I exaggerate. While it was the worst bus trip to date, I can imagine how it could have been much worse. I'll list these out in a minute.
So here are the logistics - a 36 hr bus trip from Bamako to Kumasi, 3 countries, two border crossings, many police checks, no airconditioning, no leg room, a sensitive nose.
No airconditioning does not faze me. It was the fact that the bus was designed for airconditioning and hence had no windows. They opened the hatch on top of the bus to let some fresh air in but this only did so much for the smell.
Ah the smell. At the first pitstop everyone bought meat for breakfast. 6 hours into the trip the bus stank of animal fat and onions. 8 hours later - body odour was added to the mix. Bananas for snacks added a sticky sweetness but the skins on the bus floor added nothing more than plain old rot to this thick concoction. A concoction - a dirty dirty concoction is exactly what I felt I was breathing in everytime the bus stopped at a police check. Regular doses of meat and bananas were thrown in lest the fresh air ruined it.
Ways it could have been worse:
1. It drizzles a couple of times when we had to close the hatch for a few minutes. I scared myself silly thinking of the possibility of it raining the whole way. It didn't. Bonus
2. My seat was close to the hatch.
3. The guy sitting next to me (though he stank of BO from hour 1) got off 18 hrs in at Ougadougou. He could have been there the whole way and he didn't look like pulling out a can of deo anytime soon.
4. A diet of rice and sauce has reduced it to an average of once in 4 days. It had been 3 days already and the pizza the night before was starting to cause trouble. Luckily it held up.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
What I ended up doing
The boat from Mopti to Timbuktu is magical. We travelled on a slow cargo pinasse sleeping on bags of rice for 2 nights. Sitting on this boat, floating down the Niger river watching the landscape change from the wetlands to savanna to desert with Malian blues forming the perfect theme has been one of the highlights of this trip. All the boneshattering bushtaxi rides and travel stress just shrugs off in those early mornings on the boat. The trip to Timbuktu is more about the boat trip there than the destination itself.
The destination itself is no less riveting. The dry heat beating down on your neck make it unbearable to walk even 15 mins outside. The turban helped. The second night was spent at a taureg nomad's camp. A taureg suggested this (for a price of course) and I imagined it to be quite touristy with souvenier stalls etc. To my pleasant surprise all it had was two tents belonging to one family and nothing else. It was a proper hardcore nomadic camp. There was a sandstorm which made the exprience all the more authentic. I felt the pain of not being able to speak french the most here. There was so much I wanted to ask them.
The 4WD trip to Motpi was less exciting though there were some great backdrops. There are no proper roads so it was cross country for a lot of the way. Punishing.
Bamako was excellent. I said goodbye to two brits I met in Mali - Rob and Laura - It was a absolute pleasure travelling with you guys. We enjoyed the metropolitan life - beers, pizza and kebabs and then i braced myself for the bus trip to hell which deserves it's own post.
The destination itself is no less riveting. The dry heat beating down on your neck make it unbearable to walk even 15 mins outside. The turban helped. The second night was spent at a taureg nomad's camp. A taureg suggested this (for a price of course) and I imagined it to be quite touristy with souvenier stalls etc. To my pleasant surprise all it had was two tents belonging to one family and nothing else. It was a proper hardcore nomadic camp. There was a sandstorm which made the exprience all the more authentic. I felt the pain of not being able to speak french the most here. There was so much I wanted to ask them.
The 4WD trip to Motpi was less exciting though there were some great backdrops. There are no proper roads so it was cross country for a lot of the way. Punishing.
Bamako was excellent. I said goodbye to two brits I met in Mali - Rob and Laura - It was a absolute pleasure travelling with you guys. We enjoyed the metropolitan life - beers, pizza and kebabs and then i braced myself for the bus trip to hell which deserves it's own post.
Monday, August 18, 2008
What I am doing now...
I am in Djenne for the Monday Market.
The mud mosque, the biggest mud structure in the whole world, forms a spectacular background to the market. All buildings in Djenne are made from Mud - no concrete anywhere. We slept on the roof of one last night. The city is surreal - surrounded by water on all sides (we took a ferry here) with no tar roads and spectacular 3 story mud buildings.
Surprisingly, a lot of locals can speak broken english which is nice our french skills extend from "Bonjour, sava?" to "I want food". Tomorrow we leave for Sevare, then to Mopti and then a 3 day boat trip on the Niger river to Timbuktu (!!). After T I take a 4WD to Mopti then to Bamako by bus. A night or two in Bamako and then I'll head to Bobo in Burkina for another 2 days before returning to Ghana. Well that's the plan anyway.
I will post about Malian music and Dogon Country when I get back.
The mud mosque, the biggest mud structure in the whole world, forms a spectacular background to the market. All buildings in Djenne are made from Mud - no concrete anywhere. We slept on the roof of one last night. The city is surreal - surrounded by water on all sides (we took a ferry here) with no tar roads and spectacular 3 story mud buildings.
Surprisingly, a lot of locals can speak broken english which is nice our french skills extend from "Bonjour, sava?" to "I want food". Tomorrow we leave for Sevare, then to Mopti and then a 3 day boat trip on the Niger river to Timbuktu (!!). After T I take a 4WD to Mopti then to Bamako by bus. A night or two in Bamako and then I'll head to Bobo in Burkina for another 2 days before returning to Ghana. Well that's the plan anyway.
I will post about Malian music and Dogon Country when I get back.
What I have done...
My lack of French, the buses, bush taxis and little money has made this my toughest and most challenging trip so far. But I would do it again just for the Dogon Country alone - another post on that.
I took a bus from Accra to Ougadougou which was meant to take 26 hr bus but took 30 hrs because of engine problems. I was informed at the border that crossing the border had rendered my Ghana visa extension void and i couldn't get back in. I met a Peace Corp guy from Niger who I shared a room with for the first night while I worked the french at the back of the Lonely Planet to get another Ghana visa.
While my visa was being processed I caught a bush taxi to Po (6 hrs). Slept the night in Po then came back to Ouga (another 6 hrs, I sat next to a cow and he was snoring - honest!). Picked up my visa and jumped on the bus to Ouahigouya.
From Ouga I got a bush taxi almost immediately to Koro. The border crossing was surreal. Just the 15 people in our bush taxi, a small police station and the Malian Flag were the only things apart from red sand and baobab trees as far as the eye could see. I shared a room in Koro with a girl from Perth I met on the bush taxi. Next day we caught another bush taxi headed to Mopti. At a police checkpoint, a guy came up to us and convinced us to get off at Bankass and wait at his hotel and he'd organise a Dogon guide for us. He spoke engligh, had an official guide permit and looked like a nice guy - so we did.
In Bankass we met two english med students who had been volunteering at a hospital in Ghana for 3 months. So the 4 of us took an english speaking Dogon guide (Djibril - an abolute legend) and did a 4 day trek of the Dogon Country. I need multiple posts to do justice - the stupefying villages on the cliff faces, the views which instilled almost a spiritual calm, the people who surpass even the Ghanaians in the politeness and generosity. After the trek all four of us took a bush taxi (i had to sit on a small gas cylinder - my arse still hurts from it) to Sevare and then a big bus to Djenne for the Monday Market and that's where I am now struggling to use a french keyboard.
I took a bus from Accra to Ougadougou which was meant to take 26 hr bus but took 30 hrs because of engine problems. I was informed at the border that crossing the border had rendered my Ghana visa extension void and i couldn't get back in. I met a Peace Corp guy from Niger who I shared a room with for the first night while I worked the french at the back of the Lonely Planet to get another Ghana visa.
While my visa was being processed I caught a bush taxi to Po (6 hrs). Slept the night in Po then came back to Ouga (another 6 hrs, I sat next to a cow and he was snoring - honest!). Picked up my visa and jumped on the bus to Ouahigouya.
From Ouga I got a bush taxi almost immediately to Koro. The border crossing was surreal. Just the 15 people in our bush taxi, a small police station and the Malian Flag were the only things apart from red sand and baobab trees as far as the eye could see. I shared a room in Koro with a girl from Perth I met on the bush taxi. Next day we caught another bush taxi headed to Mopti. At a police checkpoint, a guy came up to us and convinced us to get off at Bankass and wait at his hotel and he'd organise a Dogon guide for us. He spoke engligh, had an official guide permit and looked like a nice guy - so we did.
In Bankass we met two english med students who had been volunteering at a hospital in Ghana for 3 months. So the 4 of us took an english speaking Dogon guide (Djibril - an abolute legend) and did a 4 day trek of the Dogon Country. I need multiple posts to do justice - the stupefying villages on the cliff faces, the views which instilled almost a spiritual calm, the people who surpass even the Ghanaians in the politeness and generosity. After the trek all four of us took a bush taxi (i had to sit on a small gas cylinder - my arse still hurts from it) to Sevare and then a big bus to Djenne for the Monday Market and that's where I am now struggling to use a french keyboard.
Friday, August 8, 2008
A trip up north
Firstly - thankyou to all the people who have messaged, called, emailed, facebooked and posted on my blog. It feels good to know people are thinking about you back home :) Things are going well and I'm keeping good health.
I am taking a two week break to travel up north to see Burkina Faso and Mali. I'm really excited about the Dogon Country trek and 3 day Niger river cruise from Mopti to Timbuktu. Other sparklers on the intinerary are Bobo and Gorom-Gorom market, Djenne market/mosque. It will be an interesting trying to communicate in a Francophone country. So it all starts with a 24 hr bus trip from Accra to Ouigadougou leaving tomorrow morning which i'm psyching myself up for.
Visas - check
Bus ticket - check
Mobile/Camera charged - tonight
I am taking a two week break to travel up north to see Burkina Faso and Mali. I'm really excited about the Dogon Country trek and 3 day Niger river cruise from Mopti to Timbuktu. Other sparklers on the intinerary are Bobo and Gorom-Gorom market, Djenne market/mosque. It will be an interesting trying to communicate in a Francophone country. So it all starts with a 24 hr bus trip from Accra to Ouigadougou leaving tomorrow morning which i'm psyching myself up for.
Visas - check
Bus ticket - check
Mobile/Camera charged - tonight
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
