Chinguetti to Nouakchott: where sand eats your soul

Noaukchott is full of sand. Chinguetti in the desert was obviously full of sand. The train to Choum was full of sand. The road from Atar to Nouakchott was full of sand, at times I was wondering what the driver can see in front of us, there was only a milky creamy nothingness ahead. A […]

Visa no. 3: Mali in Nouakchott

Single visa for Mali in Nouakchott costs 650UMR and takes 30mins to obtain. There are 2 locations for the embassy on Google Maps, go for the one in English. The one on N2 Nouadhibou route is no longer valid. You need 2 photos and a photocopy of your passport and they ask for point of […]

Sandpiercer to Choum

I’m in Atar, waiting for some voiture to Chinguetti to show up. I arrived in Atar before 6am, driver just let us sleep in the minibus from Choum. The town was still asleep bar the muezzin calls coming from many sides. As I walkes around asking for transport to Chinguetti, I was told there is […]

The Long Train from Nouadhibou

Interestingly, it wasn’t cold at night in Nouadhibou. I mean, out there on the street, the moment the sun set, chill set in and I began to wish I had long sleeve on me. But there in the room on a mattress that served as bed it was alright. I only used a single linen […]

Visa no. 2: Mauritania on the border

Nah, this one was easy. On the border, €55, quite a queue but I think my bus driver skipped the hassle. It still took over 2 hours. I took a 8/8:30/9am Supratours bus from Dakhla. It costs 260Dh to Nouadhibou. There is change of bus to minibus at he border. You can also take it […]

Laayoune to Dakhla: South South

My Rough Guide to Morocco mentions 4 places to see in Western Sahara: Tarfaya, Laayoune, Smara and Dakhla. There isn’t much to see in either of towns yet the splendid desolation is tempting. I was thinking to go to each town but the transport options are poor: Laayoune to Tarfaya looks like there are only […]

Sahara begins

I noticed it around 6am, where we stopped for morning tea. Silver ocean under full moon. Sand. A truck on the side of the road. The plants were gone. We were moving among nothingness, sand, gravel, all gray and silent. Then at 8am a police checkpoint. Sir, what’s your nationality? What’s your profession? Where are […]

It’s raining in heaven

Writing to you at 5am, as we were told to change the bus in Tan Tan. Tan Tan I always thought is capital of Western Sahara but we’re still way off the “border”. It’s been a rainy day. Rainy and cold, felt like Poland. +10 degrees, gray, cloudy, miserable. Lots of mint tea consumed. I […]

A stroll around Marrakech

A friend of mine, Deepak, whom I know from work, has recently relocated to Morocco. Deepak is an esteemed engineer previously based in Madagascar. And Deepak has a Moroccan girlfriend, who lives in Marrakech. And so it happened that I’m here and it’s weekend and Deepak is at his girlfriend’s. I got invited for a […]

Bienvenue à Marrakech

Morocco is long, if you include Western Sahara. There will be a lot of buslife on this trip, especially going South along the coast. I had the first such trip and during the day. A CTM bus from Tangier to Morocco. There are only 2 CTM busses a day and they cost 230Dh each and […]