Weekend Trip to Oran

Oran is a French city in northwestern Algeria. It sits between Tangier, Morocco and Algiers. It’s less than 200 miles from Spain. Many residents of the city go to Spain to buy textile goods and food to sell in Oran. They do not mark up the price because the people travel to and from Spain very frequently. We have been told many good things about Oran. People have said it is a beautiful city to see and very different from Algiers. Most other cities Douglas and I visited outside Algiers were nearby; no more than a 60 to 90 minute drive. Oran is approximately 5 hours away from Algiers. Since moving to Algeria, we have wanted to see other big cities in the country to get a broader perspective on what the country has to offer. The embassy community has planned a trip to Oran at least four times in the past year. But each time the trip was cancelled for various reasons. The trip was being offered again for Memorial Day weekend. This would be our last opportunity to go before we received orders to move to our next country.  Neither of us knew what to expect because we hadn’t spoken to anyone who actually visited Oran for an embassy sponsored trip. We decided to take our chances, hoping not to be disappointed.  Overall, we had a good experience but I could have gone without the uncomfortable 6 hour train ride that was advertised as a 4 ½ hour ride, and I also could have gone without the lack of organization throughout the trip. But we had a good experience nonetheless and were glad we got to see another part of Algeria before leaving the country.

Algiers Train Station

Inside Train

not quite Amtrak but we made it

Oran Train Station

Our tour bus for the trip

first stop was this restaurant

We sat outside overlooking the Mediterranean Sea

our view from the table

selling and slicing fish on side of road

Kristel Village

clean water source....so they say

people filling containers with fresh water

rare find....soft serve machine in the village

Royal Hotel - beautiful place, wonderful stay - by far the best part of the trip

not quite what we're used to seeing but all hotels in Algeria have metal detectors and a scanner

where is the rest of the shower door???

Actual stop lights....steps up from Algiers

Oran public library

Inside library

Pastry store

one of the largest mosques in Africa

pay phones are available in Africa too

high rise building where we saw construction workers working

now what construction workers you know don't ALL wear hard hats and have no security lines or harnesses to hold them while working on the ledge???

downtown city of Oran

where we dined for lunch

two things you will ALWAYS find in Algeria, soccer balls and a cat!

kids playing soccer, mainly barefoot, in the gazebo

tree called the Love Twist

This is why nearly all homes in Algiers have mold. Inside the walls are made of rocks and dirt

our police escort in front leading us up the mountain

we drove all the way to top of that mountain

so worth the drive

we were so high up we were in the clouds

best part of the tour. the view was amazing.

I'd do the trip again just to experience this awesome view!

so surprised to see men selling hot tea and popcorn on the side of the road way up in the mountains. They have to make their money too!

unique way of pouring tea. They hold a plate facing one side to not splash you and pour several inches away from the glass.

their staple after eating combo - cookies and mint tea

beach in Oran

Douglas teaching me how to properly throw a rock...and I actually paid attention.

my rock throwing wasn't too successful. we definitely needed more teaching time!

watching the pro do it

A beautiful way to end the trip...strolling the beach with my love.