Losing myself in Algeria

6 weeks where?! OK, I admit that Algeria is probably not at the top of many people’s holiday destination lists. So why am I going? Well, with an Algerian husband and a 7-month-old baby, it’s almost an obligation.

Having said that, the first time I visited the country it really got under my skin and I love going back. There’s a crazy mixture of cultural influences and bizarre contrasts of ideas, architecture and attire, and the lack of tourist industry means that nearly everything you see is 100% genuine Algeria (which can be both good and bad!).

So, here’s my sales pitch – ready?

Looking for a destination that none of your friends have ever been too? Somewhere to relax on the beaches in the summer and go skiing in the winter? A place with breathtaking deserts and forrested mountains? Somewhere to explore thousands of years of culture and history? A land where you can sample mouthwatering fresh fruits and delicately spiced platters, and where your £ (or $ or Euro) will go a long way? A place with a vibrant mixture of languages, cultures and traditions? Then visit Algeria.

However, I could also say

Looking for a destination that none of your friends have ever been too (mainly because they believe it’s full of terrorists and mayhem)? Where nearly every river will have been used as a rubbish dump? Where a journey which is supposed to take 30 minutes takes five hours due to accidents, roadworks, police checkpoints or people driving the wrong way down the motorway? Where some of the notes are so old they fall apart in your hands (but don’t worry, you can still use them!)? A place where the guaranteed response to every possible situation (impatient drivers taking a diversion over the fields, wedding corteges with people hanging out of car windows, sheep grazing by motorways, the irony of a perfume stall being situated over a pool of rotting refuse) is to give an indifferent shrug and say ‘normale’? Then visit Algeria.

You see, Algeria is a bit of a strange old ‘melange’. Travel writers often talk about “a melting-pot of cultures”. Algeria is something else. It’s more like a crazy experiment that just keeps evolving. On top of that, the Algerian people are some of the most stubborn, undiplomatic, humorous and open-hearted you will find, and have the ability to laugh in the face of what can only be described as chaos and contradiction. And they seem to thrive on litres of sickly-sweet stand-your-spoon-up-in-it coffee…..

Going to Algeria is a challenge, not only in understanding the culture and how the place really ticks, but also in getting to know yourself somewhere wonderfully incongruous and unpredictable.

So, if you want to know more, read on, and maybe you’ll be out there finding yourself some time in the very near future…..