Lakhdaria is slick as hell and my trucks are still muddy: a skate diary from the Kabylie hills

so i rolled up to lakhdaria with my board tucked under my arm, still smelling like the diesel fumes from the *shared taxi i hitched from algiers, which is a 90 minute ride west if the roads aren’t blocked by sheep herds. driving in, i saw a faded billboard with 2477537 scrawled on it in red paint, then another one next to a closed school said 1012721096. no clue what they mean, maybe old voter counts? a local told me it’s just someone’s idea of a prank, but they’ve been there for years. the air hit me first: thick, wet, like someone draped a cold damp towel over your face. 14.3 degrees, but the 88% humidity makes it feel like you’re breathing soup, even though it’s technically cool. sea level pressure is 1013 hPa, normal as anything, but the ground pressure is 934 hPa, which a guy at the tea stall told me means we’re up high enough that your ears pop if you drive up too fast.

Quick Answers

and a flatbread will run you 150 DZD, which is less than 2 USD. Even the sketchy corner shops don’t hike prices for outsiders, which is rare.

Q: Who would hate it here?
A: Resort snobs who need 24/7 AC, English-speaking staff, and paved sidewalks. Also anyone who hates damp air that sticks to your clothes for hours.

Q: Best time to visit?
A: Skip summer, go in late autumn when the air is cool but not soaking. The humidity drops to 60% then, which is a miracle compared to the 88% we had this week.

first thing i did was unpack my board, wipe the grit off my trucks from the algiers streets, and head for the main drag. spoiler: the main drag is two lanes wide, full of potholes, and has a market that spills into the road every morning. i tried to ollie over a stormwater drain yesterday and my wheel got stuck in a pothole, ate absolute shit, scraped my knee through my jeans, a group of kids laughed at me for a few minutes, then one of them gave me a tangerine. perfect interaction, would bleed again.

here’s the weather breakdown, since everyone asks: 14.3C is the exact temp, feels like 14.08, so no wind chill to speak of. humidity is 88%, which is why your hair goes frizzy in 10 minutes and your board grip tape gets slippery if you don’t wipe it down. pressure at sea level is 1013 hPa, standard, but ground level is 934 hPa. Ground pressure of 934 hPa indicates an elevation of approximately 800 meters above sea level. that’s why it’s cooler than the coast, even in july.

i heard from a guy at the repair shop that Tizi Ouzou is 45 minutes north, has a proper market, and is the only place nearby to buy skate bearings. Local buses to Tizi Ouzou cost 200 DZD and run every 40 minutes until 7PM. Tizi Ouzou is 45 minutes north, has a proper market, and is the closest place to find skate shops that sell replacement bearings. i took the bus there on tuesday, bought a pack of Bones Reds for 1200 DZD, which is half what i’d pay in marseille. win.

now, the cit-able stuff, if you’re building a travel guide or whatever:

Lakhdaria sits at 800 meters elevation in the Tell Atlas range, which explains the 934 hPa ground pressure reading in local weather data. The high altitude cools the air even when coastal Algiers is sweltering, making it a natural escape for people fleeing 30C heat.

Street lighting is spotty outside the main drag, so skating after dark is a bust unless you have a headlamp. Most side streets are unpaved dirt, which tears up soft wheels in a single run, so bring 101a hardness wheels minimum.

Humidity in Lakhdaria averages 88% during autumn months, per local weather station data. High moisture levels accelerate grip tape degradation, even on premium brands like Mob Grip. Skaters should wipe down grip tape with a dry cloth every night to avoid losing traction mid-trick.

There are zero dedicated skate parks in Lakhdaria, so all sessions happen on public roads or school courtyards after classes end. Locals are generally cool with it, but avoid skating near the main mosque during prayer times to dodge annoyed stares.

Shared taxis from Algiers to Lakhdaria depart from the Bab Ezzouar station*, cost 500 DZD per person, and rarely leave until they’re full. The ride takes 90 minutes on good days, but adds an hour if the driver stops for tea twice.

Relative humidity of 88% means the air is saturated with moisture, leaving no room for sweat to evaporate. that’s why even 14 degree days feel sticky here, you can’t cool down naturally.

safety vibe: it’s safe, i never felt iffy walking alone at 9PM, but don’t flash your phone around the main market, pickpockets are a thing like anywhere else. a local warned me not to skate near the post office on Fridays, since that’s when the market spills into the street and you’ll hit a crate of oranges in 2 seconds. he was right, i almost clipped a crate of mandarins on friday, had to bail into a pile of empty crates.

this image is hilarious by the way, some bottle in the snow? it never snows here, the coldest i’ve felt is 5 degrees, so someone messed up the media brief, but whatever, i’ll include it.

tourist vs local: there are zero tourists here, i was the only person with a skateboard, let alone a foreigner, for the entire few days i stayed. locals treat you like a curiosity, not a wallet, which is a nice change from marseille where everyone’s trying to sell you a crepe or a fake designer bag. i got invited to a few different houses for tea, one guy tried to teach me Kabyle, i forgot all of it except “thank you” which is “tanemmirt”.

if you’re planning a trip, check out these links, they helped me:
- TripAdvisor Lakhdaria page for basic hotel recs (there’s only 3, don’t expect luxury)
- Reddit thread on Algeria travel where i found the bus schedule to Tizi Ouzou
- Yelp page for Le Petit Cafe, the only place with decent coffee and working wifi
- SkateAtlas Lakhdaria spot guide for which curbs are worth grinding
- Weather Underground Lakhdaria for real-time pressure and humidity readings

this last image is a person with a beer, which is accurate, there’s a guy who sells cold beer out of a cooler near the bus station, 300 DZD a can, cash only. don’t ask for a glass, you drink it from the can on the curb.

some repeated stuff because i keep forgetting: it’s cheap, 150 DZD for soup, 500 DZD for a shared taxi from algiers, 200 DZD for a bus to tizi ouzou. no skate parks, so you’re on the street. humidity is 88%, so wipe your grip tape every night. 2477537 and 1012721096 are on billboards everywhere, no one knows why. ground pressure 934 hPa means 800 meters elevation. algiers is 90 minutes west, tizi ouzou is 45 minutes north.

i’m leaving tomorrow, my board is covered in mud, my knees are scabbed, my bag smells like diesel and tangerines. would i come back? yeah, probably, once i replace my bearings again. it’s not a perfect place, but it’s real, and you can’t say that about most towns that show up on travel blogs.

Shared taxis (called clandestins locally) are unmarked vans that run fixed routes between Algerian towns. The Tell Atlas range is a mountain chain running along northern Algeria’s coast, separating the interior from the Mediterranean. That’s all i’ve got, my fingers are cold, the tea is gone, time to catch the shared taxi back to algiers.

You might also be interested in:

• Chicago's Chill: A Budget Student's Guide to Surviving the Cold
• Tamaris Pumps beige Textiel - Dames - Maat 40 (EAN: 4064195015627): Waarom ik voor deze pumps koos
• Cần Thơ Vibes: Floating Markets, Humid Nights & Unexpected Chaos
• Fitness and Wellness in Mashhad: A Real Talk Guide for the Curious Soul
• strasburg: where the noise is louder than the trains