lørdag 24. desember 2011

Remember a Day

Wombosi on the barge

Addis Ababa 24.12.2011
I wish you all a merry Christmas.

Believe it or not, I made it to Addis in good time before Christmas. I arrived here already Thursday (22th) at noon, which means that I drove 2500 kilometers in four days. Wombosi has been a very good boy, so I could drive from dawn to well after dark every day.

Desert in Sudan

Jeremy eats breakfast in Wadi-Halfa

The "slum" in Wadi Halfa

Sunset x
The cars were clear of the customs on Sunday at noon, so we still had a half day of driving that Sunday. I went together with Jeremy, and got to ride his Africa-Twin (motorbike) a couple of kilometers. While looking for a place to camp, we got in trouble with the police, so it was late before we settled down that night. Still we lit a campfire, and talked well into the night.

The following morning we split up, and the rest of Sudan was solemnly driving. The border crossing was smoother than expected, even if I had to wait two hours for a cashier who was praying and eating. The Ethiopian side was very swift and free of charge!

Driving in Ethiopia was much slower than in Sudan. Sudan is an empty desert, while Ethiopia is full of Ethiopians, and they have plenty of donkeys and oxen.

Now I’m half the way, and of course it’s good to be with the family and the kids. On the other hand, as my trip will soon be over, I have to start thinking of what to do after Wombosi has come to Madagascar. Should I study, or should I continue the life on the road? To be honest, the latter appeals much more to me than the first.

Today is Christmas-Eve, and as usual, I’m not in a Christmas mood. This year I missed the “foreplay”, with advent and carols, so it’ll come down hard on me this time. The weather in the Ethiopian highland is blue skies and 20 degrees.

What is this?

Harvest
Enjoy your Christmas, wherever you celebrate it. 

lørdag 17. desember 2011

Waiting for the Worms

Wadi Halfa 17.12.2011
I’ve been long enough in Africa; one should think- that I know about African time. If someone or something is supposed to arrive at a certain time, you can normally add some hours, and then it will come.

Still, this barge and the Sudanese officials have managed to exceed my expectations of African time. The barge arrived Thursday evening, and yesterday was Friday – no one working. Today is Saturday, so they don’t work today either, so hopefully things will happen tomorrow. When they came with bad news the first days, I got a little bit angry, and tried to push things to happen, but now I just smile. I feel powerless.

The time is not that bad though. Even the ferry trip was better than expected, much thanks to the great people I have around me. We are in total ten people who wait for our vehicles- five bikers, Wombosi and two other Land-Rovers. Jeremy, one of the bikers, is also traveling alone, and we have camped in the desert these days. During the day we sit in town and read our books, or walk the few kilometres to the harbour to see if something happens. If we would have known that nothing would happen before tomorrow, we would have done some trips, but every day they say something might happen, and then nothing does…

I don’t want to give a bad impression on the Sudanese people. They are very friendly, and we feel better here than in Egypt, but it is just that we’d like to see something else than just Wadi Halfa in Sudan.

This time I won’t try to make any prophecy on when I’ll be in Addis, but I’ll let you know.

søndag 11. desember 2011

Run, Rabbit Run


Small donkey, big load
Aswan 11.12.2011
This is the last post from Aswan! Tomorrow I will be on the boat to Sudan, and if everything goes smoothly with ferry and paperwork, I and Wombosi will be out of the port on Wednesday evening, ready for the last couple of kilometers to Addis Ababa.
The man with the silk scarf
My week has been good, in fact, far better than last week. Last Monday I was far down, but towards the evening I decided that I had mourned enough, and started to focus on what I could do to reach Addis in time before Christmas. To get an Ethiopian Visa was the obvious thing to do, and it turned out to be a success.

Tuesday evening I took the night train to Cairo (14 hours). Having a seat, it was a rather comfortable ride. I’d hoped to be able to get the Visa in one day, so I wouldn’t have to sleep in Cairo, but that was not possible. The time in Cairo was good though. I met a man named Said, and had two long and good conversations with him, over several cups of tea.

Public water
Thursday I picked up my passport with a three month visa for Ethiopia in it, so if I get fat and lazy during Christmas, I can stay in Addis until the 6th of March.
The journey back to Aswan was of the less comfortable kind. I was too late to get a ticket, so I had to buy one on the train, which meant that I would not have a seat. The next 14 hours consisted of 2 hour sleep, one hour in a seat and the rest of the time sitting and standing around between the carriages. The surprising thing is that I didn’t mind. I have been so focused on Addis that whatever I do to get there has made me happy.

Crossing speed-bumps 
Friday I had to get some sleep, and Saturday I, (and the rest of the overlanders) got the good news that all of us would leave on Monday. We even got to buy the tickets, so there’s no turning back this time.

That done, I thought it was time for a last trip with Ahmed. We went to his village 70 kilometers north of Aswan, and stayed at his family there over the night. All the pictures are from there, since the other memory card with the pictures from Cairo mysteriously disappeared.
Fertile soil
The time in the village was good. In the evening we hung out at what we would call the local pub and played domino. In the “pub” here the people drink tea instead of whiskey, there are only men over 20 hanging out and of course everything is under the open sky (and the full moon on this occasion). In the morning we went to the river, meeting lots of donkey-riders on our way.

White man on the riverbank
This culture has its good and its bad sides. It also has its different sides, like the local clothing of the men, consisting of a robe and a silk-scarf (see pictures). The gender division is extreme, temper is high, everyone smokes a lot and honor is very important. The hospitality is great, belief strong and tea good.
I will be leaving Egypt with a mixed experience. I have not entered any culture along my way so deeply as the Egyptian, and think that my picture of it is quite accurate. The people are generally very friendly and good minded, but to some extend the society seems to be stuck quite far behind.

Donkeyriders in robes
As for the political situation, what happens now is far from freedom. The military still has a firm grip on everything, and the money does not reach the people. If the Muslim brotherhood would win the election, and actually get some power, I fear that religious freedom will be even more put aside than now, and the women’s rights shrinking. Egypt has a long way to go, but at least it seems to be walking.

Taxi
I do believe that I have left a positive mark on Ahmed. I have tried to be an example, and have also given my opinion on a number of things. He has decided to try to stop smoking, and even though I think he won’t manage, he has reduced his consume from 60 to 20 cigarettes a day. He is also eager to make a radical change in his lifestyle, get back to education, or get himself a proper work.

Both with Ahmed and with Said, I’ve had good conversations on religion. I think they see how God goes with me, gives me confidence and love. I have given Ahmed a new testament (thanks to Nikolai who gave it to me), and hope he will read in it, and take heart from the message of love and forgiveness. Here the “revenge for honor”-thinking still is so alive.

Ahmed is ready to eat
The village
Now my longing for my family is so big that I won’t linger (by will) before I am in Addis. Besides, my Sudanese Visa expires on the 19th, so by then I have to be in Ethiopia, so I’ll report back to you from there some time shortly after that. 

mandag 5. desember 2011

Round and Around

Aswan 05.12.2011


I just wanted to let you know that my struggle today was in vain, and that I won't be leaving Egypt before next Monday. To have a chance to be in Addis some days before Christmas-eve, I will go to Cairo tomorrow, and fix my Ethiopian visa. That means that I wont have to wait until Sunday, a working day, in Khartoum to do that, but can go start to the Ethiopian border when I get out of the port in Wade Halfa on Thursday the 15th.

From WH to Addis Ababa it is 2200 kilometers on the most direct route, and 2500 on the Dogola-Khartoum route. Either way I should be able to make that distance in 6 days, if Wombosi plays nicely and the Ethiopian border does the same. That would take me to Addis on the 21th.

To mourn now is useless. Yesterday, when there still was hope, I was extremely down. Now when it's game over, I accept the defeat. I will focus to prepare as best as I can for the time in Sudan, so that things run smoothly, and I've learned a lesson about African/Arabian bureaucracy.

søndag 4. desember 2011

Sorrow

04.12.2011 Aswan
Still Aswan. This week has been a low on this journey, and the ending made it a disaster. There really is not much to tell you today. I have spent the 5 days since the last time mainly indoor, sleeping, reading, wasting time on my laptop and playing the guitar. The reason is that I have been sick. I got a flue on Thursday that kept me in bed most of Friday and parts of Saturday. Today was better. I still have an aching head and a running nose.

Sunset over the nile
What makes me very sad and upset is that my possibilities to be leaving Aswan tomorrow are shrinking small. On Saturday when I called Mr. Sahleh he said that I had got the one spot for a car on the barge. This was confirmed this morning when I went to his office. He explained what paperwork that should be done, and then I should drive to the harbor (15 km. out of town) and load the car onto the barge. When I asked about payment he said no problem, we would do it tomorrow.

After ca. 2 hours the paperwork was done, and we headed for the docks. Still in town, I said to the man with me that I did not bring the money for the ticket, and he said that it would be ok. We would just enter the docks, do some more paperwork, and I’d load the car tomorrow. After waiting half an hour at the gate we got the information that I could not enter the dock without a ticket (for the car), and I was forced to drive back to town to get to an ATM.

When we got back to the Harbor almost an hour later, another car entered the area so that I could still se its rear lights, and took my space. After a rather tense “conversation” with the guards I had to go back to town. There was no one there with authority to do much.

Tomorrow I will go back to the harbor. Mr. Sahleh will be there, and I hope some miracle happens, but I have experienced the Egyptian way, and if they have loaded the barge with the other car (that was behind me in the queue), they won’t likely start unloading again, even if it does not leave before 4 pm.

Oh, and yes. I called Mr.Sahleh when I was in trouble on the docks. This was at 1.30 pm, but he said he was at home and would not do anything, and when I asked him to PLEASE do something, he screamed that he was at home, and hanged up. Oh man, I think I’m angry. Good that I could talk to Andreas as soon as I got home, and he could calm me down.

For me Christmas is at stake if I don’t get a spot this week, and I so want to get “home” to Addis now. Sophie, Mparany and the kids will come there on the 17th, and Alma has holidays the same day, and I presumably sit in Aswan or Khartoum scratching my beard.
Keep your fingers crossed and I will give you news as soon as possible.