Distance: 133km
Country: Guinea
I left Dalaba pretty early today. I knew I had a long ride ahead of me. I wasn't in a big hurry, but I did want to get to Mamou and see if I could find a cyber cafe for lunch. The first 8 klicks out of Dalaba were pretty bad though. Dalaba is in a little valley. So I had to climb out of it to start the day. Not really the best way to kick off the morning.
After that I did come to a few good downhills. Even on the main (paved) road I still have to watch out. There are huge potholes in places. Often this is at the bottom of a little hill. Just when you have picked up the most speed. Then again, much better than the dirt roads I was on.
I did get to Mamou, and I did find a cyber. I just wanted to check my e-mail and see how arranging my package was going. First I had to set up a static IP address on my laptop which I was using. I guess they don't have DHCP setup. The guy at the place kept saying "codes" though, which I didn't understand. He showed me on one of the other computers and I set mine up that way and was off and running. I got about 20 minutes of real net time after that. Then the shut the generator down. But they wanted me to pay for 35 minutes of generator time and the 4 computers they had running. I told them I only used my laptop, and only for 20 mintues. That they had 4 computers running was their business. Again, it was hard because it was all in French. (Try to have an argument in a foreign language sometime.) Eventually though, I won the day. The owner relented and I paid them about a buck. Still expensive for 20 minutes, but worth it to me.
I also grabbed a bit of lunch while I was in town. Just a sandwich and some chocolate milk. The afternoon got off to a bad start though, when I followed the main road out of town. It turns out that road goes to the capitol. In other words, the wrong way. I only figured that out after seeing a road marker 5km out of town. So now I had to go back and find the right road. Urgh.
From there I knew I was running out of daylight with about 60 kilometers to go. I
tried to hurry as much as I could. Still, it wasn't easy. There were a lot of steep climbs. I did my best, but it was dark before I arrived in Oure Kaba. The last few kilometers weren't fun. I have been using my bike light at night when I need it. So it isn't as bright as when the batteries were fresh. So the beam it casts is that great. I had to really keep my eyes peeled to avoid the potholes. Still, all the other cars and motos were doing the same, so it was slow going all around. I wasn't worried about getting hit by a car, at least.When I got to the place, I was hoping there would have been more of a town. You see, Dounghal, which wasn't even on the map had power and if not a hotel, at least a place for guests to stay. This place had no power. They did have a spare hut at the police station. It does feel a little weird to stay with the police. I guess I am just afraid they will ask for a money, which I am not sure if that would be a bribe or not. They were quite friendly though, and no request for money was forthcoming. They even helped me find a place where I could get water (I was out). Also a restaurant for dinner. There wasn't a place for a shower though. So I had to just spash myself down to get the dust off and go to bed.
-Dravis
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