Ghardaia to Ouargla to Tourgourt

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This morning we went to the market place as Habib wanted to show it to me. It was a colourful place selling everything from piles of spices to carpets and goats.

Then we caught the bus to Ouagla, which was a two hour trip. I slept most of the way, but just as we were entering Ouagla, Habib gave me a nudge and told me to look out. There I saw clean yellow sand dunes of the Sahara interspersed with date palm groves and minarets.

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17th November

After breakfast it rained and flooded the streets, but we managed to run around the corner to the Saharien Museum, despite my shoes filling with water. The two guys who looked after the museum were extremely helpful. One took us right around the place explaining everything in great detail. He told us with great pride that in the south of Algeria it was a matriarchal society where women had priveleged roles and "governed the men".

The museum guide was so enthusiastic that he insisted on taking us for a personal guided tour, free of charge, of the market place. So our museum tour extended to Ouagla itself! Everywhere we went we were followed by a crowd of children. There would have been at least 50 of them. They are terrified of cameras in these regions, since they believe it can take your soul away, so for fun we were turning around with our camera and they would all run for their lives! The photo we did get (attached) was taken very quickly.

When we went for lunch I had a craving for mashed potato. I doubted they would have such a thing, but Habib requested it and a few minutes later I had a bowl of the yummiest mashed potato ever.

The restaurant was filled only with men and they ate so fast I was trying not to laugh. Habib told me to stifle any laughter as it's "not proper here". I was holding my hand over my face and I looked up again to see a guy going so fast with his spoon that the spoon slipped out of his hands and literally FLEW across the room. No-one seemed to notice and went on as normal and the guy who was now spoonless hardly knew what happened until a waiter handed him a new one. Boy, it was hard not to laugh, and Habib kept telling me off for it.

Before catching the bus to Tourgourt, we talked with people in the lounge of the hotel. One guy in there happened to be especially friendly, curious and helpful. When he wasn't offering suggestions or help, he was staring at us from behind his newspaper. He introduced himself as Nasser.

The bus was full, so we caught a taxi with nine people squashed in. Nasser continued to watch us the whole way. The desert was now clean golden dunes with date palm groves. We passed wild herds of camels evfery now nad then. Therew as rain onthe horizon and a rainbow in the clouds above. We stopped half way for a few of the people to do the prayers, then started again, which added another dimension to the atmosphere. .

Tourgourt is a clean town in the middle of a huge oasis. The hotel we were recommneded wasn't all that good, in fact dirty, we went to the Hotel Oasis; a really nice five star hotel, with rooms around a big swimming pool. The gardens were also beautiful and after dinner in the posh dining room, we went for a walk in the palm groves, plucking fresh dates from them and eating them, and wow, are fresh dates so different to shop ones! They were not even wrinkly, but were full and round and tasted like honey.

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