Packing for a trip overseas has now been reduced to a matter of grams and kilos. Under 20kgs is the target, but still taking enough to keep me alive, healthy and entertained. One duffel bag, one leather briefcase and a matching man bag. Lovely.
Going from Sydney to anywhere in North Africa is a pain. Not other way to describe it. Sydney – Dubai – Paris – Bamako. 14hours – 6.5 hours – 6 hours. Not fun.
The Lords were shining on me this time though for I got an empty row in a new 777 on the Dubai – Paris leg and a mystery upgrade to business class on Air France on the Paris – Bamako leg. Hah! Little consolation considering the destination I was headed to.
On the way over I got talking to my business class neighbour who was heading over with a European Commission delegation to run a debate about controlling the emigration out of Bamako into Europe. Hmmm, having a debate with Africans about getting out of Africa? Ah, ‘preaching to the converted’? Ok, ok I’ll leave the cynicism and snide comments aside for a moment. Just a short moment though…
The story is that West and North Africans are pouring out of Africa in anyway possible right now partly due to the shambles the current exit system is in. The idea is that they’re going to float, fly, swim or run over anyway so there might as well be a proper system to find out who’s coming over. Whether this is administrated by the local Mali government or should be taken over by the EC is the current debate. As it stands Mali has received 10 million Euros to build such a system.
Hmm, if you gave me 10M Euros to manage an exit program, every bugger leaving this place would be printed, photographed, police checked and tracked with a GPS beacon up their cracker for life. Lol. 10M bloody Euros.
Stepping off the plane, there was that unmistakable waft of Africa to welcome me back. Part sweat, part dust, part rubbish and faeces. Mmmmm good to be home.
It’s always a battle to come to terms with local exchange rates now considering all the places I’ve been. From 4900 Kwacha per US Dollar in Zambia to 3 Pula per USD in Botswana (it’s more like 8 to 1 now), counting zeros and converting it back can get confusing. Confusing to the point where I ended up tipping the airport porter approx $25USD. Not a good start.
I’ve been a lot of places in Africa, and one thing they have in common is how hard/long/expensive it is to get anything done. But I have to say Mali has to take the cake.
What was described to me as the client ‘having everything sorted out’ turned out to be ‘the client hasn’t sorted anything out’ by day two of my 3 month shift.
As I write this, I’ve been here nigh on 3 weeks now, and not been able to do a single days work. You name it, we’re waiting on it. Jet fuel, accommodation at the survey site, lighting for the airstrip, the plane, the gravitometer, the permits … actually there isn’t much that has been sorted out. So it’s been a case and worryingly for the company an increasing one of me sitting around sleeping and eating too much while being paid for the privilege. But it’s not all shits and giggles. Well actually it’s been a lot of the former and none of the latter. Something about the food here doesn’t like my stomach or the other way around as I’ve been pretty ‘Mr Whippy’ since I got here. No amount of antibiotics has been helping much either and I’m getting concerned about my penicillin resistance. One day I’m going to need a magic shot of the stuff and it’s not going to work. Still another reason to f*^&# the get out of here. (sic)
Bamako (capital city) itself though is not too bad to get around as a tourist or someone not trying to get anything done. There’s a variety of questionable food, a smattering of even more questionable bars and night spots but all in all it’s safe to wonder around and people will help if you ask.
Dust off those French 101 tapes though because English doesn’t get you very far here. The French truly have their hold around these parts, ranging right up top in Morocco and Algeria to down past the armpit of Africa itself in Gabon and the Congo. Fortunately the age old method of Charades and Pictionary communication can get you by. Hire a translator for anything more than ‘where’s the dunny and where can I buy toilet paper?’ though.
Oh the other thing it’s hot. Damn hot. And somehow we managed to get one of the few jet black exterior with jet black leather interior cars here are in Mali. Sweat doesn’t even begin to describe it.
We have been out to the camp for an inspection though. My compatriot had done a previous inspection a few months ago and was rather appalled by the standard of the kitchen. ‘Plates of unwashed dishes piled up sitting under the chef who was casually smoking a cigarette’ was what made the initial report. This time however there was a new coat of paint, not a dirty dish in sight and a lot of nervous cooks standing around. Seems like the report got back to the camp managers. Good.
If you want a comparison, scroll down to the Ethiopia job I did. Same heat, same sand just more of it, same middle of nowhere setup. Only difference is we’ll be living in style. Portable trailers with aircon and ensuite. Bliss. Thank you whoever is looking out for me.
So yet again I sit in a non descript hotel room in my undies punching out my life story to those who would care to read. It’s almost a last hurrah for a while for a) I’m going to have to do some work tomorrow as the plane is finally getting here and b) Once I’m finished said work for 2008, I’m getting out and not coming back for a while.
It’s been pretty full on ride. It just started to define who I am which is a good reason and a perfect time to take an extended break. I’ve have fun along the way, learnt a heap and ultimately fulfilled my blurb to the right. Anywhere But Sydney? Hah! Well I couldn’t have picked a more different spot. Cheers to the next chapter.
Ah right. Well here’s another much belated update to the wanderings of Mr Lee. There’s been a fair going on since my last entry, not the least that I’ll be moving to KL for a year, but more about that later.
Post Mozambique was another trip to London as mentioned. A quick catch up with friends and more fishing for offshore work ensued. Had a really good BBQ at Tark’s house btw. Cheers mate. Had a ball.
Unfortunately not much has turned out from the trip to London career wise. It seems it’s a bit difficult to get noticed in the UK unless you’re actually based there at the time. Stands to reason I guess as there’s plenty enough people there to pick from.
Oh well. It was back on the plane for a nightmare journey home. London – Cairo – Johannesburg – Perth – Sydney all in one hit. I hate airplane food as it is but having to survive off it for 40 odd hours? There was a bit of flatulence after that trip believe me.
Anyhow, I ended up with a few days in Sydney not doing much but washing undies and repacking etc. Next stint I ended up rolling around inner Western Australia for the most part. Had the emotional stimulus of watching paint dry and I swore never to do this job in Australia again.
The shift actually started in Victoria Tyabb of all places. What was scheduled to be a 3 hour, fly in fly out job ended up being 10 days of wind, sleet, rain and frost.
Yeah. Send us down to the southern most point of Australia in the middle of winter and expect us to get some work done…. anyway, it got done in the end gripes and tempers from the client not withstanding.
4 odd hours flight over the Western Australia then. Again who the ??? plans a survey in the middle of winter anywhere south of Canberra latitude? Yes it was cold.
There’s something I was told about WA that I never could really imagine until I saw it for myself.
When sitting in a car, the head and vision of the average driver is about a metre and a half off the ground. The thick salt bush that obscures any chance of scenery also grows to a metre and a half usually right next to the road. What this results in is a really long, really really boring drive around the WA inland and coastline. All you see is red dirt, tarmac and brown/gray bush. Some of the most spectacular scenery this country gets completely lost due to Mother Nature/God/Allah (choose your divinity) having a twisted sense of humour.
My WA trip started in Perth as would be expected, driving out to a place called Lake King, about 600kms north of Esperance. As far as remote places go, this was a cracker, with not much else but a pub with a dozen or so rooms and a service station/grocery store. The airstrip was a good 100m wide by about 1.5km long though and all dirt which gave me a great opportunity to test the traction control settings on the hire car. Ah, the things we do when insanely bored. After a couple of weeks here it was off north again to another bush town but with 3 pubs and a great big service station. The airstrip here was even better as it was pretty much just a line in the middle of a great big salt lake several kms across. And yes, it was another good opportunity to see how well the traction control on the hire car was going. Ahem.
My shift finished with a short 3 day stay in Wiluna, which to be completely frank is an armpit of a place. One pub, a small general store and a pretty reasonable airstrip. The only major issue is the abundance of indigenous folk stumbling around town and sleeping in front of the pub. I won’t get drawn into a debate about the plight of the aboriginals in Australia, however I will say that the ones here are not the ‘fight for land rights’ or ‘paint and carve for a living’ type. The second night there I heard all the doors of the pub accommodation being tested to see if they were locked in the middle of the night. The next day one of the pilots was missing his jacket. Enough said.
I was ever so happy to see the Beech 1900 pull in at Wiluna knowing I was getting the F out of there and off shift.
Having done this job long enough, my actual time spent working has been reduced to about 2 hours a day, with the rest of it spent sleeping, eating, watching TV and staring at the ubiquitous white motel ceilings.
I WILL NEVER DO THIS JOB IN AUSTRALIA AGAIN. Well for the moment anyway. Not while there’s a world out there to see.
All in all, did get so see a fair bit of southern inland WA. From sprawling canola and wheat farms to salt pans and endless miles of dirt. I did manage to see Wave Rock as well, which is a lovely sandstone rock formation carved out by eons of wind and rain. Interesting to see, but I’ll be buggered if I was to drive 6 hours from Perth as a tourist to see it. That’s one thing you start to discover about Australia after a while. The Ken Done photos you see plastered all over the offices of travel agents around the world are just as spectacular in real life. The only thing is you spend a lifetime trying to get between them all. With the amount of driving I did on this shift, I could have driven from London to the southern tip of Italy. I know where I’d rather be…
Now the other reason I was so excited to be getting off shift? THAILAND!!!! YAY!
Annoyingly, African countries have a habit of issuing visas that take up a whole page in your passport. Couple this with the often randomness of entry stamps ESPECIALLY going into Australia, I only had 1 and a half pages to go in my current passport to go. Seeing as I didn’t have the documents needed to get my passport in Canberra, a trip to Malaysia and to Thailand was on the cards. Malaysia to sort out my passport and a little bit of my personal life, and Thailand to get back onto rock and the beach.
I must say, Thailand was AWESOME. Ohhhh, one of the greatest places in the world, southern Thai beaches were a much needed break from the insanity that my life had become. Towering limestone, azure blue water, milky white beaches. And of course heaving and grunting up a slab of said limestone with a length of nylon rope attached to my nuts. Z met me in Phuket and we caught the ferry over to Railay and Tonsai. For those of you avid Alex bloggers (chuckle) you’ll recall me having done this trip before. We actually followed the same route there and stayed in the same place but this time around the whole experience was a lot more in tune with the vibe of the place.
Wake up, decide whether to eat, sleep more, climb, chill or go for a water melon juice was pretty much how each day started. We managed a couple of meaningful climbing days including one where we kayaked out, climbed for the day, then kayaked back in at dusk. Needless to say we were pretty buggered by the end of that day. Food never tastes as good as when you’ve spent the day climbing yourself silly.
On the way back we stopped over in Koh Phi Phi for a bit more of R & R. We booked a half day island tour to the place where they filmed the ‘Beach’. You know the one, with Leo and that jump he had to make to get to the fabled hidden nirvana.
Well, there wasn’t a jump per se, nor was it that inaccessible. There was however a crawl through a small cave and a short walk to the other side where the beach was. There’s actually an entry tax to the beach which is well policed so the ever industrious tour operators drop us off on the other side of the island and we have to walk. Funny, and makes for an interesting swim back.
A general community health announcement: Don’t pick up interesting sea animals with bare hands. They’ve got a few millions years of evolution on their side and the human skin is pathetically thin. Yes, I tried picking up a sea urchin and was sent packing with a sharp jab of poison on the top of my thumb. Silly yes. Funny in an ‘I didn’t die so it’s ok kind of way’. There was more such silliness to come however.
On the way back to the main island a storm blew through, chopping up swells of a metre or so. Nothing life threatening, but in a wooden long tail boat it does become a bit sporting. I don’t know what idea I had in my head (or lack thereof) but I decided running up and sitting on the bow of the boat to ride it back would be cool. Well it was a good idea at the time. I got launched off the side after about 10 secs and I never realised how quickly someone can disappear after that. I was damn happy that a) I didn’t get run over by the boat and following propeller and b) I managed to get back on board. The photo below is of me about 10 seconds after I went in. Luckily I had the bright orange vest on as I kept disappearing behind the swell. Trying to swim in a life jacket in storm swell sucks balls by the way. Just doesn’t work. In any case the incident made for a great story for the long tail boat driver who was laughing both at me and with me as we pulled in to shore. It’s always a good feeling bringing a smile to someone’s face…
The rest my trip there passed without further incident. I flew back to Kuala Lumpur a few days later to make amends with my pseudo girlfriend having only seen her for two days then running off for a climbing holiday without her for 10 days. ‘Not happy Jan’ was an appropriate response.
Amends were kind of made, the big distinction though was that one of us would have to make a move if we were ever going to have a chance. Considering my vagabond lifestyle was really starting to strain, I made the choice to quit work at the end of the year, move to KL, take a couple of months off to chill and find some work there after. Then we’ll see where we end up at the wrap of 2009.
For those of you going huh? Wtf? I guess this would be a good time to insert a missing link in the story of my travels.
I was in Malaysia for my grand father’s 80th birthday about 3 years ago. My ticket was booked for a 10 day stay and all the festivities had wound up by the first weekend which left me with 5 days in KL and not much to do. There’s a local climbing gym near my aunt’s house where I was staying and I thought it would be good to see what indoor climbing in Asia was like.
Well not too bad as it turns out. Perched on top a shopping centre with about 1600 metres square of area and about 20m of internal height, the gym turned out to be quite the surprise. There was a mixture of tradition plastic, a ‘natural’ feature wall, bouldering area, taller lead wall and an intro wall with a few auto belay devices setup. I was later to discover this wall not only had the role of training newbies to not drop their climbing buddies, but also a good place to find a buddy to climb with or as it turns out to do other things with as well.
Anyway, after an afternoon of flopping about on plastic I decided to call it a day, stopping at the pro shop to get some much needed tape for my hands.
And this was where it all started.
She had just started her shift manning the shop and I strolled in looking for said strapping tape. Feeling pretty after a good pump session and not having much planned for the ensuing days, I some how managed to squeeze a phone number out of the now irate and annoyed shop girl. Plan was to show me around KL’s night life as I had only spent time getting overfed at relative’s places on previous occasions. After a bit of quick thinking and in absence of all shame, I got around the ‘ooops I must have written the wrong phone number down’ trick and we ended up doing a lot of walking around KL for the next few nights. A lot of walking actually… The time we spent was good and wholesome, with a feeling of freedom I’d never felt before.
It all ended a bit too soon and before I knew it I was back on the plane to Sydney not really knowing whether to make anything of it. Little was I to know the epic that it had started.
Completely useless. Absolutely and utterly useless. That was a very apt description of my state of being when I got back from the trip. My heart it seems had fallen in a way I did not know was possible and I spent the next few weeks making soppy phone calls and feeling like a right twat. Somewhere along the line I manned up and decided that things were never going to work considering the distance and I proceeded to get it and her all out of my system. Well, it kind of worked for a while….
Fast forward to the top of this rant. I’ve made the choice and lined things up to give things one last try. In the 3 odd years that have passed between that fateful climbing day and now, I’d seen her twice, been on and off again about the same amount and caused a lot of anguish and pain in the meantime, the details of which I’ll spare you here.
So it leads to my next step in this journey, where I’ll be living in KL for most of 2009 teaching English and spending time with the girl whom I love and reduced me to mush so many years ago.
In between, I’ve got one more shift in Africa and one month of intensive TEFOL training which I’m looking forward to. Then off for a simpler life for at least a year.
It’s always interesting the way things work out. In my life anyway. It could be simpler, but then it’d be no fun would it? =)
