Assekrem

Assekrem is a site in the Hoggar mountains near Tamanrasset, where a French priest established a hermitage in the early 20th century.

Near, in this case, means 75km along a dirt track; about three hours each way, though fortunately with some rest and photo stops along the way. It takes a while to reach the really spectacular mountains, but when you do, they’re really quite impressive, with organ pipe formations stretching all the way up the cliffs:

Home for tourists is a “refuge” with very basic beds, but fortunately also very warm blankets:

A couple of hundred metres further up, at about 2800m, is the hermitage, including a church with a view:

Most come for the sunset:

The hardy for the dawn, too:

In between those, you can stargaze away from the city lights, as long as you can withstand the cold: