I-n-Salah Favorites

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Favorite thing: In the same way, sunrises are fast. In the beginning, only the sky is lit, pale blue. The sand and the palm trees remain dark and almost colorless. The photo is nearly black and white. As the light is still low, it is not very sharp.

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Favorite thing: Sunsets in the desert are most of the time fabulous moments. When in a palm grove, the outline of the palm trees upon the flaring sky is an added value.

The more you drive south, the earlier and the faster the sunset! When the light and the colors build a good picture, shoot fast as that may last not more than half a minute!

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Favorite thing: The first photo is an alley in the palm groves. In oasis; it is always amazing to see the contrast between the green of the plants and the red of the earth. Plants always look greener in palm groves!

The second photo shows a seguia. These small canals need much care. This is how the palm grove is watered. This is a main seguia and it divides in smaller channels that water every part of the palm grove. Each part is watered a certain amount of time, ruled by the mosque. There is some one that is in charge of opening and closing the various outlets in each garden.

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Favorite thing: As in all the oasis, the palm grove stands a few kilometers away from the city. On these photos, once we had brought bread at the In-Salah baker’s, we were looking for a quiet place with some shade to have a picnic dinner on the edges of the palm grove..

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Favorite thing: The medina (the old city) is fortified as a ksar. It has a beautiful crenellated city wall. As building in the old city, it was built in adobe and coated with red clay. I have not seen any recent pictures of these walling and I hope they have been kept in good condition.

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Favorite thing: The first photo shows a main avenue with the shade of a tamarisk. Tamarisk are often found in the Sahara, both wild and planted.

The second photo shows the look of traditional houses built in adobe.

The third photo shows a more modern part of the city : the street is paved, there is even a street lamp!

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Favorite thing: This “tower” stands in the old city center old In-Salah. Is it a tower? I actually do not remember what it is for but nevertheless it is impressive and it is interesting to look closely at how it was built.

I have made a close up on the second photo that shows that each layer (80-90 cm) was put on top of the previous, but in recess, in order to the walls to resist from a pressure coming from the inside.

Flying buttresses all around add to the strength of the building (third photo)

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Favorite thing: The mosque was built a little apart from the city, on the edges, as can be seen in the second photo and in the third photo (you must enlarge the photo to see it in the background). The first photo shows the mosque in all its beauty, standing with sand in every direction and with a group of women bringing wood for the cooking. I am not sure that it is still standing apart and it might have been swallowed by the city growth.