Transcript

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Announcer:
Welcome to The Podcast to be Named Later, where we explore the world a conversation at a time.  Sit back and enjoy.  Here are your hosts, Chris and Kelly.

Kelly:
Hello everyone and welcome to another edition of the podcast to be named later. We're sitting at a table together, Chris, my Co host and I, along with Amy and my brother Craig, sometimes real life comes into our virtual world and we're together today due to a family event where. A niece, a cousin and an all around great individual was killed a week ago Madison Kendal Kerber. Before we get into the podcast, I've asked my brother Craig to say a few words about Madison.
Craig:
What I'd like to say here is just a little bit about Madison. She was my niece. And the world lost a beautiful soul. When Madison Kendall Kerber only 22 years. Of Kiel last week, Madison was born in August of 2000. She was the Daughter of Majarka Ford-Ziegelbauer, and Adam. She was also a graduate of Kiel high school with the class of 2018 and most recently a graduate of Carroll University in 2022 with her bachelors degree in Exercise and a minor in psychology, she was proud of her time that Carol and making memories. With her college roommates, Madison found her nac for the future during her summer internship at the YMCA. Where she assisted the elderly with exercise programs to hide to help them cope with their Parkinson's disease, taking care of others brought her so much joy. She worked for many years. At the Oscar. And was proud of her accomplishments, accomplishments while there. She also made many connections as a bartender, and those connections were very special to her. Madison played soccer from the time she was in kindergarten until her junior year of high school. She also played for a club volleyball team for three years, continuing throughout high school, and received honorable mention All conference her senior year.
Madison, always finding a way to stay active and connect with others, especially if it meant being outside when the sun was out, she could be found at the beach by the cottage or by a pond. And of course music was playing. She loves to listen to all genres of music, but we all know her favorites are too inappropriate to list. Madison's love of music was evident by her concert attendance. When the weather wasn't cooperating, she wouldn't pass up a opportunity to learn a new card game or put a puzzle together with Mom. The most important part of Madison's life was her family and friends, and I'll close. With Ka-Chao
Kelly:
Rest in peace Madison Kendal Kerber. There's never a good way to transition, but in celebration of Madison's life and memory, we know that Madison was an outdoor enthusiast, travel lover, and an all around energetic young lady. Amy has exhibited many of those characteristics in her love for travel and. Aimee just returned a few weeks ago from her latest adventure, a trip to Algeria. So we wanted to talk about that and Chris, it's nice to have you by my side instead of over the virtual wires.
Chris:
Yeah, it's good to see you with my my eyes, buddy, and be next to you sitting at a table.
Kelly:
So Aimee welcome back from Algeria and we'd love to hear a little bit more and learn about that trip. So Amy and Chris.
Aimee:
Thank you for having me back on the podcast.
Chris:
I tell I tell Aimee, sitting across. We were talking a little bit earlier, before, before we started recording this and talking about some of the other trips you've you've taken and I know you've well. Actually, I was curious. I never got a chance to ask you. Do you know how many trips? You've been on outside. Of the United States, I.
Aimee:
Want to say I've been in? To about 30 or 30 ish countries, something like that. That's not really all that extraordinary. I've met many people who've been to more countries and there are a group of people who are looking to achieve what they call them, 193 or the 193. Countries that are recognized by the UN. So there are people who are really ******** travelers out there who are really looking to explore the world. I tend to be a kind of person who, you know, I sure it'd be great to see all places, but we don't have time or money necessarily for all of that. But so I want. I tend to be the kind of person who wants to maybe take a deeper dive. Into some areas or some places, and that's usually that's kind of my style.
Chris:
So no aspirations of 193 for you. Yeah. What is important? Like, what is your purpose of your travel when when you're going, like, what's your focus? What are you hoping to accomplish, you know?
Aimee:
It's not important to me, you know. Well, I like to see. I like to see the places for myself, but I I think I also want to get a sense of the culture of the place. I get her to get a another sense of I get a sense of history. Of the place. We when we in growing up in our history and geography classes. We didn't, really. When you think about what we learned about other countries, it really wasn't a whole lot. It's very focused on the US and and and I understand that to a big degree. But the fact of the matter is we are part of the world, we are not the world. And so to be able to go and see things for myself and not have it curated by the news or by other special interests is more my thing.
Chris:
Yeah, and and it's it's nice, man. I mean we all we. All have various friends from from different backgrounds and. We all see the. World a little bit differently, even even within your your own home. You know you, you and Kelly are going to have different perspectives and and have different upbringings. And while there might be a lot of overlap. There's also a lot of differences, and then as you venture further and further out, obviously those differences are are they grow bigger and bigger and bigger and and it's nice for own your own personal growth to see things you know how other people live, what are their priorities, how do they interact with each other, what some of the cultural differences.
Aimee:
And of course, it's also fun to see what kind of food they've got and to get to try that.
Chris:
I know from you know, past past experiences, you've always been very adventurous with food.
Aimee:
Yeah. If you look at. You know that I like food.
Chris:
Yeah, yeah, well, that. All of us, you know, I I think most people enjoy it. But you have a a definite. The curiosity and and just a natural like, hey, I want to. Try new things.
Aimee:
And I think I think you hit that on the head, Chris, that I happen to be a curious person. I like to explore and try new things. I mean, obviously not everything. But you know, I am open to kind of that sense of adventure and and trying to push my comfort zones is very important. I think that's really. How we grow?
Chris:
So on that, on that subject, we'll give you give you a dish or an item in your travels that like, Oh my goodness. I can't believe I've never had this before. This is amazing.
Aimee:
Well, I think that I I've enjoyed food from different countries. I I enjoyed the foods when I went to Thailand, for example in Algeria. I you know what I have to say that when I had some meat dishes, the meat was cooked perfectly. I had beef. I had sheep. In fact, I have to chuckle in Algeria, you know, they're definitely not set up for tourism. They're, you know, this is what you get. You'll order chicken. You get beef for goat or something. But you know, it was delicious.
Chris:
So you've taken many, many trips, gone out, tried different foods. Sorry you got me. You you hit a. A cord with the food. Because I also love food and and.
Aimee:
I think most people like, I think most people like food.
Chris:
Love trying new things.
Aimee:
So that's a safe. Thing to talk about.
Chris:
When you come back, do you go out and try and hunt down? So so you went to Thailand. Do you come back and try and find a a Thai restaurant to see like hey, how it matches up or?
Aimee:
Well I've I've tried. I tried Thai food before I went to Thailand and and I've had some Thai food that was that could definitely was on point or even better than I had had in Thailand, but. In this area where I'm living, I'd say in general. It's it it. Could be kicked up enough.
Chris:
Yeah, I imagine so. What sparked it? Why did you pick that place?
Aimee:
Why I pick Algeria so, and that's probably the biggest question I've been asked about Algeria, because most people and I've told them I've gone, they kind of pause and go. Algeria, why that? You know, it's not a place you go for a typical for a holiday. But I was attracted when I saw some pictures on the Internet of Cave Art. I I love cave art and at James. And you know that sort of prehistoric? Stuff and I saw a picture of the horned woman, I think is what it's called. And I thought that looked really interesting. And then as I looked more I and learned a little bit more about that part of the Sahara where they had rock art. I thought that was very intriguing. The other thing is, during the pandemic, when I was sitting at home bored. Like everyone else was, I was exploring different genres of music on the Internet and I came across across by music, which is a unique form to Algeria, sort of a combination of Bedouin with some other Arabic beats and influences from other. Cultures, but it's they talk about this more about social justice and not just social justice, but also a kind of themes that are not that are outside the realm of the conservative society.
Kelly:
You mentioned a picture. Tell us more about what this horned woman is or what that picture is.
Aimee:
So it was a picture of a a prehistoric cave painting of a woman who had like cow horns on. Is that was a picture of. That caught my attention.
Kelly:
Do you know anymore about that picture, Amy? Or what it was what we think about the what it meant back in the time or anything? Or was it just a picture?
Aimee:
It was a picture that captured my attention. I mean, if you want to learn about it, you can. There's information online, but I think what what sparked my interest is seeing that picture and then seeing it is part of what's called the test. Silly and Dodger National Park in Algeria, which is. In the Sahara, deep in the Sahara desert, not far from the Libyan border.
Kelly:
So this picture itself, it was in a cave.
Aimee:
I think so.
Kelly:
And were you able to see the actual?
Aimee:
I didn't actually see her when I was there. I saw other cave art.
Kelly:
Can you tell us a little? Bit more about that.
Aimee:
I went out into the desert with a team of Touareg. I have a Touareg guide, a driver and a cook, so we they loaded up this 4x4 and we drove out into the desert for camping for a couple nights and so, and I don't know how they know where it is, but you know, they've lived in this. Than this area for their all. Their lives so. They know, you know, they don't have to have roads that are marked, you know. So anyway, in driving along we stopped a few places and the guide would we would hike up to these rocks and he would show me these various cave paintings and a couple of times it was A at it was a rock etching. Called the crying cow, which had kind of a sad. That story was this. Apparently, some Touareg nomads. There was a drought in the desert, and they were taking their cows, looking for water, and then they got to this area where they made this engraving, and there was absolutely no water. And so it was incredibly sad because it meant that the cows. We're going to die, so the etching was of the of the cow with a big tear coming out of its eye.
Kelly:
And where these paintings pretty vivid still.
Aimee:
A lot of them were, but some of them, that's a great question. Some of them were starting to fade and the guide said that even five years ago they were vivid. But because of the effects of climate change. And such that was having it taking a toll on some of the rock paintings.
Kelly:
Thank thanks for giving us a little bit more explanation. Chris, back to you.
Chris:
So hey, so we talked a little bit previously and. Has has this always been like an interesting? I mean, dating back to, you know, childhood or like, is this something?
Aimee:
That you know, I remember being like, about three years old and my my favorite books were was this encyclopedia set that my parents had. Would page through them. And you know, I was just fascinated with.
Chris:
That sounds terrible.
Aimee:
Well, I I liked it, but I remember seeing the entry on China and seeing a young girl there and I thought she I thought, oh, wow, that's she's a young girl, kind of like me and. You know kind. Of learning to read about the country and I I think that even from a young age I was interested in other countries. But I really didn't start traveling until I was in my late 20s because of the time money.
Chris:
And that's the yeah. It's just the constant.
Kelly:
You know you.
Chris:
When you got the time, you generally don't have the money.
Aimee:
And that was, and that was the case for a while. Yeah, in my life. And I mean, I'm lucky that that's balanced out more, but that definitely does get in the.
Chris:
Way. Yeah, and. I mean, it's just impressive to me. So I have also interested in other like cultures and people. I I just, I love points of view. I that's why I love conversations, because I just understand that I learned certain things in my life. I was raised by my parents in, in this city or cities.
Aimee:
Right.
Chris:
And so this is all I know. This is what I've been fed over the.
Chris:
Right.
Chris:
Course of my life. And I also know as you kind of alluded to earlier. You know our media, there's an agenda oftentimes attached or like if you're in a history class, they only have, you know, an hour a day for a semester to teach you about world history or U.S.
Aimee:
Right. And that's curated by a school board and right?
Chris:
And so basically I understand there's a lot out there that I don't know, and I and I and I'm curious you know, and I think for me I the the knowledge you're getting from the encyclopedia is listen to terrible part. The terrible part is like reading the encyclopedia, I don't. I mean I can read perfectly fine and everything, but I don't retain as low for me personally.
Aimee:
Oh, neither do I. I mean, welcome to aging, but no. But I I mean, I I thought. It was kind of. Here as a little girl, that's one of the things that I learned to read was with the encyclopedia.
Chris:
And the conversations I I think you can get so much more out of a conversation, at least for me, any person anyway. Personally, and I retain more and that's that's. You know the experiences you have when you travel the real life first hand experience. You know, they're they're not altered, they're not curated, curated and obviously, you know, you're at the mercy of the time that that when you're there and everything, you can't get all the history, you're there for, you know, week two weeks, whatever. How long are your trips actually generally.
Aimee:
Two to three weeks.
Chris:
OK, so quite a bit of time to.
Aimee:
That's a fair amount to at least get, you know, get, you know, a good picture or get a sense of what's.
Chris:
Be able explore around.
Aimee:
Going on, yeah.
Kelly:
I was curious.
Chris:
How involved is, so you're gonna go on these trips? To me, it feels like a giant deal right now, I know you've done a bunch of them. It's probably become a little more old hat to you, but do you how? Much do you map? Out ahead of time, like how? How do you, you know?
Aimee:
Well, there are different travelers. There are some people who kind of like to do things on the fly or are more spontaneous. And then there you've got the other end of the spectrum where people are have every minute planned, which is way too restrictive. So I I try to find a balance. And I mean it, it also depends on what happens during your trip. Like if you get sick, for example, or if there's an emergency. I I I'm someone who likes to have. I mean, I would say for me definitely I have to have the first couple of days planned out because you know I need some time to get my bearings into. You know, just get ready for the next leg of, you know, of the journey and, you know, get acclimated to where I'm at. For example, I'm generally tend to be more of a planner.
Kelly:
Amy, you talked about planning out your first couple of days, but the thing that I've always been curious is. For the different countries you've gone to, I mean you've found different ways to get around in things. In Algeria I think was. Kind of a new experience where you were kind of a solo traveler, but with a someone who helped you map it out in the country and things. Tell me a little more about how you found that company and such.
Aimee:
Well, first, you remember Kelly when we went to India, we we traveled together and we actually did go with a company that we worked with to map things out and had. A car and driver. So we, so you've had that experience with me, even though that's been a while, but you're right, this has been the first time in since then that I had that experience of hiring. You know, a company on my own and and working with them directly when I explained what my with the things were important. To me, and then they helped with me to craft an agenda that worked well. I went with Algeria 16 tours and. It was important to me to pick a company that was Algerian based because I wanted to make sure that my monies were spent in Algeria as much as possible and benefited a local company and and local people as much as possible as opposed to they have travel companies that are based like in the UK or other places. And they would be the they would be getting the money. So that's one reason why I chose that company. The other reason. Is the CEO whose name is Wasim, a great guy. He is someone who is a world traveler himself. He's on a quest to complete the 193. But as a traveler, he understands the end user experience, and so he is mindful of setting things up and and kind of knowing what. You know, having a good way to explore what's what's important to someone and craft an agenda and try to get those experiences in as much as possible. It's not always possible obviously, but at least gives you an opportunity to try. When I went to Algeria, Ed had just ended. Or it had just ended. Yeah, that was so eight is the end of Ramadan, which is the month long fasting in the. Film world and so eat is when they you. Know it's like. At the it's like the end of Lent. For Christians, if you will. And so the country was still coming up to speed with getting back on track. And I I mean that was one thing I learned when I was there, I thought, OK, well, I'm going to be there few days after eat, so things will be back up and running because that's what I would I think happens. You know, in a lot of countries, it would probably be that way. In the US, you know, there the US is not going to waste time trying to make money and get the gears back rolling. Well, in Algeria it's a little bit different. They have a different pace and so some things were took a little bit more time to get back and running and that's not a criticism. It's just the way things are there.
Kelly:
Speaking of pace and you know to jump. Around a little bit. When you were out driving in the desert, I mean, what give us a sense, what's that like? I mean, obviously the DPS isn't saying take a right at the third big. Rock what is what?
Aimee:
Well, remember, I'm not the one who's driving.
Kelly:
But what was that like? Just to be moving around in the desert? I mean, there's no Rd.
Aimee:
No, there's no roads. I mean, and the the driver and the guide and the cook, they all they grew up in this area. They know this area like the back of their hands, so I never felt like we were ending up in the middle of nowhere. With no means of communication, I think it was just very relaxing in in some respects, just to be traveling along and just kind of moving with the pace. One thing that they do in the desert, and I think some people may understand this and but I know not everyone does is because it gets hot in the midday. It's very common to take a siesta like there is in in other countries where it gets hot midday and so just to relax and, you know, take some shelter and that's also appropriate for the car because. You know those four by fours? I mean, they can. Heat up, you know. And especially in the middle of the day. So letting the engine cool off is also important.
Chris:
I was curious if you talked about heat up, you said something a while back when you were talking about.
Aimee:
OK.
Chris:
Getting acclimated, you know, you give yourself a couple of days just to kind of get your bearings and it struck A chord with me. So when you're talking about heating heating up, it just hit me again. So you know, in the traveling I traveled just within the United States and I notice, you know, I may be in a humid. You know, hot, humid climate on Monday and by Thursday in like a, you know, dry air and climate. And I noticed, like, physically I feel it, you know, jumping from climate to climate. Now you're talking about, you know, whole different countries. I'm I'm traveling, like, you know, a few 100 miles. You're you're traveling thousands. Have you noticed? Like as you go to new places like it affects you differently and and like just a physical acclamation. That it that takes.
Aimee:
It can like for example, before I went to Algeria, I stopped in England for. A few days. Now England Spring is a lot like the spring in the Pacific Northwest. It's much damper and a little chillier than it is here in the spring in Wisconsin. I mean, it can be chilly here in in spring, but it's not a damp it's not a damp chill, so real so reacclimating to that, and then going to Algeria, Algiers, where it's 70 degrees. And Sunny and just gorgeous. That was very easy to acclimate to. Yeah, but I'm. But that was so getting adjusted to some of the chill or for example on the other end, if you go to like when I went to Vietnam, that was hot, you know, in October, at the time we were living in Seattle, it's mild temperatures and then you go to Ho Chi Minh City and it's just. Hot and humid and miserable.
Kelly:
So you, Amy, you talked a little bit about, I mean, even though you talked about 70 degrees in Algiers and then you're off in the desert. Give us a little bit more of a sense of the different climates and kind of just geography you did see.
Aimee:
OK, so most of the population lives in the north near the Mediterranean, which isn't surprising since that's, you know, where you've got more jobs, more ports, access to food. There's a bread basket. The in the neck of that of Algeria, Algeria is sort of a wedge shape nation. So like I said, most of the people live in. The north, so in the Mediterranean climate, it's going to be warm in the summer, very warm in the summer. Beautiful spring and fall. I think that they're winters are a little bit chilly, but they're not like. Here in the Midwest?
Chris:
Like Wisconsin, not many places are.
Aimee:
No, no, no, no. But, you know, in in Algeria. You've got mountains. And so they have that climate, the the desert, where it gets really hot during the day. And it can get it can get cool at night. When I was there, I didn't find the desert was. The desert was not cold at. Night, at least to me. But it can be. So Algeria is about three times the size of Texas, just so that you have a perspective and and that kind of and that's another point I'd like to make is that when we look at world maps, a lot of times the type of map that's world map that's used makes Africa. The African continent look a lot smaller than it is Africa. The African continent is big enough to have like 3 United States. Is China, maybe Canada, Europe and All in all in that? So it's it's a huge. Continent and like I said, Algeria, which is the largest country in Africa right now, is about three times the size of Texas. So it's it's a good sized country. Most of it is desert.
Kelly:
And so you said when you were in the desert, you didn't find that it got very cold. But I recall you said it did get quite windy.
Aimee:
Well, yeah, there is a. There are times when there's wind storms.
Kelly:
What was that like sleeping in a tent? I believe you slept.
Aimee:
Yes, yes, so. So it was a the day was fine. It was a normal day. And then in the evening I had to take a late night flight to get back to Algiers. And so we set up a tent so I could take a nap for a while until about 12:30 or 1:00, when they'd wake me up to take me to the airport. Well, about 8:30 I went to go lay down and the wind started picking up. And so it's blowing sand into the tent and shaking the tent and all these howling winds. I mean it wasn't continuous it would, it would start. For a while, then. It would kind of low then start up again. And and you know, I almost recorded it at one point. But then I thought, you know, I went really want to try and sleep. I actually managed to sleep for. Two hours, which I. Thought was amazing, but yeah, you're you're laying down and blows some. And there's sand that comes gets on your face and other places and you just kind of got to laugh. And and because we're in the middle of the desert, you know, if you need to go to the brush your teeth or use the restroom, you better make sure that that shelter you find behind some of the rocks is pretty solid so that you don't get sand blown wherever.
Kelly:
You and I have been like in the Arizona desert. How does the Algerian desert compare? Is it similar to they have swallows and earth?
Aimee:
No, no, no, no wine country. Actually, Algeria does have they do make wine and I never got to try it, but yes, they make wine. And that, apparently is very well regarded.
Chris:
Everybody likes to drink, especially universal.
Aimee:
Yeah, well, well. And of course, Algeria is a Muslim country, but there are places you could go to. Get wine and anyway. But yeah, they're they're they do have wine country as far as the question about how the Algerian desert compare. No, they don't have silverados they they have some Oasis, which with palm trees I went to two different parts of the Sahara. So I went to silly and as your as National Park, which is kind of in the southeastern part of Algeria. And then I went to. Karaya, which is a desert community that borders the northern part of the Sahara. And maybe I think it's a little bit of a high but belly button of the of Algeria. If you're looking at the country a certain way. In Handaya, in the northern part of the Sahara Desert, you have more palm trees and the locals use they they they have the date palms and. The palm sugar.
Kelly:
Did you try any dates?
Aimee:
Yes, they they were pretty sweet, but it was not in season, so I didn't bring any back. I figured that you can find the dates pretty much. In most shops that are just as tasty.
Chris:
Can you bring us back and like?
Aimee:
What you could bring them back? They they don't have restrictions for that. You can't take more. I've heard conflicting restrictions on how much Algerian dinars, which are that is a currency you can take. You can't take more than. The equivalent of 100 US is what I've heard, and then I've heard you can't take any of it out. You know, there's no real way that they police that. But The thing is, outside of Algeria, you are not to be able to exchange that.
Chris:
OK.
Aimee:
So if you're someone who would be going back to Algeria, probably you can keep a few on you, but if you're not going back to Algeria, you'd be FOL if you didn't have it spent or exchanged.
Chris:
I think you know with with regards to travel, there's like a certain level of fear of the unknown. And when you were just talking about that. That occurred to me like I don't know what I mean. I would assume while obviously you could bring back like, you know, trinkets or or solid objects or anything that, but if you get into like a currency food, you know what I mean. Those are things that wouldn't occur to me like I'm. Not all you know actually. The food I would assume. You couldn't bring back, you know, back in.
Aimee:
OK. No, that's not true. What what you would do, Chris, is before you enter a country or leave a country, look at their entry requirements, what you can bring in and what you're what you're allowed to bring in and what you're allowed to take out and plan accordingly. And in fact. My last trip before in Ecuador, they have a restriction on how many electronics you can bring into the country. You can only bring in like 1 new cell phone. And like an old laptop or something, but they're very strict. Or otherwise you have to pay. Attacks on that.
Chris:
Excuse me. Hello.
Kelly:
You can obviously bring out as many memories as you can have from the country and.
Aimee:
Yes, that's true.
Kelly:
I know we talked a lot about the desert, but I several times you've talked to me about some of the tile work that you saw in the pictures. Could you describe some of that?
Aimee:
So Algeria has had has been colonized by multiple ethnic groups throughout the centuries, and also that include. And they also were. There are also the Moorish influence. So you see, so think of the tile work that you see in for example. Morocco, or in the Alhambra and Spain, the precision of those workers back in the. Twelve 13th century. Constructing some of these places you had where you didn't have the the work, the tools these days to cut tile perfectly, but they could cut it on an angle and just put these pieces in just perfectly. It's it's amazing.
Chris:
So Kelly and I have been like rapid fire in questions at you and stuff. And obviously we have a a lot of curiosity but. I was curious. From from your takeaways and you and you know your experiences, you know, we've been kind of guiding the conversation a little bit, but is are the things that we've left out that you know? You think are important to talk about, you know, with regards to the people and the culture and the the country as. A whole, I think.
Aimee:
What I would say is Algeria is it's not a place for everyone to go because it's not set up for tourism. It doesn't mean that they they don't want people, but I what I respect about the country is that. They may they do things kind of on their own schedule. They may have, like I alluded to earlier, you can order the chicken and get the beef or whatever. But the people are very friendly and. I think that if you're willing to, if you've got some patience, some flexibility and a sense of humor, you can. It's a very rewarding place to travel to, but I would also say that I I appreciate the unspoiled Ness of the country and and the fact that Algeria is a country where. They do things on their own terms and you need to accept that, but if you're OK with that, then you know you're going to have a good experience and I have to say that the people I met and I met, not just people in the tourist industry, but I had the opportunity. You can meet, you know, regular everyday people. You know, these are just some of the friendliest people you could hope to meet, and they were very welcoming and really kind.
Kelly:
Of all the different dishes and things that you ate, any were there things that stick out as particularly memorable as far as flavorful or unique, or just things that you had not experienced as a taste or flavor before?
Aimee:
So one thing in Algeria, a lot of the restaurants, most of them are fast food because. In general, most people eat at home. In fact, it's a it's a lot of people, a lot of women take pride in being very good cooks. And so you go to fast food for like lunch or something like that. But there is.
Kelly:
Let's let's just pause on that for one second. When you say fast food, I don't think it's not like McDonald's and Roller king.
Aimee:
No, no, no. In fact, thank you for for clarifying that because they do not have any of the Western chains there. There's no KFC, no Starbucks, yeah.
Craig:
Two cannibal burgers.
Aimee:
But the, you know, they have pizza is a very popular street food, for example. But the one thing that stands out to me, street food wise is I think it's called a gargantuan sandwich. It's it was this. It felt like it. It looked like it was half a baguette that was cut in half and. It's filled with this. Cooked egg and mashed chickpea mixture. That's baked and that's put in the A baguette. And it's served. You can get it served with a with a harissa, which is kind of a spicy sauce. And that was really tasty. Other things that I had that were really tasty is I had what they call BBQ, but it's basically just little kebabs. And you can get. I think I had a I really liked where the lamb and beef ones the chicken was good. I think I had chicken hearts. I could have had liver. But I declined.
Kelly:
And were these are these fat what? What you called the fast food restaurant?
Aimee:
Well, the fast food restaurants tend to have limited menus. So yeah, the the the sandwich place just had a couple of different kinds of sandwiches. You could try and I saw the one and so I asked for it and yeah, and that's what I.
Chris:
Got. So they're all. Outdoor and and kind of. Opened like they have obviously a cooking, you know. Barbecue or A or a.
Aimee:
Well, some some of the like the the nicer restaurants if you will, they're enclosed. But the fast food restaurants are really open to the street and then you know they close like us metal garage door when they're closed or yeah.
Chris:
OK.
Craig:
There's no Dr. throughs.
Aimee:
No drive-throughs, no.
Kelly:
So not part of the culture. Obviously, when you were in the desert, you. Slept in tent. What were some of the other accommodations like that you stayed in and you describe a little of that what people might expect?
Aimee:
Well, I stayed mostly in hotels and. The hotels were all clean. Some of the some of them were had nicer furnishings than others. Like 1 Hotel I stayed at in Algiers. They just opened and. They had the I mean the the furnishings were modern. But what was interesting is you had is that they give you a remote control for the TV when you enter and the first day I was there, they didn't give that to me. So I'm like, OK, I'm in this room. There's a TV, there's no remote control. I could have gone to ask for it, but. I didn't the shower in that room was. A trickle, so that was a problem. But when I brought things up, they were very, very helpful in trying to. Fix the problem. I would say that in some of the places the air flow, like the air conditioning, is not really very strong. So there's that piece. Like I said, some things are done on their own time. Most of the hotels I stayed at had a breakfast that you could get and. But it the breakfast was supposed to open at like, 6:00 o'clock and then 645. They're just getting ready to serve it.
Kelly:
So logistically, in your travels, I know you've encountered different experiences where sometimes it's chaos, sometimes it's credit card.
Aimee:
Cash is king. Thank you for asking that, yes.
Kelly:
And then you've also encountered even there where the nearest ATM was 25 miles away. What's just the a little bit of the infrastructure as far as?
Aimee:
As far as getting money, so Algeria is unique. And that I mean, in the cities and stuff, you can get ATM's, but what's unique there is the rate of that they have a black market for. Exchanging money that you can get better rates for exchanges and I'm I'm not encouraging that. I actually exchange money. Through a person with the travel agency, they helped me find a agency to exchange money and I could get the same rate that was on the EXE currency converter that you know, that's that app, that or that website that you can check to see what current rates are exchange rates. And so I felt that was a pretty that was a fair exchange rate and certainly better than you'd get at a.
Chris:
So when you. First arrive you. You you get off an airplane and then do you have you pre set up like the logistics of getting from the airport and then?
Aimee:
Yes, I like to do that. I like to make sure I have my right situation figured out ahead of time. So I have in this case I have someone give me a ride. I've I've landed in places where you can get a prepaid taxi or I've paid a couple dollars extra and had a shuttle or a tax or a ride. Service come pick me up. You can get an Algeria. You can if you get into a taxi. You should negotiate the rate 1st and at least have a sense of how much. You're going to pay and it's not going to be the exact same because it will depend on what time of day or evening you get in. If it's rush hour, if it's at night, you're going to pay more, yeah. For example, so you should also, if you're going to do that, you should have some. It's ideal if you have a little bit of a command of French, because I mean you can use a translation. Yeah, but I think that they think that, you know, more French then. They'll maybe not try to mess with you. As much they also do have a write up service called Yasir LYASIR and you can use that, but you would pay in cash instead of on a credit card.
Kelly:
If you were to go back to Algeria, are there things you didn't do that would be first on your list that that you'd still like to experience and equally important other things that you would like to do again from what you?
Aimee:
You know, there were a couple. There are a couple of places I would go that I would go to to check out. I might want to go more in the east, in the mountains, just to see and explore that a little bit. There is another part of the desert that I didn't get to explore around Timon. That has some interesting architecture that looked interesting. I think if there if I were to do my trip again, I might have spent a third night, maybe a third or fourth night in to silly, even though. You know, I I I don't know if I'm much of A camper. Not like I was when I was in my 20s. But you know that was a unique place. I would consider that.
Chris:
I mean just getting around. You said it was three times the state of Texas. I'm I've been to Texas. I've driven across Texas.
Aimee:
I've been attacked since then.
Chris:
Texas isn't little and this is 3 times bigger.
Aimee:
I know that.
Chris:
How were you getting around? Everything was by vehicle.
Aimee:
So I flew a lot. So you probably know that Algeria is. One of the 12 or 13 OPEC countries, so lots of oil and gas assets and so flights are relatively cheap. They do have a train. However it was not really in service. And you couldn't get much information about when it might be running. Or where it. Was going, yeah.
Chris:
Where it was going, I think I'm getting on. That train, yeah.
Kelly:
That was that was on what the schedule say. Arrives Algerian time.
Chris:
Yeah, that's arrives when we get there. Yeah, to sit down.
Kelly:
I'd like to go back before we wrap. It up a little bit. Just I know you talked about being in the Mediterranean area, you know, here where you used to, you know, our coasts are generally pretty populated with a lot of touristy stuff and bunch of other things. If we look in places like Florida, little more rugged as you and I know from like. Oregon and Washington give us a sense of what the coasts, where you were are like in Algeria.
Aimee:
Well, the water is clear and very beautiful and there are beaches where people can obviously access, including women women's rights are they are improving in Algeria, where I think 1015 years ago it was not. Good for a woman to go to the beach, or at least certainly not unaccompanied. But you know, there are some women who wear bathing suits. There are some who prefer to be covered up. Which to me is. Antithetical, but just not my place to I'm. Not judging someones choice. And Oran, which is in the northwest part of Algeria, that's close to Spain and that's really a city that I think is kind of more of a good description of where Algeria meets Europe. They're they have beaches outside of that place where you have a lot more people going to the beach. I don't know if they have something like a nude beach or anything like that. I didn't ask. That's not my jam. But there are sandy beaches and places where people can swim in the ocean and that they do. They do that even out Algiers.
Kelly:
And is there a lot of like just touristy type? Things built up along the water, like restaurants and.
Aimee:
In fact, one thing I didn't talk about with my trip is there. There are at least three or four Roman ruins in Algeria. One of them is tapasa, which is. Right on the Mediterranean. And which and it's beautiful. The the scenery is just incredibly beautiful. And a friend of mine commented that they wondered if Rome made a point of of setting up. Town setting up towns and such in places that were incredibly beautiful to PASA would be I I don't know if their rooms were as spectacular as some others, but the setting is incredible and I did have an opportunity to try some seafood. The Swordfish was fantastic. The the tuna was really good too.
Kelly:
Couldn't you give us a sense of like, what you saw that made it so beautiful or what we're. Could you paint a little bit of a?
Aimee:
Work picture well. You had clear skies. You had 70 something degree weather, the water was clear with shades of green and teal and turquoise. There's surrounding hills that are covered with trees.
Kelly:
Sounds beautiful, yeah. Any last thoughts on Algeria?
Aimee:
I just thought I would just share a couple things on the Roman ruins, since there are people who find that kind of interesting. I also went to Jamila, which is in the mountains. It was a a place where there was an example of where Rome had made a mountain town, and I also went to. Tim God, which was a retirement place for ex. Military made by Rome. I mean, the Roman ruins were very beautiful there. But for me, what was spectacular is the mosaic art they had each had a museum that had floor to ceiling and and I'm talking about 25 feet. Tall, maybe 1520 feet wide. Mosaics of you've got. You had different gods of also. You know you'd have a pattern. Borders that were just. Jaw breaking job, not jaw breaking, jaw-dropping. I was going to say breathtaking. Then I said, jaw-dropping and so the jaw breaking. That's a little bit of a different thing, but anyway, so that was that was incredible to see. And I think that if you had something comparable to those in Europe, those would be much more populated with tourists than they were.
Kelly:
So every time I hear people talk about like Roman ruins and stuff like give me a sense, is it like? Just little snapshots like that, like the mosaics. Or is there like actual partial buildings and things standing still that you can walk around?
Aimee:
It really depends. There are there are rooms for example, that have like completed arches. You've got places where you've got the temples to various gods that are still partially standing. You've got, for example, one thing that I had learned. On a previous Roman run tour is. In these little communities of common everyday people, they didn't have singular outhouses. They had communal outhouses where people would sit next to each other and do their business, and then they had trenches underneath where the water would flush sewage outside. Of the town. So you have those communal areas, you have sometimes some of the ruins of houses are still sort of intact, but you know, and how much has been able to stand the the whims of the sands of time and winds of time are pretty incredible. Like some of the. Roads. The rocks are still. You know you're thinking you're walking on the rocks that people walked on, or you can see the grooves where the Chariots went.
Kelly:
So on that that point you just said you can walk on some of these rocks like obviously, since I don't see, I'm always curious how close to a lot of this stuff can you get. Can you touch any of it or is it just?
Aimee:
Some of it you can touch, like for example they had a area at Tim God where it was basically the little shops and one place you could you could go underneath one of the. Wonders and stand behind that. I have a picture of me doing that where? And they have in the corner of each of these shops a little icon showing what kind of shop it was like. For example, grapes would be wine.
Kelly:
OK. And So what, what what what were you selling from behind the counter you went to if you know?
Aimee:
I don't remember.
Kelly:
So you you actually. Ducked under the counter, and while like standing. Was there a? Roof over your head still.
Aimee:
No, no, no there.
Kelly:
That that's pretty amazing though, to think about you were standing there where? You know, hundreds of years ago, someone stood in the same spot, yeah.
Aimee:
Of years ago, someone was peddling some junk from that very spot.
Kelly:
It sounds like the Algeria, would you go back?
Aimee:
Again, yes, I I would I I thought it was a very nice place to visit. I felt very. Safe and very comfortable. And some people questioned the safety because there had been a civil war, I think 30 years ago. And then there was some issues like in the like 2000. Was it 2000? No, 2019, there were some protests over an election, but it's it's very safe. And like I said, people are friendly. And yeah, I had a I had a good time. I had a. Great time and I would go back.
Kelly:
Well, thanks for sharing your memories of Algeria and your travel adventure with the podcast to be named later and our listeners.
Aimee:
Thank you again for having me come and talk about Algeria and talk about travel, which is a topic that I'm very passionate about.
Kelly:
And Chris, as always, it's great to have you around the table. And Craig, it's great even under these. It's always nice to spend time with you guys in the same physical space.
Craig:
Yes, thank you.
Chris:
Very much, yeah.
Kelly:
Thanks everyone and thanks for spending time with us on this edition of the podcast to be named later.