If you don't go far, you'll be old 2
Chapter 11 Tanzania: Wild Times
Chapter 11 Tanzania: Wild Times
If you want to see the sea in Africa, it must be here.Blue sea, fine sand, soft fish, warm sunshine, and countless coconuts, come on, you can play wild here.
a brand new site
Blue sky, white clouds, this may be the standard configuration for travelers in Africa.When the disappointing weather with gloomy faces on that sunny day in Nanjing was about to fade from my mind, Tian lowered his face and gave me a big blow.Friends, this is Tanzania, a brand new land.Those barren grasslands split by the years, thousands of miles of dust and sand flying by the wind, roared past with the sound of hoofs shaking the sky.The flag of Burundi watched me go, and the sky became so gray that it seemed to add a little melancholy to my mood.After all, I drifted away, stepped into a new land, and never looked back.
What are you waiting for, traveler.
There's something new about Kigoma's sure-footed highways.This avenue to the east is full of light and temptation, but unfortunately, the finished product is far shorter than I imagined.The newly built road stopped abruptly, and the bus drove into the merciless desert.For the next 30 hours, I was with the dust, I danced with the dust, I slept with the dust.Compared with the road of blood and tears that was buried alive in dust in Kenya, this is nothing but a trivial matter.The car crossed the mainland of Tanzania in a straight line from west to east, and arrived at the end point when I was so sleepy that I couldn't open my eyes - Dar es Salaam, a metropolis in the east.I brushed off the dust from my body, pulled my vague consciousness back from the edge of my subconscious, and got out of the car with a vigorous look.Among the hustle and bustle, I tried to find a sense of existence in the turbulent crowd.
Dar es Salaam, this somewhat convoluted name, I like to call her Dashi.It was originally a small fishing village named "Mzizima", which means "cool place".The name is embarrassing, and Dashi clearly can't find a few days of coolness all year round.Fortunately, there are people beyond people, and there is sky beyond the sky. Compared with Khartoum in North Sudan, Dashi, which is around 30 degrees throughout the year, is really a blessed place with cooler temperatures.Perhaps, the ancestors came up with such a name for Dashi after being roasted in the Sahara stove.
This is the largest, most developed and most prosperous city in Tanzania.You may think that this is the capital of Tanzania. In fact, almost everyone except Tanzanians thinks that Dashi is the capital.Yes, it used to be the capital of a country enjoying glory. Due to its proximity to the open sea, it was easy to attack and difficult to defend. The government moved the capital to the inland city of Dodoma, taking away the title of the capital of Dashi, allowing her to develop into an economic and cultural center with peace of mind.But there are still many government agencies and embassies here. The western-style high-rise buildings remind you of the city's status in the metropolis, and a simple meal in a local restaurant costs 5 dollars.I swallowed my saliva, thinking of those small restaurants in my hometown where I could eat for more than a dozen yuan, and the street food smelled fragrant all the way.It's a pity that here, it's just a beautiful and distant bubble.In Dashi, everything is not cheap.
By chance, I found a perfect place to stay, the staff dormitory of a Chinese company.I ate the long-lost Chinese food in the cafeteria with my compatriots, rewarded my tongue and stomach, and eased their homesickness.The staple food in Tanzania is ugali, an unpalatable white cornmeal batter cooked slowly, and rice, which is always undercooked.I have been blessed in several lifetimes to enjoy sumptuous Chinese food here.If you don’t understand what patriotism is, please go to a place far away from China where you can’t eat Chinese food for a few months, your taste buds and stomach will tell you soon.Believe me, sometimes the tongue and the stomach are more powerful than the brain.
I was full of food and drink, and the shopping mode was turned on. My curiosity swelled rapidly. I saw the world in front of me from the perspective of a child. Everything was fresh and strange.Why is the canned Sprite in the supermarket 50% more expensive than the plastic bottle? Obviously the latter has more weight. Doesn’t it produce canned Sprite here?The mango vendor on the street is skillfully cutting mangoes. Before I could say "NO SALT" (no salt), he had already sprinkled a handful of salt on the mango flesh. Why does this place have exactly the same habit as in India?
Dashi people don't waste their good rest days on these whys. CoCo beach is full of people who are on vacation.Swimming, surfing, sailing, paragliding, sand rowing, sunbathing... enjoying the blue sea is the most serious thing.There are many Indians and Pakistanis on the beach, and it has almost become a tradition to look at their hometown here.Their ancestors traveled across the ocean from the mysterious South Asian subcontinent to the west coast of the Indian Ocean 200 years ago, and their hometown is at the other end of the vast sea.
I also stood on tiptoe and tried my best to look towards the east of the sea, hoping to see some wonderful thoughts.Only, there is nothing but the distant blurred horizon.
Tickets and Rich Row
I haven't forgotten the more important thing, shopping for visas.
As soon as the weekend was over, I started the heroic mode of handing over papers, giving birth to the speed of sprinting [-] meters, the posture of going forward bravely, and the spirit of persevering and getting braver after setbacks. Against the scorching summer, I ran back and forth in the embassy area, aggressive and red-eyed. Enter one embassy after another, and sign Malawi, Zambia, and South Africa in one go.Zimbabwe is the strangest one. The process of handing over the visa is inexplicably twists and turns, and there is always a situation at the door, which makes me exhausted after tossing back and forth.I was beating a drum in my heart: Could it be that some force suggested that I should not go to Zimbabwe?Although I muttered, it is not my style to get cold feet.Try to do the part that you can control. As for the result, leave it to God to decide.A week later, the Zimbabwean embassy mercilessly rejected the visa application that had been handed in after all the hard work. It became the only time in my travels in the past two years that I did not get a visa.The embassy staff shrugged at me, skillfully making complex expressions of understanding, sympathy and helplessness.No reason, no explanation, no refund of the visa fee - this is the usual practice of embassies in various countries.On the same day, I got a South African visa, and a difficult visa was captured by me.It seems that my fate with Zimbabwe has not arrived, but only with South Africa.Since God has made such an arrangement, please accept it.
Why do you want to go to Zimbabwe, maybe you just want to see the life of the people under the most serious inflation in the world, even though the Zimbabwe dollar with countless zeros printed on it has been discontinued, and it is temporarily replaced by the US dollar, "billionaire" It can't be done anyway.I heard that it is a country with better infrastructure in southern Africa and the country with the highest literacy rate in Africa.On the chat software, my father joked, you, you are about to become an expedition team member.
It has been a long way from "beautiful scenery lover" to "expedition team member".For quite a long time, my eyes were attracted by mountains and rivers, which were things I had never seen in the city for more than 20 years. They were my inner longing, and my yearning for the original ecology.Living in the city for too long, it seems that everything is man-made, the world will always be full of high-rise buildings and traffic, and the one-acre land at the door.Suddenly felt the power of nature, was deeply attracted, irresistible, like a brand new world opened to me, how could I resist this temptation.But no matter how beautiful the scenery is, there are times when you can see it all. Just like eating too much fish and meat, you will get rich and rich.The thrill of seeing the desert for the first time and the excitement of seeing the sea for the first time can never be recreated.Those silly mistakes and unreliable conclusions I made when I first left the country have become warm jokes that I can't bear to erase in my memory.
I am more and more fond of talking with the locals in the car, looking for interesting and delicious food on the street, watching unique religious ceremonies and festivals in various places, and seeing with my own eyes in different corners of the world, How people live, how they think.I began to dare to shake the deep-rooted concepts.A seemingly solid barrier was gradually disintegrated, collapsed, rebuilt, and reborn.
I do not know when, the scenery is not the only focus of travel.I want to go to a place, maybe not because of a famous mountain or a famous lake, but because of some strange reasons.Because it is developed, because it is backward, because it is developing rapidly, because it is developing slowly, because the political situation is turbulent, because the country is prosperous and the people are safe...all the details of sesame mung bean can be a reason to go or not to go.However, choices are always two-way. If you want to go, you may not be able to go, but you may not necessarily want to go.Visas often decide the itinerary quietly behind the curtain.
There are not a few friends who can't tell the difference between a passport and a visa.Described in the most easy-to-understand way, it means that a passport is a small book that proves identity, a place where visas and entry and exit stamps are affixed; The special situation of not being able to get the door. Please believe that in most cases, the ticket is reliable).Most visas are a piece of paper or a stamp, and there are also electronic visas issued through the Internet.
What is the most important information for long-distance travel abroad with a mainland Chinese passport, cheap accommodation and transportation?Attraction Raiders?Not at all.The most important thing is visa information, none of them.If you can’t get a visa, no matter how detailed the information on food, clothing, housing, transportation, eating, drinking and entertainment is, it’s useless, because “there’s no door.”Most long-distance backpackers go all the way to sign. They sign in country A to country B, country B signs to country C, and the third country delivers the visa. The specific locations are the embassy of country B in country A and the embassy of country C in country B.Relying on the word of mouth among backpackers, relying on the information transmission in the small circle of backpackers on the Internet, we can obtain the most timely and effective visa information.The predecessors planted trees, and the descendants enjoyed the shade.Most of the time, I have to do coolies on my own two legs, and go to the embassies of various countries to inquire about visas tirelessly. Actual combat is more reliable than all gossip.
If you ask me why I don't list the detailed methods of obtaining each visa in detail in the book, it is because the third country's visa application information is changing rapidly.Last month, you can sign out of country B in country A without any effort. From next month, you have to pay a large deposit or provide proof of assets to sign in; three months ago, country C implemented visa on arrival for mainland Chinese passports, and three months later The visa on arrival is cancelled; half a year ago, it was as easy to go to a neighboring country from Dingguo as to go to a park at the door of the house. Significant visa refusals may be due to temporary factors, such as large-scale international conferences, civil strife or strikes, sudden changes in diplomatic relations with China, religious reasons, festivals, long holidays... All unimaginable reasons may become the reason for not getting a visa, even in There are a large number of Chinese backpackers ahead of you who have succeeded, but outdated visa information not only loses value, it is even suspected of being misleading.Only the visa information that has just been released is the most useful and most valuable to share.Along the way, the method of obtaining each visa was recorded in my Weibo and blog in time.For third-country visa delivery, the latest news on the Internet is often much more effective than physical books.
Since the signing of a third country is an elusive and highly variable matter, why not sign everything in the country before going out.There are two reasons. First, the tourist visa has a short time limit, usually one to three months, and becomes invalid after expiration.Short-distance travel can be signed and then set off, while long-distance travel often takes one or two years. If you take it out in China, the visa will have expired more than ten times before it is used, and it will become a piece of waste paper.Furthermore, there are too many variables in long-distance travel.On the road, you can fully understand the meaning of "plans are clouds".I thought A→B→C, but in fact D→E→F, maybe because of the temporary closure of the ports of the two countries, maybe because of the refusal of the visa and had to find another route, maybe because of a sudden cheap air ticket, maybe because of a group of chattering people There are countless examples of backpackers telling you that a certain country is amazing and you changing your mind overnight.Of course, there are no absolutes. Some petty countries do not allow people to submit visas in third countries, and they can only do it domestically.This is off topic.
Going to and from the embassy to apply for a visa is hard work, which not only consumes time and energy, delays the travel progress, but also increases the cost of board and lodging in disguise.But from another angle, there is joy in bitterness.Embassies are often concentrated in administrative areas. If it is not for visa applications, backpackers will not take the initiative to go to areas that have no access to tourist resources. On the way to find embassies, those interesting experiences of groping and stumbling will no longer exist.Many windfalls came precisely from the way to find the embassy.Traveling to the embassy allows travelers to quickly find out the general plan of the city, familiarize themselves with public transportation, know important transit stations, and walk through the living areas that are completely different from tourist areas or scenic spots. There are the most authentic residential areas and the most simple The most authentic small restaurant, the most authentic local people, thinking about it this way, this hard work has a little more sweetness.
I flipped through the half-used passport in my hand. It was hard to imagine that it was a brand new blank passport when I left home, and now it has been stamped with a lot of stamps.Looking back on the journey, I only thought about Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, and Tibet at that time. Only when I arrived in Tibet did I dare to think about Nepal, when I arrived in Nepal, I dared to think about India, when I arrived in India, I dared not think about the Middle East, and when I arrived in the Middle East, I dared not think about Africa. Little by little, I went from home to the distant African continent.No matter how powerful I am, I can't accurately plan this long trip by looking at the world map on the wall before departure.Fortunately, this notoriously difficult-to-use passport is not as ineffective as I imagined. There are not only Europe, America, Canada, Australia, and Japan in the world. There are also large areas of the same wonderful, beautiful, and thick land that are also worth traveling. There are many visas there. countries with loose policies.Why ignore them?
The uncle in charge of the visa at the Malawi embassy was processing the visa and chatted with me, "Oh, I think back then..." The uncle talked endlessly about his love history, his daughter's young first love, and his confession Ms. later marital experience.Suddenly there was a turning point, "This is life," said the uncle with a long sigh, as a concluding remark.I also sighed, hey, uncle, can you cover the seal for me first, I have been waiting for a long, long period of youth!
The visas for the three countries were implemented, and I strode towards the nearest crowded India-Pakistan Street.The Indian-Pakist Street is very familiar to me. Before I came to Africa, I traveled in India for 2 months. During those 2 months, I walked around the Indian-Pakistani street filled with curry fragrance almost every day. Street, those amazing days are still a precious chapter in my memory.India exists like a durian.Backpackers love her if they like it, and they hate it when they hate it. It is difficult to hear a neutral evaluation.However, a short stay in India is almost certain to leave a plethora of negative impressions.In some places, staying for three days is hell, staying for 30 days can make a slight difference, and staying for [-] days makes me reluctant to leave. India is like this for me.The Indian-Pakistani Street in front of me, the familiar Indian-style snacks, and the familiar faces of Indian-Pakistani people aroused my little thoughts.
When I continued to expand the roaming range, I found more interesting things.First of all, the largest number of people in the casino are not Indians, nor blacks, but genuine Chinese.In any casino, at least 4% of the gamblers are Chinese, and they seem to want to occupy the entire street.The higher the level of the casino, the more Chinese compatriots, and some casinos simply set the TV station as CCTV [-].Secondly, Chinese restaurants are high-end consumption places in the local area. Most of the diners are Chinese, white and Indian-Pakistani. These people control the main social wealth in Tanzania.They maintain the order of the entire street and control the consumption circle of the rich. The local Tanzanian blacks can only watch and worry...
The delicate frangipani falls from the three-story tree to the feet, the white is golden, and it is very moving. I took a deep breath, no matter it is the rich street or the Chinese street, I just want to enjoy this wild time.
Set up a tent by the sea to spend the night
If the mainland of Tanganyika is wild and passionate, then Zanzibar is gentle and romantic, she is as crystal clear as tears, fluttering like leaves, small family jasper, tender like water, wearing plain clothes With a smile on his mouth, he greets guests from afar, and he doesn't know how to hide his feelings at all.
The country name of Tanzania, "Tan" refers to Tanganyika, "Sang" refers to Zanzibar Island, I like to call her Sang Island.Sang Island used to be an independent country, and later merged with the Tanganyika mainland to form Tanzania, which still enjoys a high degree of autonomy.The small island has its own government, parliament, elected president and national football team.Such a situation is not unfamiliar to the Chinese.
Sang Island is also a transit point for trade between Africa, the Arab world, and India, where Islamic culture and Indian-Pakistani culture blend and collide with traditional African black culture.In the streets and alleys of Stone City, there are both Middle Eastern patios and corridors, as well as Indian-Pakistan-style carved doors and windows.Unlike mainland Tanganyika, the island's inhabitants are almost exclusively Muslim.The women wore headscarves and black robes, authentic Arabic colors.
With the aura of "World Heritage", tourists don't want to miss the maze-like narrow alleys in Stone Town, and walk around without knowing it, which is not the case when they are in Barkhor Street in Lhasa. confused.The gymnasium on the island is named after Mao Zedong, which originated from China's substantial aid to Tanzania in the 70s and 10s.The ubiquitous spices in the market make you suddenly remember that there is also a name of "Spice Islands".Vendors always like to pile things into piles, bread, fruit, vegetables, priced by pile, and the size is evenly distributed, either one large potato with three small potatoes, or two medium potatoes with two small potatoes, Seems to have avoided many business disputes.There are hills of seafood that are eye-opening, even shark meat.The big live crabs are amazingly cheap, equivalent to RMB [-] per catty.People go to the vegetable market early to pick the biggest crabs.I was late and only bought "small" crabs, less than half the size of big crabs, but one can take up more than half of the plate. Even so, domestic hairy crabs can only be called Wu Dalang if they are placed here.This pot of "small" crabs hooked out all my greedy worms, except for the crab shells that were not cleaned.
You can always see many large species in Africa, not only crabs, but also pineapples and bananas.Compared with the common ones in China, it is enough for one to top two, or even one to top three.Huge bananas are mashed by locals to make staple food, otherwise sorry for its big size.Pineapple still sticks to its role as a fruit, and it is unexpectedly sweet to pick any one, without a bit of bitterness, and does not need to be soaked in salt water.The spot-like dots on the pineapple are very shallow, and the hard outer skin can be directly peeled off to get smooth and tender pineapple meat. It does not need to cut deep spirals obliquely like in China, which saves time and effort and is delicious, and the price is also low.With all the benefits, I can't wait to eat the pineapple from Sang Island.
On the beach, there are children frolicking, young people playing acrobatics, doing somersaults, rollovers, handstands, backflips, backflips... all bouncing around, full of energy, somersaulting, stacking arhats.As night falls, it's time to go to the beach plaza full of food stalls to find delicious food.Order a kebab, another kebab, Arabic sandwich with strong Indian style, how can I describe the beauty at this time!
The Maasai in twos and threes walk by the sea. They are the most famous nomadic people in East Africa. They live in groups and still practice tribal chiefs and polygamy.The Maasai are easily recognizable, always wearing traditional national costumes, dark red striped robes.Men wear their hair in small braids, while women tend to be bald.From a distance, the Maasai people look like characters who came out of the game, full of primitive wild power.
I put my tent on my back and found a dilapidated, abandoned house on the beach in the northeast corner of Sang Island. There were only concrete skeletons left, no windows, and no doors. I pitched the tent on the second floor where there was no shelter from the wind, and there was an unobstructed blue sea in front of my eyes. And the white sandy beach, the view is so good that it makes people scream.I am obsessed with that pure blue-green color, which is too clear, too vivid, crystal clear, like a painting.This color seems to be a living body, real and delicate, and the extremely high-resolution color is simply bullying my retina.In my memory, I have seen the sea in seven countries, including the beaches of mainland Tanzania. Although each has its own characteristics, in terms of its blue, bright, and pure colors, none of them can beat the glowing sea in front of me. Pale emerald sea.Some people say that Zanzibar is an extremely beautiful island that does not lose to the Maldives, I believe it.
When the tide is low, the sea water is far away. At this time, a large piece of green algae has the opportunity to show its face, and it surfaced mischievously. The blue sea, green algae, and white sand are intertwined in sight.Step on it carefully, the seaweed is not slippery, and if you are not careful, it will throw you on your back.The nearby sea water and white sand are wrapped together, showing a milky milky color, with white flowers, and the transparency has long since disappeared.He lowered his head and couldn't see his feet wading in the sea.Thumb-sized crabs climbed up and down holes in the white sand, perhaps looking for a suitable bed for a good night's sleep.I picked up a piece of creamy white shell with regular stripes and fell in love with it immediately.I almost never carry souvenirs, but I carefully stuffed this delicate little shell into my backpack and took it home all the way.
sea alone
200 meters away from the tented vacant house is a star-rated hotel, most of the tenants are from Europe, where they spend their holidays comfortably.The cheapest room in the hotel costs $240 a night (about RMB 1500).I'm not envious of hotel guests, nor proud of my free tent.Qiongyou is not a competition to compare who spends less, nor is it a capital to show off, but an inner gesture.Living in a tent has the fun of living in a tent, and staying in a big hotel has excellent quality. According to your own budget, choose a suitable method to ensure the quality of travel and save unnecessary expenses. This is the poor travel I appreciate.If I have the financial ability to stay in a big hotel, I will gladly accept it; if not, I will enjoy pitching a tent and laying a bed on the floor.You can be extravagant or frugal, you can go up or down, and the blue sea and blue sky that I and the hotel guests enjoy are the same, this is enough.
The empty house is facing a small fishing village, with tall coconut trees and short earthen houses. Several Guangdong uncles staying in big hotels looked left and right in the small fishing village and slapped their thighs: Hey, isn’t this what Guangdong looked like decades ago? Well.A French uncle was sitting on a small bench at the entrance of the village, drinking milk tea, wearing a worn-out T-shirt, with disheveled hair and an air of wanderlust.The French uncle saw at a glance that I was also a fellow traveler - backpackers on long-distance travel have characteristics that can be quickly identified with each other.The uncle seemed to have caught the "people on the road", and began to talk about his travel history: I have traveled for many years, visited more than 50 countries, and stayed in China for a long time!A few days later, on the main road in Dashi, I met my French uncle again by accident. The uncle danced happily. Suddenly, he looked serious and mysterious, and said to me seriously: You know how to save money. Is there a way to travel? Let me tell you, there is a way called hitchhiking... I politely told my uncle that I have used this method and I know it.The uncle pondered for a while, then became excited again in a blink of an eye: There is another method that you must not know, it is called a sofa sleeper...
HAKUNAMATATA, I always heard people say this group of sounds when I was in Sang Island.Isn't this the mantra of Timon and Pumbaa in the movie "The Lion King"!The locals told me that this sentence means No Problem in the local language. "You white people..." The local black people always count me, an East Asian girl, among the white people.I explained that I am Asian and yellow, and the other party laughed as if hearing a fresh joke: Yellow?What is a yellow race?Here, in the eyes of many people, there are only two kinds of people, black and white, either black or white, and everyone in the world is white except for blacks.But the difference between blacks is very clearly distinguished by them, black blacks, white blacks, coffee blacks, and so on.
In the island of Zanzibar, where electricity is tight, power outages are commonplace. If there is no power outage for several days, it must be a miracle.On a night without electricity, I was surprised to find that the moonlight was so bright, like a street lamp shining above my head.In the small restaurant, there was only a dim oil lamp trying to illuminate the light, but the surroundings were still dark, and the room where the moonlight could not penetrate was only pitch black.In the darkness, I heard the rustling conversations of the surrounding guests.I couldn't see the faces of these black guests clearly, only occasionally saw their white teeth and the light reflected from their teeth.
The sound of waves in the morning floats into the empty house by the sea, and the cold sea breeze is impersonal.Wrapped in the big fiery red cloak I brought from India, I lifted up my trouser legs and walked along the seashore, ignoring my blown hair.The milky white water near the beach is like a big basin of ice milk, gloating to stimulate the feet.The soles of the feet step on the soft white sand and mud, which sinks from time to time.The place where the sun was supposed to rise was covered by large clouds. I probably couldn't see the sunrise over the sea.
After 20 minutes, the clouds slowly drifted to the side, and the sun emerged with a sharp angle.In the next few minutes, the cloud group completely moved aside, giving the sun the entire stage.The red sun jumped out from the horizon and slowly climbed into the sky.The first ray of sunlight shines on my face and in the empty house by the sea behind me.
In the morning, looking out from the empty house, the water and the sky meet into one color.Sailboats occasionally pass by the sea, and on the empty white sand beach, there are occasional white tourists walking by, white children playing and playing on the sand, they come and go far away, silently.The blue sea and blue sky in front of me seemed to belong to me alone.
The good times are always so short. At noon, the kind people in the fishing village took me to the station. Under the scorching sun, the black uncle walked barefoot, and the soles of his feet easily touched the hot stone road by the sun.I took off my Crocs and wanted to try them too.As soon as my feet touched the ground, the stone road was so hot that I jumped like a shrimp and couldn't stand on my feet.The funny appearance made the uncle laugh so hard that he couldn't straighten up.
I remember that when I came to Sang Island by boat from Dashi, I slept soundly, and when I woke up, I just got off the boat.Not so lucky on the return trip.On the passenger ship back to Dashi, within 30 minutes of sailing, I started to spin around, and the balance device in my cerebellum had already stopped working.The wind and waves were strong, the hull was bumpy, and it swayed from side to side, which made me vomit no less than ten times. The kind-hearted boat passengers around sent their own vomiting bags to the poor girl who was about to collapse.The stomach has already been cleaned up, and I can't stop vomiting stomach acid.During the two-hour voyage, when I was already staring at the stars and didn’t know the east, west, north, and south, the ship finally landed, and all the passengers on the ship disembarked one after another. I was the only one left in the empty seat, still dizzy and unable to stand up.I curled up weakly on the seat and touched my cold forehead with my hands. After 15 minutes of slowing down, I staggered up and stood up. I disembark.
I never want to be on a boat again, really.
Chinese companies staying overseas
What kind of place is Dar es Salaam if you ask me.I would say, blue sky, white sky, complex smells, layers of hustle and bustle.But these words seem to apply to all the metropolises in sub-Saharan Africa.Well, then, there are laundry soaps that look like blue and white porcelain patterns, popular green toilet paper, you can always find a picture of Bruce Lee hanging on the side of the stalls selling hanging statues on the street, and "crosstalk" artists in the park are playing Talking about performing arts on the street, and robbers who may appear at any time.
A Land Rover stopped in front of me, and a young Chinese poked his head out of the car window, asked my company, and planned to take me to my destination along the way.It turned out that he was worried that I would be robbed while wandering on the road.Knowing that I was an unemployed backpacker, the young man repeatedly told me to be careful walking alone on the street.This is not random speculation. In fact, in Tanzania, and even throughout sub-Saharan Africa, the Chinese are a group with a very high rate of being robbed.If you ask the Chinese bosses who set up shop in Africa, everyone will list a long list of tragic experiences of being ransacked by black people, all of which are vivid and bitter tears.
Most of the Chinese living in Africa are expatriate employees or businessmen of large enterprises, with high incomes that the locals cannot match.The huge gap between the rich and the poor, the low wages that are seriously out of touch with the prices, the headaches of public security, and the proliferation of guns in some areas have given some seemingly western-style African metropolises a bad name, such as Nairobi in Kenya and Johannesburg in South Africa. Like Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.Just half a month ago, Yadong, a Chinese backpacker I met in India, was robbed on the street in Dacheng City, and all his belongings were lost. The robbers drove to grab the bag and Yadong fell to the ground and was pulled by a car for a short distance. As a result, the arm was bloody and bloody. Fortunately, it was only a skin trauma, and his life was not affected.In the Chinese company where I stayed, the old employees more or less had the experience of being robbed, so they would never go out alone. They must drive when they leave the company gate. Window raid.An employee was snatched from the outside of his car with his mobile phone in use in the driver's seat because he forgot to close the windows.
I travel frequently to and from the embassy, and I have to get used to going out and wandering alone.To be on the safe side, I took only a small amount of change and went to the streets almost empty-handed.Those who are barefoot are not afraid of those who wear shoes, and those who have nothing are full of courage.I watched all directions with my eyes, listened to all directions, and cautiously walked on the street.Probably because of my poor and empty-handed appearance, the robbers ignored my existence, and they really didn't come to me.
In the hotel YWCA in the center of Dar es Salaam, I, Yadong, Ms. Fu and Ms. Lucy got together.We are all backpackers from mainland China, and we all go on a long-distance trip alone. There are not many mainland backpackers who go to Africa. It is really not easy to get together in sub-Saharan Africa.Most of the wound on Yadong's arm has healed, and he still has lingering fears when he recalled the moment when he was robbed.Looking at the posture of three women and one man, the yin is flourishing and the yang is declining, I joked, where are the male compatriots in our country, and when can they show their faces.
This situation is not accidental. Among the long-distance travelers from mainland China I met abroad, there are far more women than men, and most of the women travel alone.Maybe it’s because men are given heavier social responsibilities and it’s harder to get out; maybe it’s because women are more likely to encounter bottlenecks and setbacks in the workplace; maybe it’s because women are more emotional and impulsive than men… The reason is unknown.All I know is that the era of backpackers in China has arrived, and more and more people will come out with backpacks to see the world. The stages experienced by European and American countries in the 60s and 80s and Japan in the 10s will finally be China's turn. overwhelming.Now is just the beginning. Ten years later, on the land of Africa, you may meet backpackers from the mainland everywhere, and gatherings of four is no longer a rare occurrence. After 20 years, it may become difficult to find a place where you can't meet backpackers from the mainland.
A day later, the four backpackers parted ways, one went to Kenya, two to Zambia, and I to Malawi.
Among the most commonly used means of transportation for long-distance travel, I like the train the most. It is economical, smooth and comfortable, with toilets and water taps ready to use... The train is always my first choice.The train from Dashi to Zambia and Malawi has a special meaning, which gave me a sense of mission that I must take it.Tanzania-Zambia Railway is a well-known name for parents and grandparents.It is one of China's largest complete sets of foreign aid projects so far. It was built with aid in the 70s and once caused a sensation in Africa.There is an eye-catching publicity picture hanging in the waiting hall, with Chinese characters written in the center: Tanzania-Zambia Railway - A Monument of China-Africa Friendship.Traces of China can still be found in the carriages, such as the Chinese characters marked on the bathroom door, such as the sleeper compartments are divided into men and women, each room has six bunks, divided into upper, middle and lower, and the middle bunk hangs itself.
I followed the number to the sleeper room where I was, and as soon as I walked in, I couldn't help but let out a cry: The young and beautiful black girl has already stripped down to her panties and is lying on the middle bunk, as comfortable as in her own bedroom, she doesn't care at all Open doors and men walking up and down the aisles.Embarrassed, I pulled the berth door shut.At this time, I also met a few black women who didn't mind showing their breasts. Thinking about it, breasts are part of the body, beautiful and natural, so why cover them up.It is understandable rationally, but emotionally, I am still shy.
When I was a teenager, influenced by Hollywood movies, I always thought that white women had a good figure, and they had the sexiness that East Asian women could only hope for.It was not until I arrived in Africa that I realized that black women's bodies are several blocks away from white men's, which is enough to make people spit out a pot of nosebleeds.The degree of curvature of the S-shaped curve can no longer be described as "convex and warped", but should be called "the former wife is too convex, the rear wife is too warped".People often joke that, oh my god, they can put a beer bottle on their ass!Due to the high degree of breast enlargement and buttocks, women often cannot keep their bodies vertical when walking, and their upper body is forced to lean forward.I guess it must be extremely inconvenient for them to exercise, and they can only show their advantages when they carry a small doll on their backs-the slope is just right, and there is a place to step on their feet.In comparison, white women lose their aura suddenly; and East Asian women, oh, are nothing but bamboo poles.
This railway has been built for more than forty years.Due to disrepair for a long time, the Tanzania-Zambia Railway now has an antique smell from the rails to the locomotive. When the car starts, there is a loud bang, bang, bang, and loud noise, which almost makes me turn on the escape mode and is ready to jump out of the window and jump out of the train at any time.Before I came back to my senses, the train had already started moving in the form of a carriage.Yes, carriages.The car body bumps up and down, shakes from side to side, quite rhythmically, close your eyes, this is a carriage at all.I have never been on a train that runs on the rails like a horse-drawn carriage. I will not be surprised if it rushes off the track in the next second.Every time I stop and start, there will be a violent vibration, accompanied by a loud noise, the child next to me was frightened and cried by this horrific scene, and kept making noises.Seeing the calm faces of the passengers around me, I had no choice but to hold back my surprised expression.Because the Tanzanian government has no money for maintenance, the Tazara Railway is on the verge of bankruptcy, and I don't know how many years it can last.Maybe it won't be long before you can see this rusty locomotive in a Tanzanian museum.
Suddenly, there was a commotion in the carriage, and the passengers gathered around the windows to look out.The train is passing through a national wildlife park. Giraffes walking slowly in twos and threes, zebras flicking their tails, buffaloes pacing and humming, and antelopes and deer bouncing up and down, causing shocks in the carriage. call.People are all gathered around the car window, and there are always sharp-eyed people who are the first to spot the animals hiding in the grass, and try to point with their fingers. right there!The expression of surprise and excitement is the same as that of foreigners who have never set foot on the East African savannah.The tourism industry in East African countries is mostly famous for their wildlife parks, and expensive safari jeep adventure projects are beyond the reach of most locals.For them, those are "Foreigners Only".
If I were to make a list of cities that are unforgettable in my travels, Mbeya would definitely be on the list.Not because of the cool climate here - although that is also true, the reason that sticks to my mind most is that I have once again fallen into the hands of cheaters in Mbeya.
Large cities at land ports often have long-distance transit buses that go directly to cities in neighboring countries. I didn't believe in transit buses at first, and I always felt unreliable.By chance in Rwanda, I took a ride from Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, to Bujumbura, the capital of Burundi.It was this cross-border bus trip that satisfied me that made me take the suspicious conductors in Mbeya lightly, and paid a fare equivalent to RMB 120 for this so-called direct transit bus to the central city of Malawi.This decent-looking car company, with a decent conductor in the business department, gave me a decent bus ticket and promised that it would be the most convenient to take their minibus to the port and change buses after crossing the border.Naively, I just believed this group of people and ignored the most suspicious part: the transit bus is supposed to take the bus from the start point to the end point. If I change buses after crossing the border, if I can’t find the driver, where should I go to reason?
After stamping at the port, leaving the country, stamping, and entering the country, what is waiting for me—as you probably guessed, there is nothing on the opposite side of the port. The so-called bus is just a blank check.I knew that I had been cheated, but I was still reluctant to ask the port staff in the last hope. The staff shook his head: there is no bus here, and the nearest bus can only be taken at the bus station an hour away.When I took out the ticket written in incomprehensible characters, the staff’s answer put an end to all good illusions: this is just a ticket from Mbeya to the port.
I paid nearly 2 dollars for this short-term bus ticket which was less than 20 dollars, but at this time I was already standing within the boundaries of Malawi, how could I go back to Tanzania to get my money back.Going back means paying the Tanzania visa fee on arrival again, and my Malawi single-entry visa is invalidated.Those guys have figured out the characteristics that foreign backpackers will never return after crossing the border, and they lied to you without discussion.
Whether you like it or not, backpacking is a process that is often forced to pay for lessons.Have to deal with scammers and scams that are everywhere.If you don't enter the world first, how can you be born? If you want to have a sharp eye, you must first practice it.On the road, kind people and bad guys appear in turn.As long as you are not too confused, you will not be deceived by big scams, but it is inevitable to be cheated a few times.Right, the world taught itself a lesson.
(End of this chapter)
If you want to see the sea in Africa, it must be here.Blue sea, fine sand, soft fish, warm sunshine, and countless coconuts, come on, you can play wild here.
a brand new site
Blue sky, white clouds, this may be the standard configuration for travelers in Africa.When the disappointing weather with gloomy faces on that sunny day in Nanjing was about to fade from my mind, Tian lowered his face and gave me a big blow.Friends, this is Tanzania, a brand new land.Those barren grasslands split by the years, thousands of miles of dust and sand flying by the wind, roared past with the sound of hoofs shaking the sky.The flag of Burundi watched me go, and the sky became so gray that it seemed to add a little melancholy to my mood.After all, I drifted away, stepped into a new land, and never looked back.
What are you waiting for, traveler.
There's something new about Kigoma's sure-footed highways.This avenue to the east is full of light and temptation, but unfortunately, the finished product is far shorter than I imagined.The newly built road stopped abruptly, and the bus drove into the merciless desert.For the next 30 hours, I was with the dust, I danced with the dust, I slept with the dust.Compared with the road of blood and tears that was buried alive in dust in Kenya, this is nothing but a trivial matter.The car crossed the mainland of Tanzania in a straight line from west to east, and arrived at the end point when I was so sleepy that I couldn't open my eyes - Dar es Salaam, a metropolis in the east.I brushed off the dust from my body, pulled my vague consciousness back from the edge of my subconscious, and got out of the car with a vigorous look.Among the hustle and bustle, I tried to find a sense of existence in the turbulent crowd.
Dar es Salaam, this somewhat convoluted name, I like to call her Dashi.It was originally a small fishing village named "Mzizima", which means "cool place".The name is embarrassing, and Dashi clearly can't find a few days of coolness all year round.Fortunately, there are people beyond people, and there is sky beyond the sky. Compared with Khartoum in North Sudan, Dashi, which is around 30 degrees throughout the year, is really a blessed place with cooler temperatures.Perhaps, the ancestors came up with such a name for Dashi after being roasted in the Sahara stove.
This is the largest, most developed and most prosperous city in Tanzania.You may think that this is the capital of Tanzania. In fact, almost everyone except Tanzanians thinks that Dashi is the capital.Yes, it used to be the capital of a country enjoying glory. Due to its proximity to the open sea, it was easy to attack and difficult to defend. The government moved the capital to the inland city of Dodoma, taking away the title of the capital of Dashi, allowing her to develop into an economic and cultural center with peace of mind.But there are still many government agencies and embassies here. The western-style high-rise buildings remind you of the city's status in the metropolis, and a simple meal in a local restaurant costs 5 dollars.I swallowed my saliva, thinking of those small restaurants in my hometown where I could eat for more than a dozen yuan, and the street food smelled fragrant all the way.It's a pity that here, it's just a beautiful and distant bubble.In Dashi, everything is not cheap.
By chance, I found a perfect place to stay, the staff dormitory of a Chinese company.I ate the long-lost Chinese food in the cafeteria with my compatriots, rewarded my tongue and stomach, and eased their homesickness.The staple food in Tanzania is ugali, an unpalatable white cornmeal batter cooked slowly, and rice, which is always undercooked.I have been blessed in several lifetimes to enjoy sumptuous Chinese food here.If you don’t understand what patriotism is, please go to a place far away from China where you can’t eat Chinese food for a few months, your taste buds and stomach will tell you soon.Believe me, sometimes the tongue and the stomach are more powerful than the brain.
I was full of food and drink, and the shopping mode was turned on. My curiosity swelled rapidly. I saw the world in front of me from the perspective of a child. Everything was fresh and strange.Why is the canned Sprite in the supermarket 50% more expensive than the plastic bottle? Obviously the latter has more weight. Doesn’t it produce canned Sprite here?The mango vendor on the street is skillfully cutting mangoes. Before I could say "NO SALT" (no salt), he had already sprinkled a handful of salt on the mango flesh. Why does this place have exactly the same habit as in India?
Dashi people don't waste their good rest days on these whys. CoCo beach is full of people who are on vacation.Swimming, surfing, sailing, paragliding, sand rowing, sunbathing... enjoying the blue sea is the most serious thing.There are many Indians and Pakistanis on the beach, and it has almost become a tradition to look at their hometown here.Their ancestors traveled across the ocean from the mysterious South Asian subcontinent to the west coast of the Indian Ocean 200 years ago, and their hometown is at the other end of the vast sea.
I also stood on tiptoe and tried my best to look towards the east of the sea, hoping to see some wonderful thoughts.Only, there is nothing but the distant blurred horizon.
Tickets and Rich Row
I haven't forgotten the more important thing, shopping for visas.
As soon as the weekend was over, I started the heroic mode of handing over papers, giving birth to the speed of sprinting [-] meters, the posture of going forward bravely, and the spirit of persevering and getting braver after setbacks. Against the scorching summer, I ran back and forth in the embassy area, aggressive and red-eyed. Enter one embassy after another, and sign Malawi, Zambia, and South Africa in one go.Zimbabwe is the strangest one. The process of handing over the visa is inexplicably twists and turns, and there is always a situation at the door, which makes me exhausted after tossing back and forth.I was beating a drum in my heart: Could it be that some force suggested that I should not go to Zimbabwe?Although I muttered, it is not my style to get cold feet.Try to do the part that you can control. As for the result, leave it to God to decide.A week later, the Zimbabwean embassy mercilessly rejected the visa application that had been handed in after all the hard work. It became the only time in my travels in the past two years that I did not get a visa.The embassy staff shrugged at me, skillfully making complex expressions of understanding, sympathy and helplessness.No reason, no explanation, no refund of the visa fee - this is the usual practice of embassies in various countries.On the same day, I got a South African visa, and a difficult visa was captured by me.It seems that my fate with Zimbabwe has not arrived, but only with South Africa.Since God has made such an arrangement, please accept it.
Why do you want to go to Zimbabwe, maybe you just want to see the life of the people under the most serious inflation in the world, even though the Zimbabwe dollar with countless zeros printed on it has been discontinued, and it is temporarily replaced by the US dollar, "billionaire" It can't be done anyway.I heard that it is a country with better infrastructure in southern Africa and the country with the highest literacy rate in Africa.On the chat software, my father joked, you, you are about to become an expedition team member.
It has been a long way from "beautiful scenery lover" to "expedition team member".For quite a long time, my eyes were attracted by mountains and rivers, which were things I had never seen in the city for more than 20 years. They were my inner longing, and my yearning for the original ecology.Living in the city for too long, it seems that everything is man-made, the world will always be full of high-rise buildings and traffic, and the one-acre land at the door.Suddenly felt the power of nature, was deeply attracted, irresistible, like a brand new world opened to me, how could I resist this temptation.But no matter how beautiful the scenery is, there are times when you can see it all. Just like eating too much fish and meat, you will get rich and rich.The thrill of seeing the desert for the first time and the excitement of seeing the sea for the first time can never be recreated.Those silly mistakes and unreliable conclusions I made when I first left the country have become warm jokes that I can't bear to erase in my memory.
I am more and more fond of talking with the locals in the car, looking for interesting and delicious food on the street, watching unique religious ceremonies and festivals in various places, and seeing with my own eyes in different corners of the world, How people live, how they think.I began to dare to shake the deep-rooted concepts.A seemingly solid barrier was gradually disintegrated, collapsed, rebuilt, and reborn.
I do not know when, the scenery is not the only focus of travel.I want to go to a place, maybe not because of a famous mountain or a famous lake, but because of some strange reasons.Because it is developed, because it is backward, because it is developing rapidly, because it is developing slowly, because the political situation is turbulent, because the country is prosperous and the people are safe...all the details of sesame mung bean can be a reason to go or not to go.However, choices are always two-way. If you want to go, you may not be able to go, but you may not necessarily want to go.Visas often decide the itinerary quietly behind the curtain.
There are not a few friends who can't tell the difference between a passport and a visa.Described in the most easy-to-understand way, it means that a passport is a small book that proves identity, a place where visas and entry and exit stamps are affixed; The special situation of not being able to get the door. Please believe that in most cases, the ticket is reliable).Most visas are a piece of paper or a stamp, and there are also electronic visas issued through the Internet.
What is the most important information for long-distance travel abroad with a mainland Chinese passport, cheap accommodation and transportation?Attraction Raiders?Not at all.The most important thing is visa information, none of them.If you can’t get a visa, no matter how detailed the information on food, clothing, housing, transportation, eating, drinking and entertainment is, it’s useless, because “there’s no door.”Most long-distance backpackers go all the way to sign. They sign in country A to country B, country B signs to country C, and the third country delivers the visa. The specific locations are the embassy of country B in country A and the embassy of country C in country B.Relying on the word of mouth among backpackers, relying on the information transmission in the small circle of backpackers on the Internet, we can obtain the most timely and effective visa information.The predecessors planted trees, and the descendants enjoyed the shade.Most of the time, I have to do coolies on my own two legs, and go to the embassies of various countries to inquire about visas tirelessly. Actual combat is more reliable than all gossip.
If you ask me why I don't list the detailed methods of obtaining each visa in detail in the book, it is because the third country's visa application information is changing rapidly.Last month, you can sign out of country B in country A without any effort. From next month, you have to pay a large deposit or provide proof of assets to sign in; three months ago, country C implemented visa on arrival for mainland Chinese passports, and three months later The visa on arrival is cancelled; half a year ago, it was as easy to go to a neighboring country from Dingguo as to go to a park at the door of the house. Significant visa refusals may be due to temporary factors, such as large-scale international conferences, civil strife or strikes, sudden changes in diplomatic relations with China, religious reasons, festivals, long holidays... All unimaginable reasons may become the reason for not getting a visa, even in There are a large number of Chinese backpackers ahead of you who have succeeded, but outdated visa information not only loses value, it is even suspected of being misleading.Only the visa information that has just been released is the most useful and most valuable to share.Along the way, the method of obtaining each visa was recorded in my Weibo and blog in time.For third-country visa delivery, the latest news on the Internet is often much more effective than physical books.
Since the signing of a third country is an elusive and highly variable matter, why not sign everything in the country before going out.There are two reasons. First, the tourist visa has a short time limit, usually one to three months, and becomes invalid after expiration.Short-distance travel can be signed and then set off, while long-distance travel often takes one or two years. If you take it out in China, the visa will have expired more than ten times before it is used, and it will become a piece of waste paper.Furthermore, there are too many variables in long-distance travel.On the road, you can fully understand the meaning of "plans are clouds".I thought A→B→C, but in fact D→E→F, maybe because of the temporary closure of the ports of the two countries, maybe because of the refusal of the visa and had to find another route, maybe because of a sudden cheap air ticket, maybe because of a group of chattering people There are countless examples of backpackers telling you that a certain country is amazing and you changing your mind overnight.Of course, there are no absolutes. Some petty countries do not allow people to submit visas in third countries, and they can only do it domestically.This is off topic.
Going to and from the embassy to apply for a visa is hard work, which not only consumes time and energy, delays the travel progress, but also increases the cost of board and lodging in disguise.But from another angle, there is joy in bitterness.Embassies are often concentrated in administrative areas. If it is not for visa applications, backpackers will not take the initiative to go to areas that have no access to tourist resources. On the way to find embassies, those interesting experiences of groping and stumbling will no longer exist.Many windfalls came precisely from the way to find the embassy.Traveling to the embassy allows travelers to quickly find out the general plan of the city, familiarize themselves with public transportation, know important transit stations, and walk through the living areas that are completely different from tourist areas or scenic spots. There are the most authentic residential areas and the most simple The most authentic small restaurant, the most authentic local people, thinking about it this way, this hard work has a little more sweetness.
I flipped through the half-used passport in my hand. It was hard to imagine that it was a brand new blank passport when I left home, and now it has been stamped with a lot of stamps.Looking back on the journey, I only thought about Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, and Tibet at that time. Only when I arrived in Tibet did I dare to think about Nepal, when I arrived in Nepal, I dared to think about India, when I arrived in India, I dared not think about the Middle East, and when I arrived in the Middle East, I dared not think about Africa. Little by little, I went from home to the distant African continent.No matter how powerful I am, I can't accurately plan this long trip by looking at the world map on the wall before departure.Fortunately, this notoriously difficult-to-use passport is not as ineffective as I imagined. There are not only Europe, America, Canada, Australia, and Japan in the world. There are also large areas of the same wonderful, beautiful, and thick land that are also worth traveling. There are many visas there. countries with loose policies.Why ignore them?
The uncle in charge of the visa at the Malawi embassy was processing the visa and chatted with me, "Oh, I think back then..." The uncle talked endlessly about his love history, his daughter's young first love, and his confession Ms. later marital experience.Suddenly there was a turning point, "This is life," said the uncle with a long sigh, as a concluding remark.I also sighed, hey, uncle, can you cover the seal for me first, I have been waiting for a long, long period of youth!
The visas for the three countries were implemented, and I strode towards the nearest crowded India-Pakistan Street.The Indian-Pakist Street is very familiar to me. Before I came to Africa, I traveled in India for 2 months. During those 2 months, I walked around the Indian-Pakistani street filled with curry fragrance almost every day. Street, those amazing days are still a precious chapter in my memory.India exists like a durian.Backpackers love her if they like it, and they hate it when they hate it. It is difficult to hear a neutral evaluation.However, a short stay in India is almost certain to leave a plethora of negative impressions.In some places, staying for three days is hell, staying for 30 days can make a slight difference, and staying for [-] days makes me reluctant to leave. India is like this for me.The Indian-Pakistani Street in front of me, the familiar Indian-style snacks, and the familiar faces of Indian-Pakistani people aroused my little thoughts.
When I continued to expand the roaming range, I found more interesting things.First of all, the largest number of people in the casino are not Indians, nor blacks, but genuine Chinese.In any casino, at least 4% of the gamblers are Chinese, and they seem to want to occupy the entire street.The higher the level of the casino, the more Chinese compatriots, and some casinos simply set the TV station as CCTV [-].Secondly, Chinese restaurants are high-end consumption places in the local area. Most of the diners are Chinese, white and Indian-Pakistani. These people control the main social wealth in Tanzania.They maintain the order of the entire street and control the consumption circle of the rich. The local Tanzanian blacks can only watch and worry...
The delicate frangipani falls from the three-story tree to the feet, the white is golden, and it is very moving. I took a deep breath, no matter it is the rich street or the Chinese street, I just want to enjoy this wild time.
Set up a tent by the sea to spend the night
If the mainland of Tanganyika is wild and passionate, then Zanzibar is gentle and romantic, she is as crystal clear as tears, fluttering like leaves, small family jasper, tender like water, wearing plain clothes With a smile on his mouth, he greets guests from afar, and he doesn't know how to hide his feelings at all.
The country name of Tanzania, "Tan" refers to Tanganyika, "Sang" refers to Zanzibar Island, I like to call her Sang Island.Sang Island used to be an independent country, and later merged with the Tanganyika mainland to form Tanzania, which still enjoys a high degree of autonomy.The small island has its own government, parliament, elected president and national football team.Such a situation is not unfamiliar to the Chinese.
Sang Island is also a transit point for trade between Africa, the Arab world, and India, where Islamic culture and Indian-Pakistani culture blend and collide with traditional African black culture.In the streets and alleys of Stone City, there are both Middle Eastern patios and corridors, as well as Indian-Pakistan-style carved doors and windows.Unlike mainland Tanganyika, the island's inhabitants are almost exclusively Muslim.The women wore headscarves and black robes, authentic Arabic colors.
With the aura of "World Heritage", tourists don't want to miss the maze-like narrow alleys in Stone Town, and walk around without knowing it, which is not the case when they are in Barkhor Street in Lhasa. confused.The gymnasium on the island is named after Mao Zedong, which originated from China's substantial aid to Tanzania in the 70s and 10s.The ubiquitous spices in the market make you suddenly remember that there is also a name of "Spice Islands".Vendors always like to pile things into piles, bread, fruit, vegetables, priced by pile, and the size is evenly distributed, either one large potato with three small potatoes, or two medium potatoes with two small potatoes, Seems to have avoided many business disputes.There are hills of seafood that are eye-opening, even shark meat.The big live crabs are amazingly cheap, equivalent to RMB [-] per catty.People go to the vegetable market early to pick the biggest crabs.I was late and only bought "small" crabs, less than half the size of big crabs, but one can take up more than half of the plate. Even so, domestic hairy crabs can only be called Wu Dalang if they are placed here.This pot of "small" crabs hooked out all my greedy worms, except for the crab shells that were not cleaned.
You can always see many large species in Africa, not only crabs, but also pineapples and bananas.Compared with the common ones in China, it is enough for one to top two, or even one to top three.Huge bananas are mashed by locals to make staple food, otherwise sorry for its big size.Pineapple still sticks to its role as a fruit, and it is unexpectedly sweet to pick any one, without a bit of bitterness, and does not need to be soaked in salt water.The spot-like dots on the pineapple are very shallow, and the hard outer skin can be directly peeled off to get smooth and tender pineapple meat. It does not need to cut deep spirals obliquely like in China, which saves time and effort and is delicious, and the price is also low.With all the benefits, I can't wait to eat the pineapple from Sang Island.
On the beach, there are children frolicking, young people playing acrobatics, doing somersaults, rollovers, handstands, backflips, backflips... all bouncing around, full of energy, somersaulting, stacking arhats.As night falls, it's time to go to the beach plaza full of food stalls to find delicious food.Order a kebab, another kebab, Arabic sandwich with strong Indian style, how can I describe the beauty at this time!
The Maasai in twos and threes walk by the sea. They are the most famous nomadic people in East Africa. They live in groups and still practice tribal chiefs and polygamy.The Maasai are easily recognizable, always wearing traditional national costumes, dark red striped robes.Men wear their hair in small braids, while women tend to be bald.From a distance, the Maasai people look like characters who came out of the game, full of primitive wild power.
I put my tent on my back and found a dilapidated, abandoned house on the beach in the northeast corner of Sang Island. There were only concrete skeletons left, no windows, and no doors. I pitched the tent on the second floor where there was no shelter from the wind, and there was an unobstructed blue sea in front of my eyes. And the white sandy beach, the view is so good that it makes people scream.I am obsessed with that pure blue-green color, which is too clear, too vivid, crystal clear, like a painting.This color seems to be a living body, real and delicate, and the extremely high-resolution color is simply bullying my retina.In my memory, I have seen the sea in seven countries, including the beaches of mainland Tanzania. Although each has its own characteristics, in terms of its blue, bright, and pure colors, none of them can beat the glowing sea in front of me. Pale emerald sea.Some people say that Zanzibar is an extremely beautiful island that does not lose to the Maldives, I believe it.
When the tide is low, the sea water is far away. At this time, a large piece of green algae has the opportunity to show its face, and it surfaced mischievously. The blue sea, green algae, and white sand are intertwined in sight.Step on it carefully, the seaweed is not slippery, and if you are not careful, it will throw you on your back.The nearby sea water and white sand are wrapped together, showing a milky milky color, with white flowers, and the transparency has long since disappeared.He lowered his head and couldn't see his feet wading in the sea.Thumb-sized crabs climbed up and down holes in the white sand, perhaps looking for a suitable bed for a good night's sleep.I picked up a piece of creamy white shell with regular stripes and fell in love with it immediately.I almost never carry souvenirs, but I carefully stuffed this delicate little shell into my backpack and took it home all the way.
sea alone
200 meters away from the tented vacant house is a star-rated hotel, most of the tenants are from Europe, where they spend their holidays comfortably.The cheapest room in the hotel costs $240 a night (about RMB 1500).I'm not envious of hotel guests, nor proud of my free tent.Qiongyou is not a competition to compare who spends less, nor is it a capital to show off, but an inner gesture.Living in a tent has the fun of living in a tent, and staying in a big hotel has excellent quality. According to your own budget, choose a suitable method to ensure the quality of travel and save unnecessary expenses. This is the poor travel I appreciate.If I have the financial ability to stay in a big hotel, I will gladly accept it; if not, I will enjoy pitching a tent and laying a bed on the floor.You can be extravagant or frugal, you can go up or down, and the blue sea and blue sky that I and the hotel guests enjoy are the same, this is enough.
The empty house is facing a small fishing village, with tall coconut trees and short earthen houses. Several Guangdong uncles staying in big hotels looked left and right in the small fishing village and slapped their thighs: Hey, isn’t this what Guangdong looked like decades ago? Well.A French uncle was sitting on a small bench at the entrance of the village, drinking milk tea, wearing a worn-out T-shirt, with disheveled hair and an air of wanderlust.The French uncle saw at a glance that I was also a fellow traveler - backpackers on long-distance travel have characteristics that can be quickly identified with each other.The uncle seemed to have caught the "people on the road", and began to talk about his travel history: I have traveled for many years, visited more than 50 countries, and stayed in China for a long time!A few days later, on the main road in Dashi, I met my French uncle again by accident. The uncle danced happily. Suddenly, he looked serious and mysterious, and said to me seriously: You know how to save money. Is there a way to travel? Let me tell you, there is a way called hitchhiking... I politely told my uncle that I have used this method and I know it.The uncle pondered for a while, then became excited again in a blink of an eye: There is another method that you must not know, it is called a sofa sleeper...
HAKUNAMATATA, I always heard people say this group of sounds when I was in Sang Island.Isn't this the mantra of Timon and Pumbaa in the movie "The Lion King"!The locals told me that this sentence means No Problem in the local language. "You white people..." The local black people always count me, an East Asian girl, among the white people.I explained that I am Asian and yellow, and the other party laughed as if hearing a fresh joke: Yellow?What is a yellow race?Here, in the eyes of many people, there are only two kinds of people, black and white, either black or white, and everyone in the world is white except for blacks.But the difference between blacks is very clearly distinguished by them, black blacks, white blacks, coffee blacks, and so on.
In the island of Zanzibar, where electricity is tight, power outages are commonplace. If there is no power outage for several days, it must be a miracle.On a night without electricity, I was surprised to find that the moonlight was so bright, like a street lamp shining above my head.In the small restaurant, there was only a dim oil lamp trying to illuminate the light, but the surroundings were still dark, and the room where the moonlight could not penetrate was only pitch black.In the darkness, I heard the rustling conversations of the surrounding guests.I couldn't see the faces of these black guests clearly, only occasionally saw their white teeth and the light reflected from their teeth.
The sound of waves in the morning floats into the empty house by the sea, and the cold sea breeze is impersonal.Wrapped in the big fiery red cloak I brought from India, I lifted up my trouser legs and walked along the seashore, ignoring my blown hair.The milky white water near the beach is like a big basin of ice milk, gloating to stimulate the feet.The soles of the feet step on the soft white sand and mud, which sinks from time to time.The place where the sun was supposed to rise was covered by large clouds. I probably couldn't see the sunrise over the sea.
After 20 minutes, the clouds slowly drifted to the side, and the sun emerged with a sharp angle.In the next few minutes, the cloud group completely moved aside, giving the sun the entire stage.The red sun jumped out from the horizon and slowly climbed into the sky.The first ray of sunlight shines on my face and in the empty house by the sea behind me.
In the morning, looking out from the empty house, the water and the sky meet into one color.Sailboats occasionally pass by the sea, and on the empty white sand beach, there are occasional white tourists walking by, white children playing and playing on the sand, they come and go far away, silently.The blue sea and blue sky in front of me seemed to belong to me alone.
The good times are always so short. At noon, the kind people in the fishing village took me to the station. Under the scorching sun, the black uncle walked barefoot, and the soles of his feet easily touched the hot stone road by the sun.I took off my Crocs and wanted to try them too.As soon as my feet touched the ground, the stone road was so hot that I jumped like a shrimp and couldn't stand on my feet.The funny appearance made the uncle laugh so hard that he couldn't straighten up.
I remember that when I came to Sang Island by boat from Dashi, I slept soundly, and when I woke up, I just got off the boat.Not so lucky on the return trip.On the passenger ship back to Dashi, within 30 minutes of sailing, I started to spin around, and the balance device in my cerebellum had already stopped working.The wind and waves were strong, the hull was bumpy, and it swayed from side to side, which made me vomit no less than ten times. The kind-hearted boat passengers around sent their own vomiting bags to the poor girl who was about to collapse.The stomach has already been cleaned up, and I can't stop vomiting stomach acid.During the two-hour voyage, when I was already staring at the stars and didn’t know the east, west, north, and south, the ship finally landed, and all the passengers on the ship disembarked one after another. I was the only one left in the empty seat, still dizzy and unable to stand up.I curled up weakly on the seat and touched my cold forehead with my hands. After 15 minutes of slowing down, I staggered up and stood up. I disembark.
I never want to be on a boat again, really.
Chinese companies staying overseas
What kind of place is Dar es Salaam if you ask me.I would say, blue sky, white sky, complex smells, layers of hustle and bustle.But these words seem to apply to all the metropolises in sub-Saharan Africa.Well, then, there are laundry soaps that look like blue and white porcelain patterns, popular green toilet paper, you can always find a picture of Bruce Lee hanging on the side of the stalls selling hanging statues on the street, and "crosstalk" artists in the park are playing Talking about performing arts on the street, and robbers who may appear at any time.
A Land Rover stopped in front of me, and a young Chinese poked his head out of the car window, asked my company, and planned to take me to my destination along the way.It turned out that he was worried that I would be robbed while wandering on the road.Knowing that I was an unemployed backpacker, the young man repeatedly told me to be careful walking alone on the street.This is not random speculation. In fact, in Tanzania, and even throughout sub-Saharan Africa, the Chinese are a group with a very high rate of being robbed.If you ask the Chinese bosses who set up shop in Africa, everyone will list a long list of tragic experiences of being ransacked by black people, all of which are vivid and bitter tears.
Most of the Chinese living in Africa are expatriate employees or businessmen of large enterprises, with high incomes that the locals cannot match.The huge gap between the rich and the poor, the low wages that are seriously out of touch with the prices, the headaches of public security, and the proliferation of guns in some areas have given some seemingly western-style African metropolises a bad name, such as Nairobi in Kenya and Johannesburg in South Africa. Like Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.Just half a month ago, Yadong, a Chinese backpacker I met in India, was robbed on the street in Dacheng City, and all his belongings were lost. The robbers drove to grab the bag and Yadong fell to the ground and was pulled by a car for a short distance. As a result, the arm was bloody and bloody. Fortunately, it was only a skin trauma, and his life was not affected.In the Chinese company where I stayed, the old employees more or less had the experience of being robbed, so they would never go out alone. They must drive when they leave the company gate. Window raid.An employee was snatched from the outside of his car with his mobile phone in use in the driver's seat because he forgot to close the windows.
I travel frequently to and from the embassy, and I have to get used to going out and wandering alone.To be on the safe side, I took only a small amount of change and went to the streets almost empty-handed.Those who are barefoot are not afraid of those who wear shoes, and those who have nothing are full of courage.I watched all directions with my eyes, listened to all directions, and cautiously walked on the street.Probably because of my poor and empty-handed appearance, the robbers ignored my existence, and they really didn't come to me.
In the hotel YWCA in the center of Dar es Salaam, I, Yadong, Ms. Fu and Ms. Lucy got together.We are all backpackers from mainland China, and we all go on a long-distance trip alone. There are not many mainland backpackers who go to Africa. It is really not easy to get together in sub-Saharan Africa.Most of the wound on Yadong's arm has healed, and he still has lingering fears when he recalled the moment when he was robbed.Looking at the posture of three women and one man, the yin is flourishing and the yang is declining, I joked, where are the male compatriots in our country, and when can they show their faces.
This situation is not accidental. Among the long-distance travelers from mainland China I met abroad, there are far more women than men, and most of the women travel alone.Maybe it’s because men are given heavier social responsibilities and it’s harder to get out; maybe it’s because women are more likely to encounter bottlenecks and setbacks in the workplace; maybe it’s because women are more emotional and impulsive than men… The reason is unknown.All I know is that the era of backpackers in China has arrived, and more and more people will come out with backpacks to see the world. The stages experienced by European and American countries in the 60s and 80s and Japan in the 10s will finally be China's turn. overwhelming.Now is just the beginning. Ten years later, on the land of Africa, you may meet backpackers from the mainland everywhere, and gatherings of four is no longer a rare occurrence. After 20 years, it may become difficult to find a place where you can't meet backpackers from the mainland.
A day later, the four backpackers parted ways, one went to Kenya, two to Zambia, and I to Malawi.
Among the most commonly used means of transportation for long-distance travel, I like the train the most. It is economical, smooth and comfortable, with toilets and water taps ready to use... The train is always my first choice.The train from Dashi to Zambia and Malawi has a special meaning, which gave me a sense of mission that I must take it.Tanzania-Zambia Railway is a well-known name for parents and grandparents.It is one of China's largest complete sets of foreign aid projects so far. It was built with aid in the 70s and once caused a sensation in Africa.There is an eye-catching publicity picture hanging in the waiting hall, with Chinese characters written in the center: Tanzania-Zambia Railway - A Monument of China-Africa Friendship.Traces of China can still be found in the carriages, such as the Chinese characters marked on the bathroom door, such as the sleeper compartments are divided into men and women, each room has six bunks, divided into upper, middle and lower, and the middle bunk hangs itself.
I followed the number to the sleeper room where I was, and as soon as I walked in, I couldn't help but let out a cry: The young and beautiful black girl has already stripped down to her panties and is lying on the middle bunk, as comfortable as in her own bedroom, she doesn't care at all Open doors and men walking up and down the aisles.Embarrassed, I pulled the berth door shut.At this time, I also met a few black women who didn't mind showing their breasts. Thinking about it, breasts are part of the body, beautiful and natural, so why cover them up.It is understandable rationally, but emotionally, I am still shy.
When I was a teenager, influenced by Hollywood movies, I always thought that white women had a good figure, and they had the sexiness that East Asian women could only hope for.It was not until I arrived in Africa that I realized that black women's bodies are several blocks away from white men's, which is enough to make people spit out a pot of nosebleeds.The degree of curvature of the S-shaped curve can no longer be described as "convex and warped", but should be called "the former wife is too convex, the rear wife is too warped".People often joke that, oh my god, they can put a beer bottle on their ass!Due to the high degree of breast enlargement and buttocks, women often cannot keep their bodies vertical when walking, and their upper body is forced to lean forward.I guess it must be extremely inconvenient for them to exercise, and they can only show their advantages when they carry a small doll on their backs-the slope is just right, and there is a place to step on their feet.In comparison, white women lose their aura suddenly; and East Asian women, oh, are nothing but bamboo poles.
This railway has been built for more than forty years.Due to disrepair for a long time, the Tanzania-Zambia Railway now has an antique smell from the rails to the locomotive. When the car starts, there is a loud bang, bang, bang, and loud noise, which almost makes me turn on the escape mode and is ready to jump out of the window and jump out of the train at any time.Before I came back to my senses, the train had already started moving in the form of a carriage.Yes, carriages.The car body bumps up and down, shakes from side to side, quite rhythmically, close your eyes, this is a carriage at all.I have never been on a train that runs on the rails like a horse-drawn carriage. I will not be surprised if it rushes off the track in the next second.Every time I stop and start, there will be a violent vibration, accompanied by a loud noise, the child next to me was frightened and cried by this horrific scene, and kept making noises.Seeing the calm faces of the passengers around me, I had no choice but to hold back my surprised expression.Because the Tanzanian government has no money for maintenance, the Tazara Railway is on the verge of bankruptcy, and I don't know how many years it can last.Maybe it won't be long before you can see this rusty locomotive in a Tanzanian museum.
Suddenly, there was a commotion in the carriage, and the passengers gathered around the windows to look out.The train is passing through a national wildlife park. Giraffes walking slowly in twos and threes, zebras flicking their tails, buffaloes pacing and humming, and antelopes and deer bouncing up and down, causing shocks in the carriage. call.People are all gathered around the car window, and there are always sharp-eyed people who are the first to spot the animals hiding in the grass, and try to point with their fingers. right there!The expression of surprise and excitement is the same as that of foreigners who have never set foot on the East African savannah.The tourism industry in East African countries is mostly famous for their wildlife parks, and expensive safari jeep adventure projects are beyond the reach of most locals.For them, those are "Foreigners Only".
If I were to make a list of cities that are unforgettable in my travels, Mbeya would definitely be on the list.Not because of the cool climate here - although that is also true, the reason that sticks to my mind most is that I have once again fallen into the hands of cheaters in Mbeya.
Large cities at land ports often have long-distance transit buses that go directly to cities in neighboring countries. I didn't believe in transit buses at first, and I always felt unreliable.By chance in Rwanda, I took a ride from Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, to Bujumbura, the capital of Burundi.It was this cross-border bus trip that satisfied me that made me take the suspicious conductors in Mbeya lightly, and paid a fare equivalent to RMB 120 for this so-called direct transit bus to the central city of Malawi.This decent-looking car company, with a decent conductor in the business department, gave me a decent bus ticket and promised that it would be the most convenient to take their minibus to the port and change buses after crossing the border.Naively, I just believed this group of people and ignored the most suspicious part: the transit bus is supposed to take the bus from the start point to the end point. If I change buses after crossing the border, if I can’t find the driver, where should I go to reason?
After stamping at the port, leaving the country, stamping, and entering the country, what is waiting for me—as you probably guessed, there is nothing on the opposite side of the port. The so-called bus is just a blank check.I knew that I had been cheated, but I was still reluctant to ask the port staff in the last hope. The staff shook his head: there is no bus here, and the nearest bus can only be taken at the bus station an hour away.When I took out the ticket written in incomprehensible characters, the staff’s answer put an end to all good illusions: this is just a ticket from Mbeya to the port.
I paid nearly 2 dollars for this short-term bus ticket which was less than 20 dollars, but at this time I was already standing within the boundaries of Malawi, how could I go back to Tanzania to get my money back.Going back means paying the Tanzania visa fee on arrival again, and my Malawi single-entry visa is invalidated.Those guys have figured out the characteristics that foreign backpackers will never return after crossing the border, and they lied to you without discussion.
Whether you like it or not, backpacking is a process that is often forced to pay for lessons.Have to deal with scammers and scams that are everywhere.If you don't enter the world first, how can you be born? If you want to have a sharp eye, you must first practice it.On the road, kind people and bad guys appear in turn.As long as you are not too confused, you will not be deceived by big scams, but it is inevitable to be cheated a few times.Right, the world taught itself a lesson.
(End of this chapter)
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