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You can lose everything, but nobody will take away what you saw and what you experienced...
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Oct 07, 2025 12:00 AM Sous le ciel de Paris...
Fortunately the French air traffic controllers suspended their strike and I departed on time from Bijaia, Algeria to Paris Orly. I landed before the schedule. Before evening low-cost flight to Gdansk I had enough time to refresh my memories of Paris. How to get from Orly do the center on a cheap. Tourist info desk in the airport suggests new metro line 14. One way ticket costs... 16 euro! Oh, no! I followed my previous route: tram 7 from ORLY4 terminal will take you to Villejuif-Luis Aragon metro station (2 euro for rechargable transport card+2,50 one ride. Then you can get regular metro line 7 to the center for another 2,50. But allow a lot of time!
I went to Chatelet subway station - just 150 m to Notre Dame Cathedral. Then, enjoying lovely weather I walked with my backpack to Pont Neuf, Louvre, Concorde Square and all long Champs Elyses to the Etoile. Do you know that they are charging now 16 euro to enter bottom of the Arc de Triomphe?
Later I took metro line 13 to the Saint Denis University end to board aerobus to Beauvais airport. In the late evening I landed happy and satisfied in my Gdansk. This was the end of one more interesting voyage!
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Oct 06, 2025 12:00 AM Bijaia 20 or 2000?
They charge here just 20 Algerian dinars for the ride on the city bus. For 1 euro on the free market they pay now 260 dinars. So you have 13 bus rides for one euro. Strangers can have a problem: If you ask conductor about the price he will say "deux mille" - "two thousand" - that's how they call 20-dinnar coin. But it is not the end of confusion. 5-dinnar coin is called "five thousand" and 100-dinnar - "ten thousand" etc...
Take care!
Bijaia is pretty also at night - they have coastal promenade Breeze de Mer with cafes and eateries where they are coming in the evening. See illuminated old city gate on the picture.
I am getting ready for tomorrow's departures to Europe!
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Oct 05, 2025 12:00 AM Beauty of Cap Carbon
North of Bijaia is a significant cape - coastal mountain with old lighthouse on the top. I decided to go there. Local gentleman helped me to call local uber car - for 280 dinars (slightly more than one euro) it took me up to the little parking. Already from here is a nice view of the coast. But to see more you must walk through little, 50-m tunnel full of souvenir stalls. On the exit I was enchanted by the view. In front of you huge mountain was rising from the dark-blue sea. This was Cap Carbon! As always here tourists get zero of information. No maps... Iteas visible that to climb to the lighthouse ju must go down to the little pass between mainland and cape mountain. It took me 30 min to get fown along the colony of the baboons eaiting for lunch.
Then I took a pictures from the pass and statred to climb the cape mountain. After few minutes soldiers from the lighthouse began to shout to me. Ot was clear that it is military area and I must go back... Surprise! It tooke 40 min with photo stops to climb back to the tunnel. But the views were worth the effort anyway!
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Oct 04, 2025 12:00 AM Walking around Bejaia
I slept alone in the dormitory of the cozy and clean AKHAMNEGH hostel. The staff is friendly and young receptionist - Zak speaks excellent English. They charge 1500 dinars (6 euro, of you change on the free market) per bed. But bring your own toilet paper! I took a long walk on the main Liberty Ave to the city centre. In front of the French-built Hotel des Postes there is a nice fountain. Buses terminate their routes here! 100 m away you will see great square full of cafe-tables with a great view of the port and Mediterranean Sea. This quarter of the city has many nice, colonial buildings. Old Kazba - little fortress is just below. Nice city!
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Oct 03, 2025 12:00 AM Quatre cents means 4000 here!
I spent the night in the lovely and inexpensive (3000 per room with continental breakfast) Hotel Plage d'Or. Some 200 m from the hotel you will find great PHARE beach with a view of lighthouse. I had a nice walk there. One local was following me, asking where I am going now. -Along the coast to Tichy! He is ready to drive me there for quatre cents. The price was affordable. A litre of petrol costs here just 45 dinars. The route was very picturesque with little towns on the slopes, beaches in the bays and rocky mountains. In Tichy I paid the driver 400 dinars but he wanted 4000! I found somebody in the better hotel who speaks English. In our country quatre cents means four thousands! Idiotic! Why I trust Algerians? Next time I will writte on the piece of paper: 400 Algerian Dinars. Sign please!
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Oct 02, 2025 12:00 AM Great Mosque, but do not trust Algerian Railways!
Constantine. In the morning I took the walk + tram (40 dinars) to the new and brilliant mosque of Emir Abdel Kader. It is one of the biggest in Africa. You can go inside, but left your shoes. You can also take discret photos... Place not to be missed!
I was walking back through the picturesque bridges...
At 3 pm I was ready to go to the station for 4 pm train. Happy, that I will skip bumpy travel on Algerian bus. On Tuesday evening I have been here, wanting to buy the ticket and the lady in the ticket winndow wrote me on the piece of paper: 2nd October departure 16.00 arrival to Jijel 18.00. When I reached the station today she said that today train departed at 14.55.
Are they crazy? Manager said: it was her error.
They send me to the bus station and now I an in the shared taxi to Jijel (3 hours -500 dinars) 140 km but the road is bad. And my luck is bad too!
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Oct 01, 2025 12:00 AM Historic Constantine
They say that Constantine has 2500 years of history. Today I had a guide - Mr Talal from Couchsurfing organization. He took me to the places not easy to find. We tried local food in the bazaars, went to the hidden palace of Ahmad Bey and climbed to the Monument of Dead People for the great view. They built a cable car over the canyon, which is worth to take. The ticket cost only 30 dinars! It was a long and lovely day - thank you Mr Talal!
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Sep 30, 2025 12:00 AM To Constantine!
Hot, sunny day... At 9 am I was already walking with my backpack to the bus station on Skikda. - No big buses to Constantine! You have a choice of Toyota minibus or yellow shared taxi. Yellow taxi! I paid 300 dinars for slightly more then 100 kms. Most of the route was on the highway with tunnels... At the destination I asked the driver to leave me at the GARE (railway station). In the station building they make me happy: Yes! The train to Jijel on the coast is departing every day at 4 pm. Lucky me! This will be next stage of my journey!
Constantine is famous for the 100 meters deep canyon. It cuts the city by half. In the old part of the city I found lovely hostel "Dortoir 25" where you can have a clean room with bath and breakfast for just 20 euro (exchanged on a free market). :)
They speak English here!
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Sep 29, 2025 12:00 AM Beaches of Skikda
Skikda has the port, but no beaches. You must board public bus waiting at abandoned rail station, pay 20 dinars and go to Stora - little fishing port just few kms away. On the way you will see first beaches along the promenade, but it is hard to say that they are nice. Stora under the high, coastal mountain with fishing boats is worth a picture. I started to climb the mountain for better views. Finally I found myself on the 100-m pass. Kiosks are selling there snacks and drinks. The paved road goes onward to the hidden in the bay cozy Plage la Carriere. View from the road is great, This beach is divided into few parts. I was walking onward. No joke! Hitchhiking is poor. Finally somebody gave me a lift to the viewpoint of Grand Plage. It is framed by coastal mountais. Grear view again. This is dead end of this road - I was forced to hitchhike back to Skikda. Great, sunny day on Algerian coast!
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Sep 28, 2025 12:00 AM 5 buses to Skikda...
Intercity bus travel in Algeria is dirty cheap, but not always convenient and comfortable. I wanted to go from Batna to Skikda on the Mediterranean coast of Algeria. To get to bus station I used two city buses. Once on the station they said that direct bus to Constantine will be only on 12.30 pm - two hours waiting, but you can go now changing bus in Ain Milila. This stretch of the route was pictureque with interesting mountains (see picture) In Milila the driver put me on the second bus - only middle, folding seat was available and so many humps on the road that my backbone suffered a lot. In Constantine minibus to Skikda was waiting but again they had for me only middle seat in the back. When we reached Skikda I wasn't feeling well... Algerian roads and Algerian buses! But whole voyage cost me less than 3 USD!
Skikda is worth the effort! It has a bus station on one end of the main street and abandoned train station (no trains, but they are in the timetable published on internet) on the other - down in the port. Skikda has strong Mediterranean character with high arcades along the main street and plenty of patisseries. Near the port there is palm- fringed square with cafes...
Local, Mr Mohammed helped me to find cheap hostel (here they use the French term "dortoire") where I pay 2000 d for the room with a/c and shared bath Dortoire de la Madina is in the old town. Baguettes (25 d), tomatoes (100 per kilo) and apples (250 per kilo) are sold just downstairs. Mosques are in the distance! Nice place, but I need a rest!
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