I got shut down before I even got on...

I got shut down before I even got on the bicycle. Said told the police I was headed up to Guerara on my bike, and he was told that it would not be allowed under any circumstances. I was livid for about an hour, then just annoyed. Algeria was embarrassed by the German hostage crisis a few years ago, and since the desert is completely impossible to effectively police, they responded by policing the tourists instead. Im sure we tourists are more pliant than your average bandit.

I suppose the bureaucratic response is understandable, though the international double standard is ridiculous: if 30 Algerians were held up in United States, you can be sure no new laws would be passed. Restrictions on tourists almost certainly result from the unreasonable pressures put on Algeria by the foreign countries from which the tourists come. It serves us right.

written by roel krabbendam on January 16, 2007

Heading South?