Thanksgiving in Oued M'zab

To see my photo album of Oued M'zab CLICK HERE.

After my last class on Tuesday, I went home and rewarded myself by cooking up some lamb chops and enjoying them with some Coteaux de Tlemcen. I jammed out on the guitar and then when the water finally came on, I washed a bunch of clothes, took a bath and then the idea occurred to me…HIT THE ROAD!

Hitting the road last year in Yemen always reinvigorated my spirit and so that was just what the doctor ordered…I leafed through the guidebook and decided on Ghardaia.

The journey is the destination…

Left Algiers, felt my soul needed something different…so after glancing at the guidebook, I picked one of the highlights which seemed doable…the M’zab Valley.

I went to the gare routiere, bus station, Wednesday am and got a 1-way ticket to Ghardaia leaving at 11am. The Mzab Valley consists of a oued or valley in the Sahara Desert with several small Mozabite towns. The Mozabites are Ibadis- a unique sect of Islam that follows its own traditions.

To get there I went along the first leg of the Trans-Saharan highway and took in the fascinating metamorphosis of geographical landscapes that one sees along the way.

From Algiers, the road ascends into pine covered mountains, with majestic vistas that bear resemblance to what one might find in Austria, Switzerland, Colorado, etc. Just past Blida and into Charea, the road meanders over bridges and through tunnels following a path that parallels and criss-crosses train tracks.

This continues for some time up to and just after Medea. There, the mountains give way to rolling hills interspersed with meticulously cultivated vineyards and fruit orchards.

I remember dozing a while and then waking up to an abrupt change in ecosystem…not quite flatter than a pancake but approaching that topographical description. There was still some brush which later gave way to dry land. This is the green fence or barrier that is maintained to fight l’ensablement…or desertification from progressing much farther north. These tree groves are quite impressive, in that they seem to have been cared for some time and can be quite big. They really do stand out against the greater landscape of dry barren land.

Much of the Sahara, contrary to the romantic windswept sand dune clichés one sees in movies, is actually rock believe it or not. I lived in a rocky part of it in Atar, Mauritania when serving in the Peace Corps. I tried taking pictures, but my window had some scratchings and stains that made it blurry…as if my contact lenses were scratched. The bus itself was rather comfortable and a real deal at 640 Algerian Dinars = $10 USD for this 8 hour trip.

We stopped at different points along the way to exchange riders…and paused to eat a couple of times. After the ½ way mark the TV went on and they showed a bunch of Algerian TV comedy shows and then those wacky trick hidden camera clips. You know the ones where they play jokes on people i.e. a man walking on the street pretends to sneeze on pedestrians in front of him while an assistant sprays water on the back of their neck and then the sneezer tries to wipe it clean. Lol

Btw, no restrooms on board.

Once, I got to Ghardaia, I checked into my hotel, grabbed some rotisserie chicken and then checked my email to find out, that it was Thanksgiving Eve and I'd forgotten or mistakenly thought that next week was the holiday. Oh well, another Thanksgiving in the Sahara!

The next day I got up super early, beating the sunrise to snap photos from Malika, the town with superb views of the Oued M'zab and Ghardaia. Before entering the city, I met a teenage Mozabite boy who was more than delighted to practice his English and to show me his hometown. SidiAissa, took me throught the old part of the city and then showed me the highlight of the town, the tomb of a holy man which is his namesake. We took pics there and then he had to go off to school. I remained there waiting for the dramatic sunrise.

After that, I went on to the oldest of the Mozabite towns in the Oued, El Atteuf. There, I needed to hire a guide at 200 Dinars ($3.25) and he showed and explained to me much of the Mozabite traditions and architecture. They are very adamant about tourist respecting their culture, so no photos are allowed of the local people. Also, in the old parts of the cities, no smoking is allowed whatsoever. Of course, one must be properly attired, that is legs and arms should be covered, etc.

The towns were built in a certain way with ramparts and towers to protect against attack. It's amazing, how these people fled from the north to avoid the rule of other muslims that did not adhere to their beliefs. One of their major convictions is that the caliph or leader of the Islamic faith, need not be a blood descendant of the Prophet Mohammed, but rather a strong leader capable of doing so. For this, there was tension and conflict in the past with other powers that came and ruled in Algeria. And therefore, as a result, the Mozabites came to this difficult land, and by ingenuity and hard work, built the cities and palmeries that exist up until today. Impressive and ancient, they have garnered the classification of UNESCO World Heritage Site.



My guide also showed me the unique Mosque Sidi Ibrahim, which was the inspiration for Le Corbusier's Eglise de Ronchamp. It's a simple white mosque that has no straight edges and does have a similar raw white beauty that one sees in Corbusier's famous church.

Speaking of the church, I also visited some of the Church's representatives who are famous for their work in the Sahara, Les Peres Blancs. Peres Blancs, or White Fathers, have been doing good work in the Sahara for years, and I was interested in visiting them to hear about their mission in of all places Oued M'zab, this enclave of Ibadi Islam. While working in Mauritania, I got to know some priests and nuns that worked on social and health programs in that Islamic country, so I wanted to see what these White Fathers were up to here.

They have two libraries. One is a general library and the 2nd is one devoted to the Sahara. They also offer language classes in French and German. I met Kryztof a Polish White Father who is teaching German there. I also met a White Sister from the Congo, Anastazie. I did not know there were White Sisters, but they are there too to do work with the women. This is important, since men and women's domains are largely segregated by Mozabite custom and faith. They were very nice and introduced me to some of the young students there that are learning English.

For my Thanksgiving Dinner, I had a nice hunk of roasted lamb. The next day I headed back to Algiers at 6am. :)