Above: Street scene in Algiers before I fly out to Lisbon.
Making the most of my Algiers stay
After an early breakfast I wanted to make the most of my short stay in Algiers and go to the casbah again. I took the metro as far as I could. I forgot that there was only one station north of my station. It was hardly worth the effort (would have been worse in the opposite direction because my station has very deep long stairwells; didn’t see the escalator).
I retraced my steps from the other day and went higher than before. Surprisingly the lower parts of the casbah are the most medieval looking parts. Beyond that part, there was a thin belt of French buildings and beyond that again, it reverts to local architecture. The local architecture of the higher parts was from a newer era. Again, there was nothing ornate or spectacular. I was here to see and appreciate it for what it is.
I wandered back to the hotel with a stop at Tontonville Cafe again for a freshly squeezed juice (DZD200) before taking the metro back (DZD50 regardless of distance). I decided to get off two stops later and walk back to the hotel from the other side. If I had had more time (or if I had been motivated yesterday) I would have rode the metro lots to explore all the different areas.
I had about 90 minutes to rest and get ready for check-out. I had a pizza for lunch next door before killing time back in the lobby before heading to the airport. The taxi driver arrived 15 mins before our appointed time of 1500. He had parked a short walk away as the hotel is on a busy street.
Leaving Algiers
The ride to the airport was quick with a bit of mad driving by my driver and others. I had to wait about 30 minutes before check-in opened. I was surprised that TAP Portugal opened 3h prior for just a small plane (Embraer 195).
At the entrance going airside, I was given a departure card which had one corner missing. I completed it and was asked to fill in another by the officer there. Then he asked for my Portuguese visa. I said I didn’t need one. Then he said I had a US and Bolivian visa and repeated his query about my Portuguese visa. The I said in Arabic that Malaysian passports are very good; no visa required for UK, Algeria, Portugal, Spain etc. Then he stamped my exit into my passport. It wasn’t his job to ensure I had the documents for my next destination; the airline had already done it at check-in with access to the TIMATIC database to ensure it was done correctly.
Security was straight forward but when it came to customs, two giggly younger women wanted to check me. I spoke to them in my limited Arabic. They wanted to know if I had any dinars left. I replied that i had about DZD140, just enough to get a water. They were impressed and said good bye amidst a friendly stream of other niceties.
Then I realised the water airside was more expensive than landside. Both were about 10x the street price (as was the coffee at Segafredo). I asked a couple to give me DZD10 and got a bottle to last through the couple of hours before the flight.
There was another security check at the boarding gate but it was less stringent than the earlier one, without having to remove laptops. After quite a wait, we boarded through by bus to an E190 aircraft parked at a remote gate as “it was too small to use the sleeve (airbridge presumably)”.
I was finally bound for Lisbon albeit 45 minutes late on a very empty flight. Let me explain why I’m going to Lisbon … I needed to get from Lisbon to Barcelona and the cheapest fare was on TAP Portugal. Transit time in Lisbon varied but I chose the worst one which gave me an overnight to walk down memory late.
A sandwich was served on board with a full bar service except the wine was only red (I think they ran out of white). It was a lovely flight with wide seats and legroom for Africa but not overly quiet.
During the flight I thought about my 2 days in Algiers. I was happy with what I had seen and experience. People were nice and my interactions and memories were much more sweeter than in Morocco. It was interesting to see a lot of Algerians speaking to each other in French rather than Arabic (perhaps similar to how many Malaysians and Singaporeans speak English to each other).
Arriving in Lisbon for my nightstop
We swooped over the city area and high-rises before landing at Lisbon’s airport. In the terminal, nothing seemed in a straight line perhaps from bit-by-bit expansion. Fortunately for me the non-EU immigration queue was short while the EU queue was long. On the kerb, the kiosk for the bus was a bit temperamental but I finally got my ticket third time lucky and was on the short bus ride to the city.
It was a short walk from Cais do Sodre to my hotel. It was around 2300 and I needed some food having not had dinner. The area had become Lisbon’s party district. There was only bars and no convenience store to buy some milk for my muesli. I returned to the hotel and used the milk in the fridge before retiring for the night.
It was very nice and cool outside but warm indoors. I had to open the windows wide which mean that there was a bit of noise. I slept relatively well regardless.