Ghostship-Ride, El Viaje Grande

I wanted to go from Germany to Algeria. Like always, things were getting complicated and you had to adjust smartly to the odds. The possibilities were taking a plane, a ship or do the walk instead of just of talking the talk. I fell in love with the idea to take a ferry from Spain to Algeria. Those are the most common option for most of the Algerians living abroad.

I wanted to go from Germany to Algeria. Like always, things were getting complicated and you had to adjust smartly to the odds. The possibilities were taking a plane, a ship or do the walk instead of just of talking the talk. I fell in love with the idea to take a ferry from Spain to Algeria. Those are the most common option for most of the Algerians living abroad.

The take their cars in England, Finland or Germany, stuff their families and luggage into the vehicles and off it goes to the south of Spain, to Alicante. Therefore it is quite smart to book the tickets a few weeks prior the departure, because the summer is hot and tickets are gone soon. You can book them easily in the internet and then you have to confirm them prior departure.

We wanted to go to Oran, which is the second biggest City in the North-African state.
And of course you can also use the ferry without a car, you just have to get to the port first. From friends I heard, that sometimes the ships are delayed for about 9 (!) hours. Which is a catastrophe, when you have a plane to catch. The thing is, the customs and border controls always tae a lot of time, when the ship is departing to Europe. And of course it always depends on the mass of travelers how long the whole procedure will take. But hence the same ship goes back and forth all the time and there is just one day of rest, the time you have lost will never be eliminated during the turn of a week.

So we are sitting in the departure-hall and the ship is not arriving. We are changing the fixture for our travel back, because we are afraid to lose the flight-connection and then it finally takes off.
Our ferry is like a little town on the water. With restaurants Hotel-Rooms and Entertainment-Lounges. For the ones with the cheap tickets you will have to kill about 10 hours of travel on soft chairs or walking around. Funny enough, during this time, sexy dressed young exile Algerians will turn into sober Moslems with the right dress code and even a hijab. After all, the rule is strict in the home-land.

But the stream of home-tourists is fading with the heat of the summer. After a week we take our ship back and find ourselves on a ghost ship.
There are an estimated 20 passengers who want to go back with us to Spain. For a ship that can carry maybe around 2500 Passengers! Quite a picture. Especially if you imagine, there are more workers on board than passengers! You are walking through the several gangways, cinemas and restaurants. You see no one! All alone in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. But one of the best chances to take some cool pictures of this giant Water-Buses and a memorable time to remember.

http://www.directferries.co.uk/ferry_to_oran.htm

geschrieben von wil6ka am 2008-12-02 in #Orte #boat #travel #water #ship #secret #alone #location #africa #mediterrennean-sea