Walk the Casbah, a trip to Tunisia&Algeria. AeroMexico 787 Y+J, TunisAir J
Jan 29, 2014, 2:53 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Austin, TX -- AA Life Platinum; QF Life Silver; UA Silver
Posts: 5,462
Walk the Casbah, a trip to Tunisia&Algeria. AeroMexico 787 Y+J, TunisAir J
I had barely returned from my previous trip (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...go-angola.html) before it was time to head off on the next one. A few months previously I had taken advantage of the AeroMexico 'sale' SAT-MEX-CDG for $382. The bonus would be flying the 787 on the MEX-CDG route.
Given CDG as a positioning point I looked for where else to visit where I hadn't been yet. Eastern Europe didn't sound too appealing in late January so North Africa seemed a better choice. The flight from Mexico City arrived late in the afternoon and there were late evening flights available to either Tunis or Algiers. That meant getting a visa for Algeria. I decided to use my UK passport as a) It was $130 vs $160 b) UK passport has all the 'iffy' countries already. Syria, Iran, Sudan, etc. c) My US passport was out getting visas for my previous trip.
I sent off my passport in mid-November to the Algerian New York consulate. They claim up to 10-day processing so I wasn't worried when I didn't hear anything for two weeks. I finally email them and they claim they need an invitation letter from a travel agent (not listed as a requirement.. I had provided them my Sheraton hotel booking confirmation) and that they had emailed me a week previously (never received it). It took another week and a half emailing back and forth between travel agencies in Algeria. Most never responded, those that did only spoke French or were already full the week I wanted to visit.
I finally found a travel agency to provide an invitation letter and itinerary. They quoted ~$650 for 4 days including hotel, driver and guide which was fairly reasonable (would have been about $515 at the 'unofficial' exchange rate). I really wanted to visit the desert parts of Algeria but given my short visit (roughly 74 hrs) there wasn't time. Also some areas of Algeria are still off limits to tourists due to rebel activity in the far south. Finally with invitation letter in hand the consulate mailed my passport back, nearly a month after I had originally sent it in.
Visa in hand I started booking flights. I had been keeping my eye on CDG-TUN/ALG-CDG open-jaw on AirFrance. It had been hovering around $275 for a long time but by the time I got my visa the price had jumped considerably for the flights I needed. I ended up booking one-way CDG-TUN on Syphax Air (a new Tunisia startup airline) and a one-way reduced award ALG-CDG (7500 miles) on AirFrance. For the Tunis-Algiers flight I noticed that business class on TunisAir was only showing a few $ more than economy, score!
I also noticed that AeroMexico offered paid-upgrades via optiontown. They listed MEX-CDG or v.v at $500 one way. When I checked in for my flights MEX-CDG was already full in J but CDG-MEX looked wide open on expertflyer. For $500 and a 13:40 flight in J on a 787? Sign me up...
My planned flights:
Given CDG as a positioning point I looked for where else to visit where I hadn't been yet. Eastern Europe didn't sound too appealing in late January so North Africa seemed a better choice. The flight from Mexico City arrived late in the afternoon and there were late evening flights available to either Tunis or Algiers. That meant getting a visa for Algeria. I decided to use my UK passport as a) It was $130 vs $160 b) UK passport has all the 'iffy' countries already. Syria, Iran, Sudan, etc. c) My US passport was out getting visas for my previous trip.
I sent off my passport in mid-November to the Algerian New York consulate. They claim up to 10-day processing so I wasn't worried when I didn't hear anything for two weeks. I finally email them and they claim they need an invitation letter from a travel agent (not listed as a requirement.. I had provided them my Sheraton hotel booking confirmation) and that they had emailed me a week previously (never received it). It took another week and a half emailing back and forth between travel agencies in Algeria. Most never responded, those that did only spoke French or were already full the week I wanted to visit.
I finally found a travel agency to provide an invitation letter and itinerary. They quoted ~$650 for 4 days including hotel, driver and guide which was fairly reasonable (would have been about $515 at the 'unofficial' exchange rate). I really wanted to visit the desert parts of Algeria but given my short visit (roughly 74 hrs) there wasn't time. Also some areas of Algeria are still off limits to tourists due to rebel activity in the far south. Finally with invitation letter in hand the consulate mailed my passport back, nearly a month after I had originally sent it in.
Visa in hand I started booking flights. I had been keeping my eye on CDG-TUN/ALG-CDG open-jaw on AirFrance. It had been hovering around $275 for a long time but by the time I got my visa the price had jumped considerably for the flights I needed. I ended up booking one-way CDG-TUN on Syphax Air (a new Tunisia startup airline) and a one-way reduced award ALG-CDG (7500 miles) on AirFrance. For the Tunis-Algiers flight I noticed that business class on TunisAir was only showing a few $ more than economy, score!
I also noticed that AeroMexico offered paid-upgrades via optiontown. They listed MEX-CDG or v.v at $500 one way. When I checked in for my flights MEX-CDG was already full in J but CDG-MEX looked wide open on expertflyer. For $500 and a 13:40 flight in J on a 787? Sign me up...
My planned flights:
Code:
SAT-MEX AM E90 Y MEX-CDG AM 787 Y CDG-TUN FS 320 Y TUN-ALG TU 320 J ALG-CDG AF 320 Y CDG-MEX AM 787 Y (upgraded to J) MEX-SAT AM E90 Y
Last edited by hauteboy; Feb 9, 2014 at 3:33 pm
Jan 29, 2014, 3:05 pm
#2
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Austin, TX -- AA Life Platinum; QF Life Silver; UA Silver
Posts: 5,462
Jan 25, 2014
Flight: San Antonio, TX (SAT) to Mexico City, Mexico (MEX); AeroMexico; economy
Flight: Mexico City, Mexico (MEX) to Paris, France (CDG); AeroMexico; 787 economy
Jan 26, 2014
Flight: Paris, France (CDG) to Tunis, Tunisia (TUN); Syphax Air; economy
Hotel: Hotel Ibis; Tunis, Tunisia; $80
After the ice storm yesterday that shut down Austin I was glad the roads would be clear for my drive to San Antonio. It had taken my wife and I two hours to drive a normal 20-minute drive getting home on Thursday night as many bridges were closed due to ice! With another ice storm due to hit in just a few days I was glad that weather today would be perfect for flying and driving. I planned to leave my car at my travel buddy Dean's place as he lives 10 minutes away from the airport. My other travel buddy Scott was at his place discussing where their next trip should be.
I had already checked in online and only had carryon bags so going through security at SAT was easy. They are still working on renovating the A terminal but the security flow is already better than it was previously. There didn't appear to be a lounge and I don't have status on SkyTeam anyway so that was moot.
I had booked my flight through onetravel.com. Some time ago they went to a paid model to select seats (
), there is still a free option but apparently on AeroMexico it defaults to the last row in the plane... AeroMexico's site doesn't allow selecting seats. Also my original flight had been cancelled and I was put on an earlier flight. Basically that meant that by the time I did online checkin I was in the next to last row of the flight to Mexico City. Luckily I was able to get a better seat on the 787 to Paris.
The flight started boarding but then stopped when there was a mechanical issue with one of the seats. Eventually we boarded and I barely was able to squeeze my backpack in the tiny overhead bin between the flight attendants' purses. The 2-hr flight was uneventful. They served a snack box onboard, I grabbed two as I was starving by this point. We arrived into T2 a few minutes early. Mexico like the US doesn't have international transit as domestic/international gates are not segregated. You must go through immigration/customs and reclear security for connections. It was quiet though at immigration and only had a slight delay at customs when I was selected for random search.
Back through security into the terminal. My original flight only had a ~3 hr layover but now had nearly 6 hrs to kill. I was able to get into the Salon Premier with my Diners Club card. There are two lounges, one on domestic side and other on international. I had gone in the domestic side but the agent said the CDG flight often left from the domestic gates and I was fine to stay there. The lounge was pretty deserted at the time and I sat down to wait out the hours.
Eventually it comes time to board the flight. AeroMexico doesn't board by row number but by window/middle/aisle. This was my first time flying the 787 so I was interested to see how the experience went. I had 18F so ended up being towards the end of boarding as it was an aisle seat. I'd hoped the seats next to me were empty but the flight ended up being nearly full. The pitch was a bit tight and seats felt a bit narrow too. The seats are configured in 3-3-3 in economy and staggered 2-2 in business. Economy had touchscreen VOD with USB-charger, headphone jack and one other (game controller?) outlet. Everything is controlled through the touchscreen, lights, flight attendant call, etc. There is also a chat system where you can message someone in another seat. There is a motion sensor that lights up the USB port and function button.
The flight was pretty uneventful. I wasn't able to sleep very well despite the longer period between meals. I hate on Chicago-Europe flights where by the time they finish the meal there's only 3-4 hrs to sleep before they wake you up for breakfast. I finished watching a movie that I didn't get to finish on my LIS-EWR flight a few weeks ago. Movie choice was OK but not extensive. Eventually the sun rose and the electronic shades turned on. They mostly kept the light out but still let enough through to cast ovals on the far wall..
We actually landed early into CDG but had to taxi to Belgium (or maybe it was just the other side of the airport). Luckily there actually was a jetbridge this time instead of a bus. I went through the flight connections line.. my Syphax air flight departed from Terminal 1. Unfortunately they do not have an online checkin (what year is this?) and wasn't possible to get a boarding pass at the connections desk. Security let me through though and I had a long walk/wait to catch a bus to 2C, then another bus to T1. Finally an hour after landing I arrived at the retro CDG Terminal 1.
I had a long layover (5 hrs) before my flight to Tunis. T1 is not configured to allow international transit and I had to go through immigration and back down to the checkin desk... which wouldn't open for another 2-3 hrs! I plopped myself down in front of the desk to wait it out. Free wifi only lasts 15 minutes(!) so ended up having to buy a subscription for a few hrs.
Eventually the desk opens 2.5 hrs before flight time and I'm checked in in seconds. Back up to the departures level and I headed to the Icare Lounge (another Diners Club lounge). It is a basic lounge with some drinks but no real food. About 50 minutes before flight time I head towards the gate. Security is handled in the satellite terminals in T1. The French were a lot more anal about security here than most places.
Five minutes before our scheduled departure time the plane finally arrives. It's nearly an hour later by the time we actually depart for the 2 hr flight to Tunis. The flight is configured with 3 rows of Eurobusiness and the rest economy. I was in the first row of economy right behind the business section. Pitch was also quite tight here. Announcements were only in French and Arabic.. I was actually able to understand most of the French... a few weeks after travelling in the Congo it is still in my brain! They served a juice box and muffin on the flight.
We arrived after midnight into Tunis. Easy through immigration (UK passport - my US one is nearly full!) and found an ATM. I'd read about taxis being blatant cheats in Tunis.. the fare should be maybe 5 or 10 ($6) TND at the most to the hotel. The first guys wanted 30 TND ($18)!! I laughed at that 'trois cher!' and kept saying 10, 10. Eventually someone accepted and we were off to the Ibis hotel. Checkin was quick and I collapsed after over 32 hrs of travel since leaving Austin!
Flight: San Antonio, TX (SAT) to Mexico City, Mexico (MEX); AeroMexico; economy
Flight: Mexico City, Mexico (MEX) to Paris, France (CDG); AeroMexico; 787 economy
Jan 26, 2014
Flight: Paris, France (CDG) to Tunis, Tunisia (TUN); Syphax Air; economy
Hotel: Hotel Ibis; Tunis, Tunisia; $80
After the ice storm yesterday that shut down Austin I was glad the roads would be clear for my drive to San Antonio. It had taken my wife and I two hours to drive a normal 20-minute drive getting home on Thursday night as many bridges were closed due to ice! With another ice storm due to hit in just a few days I was glad that weather today would be perfect for flying and driving. I planned to leave my car at my travel buddy Dean's place as he lives 10 minutes away from the airport. My other travel buddy Scott was at his place discussing where their next trip should be.
I had already checked in online and only had carryon bags so going through security at SAT was easy. They are still working on renovating the A terminal but the security flow is already better than it was previously. There didn't appear to be a lounge and I don't have status on SkyTeam anyway so that was moot.
I had booked my flight through onetravel.com. Some time ago they went to a paid model to select seats (
), there is still a free option but apparently on AeroMexico it defaults to the last row in the plane... AeroMexico's site doesn't allow selecting seats. Also my original flight had been cancelled and I was put on an earlier flight. Basically that meant that by the time I did online checkin I was in the next to last row of the flight to Mexico City. Luckily I was able to get a better seat on the 787 to Paris.The flight started boarding but then stopped when there was a mechanical issue with one of the seats. Eventually we boarded and I barely was able to squeeze my backpack in the tiny overhead bin between the flight attendants' purses. The 2-hr flight was uneventful. They served a snack box onboard, I grabbed two as I was starving by this point. We arrived into T2 a few minutes early. Mexico like the US doesn't have international transit as domestic/international gates are not segregated. You must go through immigration/customs and reclear security for connections. It was quiet though at immigration and only had a slight delay at customs when I was selected for random search.
Back through security into the terminal. My original flight only had a ~3 hr layover but now had nearly 6 hrs to kill. I was able to get into the Salon Premier with my Diners Club card. There are two lounges, one on domestic side and other on international. I had gone in the domestic side but the agent said the CDG flight often left from the domestic gates and I was fine to stay there. The lounge was pretty deserted at the time and I sat down to wait out the hours.
Eventually it comes time to board the flight. AeroMexico doesn't board by row number but by window/middle/aisle. This was my first time flying the 787 so I was interested to see how the experience went. I had 18F so ended up being towards the end of boarding as it was an aisle seat. I'd hoped the seats next to me were empty but the flight ended up being nearly full. The pitch was a bit tight and seats felt a bit narrow too. The seats are configured in 3-3-3 in economy and staggered 2-2 in business. Economy had touchscreen VOD with USB-charger, headphone jack and one other (game controller?) outlet. Everything is controlled through the touchscreen, lights, flight attendant call, etc. There is also a chat system where you can message someone in another seat. There is a motion sensor that lights up the USB port and function button.
The flight was pretty uneventful. I wasn't able to sleep very well despite the longer period between meals. I hate on Chicago-Europe flights where by the time they finish the meal there's only 3-4 hrs to sleep before they wake you up for breakfast. I finished watching a movie that I didn't get to finish on my LIS-EWR flight a few weeks ago. Movie choice was OK but not extensive. Eventually the sun rose and the electronic shades turned on. They mostly kept the light out but still let enough through to cast ovals on the far wall..
We actually landed early into CDG but had to taxi to Belgium (or maybe it was just the other side of the airport). Luckily there actually was a jetbridge this time instead of a bus. I went through the flight connections line.. my Syphax air flight departed from Terminal 1. Unfortunately they do not have an online checkin (what year is this?) and wasn't possible to get a boarding pass at the connections desk. Security let me through though and I had a long walk/wait to catch a bus to 2C, then another bus to T1. Finally an hour after landing I arrived at the retro CDG Terminal 1.
I had a long layover (5 hrs) before my flight to Tunis. T1 is not configured to allow international transit and I had to go through immigration and back down to the checkin desk... which wouldn't open for another 2-3 hrs! I plopped myself down in front of the desk to wait it out. Free wifi only lasts 15 minutes(!) so ended up having to buy a subscription for a few hrs.
Eventually the desk opens 2.5 hrs before flight time and I'm checked in in seconds. Back up to the departures level and I headed to the Icare Lounge (another Diners Club lounge). It is a basic lounge with some drinks but no real food. About 50 minutes before flight time I head towards the gate. Security is handled in the satellite terminals in T1. The French were a lot more anal about security here than most places.
Five minutes before our scheduled departure time the plane finally arrives. It's nearly an hour later by the time we actually depart for the 2 hr flight to Tunis. The flight is configured with 3 rows of Eurobusiness and the rest economy. I was in the first row of economy right behind the business section. Pitch was also quite tight here. Announcements were only in French and Arabic.. I was actually able to understand most of the French... a few weeks after travelling in the Congo it is still in my brain! They served a juice box and muffin on the flight.
We arrived after midnight into Tunis. Easy through immigration (UK passport - my US one is nearly full!) and found an ATM. I'd read about taxis being blatant cheats in Tunis.. the fare should be maybe 5 or 10 ($6) TND at the most to the hotel. The first guys wanted 30 TND ($18)!! I laughed at that 'trois cher!' and kept saying 10, 10. Eventually someone accepted and we were off to the Ibis hotel. Checkin was quick and I collapsed after over 32 hrs of travel since leaving Austin!
Jan 29, 2014, 3:45 pm
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Austin, TX -- AA Life Platinum; QF Life Silver; UA Silver
Posts: 5,462
AeroMexico SAT-MEX
Salon Premiere lounge, MEX
AeroMexico MEX-CDG 787
Icare Lounge, CDG
FlySyphax CDG-TUN
Ibis Tunis
Last edited by hauteboy; Feb 1, 2014 at 8:15 am
Jan 31, 2014, 7:50 am
#5
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Dubai
Posts: 3,301
Wow, never realised French would be so handy outside of France.
My last time at CDG I noticed they were quite picky too, and had to remove both my iPad & camera for X-raying.
Hmmm, Syphax sounds like some kind of computer virus or pesticide
.
My last time at CDG I noticed they were quite picky too, and had to remove both my iPad & camera for X-raying.
Hmmm, Syphax sounds like some kind of computer virus or pesticide
.
Jan 31, 2014, 1:53 pm
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Austin, TX -- AA Life Platinum; QF Life Silver; UA Silver
Posts: 5,462
And Syphax is from Sfax town in Tunisia
Jan 31, 2014, 1:56 pm
#7
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Austin, TX -- AA Life Platinum; QF Life Silver; UA Silver
Posts: 5,462
Jan 27, 2014
Hotel: Hotel Ibis; Tunis, Tunisia; $80
Today was my only full day in Tunis. Not a lot of time to see things, but I already hoped to come back to Tunisia some day to further explore the south. It also being a Monday meant most things I did want to see (Bardo Museum, main mosque, etc.) were closed! So I had a kind of easy morning, eating breakfast at the hotel (16 TND extra), then walking down towards the old medina, about 2kms away.
Along the way I stopped at the Cathedral of St Vincent de Paul, across from the French embassy. The square between the church and embassy was blocked off with razor wire and a police van. The church was open so went inside to have a look around and bought a postcard to send to my daughter.
The medina started a few blocks west at the Place de Victoire. The medina is the old city and is a maze of narrow alleyways full of shops, old palaces, restaurants, etc. The main route through to the center is just row after row of touristy shops selling carpets, lanterns, copperwork, fez hats and all sorts of other things. Tiny little cafes with old men sipping coffee and smoking the shisha. All sorts of great smells emanate from the bakeries and restaurants along the way. I spent awhile just wandering some of the side streets. Many of the buildings were decorated with handpainted tiles similar what I had seen before in Lisbon.
Place de Victoire
I eventually came to the mosque but it was not open for non-Muslims today. I continued walking through the streets, then a guy kept trying to show me to a 'panorama' view. I kept walking and visited a few medrassas, very beautiful in Mameluke/Moorish style with alternating white/black arches. The doors here are also very pretty, painted all different colors.
It was getting close to lunchtime. I found one of the tiny restaurants with a line out the door. Fried egg, french fries and some sauce on a baguette. Really good and only $0.50! I kept wandering around and found one of the carpet shops that had a panorama from the roof. The view was quite good with a view out over the medina and nearby mosque. Of course when I came back down I got the hard sell for carpets. I've been in many carpet shops from Syria to Afghanistan but never really bought one before. Not that I needed one really, we have plenty of rugs/carpets/wallhangings etc at home. There was one though that caught my eye a bit and ended up getting it for less than half what he initially quoted. He agreed too quickly though so I'm sure I could have gotten it cheaper... and that meant lugging it with me around for the rest of the day. Then when leaving he asks for another $20 for the helpers, uh no.
I left through the western side of the medina and walked around the northern edge. Found a post office to mail off my postcard then back to the hotel. I was pretty tired/jetlagged by this point and just relaxed that afternoon at the hotel. For dinner I asked for some recommendations at the hotel. One of them was closed on Monday, the others sounded OK. I picked Essaraya restaurant. Found a taxi outside the hotel and headed off there, telling him to use the meter. I'm quite sure the driver had a funny meter as one minute it read 4TND and had jumped to 14TND just a short time later... he said he would come back in 90 minutes and take me back to the hotel for 10. I said no no don't need it.. I'm sure I could have found another taxi.
Essayara Restaurant
Arrived at the restaurant at 7:30 and it was completely empty.. The setting was gorgeous in an old house. I ordered the bourek trio, meat wrapped in pastry. The three pieces came out, resembling an eggroll, an empanada and a samosa. The eggroll and samosa were dripping in grease but pretty good otherwise. I had the marka h'loua specialty, lamb served with raisins, apricots, chestnuts and almonds. Really good and tasty but there were a lot of bone chips in the meat. After dinner I had some mint tea. Meanwhile it had started raining heavily so decided to wait for the taxi after all. Had about a 45 minute wait until he showed up, meanwhile a few other people had arrived at the restaurant. On the way back I kept an eye on the meter... it was only 5TND so definitely he was a cheat. This was a trend I started noticing in Tunis, drivers always were trying to get 3X what the meter should be..
Hotel: Hotel Ibis; Tunis, Tunisia; $80
Today was my only full day in Tunis. Not a lot of time to see things, but I already hoped to come back to Tunisia some day to further explore the south. It also being a Monday meant most things I did want to see (Bardo Museum, main mosque, etc.) were closed! So I had a kind of easy morning, eating breakfast at the hotel (16 TND extra), then walking down towards the old medina, about 2kms away.
Along the way I stopped at the Cathedral of St Vincent de Paul, across from the French embassy. The square between the church and embassy was blocked off with razor wire and a police van. The church was open so went inside to have a look around and bought a postcard to send to my daughter.
The medina started a few blocks west at the Place de Victoire. The medina is the old city and is a maze of narrow alleyways full of shops, old palaces, restaurants, etc. The main route through to the center is just row after row of touristy shops selling carpets, lanterns, copperwork, fez hats and all sorts of other things. Tiny little cafes with old men sipping coffee and smoking the shisha. All sorts of great smells emanate from the bakeries and restaurants along the way. I spent awhile just wandering some of the side streets. Many of the buildings were decorated with handpainted tiles similar what I had seen before in Lisbon.
Place de Victoire
I eventually came to the mosque but it was not open for non-Muslims today. I continued walking through the streets, then a guy kept trying to show me to a 'panorama' view. I kept walking and visited a few medrassas, very beautiful in Mameluke/Moorish style with alternating white/black arches. The doors here are also very pretty, painted all different colors.
It was getting close to lunchtime. I found one of the tiny restaurants with a line out the door. Fried egg, french fries and some sauce on a baguette. Really good and only $0.50! I kept wandering around and found one of the carpet shops that had a panorama from the roof. The view was quite good with a view out over the medina and nearby mosque. Of course when I came back down I got the hard sell for carpets. I've been in many carpet shops from Syria to Afghanistan but never really bought one before. Not that I needed one really, we have plenty of rugs/carpets/wallhangings etc at home. There was one though that caught my eye a bit and ended up getting it for less than half what he initially quoted. He agreed too quickly though so I'm sure I could have gotten it cheaper... and that meant lugging it with me around for the rest of the day. Then when leaving he asks for another $20 for the helpers, uh no.
I left through the western side of the medina and walked around the northern edge. Found a post office to mail off my postcard then back to the hotel. I was pretty tired/jetlagged by this point and just relaxed that afternoon at the hotel. For dinner I asked for some recommendations at the hotel. One of them was closed on Monday, the others sounded OK. I picked Essaraya restaurant. Found a taxi outside the hotel and headed off there, telling him to use the meter. I'm quite sure the driver had a funny meter as one minute it read 4TND and had jumped to 14TND just a short time later... he said he would come back in 90 minutes and take me back to the hotel for 10. I said no no don't need it.. I'm sure I could have found another taxi.
Essayara Restaurant
Arrived at the restaurant at 7:30 and it was completely empty.. The setting was gorgeous in an old house. I ordered the bourek trio, meat wrapped in pastry. The three pieces came out, resembling an eggroll, an empanada and a samosa. The eggroll and samosa were dripping in grease but pretty good otherwise. I had the marka h'loua specialty, lamb served with raisins, apricots, chestnuts and almonds. Really good and tasty but there were a lot of bone chips in the meat. After dinner I had some mint tea. Meanwhile it had started raining heavily so decided to wait for the taxi after all. Had about a 45 minute wait until he showed up, meanwhile a few other people had arrived at the restaurant. On the way back I kept an eye on the meter... it was only 5TND so definitely he was a cheat. This was a trend I started noticing in Tunis, drivers always were trying to get 3X what the meter should be..
Feb 1, 2014, 8:22 am
#9
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Austin, TX -- AA Life Platinum; QF Life Silver; UA Silver
Posts: 5,462
Jan 28, 2014
Flight: Tunis, Tunisia (TUN) to Algiers, Algeria (ALG); Tunisair; 320 business
Hotel: Hotel Albert 1er; Algiers, Algeria
My flight didn't leave until 1:20PM today so I had a bit of time free this morning. I hoped to get out to the Bardo museum but it didn't open until 9:30, which didn't leave me a lot of time at the museum. I headed out just before 9 down to the tram stop. Ended up just missing it so had to wait another 15 minutes or so for the next one. It was starting to drizzle at this point too and I hadn't brought my rainjacket.
Tunis tram
The Bardo museum was 6 stops away on line 4. Tunis has 4 tramline s and a local rail that goes out to the Carthage area. The fare was very cheap too, about $0.30. I arrived at the museum just after opening at 9:40. There was already a tourbus full of Chinese at the entrance. Ticket fee was 12 TND including camera. They also make you put on booties like at the Taj Mahal. The reason for this is that the museum holds many Roman mosaics, the best ones are on the walls but others are reconstructed on the floor. Really amazing mosaics, some of the best I have seen. I managed to dodge the group of Chinese and headed up to the 2nd floor. I'd been unable to find my camera charger... either I'd left it at home or I'd lost it already. I was worried about my camera lasting for the rest of the week, so I ended up using my phone camera (eh) for pictures at the museum.
Bardo Museum
After about 40 minutes wandering around I decided to head back as my flight was at 1:20. Managed to catch the next tram out at 10:30 but missed the announcement that the tram wasn't stopping at my station at all but continuing to Place Barcelone! That put me off further away from my hotel than I'd hoped... The area is chaotic as the train station and bus station are all there as well. I walked a few blocks before finding a taxi, asking how much to go by the hotel then to the airport. First quote of course was astronomical.. even the price we settled at was too much but it was after 11AM at this point and had 2 hrs before my flight. I had gotten on the wrong street too apparently as it took us awhile to get back to the hotel, going the opposite way for awhile. Picked up my bags and checked out, then back to the taxi.
Arrived at the airport about 11:45, still plenty of time before my flight. There was noone in the line at checkin at the Algiers desk, but they said I needed to go to the business class checkin desk! So TunisAir has a dedicated checkin desk for business class. After checkin they made me take my backpack to yet another counter to drop off. Immigration was a breeze and went through to the TunisAir lounge. Very empty when I arrived. They had free wifi and some pastries/breads but not much else on offer. Only water and juice to drink from what I could see.
TunisAir lounge
TunisAir TUN-ALG EuroBusiness Class
They called our boarding early. Boarding was via bus at the opposite end of the (small) terminal. The TunisAir A320 was setup with EuroBusiness 2-2 seating. Takeoff was on time and I was surprised when they served a full meal on the 1:10 flight, very impressive. Arrived into Algiers and had no problems at immigration. The terminal appears quite new. I had checked my bag as I now was carrying a carpet with me.. it took a few minutes for bags to start coming out on the line. As I suspected my phone did not work in Algeria.
In order to get the Algeria visa, I had to book a tour. My driver was waiting for me outside of immigration. The airport was quite busy. There are ATM machines here but I didn't try to use any as Algeria has a 'parallel' exchange rate, 30% better than official rate. The driver didn't speak much English but I understand enough French. We got to talking and turns out he had been in Austin just a few months previous!
We headed off to center of Algiers to my hotel. Along the way we stopped to change my money, 70 EUR to 9400 DZD. There was quite a bit of traffic heading into town and police were everywhere. Algiers downtown is a maze of streets, full of old crumbling colonial French apartments. They are quite scenic with balconies and louvered doors. Algieria used to be part of metropolitan France, it was not considered a colony. Algiers was as French as Marseille. Nearly a million foreigners (pied-noirs) lived in Algeria up until the independence wars in the 1950s.
My hotel, Albert 1er, was right in the center of town near the Grande Poste, an impressive Moorish style building. The driver dropped me off and said he would come by in the morning at 9AM for the city tour. It was about 4PM by this point and I spent awhile just walking the nearby streets. The city is built on the side of a mountain and there are many decorated stairways to reach higher portions of the city. Algiers seemed prosperous, there were lots of people out walking, fancy shops, patisseries, etc. Back to the hotel. My room was small but had a great balcony view from the 7th floor. The bathroom had a slight sewer smell from the shower but was otherwise clean.
Algiers
Grand Post office
Albert 1er Hotel
For dinner I ate in the hotel restaurant. Old school waiters in tuxes and bowties. The food was quite good too, I had ordered chicken with mushroom sauce and paella rice. Dessert was creme caramel.
Flight: Tunis, Tunisia (TUN) to Algiers, Algeria (ALG); Tunisair; 320 business
Hotel: Hotel Albert 1er; Algiers, Algeria
My flight didn't leave until 1:20PM today so I had a bit of time free this morning. I hoped to get out to the Bardo museum but it didn't open until 9:30, which didn't leave me a lot of time at the museum. I headed out just before 9 down to the tram stop. Ended up just missing it so had to wait another 15 minutes or so for the next one. It was starting to drizzle at this point too and I hadn't brought my rainjacket.
Tunis tram
The Bardo museum was 6 stops away on line 4. Tunis has 4 tramline s and a local rail that goes out to the Carthage area. The fare was very cheap too, about $0.30. I arrived at the museum just after opening at 9:40. There was already a tourbus full of Chinese at the entrance. Ticket fee was 12 TND including camera. They also make you put on booties like at the Taj Mahal. The reason for this is that the museum holds many Roman mosaics, the best ones are on the walls but others are reconstructed on the floor. Really amazing mosaics, some of the best I have seen. I managed to dodge the group of Chinese and headed up to the 2nd floor. I'd been unable to find my camera charger... either I'd left it at home or I'd lost it already. I was worried about my camera lasting for the rest of the week, so I ended up using my phone camera (eh) for pictures at the museum.
Bardo Museum
After about 40 minutes wandering around I decided to head back as my flight was at 1:20. Managed to catch the next tram out at 10:30 but missed the announcement that the tram wasn't stopping at my station at all but continuing to Place Barcelone! That put me off further away from my hotel than I'd hoped... The area is chaotic as the train station and bus station are all there as well. I walked a few blocks before finding a taxi, asking how much to go by the hotel then to the airport. First quote of course was astronomical.. even the price we settled at was too much but it was after 11AM at this point and had 2 hrs before my flight. I had gotten on the wrong street too apparently as it took us awhile to get back to the hotel, going the opposite way for awhile. Picked up my bags and checked out, then back to the taxi.
Arrived at the airport about 11:45, still plenty of time before my flight. There was noone in the line at checkin at the Algiers desk, but they said I needed to go to the business class checkin desk! So TunisAir has a dedicated checkin desk for business class. After checkin they made me take my backpack to yet another counter to drop off. Immigration was a breeze and went through to the TunisAir lounge. Very empty when I arrived. They had free wifi and some pastries/breads but not much else on offer. Only water and juice to drink from what I could see.
TunisAir lounge
TunisAir TUN-ALG EuroBusiness Class
They called our boarding early. Boarding was via bus at the opposite end of the (small) terminal. The TunisAir A320 was setup with EuroBusiness 2-2 seating. Takeoff was on time and I was surprised when they served a full meal on the 1:10 flight, very impressive. Arrived into Algiers and had no problems at immigration. The terminal appears quite new. I had checked my bag as I now was carrying a carpet with me.. it took a few minutes for bags to start coming out on the line. As I suspected my phone did not work in Algeria.
In order to get the Algeria visa, I had to book a tour. My driver was waiting for me outside of immigration. The airport was quite busy. There are ATM machines here but I didn't try to use any as Algeria has a 'parallel' exchange rate, 30% better than official rate. The driver didn't speak much English but I understand enough French. We got to talking and turns out he had been in Austin just a few months previous!
We headed off to center of Algiers to my hotel. Along the way we stopped to change my money, 70 EUR to 9400 DZD. There was quite a bit of traffic heading into town and police were everywhere. Algiers downtown is a maze of streets, full of old crumbling colonial French apartments. They are quite scenic with balconies and louvered doors. Algieria used to be part of metropolitan France, it was not considered a colony. Algiers was as French as Marseille. Nearly a million foreigners (pied-noirs) lived in Algeria up until the independence wars in the 1950s.
My hotel, Albert 1er, was right in the center of town near the Grande Poste, an impressive Moorish style building. The driver dropped me off and said he would come by in the morning at 9AM for the city tour. It was about 4PM by this point and I spent awhile just walking the nearby streets. The city is built on the side of a mountain and there are many decorated stairways to reach higher portions of the city. Algiers seemed prosperous, there were lots of people out walking, fancy shops, patisseries, etc. Back to the hotel. My room was small but had a great balcony view from the 7th floor. The bathroom had a slight sewer smell from the shower but was otherwise clean.
Algiers
Grand Post office
Albert 1er Hotel
For dinner I ate in the hotel restaurant. Old school waiters in tuxes and bowties. The food was quite good too, I had ordered chicken with mushroom sauce and paella rice. Dessert was creme caramel.
Feb 1, 2014, 8:45 am
#10
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Austin, TX -- AA Life Platinum; QF Life Silver; UA Silver
Posts: 5,462
Jan 29, 2014
Hotel: Hotel Albert 1er; Algiers, Algeria
Breakfast at the hotel was your basic continental style, baguettes, croissants, juice and yogurt. The driver and guide showed up late at 9:30 and we set off for the Casbah for the start of a city tour. The guide spoke English so that was useful.
The guide explained the name of Algeria came from Al-jazir, Arabic for islands (same root as Al-Jazeera) which were the original settlement in the bay. Phoenicians, Romans, Ottomans, and even the Spanish were here before the French arrived in the early 1800s. The Casbah was the original walled city built mostly during Ottoman times. Built on the side of the hill it is a maze of narrow alleyways and paths. During the Battle of Algiers, the Casbah became a refuge for rebel fighters and France was never really ever able to control all of it. We started off at the top of the Casbah, at one of the original five gates. There was a house here built in traditional style by the French. The entryway had a dogleg (so you couldn't see inside), a waiting area with part open to the sky (for ventilation), then the inside courtyard with fountain. He mentioned that the hallways were only ~2.5m wide as it helped keep the building stable during earthquakes, the last one being in 2003. Cisterns built under the houses provided drinking water.
We stopped at a little restaurant selling these things that resembled crepes or quesadillas, with a yummy spicy tomato/onion sauce inside. Very good! The guide showed me a few places that I wouldn't have been able to find on my own. One was going inside a house up to the roof that had a great view out over the Casbah and bay below. Traditionally, houses had beeen built so that the lower ones did not block the view of higher buildings. The Casbah was declared a UNESCO Heritage site so any construction/restoration must keep the same style as existing buildings. Earthquake and water has damaged many of the buildings.. some alleyways were full of bracing holding up the surrounding buildings.
We wandered down the alleys. In most houses, the upper floor was larger than the lower floors. As in many Muslim countries you see stray cats but rarely dogs. There were still a few functional public water fountains. Along the way we visited a calligraphy museum and a house that had been bombed/attacked by the French to capture the leader of the rebels during the Battle of Algiers. We also visited a shrine patroned mostly by women for asking for family and fertility prayers.
The French had put roads through the center of the Casbah and had put in French style apartments. We walked down one of the roads which today held a large market. Eventually we reach the bottom of the city and found a place for lunch. 8 small kebabs and a Fanta was a cheap lunch. Across the street was a patisserie selling tarts and mille-feuilles for $0.30.
After lunch we drove out to the Martyrs Monument, built in 1982 by a Canadian firm to commemorate the 20th anniversary of independence. We had driven past it on the way into town. The monument is on a hill out overlooking the city. The guide asked if I wanted to ride the metro as I had mentioned it. The driver would meet us back at the hotel. The guide and I caught the cable car (20 DA) down from the monument to the botanical gardens metro stop. The metro opened in 2011 and currently has 10 stops, they are currently working on extending the line through to the Casbah and eventually out to the airport. Algiers is only the 2nd city in Africa to have a metro system (Cairo is the other). We got off one stop before the Post office and walked the rest of the way down the stylish street.
Martyrs Monument
Algiers Metro
Rashid met us at the hotel and we next headed off for the Notre Dame d'Afrique cathedral on the western side of town. We had some time to kill as it was only 2PM yet the cathedral didn't open until 3. The driver took several detours then we stopped at a handicraft market. The guide said they are usually closed but most of them were open today. Eventually we reached the cathedral perched high up on the hill overlooking the Mediterranean. We were a few minutes early so sat around until the church opened. The cathedral was built in the late 1800s and just renovated a few years ago. I found a postcard here to send my daughter.
Notre Dame d'Afrique
After the cathedral we headed back to my hotel and I said goodbye to the guide and tipped him a few hundred dinars. The driver said he would come by in the morning again at 9AM for the trip out to Tipaza, a Roman city west of Algiers. I had dinner again in the hotel restaurant, this time had a Nicoise salad and veal with pasta.
Hotel: Hotel Albert 1er; Algiers, Algeria
Breakfast at the hotel was your basic continental style, baguettes, croissants, juice and yogurt. The driver and guide showed up late at 9:30 and we set off for the Casbah for the start of a city tour. The guide spoke English so that was useful.
The guide explained the name of Algeria came from Al-jazir, Arabic for islands (same root as Al-Jazeera) which were the original settlement in the bay. Phoenicians, Romans, Ottomans, and even the Spanish were here before the French arrived in the early 1800s. The Casbah was the original walled city built mostly during Ottoman times. Built on the side of the hill it is a maze of narrow alleyways and paths. During the Battle of Algiers, the Casbah became a refuge for rebel fighters and France was never really ever able to control all of it. We started off at the top of the Casbah, at one of the original five gates. There was a house here built in traditional style by the French. The entryway had a dogleg (so you couldn't see inside), a waiting area with part open to the sky (for ventilation), then the inside courtyard with fountain. He mentioned that the hallways were only ~2.5m wide as it helped keep the building stable during earthquakes, the last one being in 2003. Cisterns built under the houses provided drinking water.
We stopped at a little restaurant selling these things that resembled crepes or quesadillas, with a yummy spicy tomato/onion sauce inside. Very good! The guide showed me a few places that I wouldn't have been able to find on my own. One was going inside a house up to the roof that had a great view out over the Casbah and bay below. Traditionally, houses had beeen built so that the lower ones did not block the view of higher buildings. The Casbah was declared a UNESCO Heritage site so any construction/restoration must keep the same style as existing buildings. Earthquake and water has damaged many of the buildings.. some alleyways were full of bracing holding up the surrounding buildings.
We wandered down the alleys. In most houses, the upper floor was larger than the lower floors. As in many Muslim countries you see stray cats but rarely dogs. There were still a few functional public water fountains. Along the way we visited a calligraphy museum and a house that had been bombed/attacked by the French to capture the leader of the rebels during the Battle of Algiers. We also visited a shrine patroned mostly by women for asking for family and fertility prayers.
The French had put roads through the center of the Casbah and had put in French style apartments. We walked down one of the roads which today held a large market. Eventually we reach the bottom of the city and found a place for lunch. 8 small kebabs and a Fanta was a cheap lunch. Across the street was a patisserie selling tarts and mille-feuilles for $0.30.
After lunch we drove out to the Martyrs Monument, built in 1982 by a Canadian firm to commemorate the 20th anniversary of independence. We had driven past it on the way into town. The monument is on a hill out overlooking the city. The guide asked if I wanted to ride the metro as I had mentioned it. The driver would meet us back at the hotel. The guide and I caught the cable car (20 DA) down from the monument to the botanical gardens metro stop. The metro opened in 2011 and currently has 10 stops, they are currently working on extending the line through to the Casbah and eventually out to the airport. Algiers is only the 2nd city in Africa to have a metro system (Cairo is the other). We got off one stop before the Post office and walked the rest of the way down the stylish street.
Martyrs Monument
Algiers Metro
Rashid met us at the hotel and we next headed off for the Notre Dame d'Afrique cathedral on the western side of town. We had some time to kill as it was only 2PM yet the cathedral didn't open until 3. The driver took several detours then we stopped at a handicraft market. The guide said they are usually closed but most of them were open today. Eventually we reached the cathedral perched high up on the hill overlooking the Mediterranean. We were a few minutes early so sat around until the church opened. The cathedral was built in the late 1800s and just renovated a few years ago. I found a postcard here to send my daughter.
Notre Dame d'Afrique
After the cathedral we headed back to my hotel and I said goodbye to the guide and tipped him a few hundred dinars. The driver said he would come by in the morning again at 9AM for the trip out to Tipaza, a Roman city west of Algiers. I had dinner again in the hotel restaurant, this time had a Nicoise salad and veal with pasta.
Feb 1, 2014, 10:49 pm
#11
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Dubai
Posts: 3,301
Love the photo's of Algiers, seems like a mix of Tangiers & Paris.
Probably not quite as luxurious, but the Hotel Albert looks like a better location for experiencing the city than the Sheraton.
What was the tour company you organised with?
Probably not quite as luxurious, but the Hotel Albert looks like a better location for experiencing the city than the Sheraton
.What was the tour company you organised with?
Feb 2, 2014, 5:06 am
#13
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Austin, TX -- AA Life Platinum; QF Life Silver; UA Silver
Posts: 5,462
Yeah it was very nice and very cheap! I bought a postcard, Fanta, water, lunch (baguette sandwich) and mailed the postcard to the US and it came to $2... Just watch the taxi meters like a hawk and never accept what they quote.
Feb 2, 2014, 5:19 am
#14
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Austin, TX -- AA Life Platinum; QF Life Silver; UA Silver
Posts: 5,462
I emailed probably 16 companies but only heard back from 4 of them. www.myuniqueholidays.com (great site) has English tours but they were full the week I was there. I used their Short Stay (http://www.myuniqueholidays.com/algiersshortstay.html) as a template. Ended up going with Touring Voyages Algerie (http://www.touring-algeria.com/) as they responded in English via email. The driver only spoke French but they provided an English-speaking guide for the city tour.
Touring Voyages has a booth at the airport (though noone was staffing it when I was there) so they are one of the better/larger companies is my guess.
Algeria was very cheap as well.. I spent $100 in 4 days on meals (Breakfast was include in tour price), drinks, tips, etc. Gasoline is $0.87/gallon
Last edited by hauteboy; Feb 2, 2014 at 5:35 am
Feb 3, 2014, 9:14 am
#15
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Dubai
Posts: 3,301
Thanks! Definitely looks very reasonable.
Was looking at the visa requirements at the local Algerian consulate. Looks like some extra paperwork for a UK passport over here.
"Two copies of the whole passport is required for citizens of the United Kingdom"
! Definitely looks very reasonable.Was looking at the visa requirements at the local Algerian consulate. Looks like some extra paperwork for a UK passport over here
."Two copies of the whole passport is required for citizens of the United Kingdom"