Timgad
Numidians were first to populate this area; they called their city Cirta. In the 3rd century B.C., the Romans razed it to the ground, then rebuilt it under a new name, Constantine, after Emperor Constantine the Great. The city is located on the edge of a deep ravine that makes it a natural fortress. It took more than a year for the French to take Constantine and they did it with great losses.
Visiting Constantine was a welcome change after seeing Roman ruins 3 days in a row. It felt like Algeria has more Roman ruins than Rome itself. We had one day in it. In the late evening, we were flying to Ghardaïa in North Sahara. Our guide in Constantine was excellent. He was well-learned and English was his native language. Finally, we had a guide with whom we could talk directly. He showed us the Emir Abdelkader Mosque which is the second largest mosque in Algeria, the National Museum and Ahmed Bey Palace, he took us to the most interesting bridges and down to the trail that runs at the bottom of the gorge.
Here, I said goodbye to my 3 travel buddies. From there, they had their own program. They would stay only one day in the oasis, then travel to Djanet to spend 3 days in Sahara while the rest of us had more time in Ghardaïa and less in the desert.
I wished I could go with my new friends, however changing my travel plans was not possible. We were together only for several days but it felt like we knew each other forever. We went separate ways in Algeria. Hopefully we will meet again in some other country. This world is such a small place.