Algeria – 18 – Sean P Drysdale

Dear Reader (2025-11-15 – posted simultaneously to FB)
It is time for another interlude from the Algeria collection called On The Road.

Notes On Photos
~ 01 – A roadside attraction in the parking lot of an unattractive hotel. To the left of this photo is a 4 lane (ish) road blown with sand. Two of us went for an evening walk and were struck by the ugliness of our overnight stop in Touggourt. Sometimes there are stops of necessity rather than desire.
~ 02 – Through a bus window. Leaving Touggourt.
~ 03 – When nomadic people and herders used to move through here, water was available from these points of refuge dotted along the old highway.
~ 04 – Through a bus window. There have been various government initiatives to encourage people to move south of the Atlas mountains. It is hard to tell if people live here or the idea was abandoned.
~ 05 – A service station. Though the language and look changes, places for gas, coffee, and toileting meet a familiar need.
~ 06 – Through a bus window.
~ 07 – Through a bus window. Center left of this image is our police escort. As I have mentioned before, when we were on the road travelling between towns we had a police escort. This is “a service provided by the government”. It was not for our safety but to make sure we did not stray from the path – there are things we are not supposed to see. I don’t know what they were.
~ 08 – Timimoun is still 20 – 30 minutes away.
~ 09 – An old mosque where we transferred from our 15 passenger bus into land cruisers.
~ 10 – The vehicles of choice in the desert are from Toyota (older Land Cruisers and Hiluxes). These travelers were an exception.
~ 11 – We turned left. I invite you to check a map to make sense of this sign. We were travelling south-east of Djanet into the little corner of Algeria where Niger is to the south and Libya is to the north.
~ 12 – Leaving Djanet headed for the desert.