Air France had a random sale last November for Tunisia, Morocco, and Algeria, and I talked my friend into a 2 week trip to Algeria. It was $455 roundtrip for August, so why not, right?

I can't stand touts/scams/ tourist traps, and I was wary of Morocco and Tunisia. So, we picked Algeria. Visas, though annoyingly required, were not very challeging to get, used VISAHQ in NYC and it was back to me in a couple weeks. Their online forms were quite easy to deal with. I also got a 2-year, Multiple Entry visa.
Little did I know how few western tourists actually make it to Algeria when we booked this! There are literally NO English language travel guides that have been written in the past 10 years. The Bradt guide, which has lots of info about Roman ruins that are all over Algeria, was published in 2007. That's the newest one!
Anyway, I will report back here when I get back. Wish me luck!

We depart a week from today, Monday the 14th.