Algiers Travel Diary: Of Dictators And Dishdashas

It's a placid city. The shutters are brought down at around 7 pm, and all you can hear are scattered, rowdy calls exchanged between the idlers on the streets. For a nation’s capital, the city could almost be accused of being perpetually drowsy.

Walk along the streets of Algiers after 8 PM and you can hear the sound of a thimble dropping.

Hello, World. You are reading excerpts from my Algiers travel diary.

 

What’s In a Name?

Nobody calls it Algiers here. For them it is, and always has been, ‘D’jizzair’ – literally translated to ‘a group of islands’.

Overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, the city is bathed in the warm, musty aroma of salts and spices. The modern city sits upon level ground near the sea while the older quarters fall on the steeply climbing terrains up the surrounding mountains. From a higher elevation or any of the ships moored nearby, one can see a series of whitewashed buildings dotted haphazardly near the sea, giving the impression of a Hellenic coastline.

 

Of Alien Stares and Unfortunate Circumstances

Fun Fact: Algeria is ruled by a ‘president’ who recently gifted himself an unprecedented fourth term by a constitutional amendment. The resultant electoral vote has been cited as ‘a tsunami of fraud’. Kids, this is what you call a ‘dictatorship’.

Thanks to its unstable political situation, Algeria is not exactly a hotbed of tourism. I may be one among the handful of tourists currently visiting the country. It is quite understandable, therefore, that I am subject to curious stares and double-takes from the locals while wandering about the city. Contrary to what a tourist usually experiences at home, however, the locals are politely curious rather than invasive or lecherous.

An Algerian Tryst with Bollywood

When I first arrived in the country, I passed through the Immigrations desk, only to find the baggage official throw me an inquiring look. Thinking I had forgotten to attach a tag somewhere, I immediately started fumbling with my bags. But the man simply asked, “De l’Inde? (From India?)”. When I nodded somewhat dazedly, he immediately burst into song, “Jaane tu ya jaane naa…”

It was later that I realized that Algerians are fascinated by everything Indian. This awe has its roots in the 90s, when the civil war was shredding the country to pieces. It was a terrible, terrible time – bodies strewn along the roads, suspicion everywhere; a country of locked doors and uncertain futures. The locals would spend most of their time within their homes, only venturing out for a quick grab of groceries. The state-run televisions would show Bollywood movies on a loop and the song Jaane tu… quickly become a hot favourite with the locals.

 

Nowadays, you could be wandering around a boutique market street, innocently looking for shawarmas and just, you know, being Indian when someone hollers at you, “Amitabh Bachchan! Shah Rukh Khan!”

Don’t be surprised. This is Algiers.

The French Connection

They say when an Algerian wishes to go on a holiday, he visits Paris. When a Parisian wishes to go on a holiday, he stays in Paris.

 

Francophiles will enjoy this city. Walk along any fashionable shopping district and you’re bound to cross breezy espresso cafes boasting pinstriped awnings, quaint street lamps and crumbling whitewashed apartments – erstwhile residences for the French settler community during Algeria’s colonial heydays. Walk a little further and you’ll come across imposing Ottoman-style minarets, rambunctious market stalls and narrow, curving alleyways that wouldn’t look out of place in, say, a Chandni Chowk. The cultural juxtaposition could not be starker.

Tips for The Tourist

Shop For: Berber jewellery, gorgeous sheeshas, traditional Algerian wear (dishdasha) among others. Where: Sidi Yahia, Didouche Mourad, Kennedy Place Eat: Try the mergeuz (a spicy lamb sausage), chakhchoukha (semolina bread dipped in lamb stew) and rechta (flat noodles in chicken sauce). Algerian mint tea comes specially recommended and those with a sweet tooth should not leave without digging into some asida (a simple wheat-based sweet dish). Where: Le Taj Mahal is the most popular Indian restaurant in the city. If you’re up for steakhouse dining, try the Havana. Most of the local restaurants will serve traditional Algerian fare as well.

 

Look Around: Sidi Fredj is a popular (and touristy, mind you) beach in the city. Feel like swimming in the Mediterranean? Head for Sidi Fredj. Want to take a motorboat or a jet-ski for a spin? Sidi Fredj it is. Kasbah is the Chandni Chowk of Algiers. Retaining the old-worldly style of residential planning, it consists of narrow, winding alleyways venturing down darkened canopies with idle passersby conversing softly over a game of Dominoes. Definitely worth a visit, if you can get a local escort to show you around (It’s very easy to get lost there!) Maqam Echahid is a striking monument erected to commemorate the martyrs of the Algerian War of Independence. It’s on every tourist’s itinerary, so make a point to visit.

 

Epilogue

In a nutshell, be prepared for a non-touristy experience if you wish to visit Algiers. The facilities are marginal at best and the restrictive atmosphere of an authoritarian regime is very much in place, but the locals are some of the warmest, most hospitable people I have had the pleasure of encountering. My advice: Instead of a London or a Paris, give Algiers a go. There’s a world beyond metropolitan cities. And the Algerian experience makes for quite a story, I assure you.