In this post: Tlemcen, Algerian Wine, Miliana, Mascara. June 6, 2006 680 years, 11 months and 3 weeks after Ibn Battuta set out from his hometown of Tangier Morocco, on his epic journey, I have arrived in Algiers, capital city of Algeria to re-create his journey. Since one of the goals of my trip is to re-create the journey as closely to the original as possible, you might well ask why I am not en route to Tangier. And the answer is that the land border between Morocco and Algeria is currently closed. In 1325 Ibn Battuta got as far as the Red Sea before facing his first obstacle, in 2006 I could not have left his homeland without some major route deviation. I console myself with the knowledge that in one sense, Algeria is where it all began – this is where a manuscript of IB’s travels was found in 1839 having languished since it was written in 1354, the discovery and translation of which was to put the “Prince of Travelers” on the map, so to speak. TLEMCEN And so I backtrack to Tlemcen, an Algerian city near the Moroccan border, and the first place mentioned by IB after leaving Tangier.
I then came to the city of Tilimsan (Tlemcen)...........and after a stay of three nights in Tilimsan to procure what I needed I left.....
He wrote nothing about the town itself although it was then of considerable importance having been a capital city under the Almoravid dynasty in the 11th century. 
All that remains of a 12th century complex built in Tlemcen. Ibn Battuta may well have stayed here. The drive to Tlemcen induces nostalgia and not a little melancholy at the sight of shuttered churches, abandoned wineries, tumbledown French provincial architecture; townhouses, farmhouses and estates as well as tree-lined streets and country roads – not to mention undulating fields with endless rows of mature vines. This scene which is replayed over and over throughout northern Algeria, could have been uprooted and transplanted whole from some French country town, and in its ochre-colored timelessness it is at once obvious that there was no thought that one day the owners would be forced to leave it all behind. But there are other images; white domed marabouts (Islamic ‘saints’ or holy men, a rich tradition in North Africa), huge stork’s nests perched precariously atop minarets, electricity pylons, and chimneys, almond and olive groves and orchards of peach, apple and pear, fields of chick peas, potatoes and beans, and straw-hatted, shepherds with flocks of shorn sheep, while in the towns and villages old men banter lazily in the shade of a plane tree or in a sidewalk café. There is a timelessness here too – one that is much older than the exodus of the French in the wake of Algerian Independence in 1962. Over the years, Tlemcen absorbed waves of immigrants, invaders and conquerors; Andalusian Muslims and Jews forced to leave Spain after the ‘Reconquista’ in 1492, the Spanish and Turkish in the early and mid 16th century respectively, and finally the French in 1830. (Led by the charismatic national hero, Emir Abdelkader, Tlemcen resisted French colonial rule until 1842.) Such an intermingling of cultures has given the city a rich history in architecture, art and music, and Tlemcen still retains a gracious quality due to a harmony of architecture, public squares, and streets lined on both sides with shade-giving plane and maple trees. (Not to mention a goodly number of fair and red headed denizens with startling blue and green eyes.) Ibn Battuta may not have said a word about the town but he would most certainly have prayed at the 12th century Grand Mosque in the town square, and so I went off to have a look. Unlike neighboring Morocco and Tunisia, non-Muslims may generally enter Mosques in Algeria, mornings only and outside the hours of prayer. This one was no exception and, loaned the ubiquitous all-enveloping cloak at the door, I went inside. Light flowed in from an open courtyard and colored glass windows, and here and there leaning against the wide white pillars on woven Persian style rugs, were dotted small groups of men of all ages who sat listening to an Islamic teacher, some sat alone deep in thought, while others prayed individually. The atmosphere was tranquil yet there was a sense of energy and purpose in the quiet discussions which were taking place around the hall. I think old Ibn Battuta would have approved. Being a man of some piety, he would also have visited the tomb of Sidi Boumedienne, a Sufi saint born in Seville in Spain in 1126. The Mosque, which has impressively enormous cedar doors which are said to have arrived spontaneously from Spain (!), was not built until 1328 - 3 years too late for Ibn B - but the tomb itself was built at the end of the 12th century. This lovely complex in the hills above Tlemcen, is the site of pilgrimage to the present day with little yellow taxis discharging carloads of pilgrims all day long. It has recently undergone renovation in the wake of insurgent attacks in the 1990s, and as Ibn B. would say, “we shall speak more of this later…..” ALGERIAN WINE As an aside - I am fairly certain Ibn B would not have sampled - Tlemcen has some very good wines – Algerians have taken over the wine business and are producing some respectable wines including the Coteaux de Tlemcen – a red wine served lightly chilled. It is however not easy to find local restaurants which serve wine or beer but Samir at the White Rose Restaurant does an excellent grilled lamb chop and serves delicious mint tea with cheerful banter. MASCARA En route to Algiers I stop at Mascara, also an important wine center - so important that nobody knows where the wineries are. Eventually a policeman (Algerian traffic policemen and women are unfailingly polite and always helpful) gives us directions and although not perfect they are enough to set us on the right path and so it is that I meet with Cherif Kaddour from ONCV Mascara who takes me through the cave and their wine making process as well as a quick tour of their vineyards. At the height of wine production in Algeria, there were some 200 ‘caves’ in Mascara, there are now 5. It is not easy being a winemaker in Algeria; it is a Muslim country and even though it is not ‘dry’ and restaurants do serve wine, it is not yet something which is freely publicized or marketed. MILIANA I continue towards Miliana the next town mentioned by Ibn B again only in passing - mainly to mention that one of his traveling companions died and his son buried him there..... It is however a charming village which sits on a hill dominating the surrounding countryside overlooking fields of olives, wheat, vines and orchards. The fruits of this abundance are sold by the side of the road and even along the autoroutes; freshly baked bread, snails, figs, peaches and plums, bags of potatoes and strings of onions. When I thought of Algeria I am not now sure what I expected, but it was not this. It remains an agricultural country and the countryside is remarkably beautiful for it. This evening I am staying in the home of an Algerian family who live in a country town outside of Algiers in a modern three-storey house. The couple has 13 year old twins and a son who as he is soon to be married will live on one entire floor with his new bride. Marriages though not arranged nowadays are still a big affair. The wedding usually takes place over three days and nine changes of dress are required for the bride (financial situation permitting) including the traditional Western white gown. Affluent families invite upwards of 150-200 guests and rent a hall or house for the occasion. Nowadays the event will usually be catered but years ago all the women in the family did all the cooking. I got this information because this family had married two daughters and I got to see the wedding album! Incidentally the bridegroom pays for it all. Tomorrow, Roman Algeria in the form of Tipaza and Cherchell. Ibn B never mentioned any pre-Islamic sites except the pyramids which he described as 'cones' suggesting he did not see them himself, although he would have come across many others on his journey. I am making a detour to see what are for me the last of the Roman ruins in Africa.
