Algiers
Our next daytrip was to an ancient Roman settlement of Djemila which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is inland and in the hills. Djemila is one of the best preserved Roman cities with amazing mosaics. I was very impressed by mosaics in Syria where I was one month before coming to Algeria. I thought I would never see anything better. However, mosaics in Algeria are a lot more complex and composed of really small bits. They were meticulously picked up piece by piece and transferred into the museum building where they are now displayed on the walls.
The Romans knew how to settle the land that they conquered. When Roman soldiers were discharged from the army they could get a free parcel of land. Former soldiers became farmers or skilled craftsmen. They built houses and had families. That way, the Roman empire continued to expand.
After seeing the mosaics, a guide from the museum started a tour of the ruins. The guide as in Tipaza the day before spoke French. Our group had only one person who knew French. She lives in Paris, speaks French fluently and she offered to interpret. However, speaking a language and interpreting are two different skills. She struggled to find correct Russian words. Standing under a blazing sun and listening to her slow and laborious interpreting was tiresome. Besides, almost all of this information could be found on our phones. It was more important to see the site, to experience it and “the travelers” again left “the tourists” to explore on our own.
The historic site in Djemila is big. We probably did not see it all, but we got a good idea of what it is like. Then, we headed to the town looking for a place to have lunch. A police car immediately left its parking spot and moved toward us. A tall powerfully built man got out of the car. He had a shaved head and tattoos and wore dark sunglasses and a gun as if he came from an action movie. Just looking at him gave me goosebumps. The policeman however smiled and asked something. We understood that he wanted to know where we were going. Using English words and gestures, we explained that we were doing. He nodded, got into the car and drove slowly behind us.
We chose for our lunch a small empty café that displayed skewers with different raw meats. The kebabs were quickly fried and served with salad. We finished the meal in no time and wished that we had ordered more. Our personal policeman waited for us outside, then followed us to the bus.
The other half of our group, “the tourists”, was not there. Their excursion, again, took a lot longer than planned. From Djamila, we were going to the city of Setif. The familiar policeman drove in front of our bus. When we reached the border of his area of responsibility, he stopped. Another police car was waiting for us there. That how it was all the way to the hotel in Setif. Our guards changed at the border of their administrative regions. It became clear how few foreigners were in Algeria. Police knew where we were located at any moment in time and provided individual protection.
After dinner in Setif, we were offered a guided city tour. Our “travelers” group decided not to join it but to explore Setif on our own. Setif is an ordinary Algerian city with no attractions and this was exactly what we wanted to see – just to walk its streets among the locals.
Apparently, independent walks were not possible. Right away, we were followed by a plain clothes policeman. He unobtrusively kept behind us. We stopped at a small bakery, bought some pies and shared them with our personal bodyguard. He accepted the food and started walking next to us instead of following at a distance, then used his phone application to talk to us. He asked us where we wanted to go. We replied, again with the help of a phone translator, that to nowhere in particular, just wandering around. He nodded that it was okay and we continued our walk under his protection. We returned to the hotel when the night fell, said goodbye to our awesome bodyguard and took a selfie with him.
