Bissau to Bambadinca - Day 206

Date: March 12th, 2010
Distance: 121km
Country: Guinea-Bissau

I spent the morning at the bank. I wanted to get a little bit of cash before heading to Guinea. I had heard there really weren't any banks there. So I wanted to stock up while I could. You can't just get stuff from the ATM though. You have to withdraw cash from the teller. So that involved a lot of waiting. It did work eventually though.

I also saw Tony there. I guess he had tried to get the frame welded. He said the guy had fixed that, but burned through all the cables and chain while doing it. After being in Africa 3 months, I know not to let anyone here try and fix my bike. Most fixes involve too much hammer for my taste. Plus I don't know if a guy here really knows the correct alloys to used to repair a bike frame. Oh well, I tried to warn him.

After the trip to the bank, I got on the road. I had a long way to go, but the good part was it was cloudy. I never knew cloudy days could be so wonderful. I was making almost 20km an hour, even into the headwind. Plus I didn't need to stop in the middle of the day. Just great. So I decided to push on to Bambadinca.

When I got into town I ran into a bit of a situation. It didn't seem like there was a hotel there. I though that I could just head to the next village and inquire about staying in a compound there. But first I should get some food. I was famished. I got a sandwich for dinner and some milk. By that point I had found someone who knew of a hotel in town.

The hotel was a shit-hole. Just a dirty room, with a dirty foam mattress covered in a wool blanket. The bathroom was just a dirty turkish toilet. The door didn't even have hinges. You just placed it over the doorway as best you could. Nice. Still, it was cheap. I ended up moving the mattress and just pitching my tent in the room. At least that way I would be clean and bug free. Life on the road isn't always that easy.

-Dravis