Back in Toute time

 Djelloull, Mohammed and Moktar (who knows the region well and will guide us) meet us at the hotel followed by Dadou and his sons, and we're off to the South, to the Berber town of Toute, renowned for its ancient sites.  But first things first.  Djelloul sends M&M off to the local grocer on main Street for provisions for a picnic.  I see what I can see.

Apparently Algerians know more about children than we do, and also the truth that here the older ones take care of the younger.  

In the US this sign, I think, is two kids in a kind of purposeful march.

And sometimes the little one takes care of the bigger.  I watched this little girl, upset with her brother touching this rare bike, grab his hand and drag him back around the corner where they live, I'm supposing.  But he escaped and she followed him back, and decided it actually wasn't that dangerous.  They investigated thoroughly before they noticed me.  Then the cool teen-age owner shooed them away and drove off.

The local delivery guy.  Apparently he shows up in the morning and folks hire him for jobs.  Cheaper than taxis, which are abundant in every city.  Djelloul says a 4 hour taxi ride with 3 others will set you back all of 8 bucks.  But he says at the end of the day the man is happy with his earnings and heads back to the farm and his home-cooked meal.

Mohammed grabbing the pain from the bread furniture outside the shop.

 In Toute Mohammed warmly embraces his friends who have offered to give us a tour of the ancient ruin.  Everybody greets friends and family warmly, and air kiss each cheek twice.  Friends make life a joy

Walking through the walled Berber community -- 800 years old, and still lived in by families, though part of it is in disrepair.

As I said, people live here.  Here's a neighbor walking his cow.

The beams are made of palm trunks, the walls of mud and straw.  Reminded me of Southwestern pueblos.

An intriguing part in disrepair.

The door to a holy man who lives on site.  Why build arches when square is so much easier?   Clearly they found the shape spiritually pleasing.  When the Romans made this discovery, if they did, it went global.

That split is an opening to a shelf where a lamp is kept burning.  You can just imagine the warm shaft of light   warming the room.  One is in a dark windowless room.  Clever or what? Keeps the flame from the children, the straw, the rugs and the clothes.

 Up we go to the next level where sky-openings light the passageways.

 This is a mosque.  Roman influence in the columns.   Places like this make me wonder what everyone was talking about, what was shared when people came back from long journeys, like to the Roman settlements miles away around the Mediterranean.

Doors to apartments.  We look out in awe of the beautiful oasis there.  The guide said, you can't have people without water.

An authentic oasis.
I saw many roofs with stones on them, The winds blow strong here.

back downstairs around a dark corner I hear bleating, but except for a notch in the wooden door above , there's no way to see in.  So I put my camera up there, to the resident's astonishment.

Coming and going it's supposed to be good luck to step on this rock under this one of three entrances,

They said the French had a school for Algerian children here.  The building behind was the children's cafeteria.  The French came in 1830.  The assumption is that this was build a few decades later.

 Just a walk away we follow Moktar through a doorway to the courtyard of his grandfather, 96 years old.

 On to a site by a river.

 Steps up to petroglyphs.

 Some friends are concerned for our safety, and offer to join us, which we gratefully accept.  Now let's look at the carvings.

Now lets