front of us, the road descended into a scattering of palms and buildings. Towering beyond them were dunes so enormous, they seemed to float on the horizon, like gold-coloured whales slipping into the sea.

"You see what the good god has given us?" Mohammed said.

I was awestruck. After visiting Algiers, the silence of the Sahara offered a very different perspective of Algeria. The architecture, too, was different: The soft lines and contours of the earth-tone clay buildings are inspired by the surrounding landscape.

Roughly 7,000 people live in Taghit, and with the temperature hovering above 35 degrees Celsius that day, the streets were quiet. Most of Taghit's inhabitants are Berber. Women here wear the hijab, and many men wear the chèche, a long piece of fabric wrapped around the head that is most commonly associated with the culture of the Tuaregs, a nomadic people of the Sahara.

We spent the day with Mohammed Nadour, Taghit's former mayor, who showed us ancient rock carvings just outside of town. Black boulders formed a chain that stretched into the distance.

"You see this," Nadour said, pointing to a series of figures etched onto the rocks worn by time and the elements. "You'll notice that different rocks have different carving styles." Some of the art boasted smooth lines and looked like neolithic drawings. A lion tiptoed with its tail wagging upwards; a leopard sat mesmerized by a herd of cattle.
Along the main road back to town, we stopped at several shops, one of them a quasi-museum of trinkets.

Sipping on cups of sweet mint tea, we perused tables displaying objects that had been found in the desert, like a pistol magnificently carved out of stone.

"And this," Nadour said, reaching up to a poster dangling from the ceiling, "this is our very first tourist map." Nadour grinned as he pointed out the different towns to visit around Taghit. The simple piece of paper had become his, and his town's, pride.

There was time to visit one more site, the ksar of Taghit. A ksar is an ancient fortified city found throughout North Africa. Although many in Algeria were abandoned in the 1950s and '60s for homes with air conditioning and electricity, some - such as the one in Taghit - have been deemed important enough to restore.

Taghit's ksar is an architectural masterpiece, a cityscape that operates almost as a living organism. Hewn in part from rock, corridors act as streets and are covered with wood and straw, creating a naturally air-conditioned climate for the inhabitants. It's not hard to see how the ksar's smooth lines inspired architects like Le Corbusier.

Approaching the ksar via the eastern gates, we entered a small courtyard, then proceeded down a passageway that plunged us into darkness. Despite the desert heat, the air here was cool and damp. Cracks of light slipped through hinges and door frames along the walls, the only indication that living quarters stood on the other side of the walls. In the movie The Battle of Algiers, French soldiers struggled to find their way through the city's confusing Casbah. This is the reason why. The ksar is built like a maze, and if you don't have a guide, it is nearly impossible to find your way.

Finally, in the distance, I glimpsed sunlight. A series of stairs hewn out of rock led back into daylight, to a platform overlooking the desert. Looking down, I could see the green caps of palm trees. Beyond them was the Great Western Erg, some of the most beautiful dunes in the world.

Nadour and my guides waited quietly as I looked out. Though I was not the first person to stand there and gaze at the brilliant desert sea in front of me, somehow it felt that way.