fritzi

The easiest and closest trip from Sétif seemed to be Djemila. So that was the plan!

There were reports on the Internet saying to just take a bus to El Eulma, and then take another bus to Djemila. All worked great. I managed to buy a ticket and get in (that part was not quite so easy) and then walked around the site on my own. There were not many people, but still too many for totally empty photos 🙂 The site felt very secure.. I felt secure.. and the rocks were secure from me, too. I didn’t take or break anything 😀

I made my first Algerian facebook friend and after visiting the ruins, we went to drink tea at the Tunisian’s place just outside the site – because he had no business cards, I got a paper with his phone number, should I ever need a room in Djemila. Then I insisted I really need to go and my new friend put me on the bus, and we said bye. A few minutes later he came back. And told the driver he needs to show me the bus to Sétif when once we arrive in El Eulma (no, that’s not necessary, I did the same way in the morning. I know already..). Everyone was looking. And the driver obviously found it necessary to ask me if I’d like to sit in the front of the bus for a better view. I really managed to find the bus on my own 😀

And I realized that my SIMcard is dead. I have no more Internet, cannot make calls or send SMS. Oh well.. Ahmed had to go to the shop with me in the evening, to find out what is wrong. From the little shop selling everything, we were sent to the mall, to an official Jezzy shop. There, my passport details were entered once more (or probably for the first time) and then the SIMcard worked perfectly for the rest of the time!

The one thing to see in Sétif seems to be Ain El Fouara Fountain, so that’s where we went.

Then we went to the Zoo – I was told it’s easy to see it in just 15 minutes. Which was true.

Getting the visa was easy enough once I had my invitation. I sent my passport to Geneva by post, it should have taken 2 weeks, but I got a post notification after 1 week already that a letter for me is about to arrive.

The Flixbus actually showed up, Italy didn’t want to see my negative covid test or passenger locator form, the Linate Covid test facility did exist and the online appointment wasn’t accepted – as they had told me on the phone. Queueing took less than an hour and I paid for a result within 12 hours. The check-in counter didn’t yet want my bag, it was too early, and I brought it to the left luggage storage. Which is only open until 6pm. haha.Then I went to the city, had pizza, walked around the christmas market, and waited for the evening.

At check-in, finally, I was told I need a Covid test (yes, I’ll have it tomorrow morning!) and an Algerian health form (I never heard of that, where can I get it?). But for the flight to Rome, all was fine. Upon arrival in Rome, my test result had arrived – it’s negative! At the hostel I printed both files and then went to the Spanish steps to meet Coral Sun.

In the morning I was ready with all documents. Waiting for boarding, I watched people go to the counter one by one and come back with a form – that health form. I already had mine filled out. And nobody asked me for anything! Not that form, not the PCR test, and they didn’t even want to see my visa when boarding!

In Algiers, nobody was running, getting off the plane 😉 I managed to overtake a few people and didn’t have to wait for the antigene test. At immigration, I was told I need to fill in a little paper and was then, again, asked for all details I had just written down. And for the phone number of the person who invited me. Ups! They got – and actually wrote down! – Ahmed’s number instead 😉 And then I was in Algeria!

The whole family came to pick me up at the airport, we went to eat, saw the big mosque from the highway, stopped at the Martyrs’ memorial, and even went to the museum underneath. And I had my first Algerian tea with peanuts.

In the evening, we went out for Pizza in Setif. The restaurant has two parts with seperate entrance doors.
The right side looks normal but there are only men.
The left side is for families and women. We went in. Most tables are surrounded by curtains. There is a small waiting area with benches.. We stayed there. Ahmed wasn’t allowed to wait with us. While we waited he had to enter the other side to place our order. We got a table with curtains,.. He picked up the order.. and we ate..
A very promising beginning to 2 weeks Algeria 😀

My flight arrived around noon, so I decided to have lunch in Bergamo and then see a bit of the city for the first time!

It was beautiful, sunny, and I got a bracelet as a present 🙂

Flights from Bergamo to Morocco were around 10 EUR.. And times for Tangier were best.

With the public holiday on November 1st, I had 3 days. Perfect!

There’s a public bus from near the airport to the city center.. the hostel is right there, in the Medina with a rooftop terrasse, breakfast, and some fun other guests to hangout with.

I managed to get some sightseeing, shopping (Joutya), traditional food, music and beers into my 3 days.

The bus driver was still the same, Sol was still playing music in the street, and Mario and Florin were there too 🙂 And Chief was back, too, after being away for a while!

On the first day, our neighbour in the green tent joined us for lunch, asking for just a piece of cheese, then he’d leave us alone,…

The place we put the tents was near the turn, rather far away from all the people. Unfortunately, in the next days, the water came out further and further, and eventually reached the tents. I didn’t want to get carried away while sleeping, so we looked for a new spot, without rocks, not next to the inofficial ‘toilet’, far from the water,.. and I ended up next to Sol. And we ended up cooking and eating together.

I spent quite some time sitting in the street, got a glow-in-the-dark ring and bracelet from Carmen and a Henna tattoo from Mario 😉

An American guy showed up on the beach, we had tea, he borrowed me a blanket and saved me from freezing at night 😀

A Moroccan family in a van stopped by up on the hill.

The Romanian neighbour offered his air mattress in exchange for my solar panel 😉

From the tent on the other side, a phone was stolen and police showed up..

And in the end even the lady from the restaurant, always checking that everyone pays for the toilet, offered us free soup 🙂

One guy fell in love with a Romanian boy and started to plan moving to his city ..

The other’s girlfriend was pissed that I offered him cookies 😀

And then the neighbour’s green tent lay burnt on the beach, he was gone.

Getting on the minibus in Mangalia, there was a guy in blue shorts and dreadlocks. That seemed to be the one to Vama Veche 🙂 When I got off, that guy caught up with me and told me he wrote me on Couchsurfing 🙂 I found the hostel – only one other bed is occupied – and went to the beach.

I had dinner, had a beer with Sol, and then Mario said he would be willing to try to fix my hair 🙂 The next day I spent sitting in the main street, with Mario, Silvia and Alexandra, trying to hide from the sun, watching people, and having a few breaks for food and drinks.

Then followed a day of beach, coffee, swings, and cider in mainstreet 🙂

And then Irina showed up, we painted on paper, she painted on me, and my tshirt. We went up the hill and put rings and necklaces into little plastic bags, and later made a fire, had marshmallows and some drinks up there.

The absolute highlight: Ayran in mainstreet. It was a ‘present’ 😉 or so 😉

Sunrise on my last day:

Neither Italy nor Romania wanted to see any Covid certificates 😉

I took the bus from the airport to the city center.. and suddenly there was a big bang. The bus drove a bit slower but then continued.. and there still was a strange sound. Until another passenger shouted at him and he finally stopped: we had a flat tire 😀 So I walked the rest of the way, about 30 minutes. It’s hot here!

The old town is full of restaurants, bars and clubs, and a few churches. And it’s absolutely dead around noon, but gets crowded at night.

The train I wanted to take seems to be fully booked. And there are not many – I don’t want to leave too early, or arrive too late. So I’ll take the bus! Even the one that has not only absolutely terrible reviews 🙂

My bus to Verona should leave some time in the middle of the night, but didnt show up.

The German service number only said to call during working hours. The English one actually led to a human being! New plan: go by train the next day.

At the train station I first found out that I cannot buy international tickets at a ticket machine. Upstairs I was told the train I wanted is already fully booked. And they were not able to just book the whole ticket in one, then paper was empty and I was sent to the next person. Who had to start from scratch again. So I booked my ticket myself. Also in two parts, but electronically. Getting on the train in Milan, I realized I had ended up in some kind of business class: they handed out coffee and snacks 🙂

As long as it’s sunny, it’s hot. Warm enough for icecream and swimming pool! But then it gets cold very fast.

I juust managed to get from the airport to the trainstation to catch the last bus of the day to the sea!

A short trip north, staying at Claudine’s flat 🙂

In Amman it was cold at night – and in the morning – so I got in the car with tshirt, pullover and jacket. Down at the Dead Sea, though, it was really warm enough for swimming!

It’s possible to go to a big resort to get access to the Dead Sea. But it is also possible to just go wherever on the coast by yourself. So that is what we did. In one place, there are hot springs making it possible to wash the salty stuff off after swimming. People say you need shoes to go into the sea as the salt crystals hurt and will cut your skin. So on the way we bought the cheapest flip flops available. Not the fancy swimming shoes ones that just stay on your foot with no effort 😉 That may have been a mistake. Getting into the water, walking slowly, looking at steps in the salt, balancing out the little waves, trying to keep the flip flop sole right under the foot was.. rather hard 😉

We covered ourselves in mud, of course, and the hot spring was actually there, too! And there were not even any local people who could have protested about my not-very-covering clothes while there 🙂 Perfect!

From Amman there’s a public bus that arrives at Petra around noon. So I went in the first day till evening..

I wrote with a CS guy who was that day giving a tour there, and I joined him and his people. I was only told not to mention how I ended up with them 🙂
Later, I had tea with another couchsurfer, and then an early dinner in one of the typical tourist restaurants.

I got up before sunrise the next morning, trying to be there when the site opens and to have a bit less people around. It worked. The hike up the hill to the monastery was quite lonely and up there it was empty too.

Later, the cruise ships arrived and the main way in/out got a little crowded 🙂

Online, I had booked a ‘family room consisting of TWO rooms’ and this was confirmed 😉 Unfortunately this kind of room didnt exist in the hotel, or in the other building across the road, or in the other hotel belonging to it. And the rooms that did exist were also not too nice. So we moved.

I booked a bed in a hostel just next to the Sultanahmet tram station. It was rather hard to find (the entry is next to a sweets shop without any sign), reception was on the 5th floor, up a steep staircase without elevator, they didn’t speak much english, but I got a bed 😉 Breakfast is included and can be eaten on the roof top terrace. Perfect!

We finally managed to do a day trip to the Princes’ Islands, walked around a bit, then the others wanted to go back to the city for more shopping, while I stayed a bit longer.

The reason for the whole trip was Asli’s wedding 🙂
On the main night, we had to get to near her place. My hostel had no water at the time, so I went to my friends’ hotel room to get ready 🙂 We then took the tram out of the city, and then had to change and take the bus. Unfortunately that was still during rush hour, so we had to wait and let a few full buses pass.
I had the name of the place where the event was meant to happen and google showed me a location. But it was wrong. We asked people for it. And there seemed to be two places with almost the same name on opposite sides of the big street haha. Eventually we found it. We were not even an hour late – so perfect timing as the party also hadn’t started yet 🙂

Crema di Caffe in Milan, Pizza in Rome, Fish and Onions in Catania and Chilis in Palermo. A big picknick on the train, and falling ladders, missed trains replaced by minibuses, hours of delays.