As soon as we arrived in Algiers, we had lunch quickly. Even though it was only 1:30 PM, we decided to look for a hotel. However, no matter how many places we tried, they all seemed to be fully booked, and we kept getting turned away.
Partway through, a kind local young man offered to help us find a hotel. And lo and behold, at the 14th place—a hotel called “Hotel Africa”—we finally found a vacant room.
But then there was a problem. The old man at the front desk wouldn’t let us bring our bicycles inside the hotel. When we asked if we could at least leave them in the garage, he said “No” again.
The young man who was with us explained the situation to a police officer who happened to be there, and this time the officer tried to mediate, but the man at the front desk just kept insisting, “No.” we have no idea what the problem is—we just don’t get it.
It was too late to start looking for another hotel now. In the end, following the police officer’s suggestion, we decided to leave the bicycles at the station’s luggage storage.
In the end, because of all this hassle, we had to postpone our search for the two items until the next day.
It was Friday, a holiday, but Algiers is, after all, an international city—nearly half the stores were open.
We started our search for gas cartridges at a department store. As expected in a socialist country, goods were relatively plentiful, but the selection was limited.
Most of the sundries on the shelves were made in China—the same scene we had seen at a supermarket in a nearby town. Unfortunately, however, they didn’t have the gas cartridges we needed.
After that, still searching for gas cartridges, we visited numerous household goods stores and sporting goods stores, and finally even went to the state-run fuel supply station, Sonatrach, but in the end, we couldn’t find any. It looks like we’ll have to start a fire with firewood for the time being.
On the other hand, we were able to find alcohol right away. On our way back to the hotel, we stopped by a bar for a single shot of whiskey. At 750 yen a glass, it was quite pricey, but having a drink for the first time in two weeks was worth every penny.
We also bought two bottles of wine (750 ml each) for 1,200 yen, and W and I had a drinking party in our hotel room—our first in quite a while. Thanks to the pleasant buzz from the alcohol and the exhaustion from spending half a day wandering the streets of Algiers searching for supplies, we both slept soundly that night.
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アルジェに着くや、早々に昼飯をすますと、まだ時刻は１時半ですが、ホテルを探すことにしました。ところが何軒あたっても満室のようで断られ続けました。
途中から親切な地元の若者がホテル探しを手伝ってくれることに。そして何と14軒目、その名も〈ホテル・アフリカ〉でやっと空室が見つかりました。
ところが問題が。フロントの親父が自転車をホテル内に入れることを許可してくれません。ならばガレージでとお願いすると、またしても「ダメだ」。
同行した若者がちょうど居合わせた警察官に事情を説明すると、今度は警察官が掛け合ってくれましたが、相変わらず「ダメだ」の一点張り。一体何がダメなのでしょうか、訳がわかりません。
いまさら他のホテルを探すわけにもいきません。最後は警察官の提案で駅の荷物預かり所で自転車を預かってもらうことに。
結局、このゴタゴタで二つの探し物は翌日回しになってしまいました。
この日は金曜日で休日ですが、さすがにアルジェは国際都市、半分近いお店が開いています。
ガスカートリッジ探しは、まずはデパートから。そこはやはり社会主義国、物は比較的豊富にあるのですが、品数は限られています。
並ぶ雑貨類の多くは中国製、近隣の街のスーパーで見た光景と同じです。ただ、残念ながら、肝心のガスカートリッジはありませんでした。
その後もガスカートリッジを求めて、何軒もの日用品店とスポーツ用品店、最後は国営の燃料供給所〈ソナトラック〉まで訪ねてみましたが、結局見つかりません。当分の間、タキギで火をおこすことになりそうです。
一方、アルコールはすぐに見つけることができました。ホテルに戻る途中、バーに寄ってウイスキーのシングルを。１杯750円と、なかなかの値段でしたが、２週間ぶりのお酒は値段に変えられないものがありました。
そして１本(750ml)1,200円のワインを２本購入し、ホテルの部屋でＷ君と久々の飲み会となりました。ほどよい酒の酔いと探し物で半日アルジェの街を歩き回った疲れで、この夜は二人ともグッスリ眠ることができました。
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