Sunday Jan. 5 - I'm in Kampala having a quiet relaxing day. Endless frustrationing delays yesterday. Multiple delays with multiple inaccurate & unconvincing & contradictory explanations. Very frustrating, irritating and unsatisfactory. Got to hostel in Kampala late & to be & to sleep.
Backpacker's Hostel - Kampala, Uganda
Got up this am and sorted out my stuff putting the stuff I won't need in the Rwenzori aside for storage while I am away. I had no Uganda shillings so walked down the street to an ATM that would give me no money on either my bank card or Visa. So still no local money. With generous guidance of a young man I walked to the old downtown where all the Forexs where shut as it was Sunday. I ended up changing $100 US for 245,000 shillings from a guy on the street but I will need to get more money before leaving Kampala for Western U and the Rwenzori. I also have to pay at the hostel for the remainder of my tour in the Rwenzori and for my trip from the airport.
(Coffee in the hostel a disapointment after small strong Ethiopian coffee)
So I figured out how to get money from the ATM!
Traffic drives on the left but for safety don't left or right but 360 degrees and to cross the road find a local crossing the road and shadow them. Boda bodas go everywhere including sometimes on the sidewalks where there are some. Traffic flows like water but with few rules except taking the path of least resistance.
Power off & I didn't feel like reading by candlelight. Introduced myself to Joe who was temporarily by himself and we talked for a couple of hours about rafting on the Nile, politics in his home country of India, travel to Turkey & Istanbul, walking the Camino, Mountain rescue with helicopters etc.
Joe
Jan. 6 - talked a bit more with Joe. He is a helicopter pilot with the Indian military flying for the UN in the Congo as part of the Indian commitment to the UN. Transporting supplies, medical evacs etc. His chopper took a bullet once but not in a vital spot. I think when I come back from the Rwenzori this will be a good place to base myself from as they organize rafting trips form here and I can do tours in Kampala from here as well & just walk & explore & hangout. Talked to Haffie & paid what I owed & she arranged a taxi for me to the bus park after hearing that I was afraid of the boda boda. Packed away what I wasn't taking with me.
Got to the Link bus at the Bus park & it was intense.
Multiple vendors walking the aisles selling drinks, fruit, papers, bread, jewelry etc. Took a pic out the window as we were leaving & a guy got quite unhappy and excited.
Turned my camera off and put it in my pocket and he wasn't much happier.
Trip was about 7 hours (25,000 shillings = $12) with a nice young guy next to me & some salesman using the bus sound system to pitch medicine etc for 2-3 hours. Then gospel music for the rest of the trip. Driver slowed down for chimpanzees on the side of the road. Saw a boda boda (small older motorcycle with a live pig trussed up and strapped to the luggage rack) Lots of tea plantations as we got closer to Kalase. From Kalase I took a private hire car to Kilembe hostel over a homemade bridge. I was impressed that he got it over the homemade bridge without destroying the car (2 wheel drive Toyota) and wants to come back to give me a ride when I need it.
Relax at the hostel and chat with Jakob and Mathilde from Denmark. They tell me that the ATM withdrawal limit seems to be only for Stanbic bank and not Barclay's which is great and simplifies my life. Yeah!
1,000 m elevation gain first day trekking - trail sucks. 1,100 m on the second day & I am not feeling good. Elevation compounded with something else? The Danes, Mathilde & Jakob, seem to be having health issues too but mine seem to be worse. I have very little appetite the last few days so there may be something interacting with the altitude which by itself shouldn't be having too great an effect on me. Joshua says the next camp is 400 m higher (4,100m) and about 4 hours away. Sounds attractive but I will see how I feel in the morning. If I feel worse it will not be easy to come down quickly as the trail is steep and rough. Hang around a campfire w/Mathilde & Jakob.
Porters getting ready to eat
my guide Joshua
Camp 2 a bit more than 3,700 m
Got up next morning not feeling great. Had porridge for breakfast & in a few minutes vomitted it back up. I'm going down. Will take 3 days to come down what I came up in 2 days but I am unsteady and it is not the kind of trail to come down carelessly. Joshua says they have carried heavier guys than me down but that is an experience I would prefer to avoid. Descend 600 m slowly w/o problems except a fall which gives me some rib pain.
Is the term "planned adventure" an oxymoron?
Friday January 10 - This camp is perched on a ridge & very windy with a loose tarp that is quite noisy and amplifies the noise of the wind.
I think I may have stomach flu - not much eatting and lots of crapping. I remembered I had cypro with me so took one and hope they will help me over the next 3 days. We are going down at after lunch & Joshua has lent me Darkness at Noon to read. I think I will send him Montaigne's Essays. A young Norwegian couple came into camp in the late afternoon. They have been to the summit and are hurrying down as she has only a few more days in Uganda before she has to go home to work and wants to go to Queen Elizabeth park and see the hippos and other large animals. They are both tired and this isn't good as this is he kind of trail that you have to look at to make sure you don't tumble so you don't see as much scenery as you might on one of our "park" trails. I'm usually looking at my boots and the next metre or so of trail. The guides are friendly and helpful but there isn't a lot of social interaction and I learned more of Uganda on my bus trip from Kampala.
NOTE - Taking pictures in Ethiopia was rarely a problem but much different in Uganda. Usually I ask permission of taking a picture of an individual but not a crowd but in Uganda many/most people don't like having their pictures taken. I'm told this is because they believe tourists will take their pictures and then sell the pictures to magazines. Who knows but I am very careful to ask permission when taking pictures or take them very unobtrusively.
Backpacker's Hostel - Kampala, Uganda
Got up this am and sorted out my stuff putting the stuff I won't need in the Rwenzori aside for storage while I am away. I had no Uganda shillings so walked down the street to an ATM that would give me no money on either my bank card or Visa. So still no local money. With generous guidance of a young man I walked to the old downtown where all the Forexs where shut as it was Sunday. I ended up changing $100 US for 245,000 shillings from a guy on the street but I will need to get more money before leaving Kampala for Western U and the Rwenzori. I also have to pay at the hostel for the remainder of my tour in the Rwenzori and for my trip from the airport.
(Coffee in the hostel a disapointment after small strong Ethiopian coffee)
So I figured out how to get money from the ATM!
Traffic drives on the left but for safety don't left or right but 360 degrees and to cross the road find a local crossing the road and shadow them. Boda bodas go everywhere including sometimes on the sidewalks where there are some. Traffic flows like water but with few rules except taking the path of least resistance.
Power off & I didn't feel like reading by candlelight. Introduced myself to Joe who was temporarily by himself and we talked for a couple of hours about rafting on the Nile, politics in his home country of India, travel to Turkey & Istanbul, walking the Camino, Mountain rescue with helicopters etc.
Jan. 6 - talked a bit more with Joe. He is a helicopter pilot with the Indian military flying for the UN in the Congo as part of the Indian commitment to the UN. Transporting supplies, medical evacs etc. His chopper took a bullet once but not in a vital spot. I think when I come back from the Rwenzori this will be a good place to base myself from as they organize rafting trips form here and I can do tours in Kampala from here as well & just walk & explore & hangout. Talked to Haffie & paid what I owed & she arranged a taxi for me to the bus park after hearing that I was afraid of the boda boda. Packed away what I wasn't taking with me.
Got to the Link bus at the Bus park & it was intense.
Turned my camera off and put it in my pocket and he wasn't much happier.
Trip was about 7 hours (25,000 shillings = $12) with a nice young guy next to me & some salesman using the bus sound system to pitch medicine etc for 2-3 hours. Then gospel music for the rest of the trip. Driver slowed down for chimpanzees on the side of the road. Saw a boda boda (small older motorcycle with a live pig trussed up and strapped to the luggage rack) Lots of tea plantations as we got closer to Kalase. From Kalase I took a private hire car to Kilembe hostel over a homemade bridge. I was impressed that he got it over the homemade bridge without destroying the car (2 wheel drive Toyota) and wants to come back to give me a ride when I need it.
Relax at the hostel and chat with Jakob and Mathilde from Denmark. They tell me that the ATM withdrawal limit seems to be only for Stanbic bank and not Barclay's which is great and simplifies my life. Yeah!
1,000 m elevation gain first day trekking - trail sucks. 1,100 m on the second day & I am not feeling good. Elevation compounded with something else? The Danes, Mathilde & Jakob, seem to be having health issues too but mine seem to be worse. I have very little appetite the last few days so there may be something interacting with the altitude which by itself shouldn't be having too great an effect on me. Joshua says the next camp is 400 m higher (4,100m) and about 4 hours away. Sounds attractive but I will see how I feel in the morning. If I feel worse it will not be easy to come down quickly as the trail is steep and rough. Hang around a campfire w/Mathilde & Jakob.
my guide Joshua
Camp 2 a bit more than 3,700 m
Got up next morning not feeling great. Had porridge for breakfast & in a few minutes vomitted it back up. I'm going down. Will take 3 days to come down what I came up in 2 days but I am unsteady and it is not the kind of trail to come down carelessly. Joshua says they have carried heavier guys than me down but that is an experience I would prefer to avoid. Descend 600 m slowly w/o problems except a fall which gives me some rib pain.
Is the term "planned adventure" an oxymoron?
Friday January 10 - This camp is perched on a ridge & very windy with a loose tarp that is quite noisy and amplifies the noise of the wind.
I think I may have stomach flu - not much eatting and lots of crapping. I remembered I had cypro with me so took one and hope they will help me over the next 3 days. We are going down at after lunch & Joshua has lent me Darkness at Noon to read. I think I will send him Montaigne's Essays. A young Norwegian couple came into camp in the late afternoon. They have been to the summit and are hurrying down as she has only a few more days in Uganda before she has to go home to work and wants to go to Queen Elizabeth park and see the hippos and other large animals. They are both tired and this isn't good as this is he kind of trail that you have to look at to make sure you don't tumble so you don't see as much scenery as you might on one of our "park" trails. I'm usually looking at my boots and the next metre or so of trail. The guides are friendly and helpful but there isn't a lot of social interaction and I learned more of Uganda on my bus trip from Kampala.
NOTE - Taking pictures in Ethiopia was rarely a problem but much different in Uganda. Usually I ask permission of taking a picture of an individual but not a crowd but in Uganda many/most people don't like having their pictures taken. I'm told this is because they believe tourists will take their pictures and then sell the pictures to magazines. Who knows but I am very careful to ask permission when taking pictures or take them very unobtrusively.
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