A few quiet days and a bit more rain!

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Having left the Sani Lodge I was safely deposited at my hostel in Pietermaritzburg. Once again it was time to say goodbye to a fellow traveller however tentative arrangements were made for Paula and I to meet up again in South Africa.

I was shown around the hostel and introduced to the owners two gorgeous and very placid Afghan Hounds. I soon fell in love with the hostel since I had a large double room to myself for a cheap price. The large bed, thick and pristine white bedding and comfortable pillows were enough to make me decide to stay longer than my intended one night. Also the fact that it was only a small place and was actually Andre's home that he had opened up made it all the more nicer and it showed by the way it was looked after. Following a conversation with Andre, the hostel owner, it was determined that I would have to spend two nights as the easiest way for me to get to my next destination was by Baz Bus unless I wanted to take approximately 4 minibus taxis.

The rest of my day was spent dodging the rain showers to find an internet cafe and a supermarket. Thereafter I holed myself up in the hostel and happily wiled away the hours reading my book. Thursday and once again the rain was pouring down and this time the wind was blowing with it too. Once it abated I headed out and once again installed myself in an internet cafe as I need to do some research for the last weeks of my trip. Having dropped back in at the hostel for some lunch i decided that it was time to investigate the true sights and sounds of Pietermariztburg. The town is probably most notably known for Ghandi being ejected from a 1st class train carriage here and it marked the start of his peaceful protests. I wandered around the town and dropped into the Tatham Art Gallery for a spot of culture.

That night I made my dinner and got talking to Andre about our respective travels. The conversation soon turned into a generic world affairs conversation and we then started talking about books. Whilst I have been travelling I have read many books. As some of you may know I am an avid reader at the best of times so travelling has enabled me to read even more than usual it has also forced me to widen my reading material as when you are faced with a limited selection anything will do. I have read some books I wish I had never picked up, others i am glad I have read but don't need to read again and then those books that I would love to read again some day. One of the books I have truly loved and will recommend to many is Shantaram and it transpired that Andre had also read this book. He then advised me that I should read a book called Never let me go. After awhile Andre disappeared and I got talking to a Danish couple who were asking my advice on where they should visit in South Africa. Andre then reappeared and handed a book to me telling me I could take it away with me. He then joined in with the conversation with the Danish couple and suggested that they visit the Karoo and specifically Graff-Reinet and Nieu Bethesda. He said that if he wants a holiday and cannot get abroad then this is the area he always visits as in his opinion it is one of the most beautiful areas in South Africa.

The next morning after a lie in, a lie in being 9am!, I was packed and ready for the Baz Bus. I said my goodbyes and headed off for the Northern Drakensberg. On our way from Pietermartizburg we stopped at Horwick to pick up some more people. Whilst we stopped we got the opportunity to have a look at the Horwick Falls. On returning to the bus I noticed two familiar faces, Peter and Bjorn who had been at the Sani Lodge with me and had braved the 3 day Lesotho tour. They told me about the trip and in one way I was sad not to have done it but in another I was happy with my decision. Bjorn is Norwegian and travels every other month and works as a computer programmer the other months a bit of a geek but a nice enough guy. Peter, on the other hand, was an English guy and I guess in his late 40's and dumb and very annoying. When we rolled up at the hostel it transpired that Peter and I were the only ones wanting dorm rooms and so Zee, the receptionist come trip organiser come occasional bar person showed us to our room. As we were walking across to the dorm Zee handed me a key and Peter asked where his was as “we are not travelling together!” to which I rolled my eyes having had enough of him at this point and Zee laughed saying we were obviously together as we had come in on the bus together. This earned her a dirty look from me and more blustering from Peter who kept making the hole even deeper. Having dropped my bags in the room I returned to reception to ask to move to a different dorm however I was told this wasn't possible but I wanted I could move into a twin bedded room but the cost was double and a bit more than the dorm room.... thankfully Peter, who was stood next to me so I had had to be diplomatic about why I wanted to move (my excuse was I didn't want to share a room with 3 smelly boys having spotted two other beds were surrounded by mens shoes) decided he wanted to move rooms, and Zee told me another girl was turning up in the dorm later so situation sorted and my pocket slightly fuller I went in search of a drink. That evening was spent generally chilling and chatting with various people, three of whom I had met at various other hostels on my travels.

Saturday morning and I woke up with a stomach that was none too happy. I had planned on doing either a second day trip into Lesotho (this one covering Northern Lesotho) or if the weather was good doing a walk up Cathedral Peak. However with my stomach playing up I had to resign myself to a day in the hostel. In reality I can't complain too much as this is the first time in seven months that I have had an upset stomach which I think is good going....... Anyway I ended up making myself comfortable in the tv room/library lying on a bean bag occasionally watching tv, staring out at the view across to the Ampitheatre and reading. I ended up reading a book given to me by Bjorn. Effectively he told me that whilst on his travels he writes about them, similar to this blog, and he had made a book out of some of his stories. The book concentrated on a trip to Antarctica, his first trip to South Africa and another country that now escapes me..... It was interesting for me to read his book as it reminded me so much of my ramblings on here.

Sunday morning and after a quick surf on the internet and a long awaited phone call to Rachel the Baz Bus arrived early and I headed back to Pretoria once again with Peter and Bjorn in tow. At this point I got a sinking feeling when Peter said he was heading to the same hostel as I! On arrival in Jo'berg Peter and I were dropped off at a hostel to wait for our transfer to take us to Pretoria. The shuttle took 2 hours to turn up which caused much grumbling from Peter and me to ignore him. When we rolled up to the hostel we had to go through exactly the same scenario of checking in and the receptionist asking if it was ok for us to share a dorm room with Peter announcing with much consternation “we are not travelling together we're not together!”. I shot him a look and the receptionist looked at me confused by his ramblings. Anyway, thankfully for my sanity, she put us in separate rooms, well I say rooms my room was actually a glorified garden shed!!!

Monday morning and I headed off to Hatfield and the internet cafe that I knew had a decent connection and where I could do all my jobs. Three hours later and I was sorted flights to Canada booked, phone call home, responding to e:mails, a blog update, uploading photos, car hire from Port Elizabeth booked and meeting up with Paula sorted. I then wandered off for lunch and spent the rest of the day enjoying the long awaited sunshine and warm weather.

Tuesday morning and I was up and about early waiting for the washing that was meant to have been returned the night before. Thankfully it arrived at 7.45am with my taxi to the airport leaving at 8am! I checked in at the airport and was able to enjoy my final flight before my inevitable return to the UK.

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Comments

[Bjørn]

Serendipity
So, I found an old piece of paper during Spring cleaning, on which some Andrea person had written a URL, and here I am, "a bit of a geek". #8D) If you ever want to finish the book you borrowed for the day in the Amphitheatre, help yourself at http://bjornfree.com/ Happy trails! (You didn't stop traveling, did you?)