Please exile me to the most beautiful time

Chapter 3 Namibia: Everything is the Best Arrangement (2)
However, when I counted the days and dialed the number of the Botswana embassy in a small phone booth on the side of Swakopmund Street, I suddenly realized that this small town gave me more fetters than expected.The girl from the embassy gently reminded me on the phone that the Christmas and New Year holidays were approaching. "Under normal circumstances, the visa can be issued in a few days, but because of the Christmas and New Year holidays, you know, ma'am, everything has been postponed..."

I woke up right away, traveling in Christian countries and forgetting about Christmas was just horrible.That decisive visa will not be available until half a month later.What should I do?Since I've come, I'll be safe, I simply picked a cheap hotel by the sea, and settled down with peace of mind.

In this youth hostel with Chegwana’s head painted on the wall, the average daily accommodation fee is less than 4 US dollars. There is also a communal kitchen and refrigerator, so you can solve your own food problems.The surrounding small hotels full of white people are extremely expensive, at least tens of dollars. Black tenants gather in this cheap youth hostel. It seems that there is no better quality and cheaper hotel in the whole small town. up.

The legendary end of the world, Christmas and New Year come one after another. If the first day comes true, I won't have to celebrate the last two holidays.Sitting on the beach with my knees hugged, looking at the deep and turbulent Atlantic Ocean in front of me, I quietly waited for the night to come.On the west coast of Africa, facing the sea to welcome the "last day" of the world sounds very romantic.I remember when I was young, I went to the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge to play with a few friends. After playing, it got dark, and then I ran to light a bonfire, and lay on the beach around the bonfire to watch the stars.At that time, the stars were very bright, like bright gems. I looked at the dark sky and thought that it would be great if a gem fell down.Later, I fell asleep and dreamed that I was really waiting for the gems to fall, but I waited and waited, but it still didn’t come. Just when I was desperate, stacks of banknotes suddenly floated down from the sky, and then they were flying all over the sky. I quickly found a washbasin and stood below to pick it up.

Thinking of these things now, I feel like laughing. I have dreamed of dropping money from the sky at such a young age, which shows that I have the potential to become a "gold digger" since I was a child.But now I always rush to cheap hotels, hey, where have all the lofty ideals when I was young gone.

Fortunately, after so many years, the heart made of glass has been tempered hard enough.

staggering wealth gap

Christmas in a country that believes in Jesus can make a traveler look lonely.Who would hang out in a small town when the streets were empty and people were busy at home reuniting?Shops are closed without exception, even the busiest bars are locked, and the hustle and bustle of the past is gone.It wasn't until after the New Year that it gradually became lively.

To say it was lively would be an exaggeration.By Chinese standards, the place is deserted year-round.Namibia is sparsely populated and is the second least densely populated country in the world, after Mongolia.This country, which occupies a large piece of land in the southwestern part of Africa, only has more than 200 million people, which is less than one-tenth that of Shanghai. Therefore, there are almost no crowds of people on the streets.

There are no tall buildings in the city, and low buildings with one or two floors are spread out horizontally.In China, vertical development may be more common, because this is the last resort to deal with every inch of land, but in Namibia, where no one can be found within 5 miles, you can walk horizontally like a crab.

Namibia is also the cleanest country in Africa, also thanks to its sparse population.Of course, underpopulation also brings many problems.Leaving aside those sociological terminology, for a passer-by like me, the most direct inconvenience is public transportation.In addition, there are very few long-distance bus trips, and if you deviate from the core road slightly, you can only sit by the road and wait!

The means of transportation here are only minivans that are full and go.If you change to a bus, I am afraid that you will not be able to take half of the seats after waiting for a day.Interestingly, all long-distance vans have a small trailer at the rear, which is used to store passenger luggage.Passengers don't have to worry about getting their bags wet in the rain, because this is a desert area.

Although public transportation is not well developed, Namibia's infrastructure construction level is still far ahead in sub-Saharan Africa.It almost makes you forget that you are standing on the African continent.

In Swakopmund, a small, highly European city, there is an astonishing gap between the rich and the poor.

The few high-income people at the top of the pyramid have promoted Namibia to a middle-income country, but in this country, there are still many poor and hard-working ordinary people.Namibia's unemployment rate is as high as 51%.This means that one out of two people is unemployed.

"Do you want to go back to China?" "I will." "I really want to go to China with you." When I was in Namibia, local black people often said this to me.

A black girl is crazy about China, half-jokingly asked me to introduce a Chinese man to her husband.A black aunt pointed at me and said to her youngest daughter: "Is it okay to follow this sister to live in China?" I realized later that the word "China" is actually a hot topic here.

The achievements China has made in recent years have attracted the attention of the whole world, which makes it frequently appear on the international headlines of newspapers and periodicals in various countries.Because of this, I can always see China in the TV news of various countries, which makes people start to have beautiful fantasies about the far east, so it is not surprising that there are black communities in Guangzhou.

It is the most basic right of human beings to choose where we live with our feet. At this moment, I am also choosing my own future with my feet.When the girl from the Botswana embassy on the phone told me that the visa had been issued, I almost jumped up - I couldn't wait to leave Swakopmund.

Didn't you say that this place is very similar to Europe, beautiful and romantic?Didn't it mean that half of the sea and half of the desert here?Why is there such an urgency to want to leave?Yes, it is clean, tidy, and well-developed here, but in my opinion, it is precisely this quality that makes it lack something... messy, or angry.When the water is clear, there will be no fish. A place that is too orderly will make people feel boring, and a quiet and empty market will make people feel bad.Although the sea and the desert are beautiful, no matter how beautiful the natural scenery is, it cannot withstand the appreciation day after day.It’s good to see the beautiful scenery. In terms of life, I would rather live in a vibrant place like Cairo, Egypt or Kandy, Sri Lanka.So really, at this moment, it's time to say goodbye to Swakopmund.

last few tickets

There was an unexpected episode when entering Botswana.In the last few days before leaving a country, I always consciously or unconsciously count the cash in my hand and spend as much as possible of the local banknotes in my hand. After all, no one wants to leave with a large sum of money that cannot be used of cash.But exchanging currency has costs, and every time you exchange money, you will lose a certain percentage.Holding the last Namibian dollar in my hand, I made it to the Botswana border, spent the last few bills, and greeted the new currency with an empty wallet.

This time, I miscalculated.

The time for crossing the border is in the evening, and the money changers at the port are probably off work. The exchange point and the bank on the Botswana side have also closed. Standard Chartered Bank, which has been checked in advance and can use UnionPay cards to withdraw cash, is only available in big cities. Small cities cannot be found.At this time, I only had US dollars, Japanese yen and a little Namibian dollar that could not be exchanged for a while.The backpackers who were crossing the border together dug out the VISA card in the bag, but they couldn't find a working ATM.I want to take the night train to the capital Gaborone but have no cash to pay the fare, and I want to stay at the port but can’t pay for the accommodation and dinner. Seeing that the last night train is about to leave, what should I do?Watching the cars coming and going at the gas station, I was forced to come up with a trick in desperation - to help customers pay for gas with VISA cards, and ask customers to pay us in cash.I know, I really know, cashing out is a dishonorable thing, but in such an urgent situation, I can't take care of face anymore, just die.I really don't want to sleep on the street in a place with bad security.

Botswana is far less foreign and sophisticated than its neighbor Namibia. The capital, Gaborone, looks like a big village.I stayed in the hotel run by Tony and his wife from Beijing. The couple have been rooted in Gaborone for more than ten years.The talkative uncle Tony talked about the Chinese tourists he had received, and said that a few years ago, he met a middle-aged man in ragged clothes and black face who had been riding alone for more than ten years and traveled to more than 100 countries. up.The more I listened, the more I felt like Mr. Li Yuezhong, who had been riding in more than 17 countries in 130 years, so I described Mr. Li's appearance, which was highly consistent with the person Uncle Tony had seen.Of course, whether or not there is nowhere to check for the time being, maybe another unknown legend rode by here.

Mr. X has ridden more than 100 countries, but I think I need some luck to run around in Africa.I applied for a Zimbabwe visa in Tanzania and failed. After arriving in Botswana, I still couldn’t forget to knock on the door of the Zimbabwe embassy to try my luck. In the end, the long time for visa issuance made me give up.To comfort myself, I had a full meal of Shaxian snacks in Gaborone China Town.Yes, authentic Shaxian snacks.Chinese people who work and do business in the capital of Botswana like to come here for a meal.With bitter longing for the delicacies of my hometown, I unceremoniously swallowed a large bowl of wontons and a basket of steamed dumplings. The familiar taste stimulated the tip of my tongue, as if bringing me home.

This meal made me miss the wind of Asia, the delicacies of Southeast Asia, and the yellow-skinned world. Suddenly I felt a little tired and wanted to live in a familiar place for a while. As long as there is a familiar smell, You can go anywhere.The hole shoes I brought from home had worn out the soles twice and then repaired them. After the third time, I couldn’t bear to buy a new pair of hole shoes. Unfortunately, the soles were worn out again in a blink of an eye. Shiny like a new pair of shoes.These two pairs of hole shoes worth a few dollars accompany me through the African continent, like an old friend, always by my side at any time, and they will also accompany me through the last stop in Africa - South Africa, an angel and demon Kingdom of the same.

If you ask me why I went to South Africa, it may be due to the terrible sense of mission of backpackers.Traveling all the way from the northern part of the African continent to the southernmost tip, from Egypt to South Africa, from Cairo to Cape Town, just thinking about it makes people excited and restless, and I even found a new reason: at least it is the same as my hometown Nanjing One word is the same.

(End of this chapter)