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Published: April 24th 2007
A Street in Mombasa Old Town
Some parts are very touristy.. other parts are just very run-down.. Ahh... After a 18hrs train ride from Nairobi.. limpeh is now in Mombasa, on the east coast of Kenya, facing the Indian Ocean..
Train ride to Mombasa Train is overnight train.. MWF Nairobi-Mombasa TuThSa Mombasa-Nairobi.. leaves 7pm.. if no delay.. 1st class ~3500ksh (2 to a cabin) 2nd class ~2500 (4 to a cabin) 3rd class (seats only) ~600 (i think) meals included in 1st and 2nd class.. but you can opt out (i opted in and bought 2nd class, and the meals aren't terribly fantastic.. not worth the 1100ksh extra at all.. so if you dun really fancy the restaurant car experience, just bring your own food and opt out)... Train is very slow, compared to 8hrs bus ride by bus.. mostly becos it stops so very often to wait for other trains (cargo) to pass... and also maybe becos the train is very old.. i've read that taking the train is like taking a train in the 1950s.. where they bring around a dinner chimes to announce that meals are ready... so i went up the train half expecting all the train staff to speak in some old english accent.. haha.. (no, they didn't, in case
you're wondering..) the only 1950s part that is true is probably the train speed in 1950s..
The train departed Nairobi station on time.. and woot! I realize i have the 4-bed cabin all to myself.. haha.. wah.. better than 1st class man. . so i started to hang my towel and underwear out to dry =) cos they were still wet when i packed my bags..
No scenery to be seen the night before.. didn't hear any animals howling.. you can only hear the loud chugging of the train.. and the train chugs and jerks a lot.. in the morning, quite ok view.. you pass by forests.. grasslands.. and some villages.. there's this village that really left a deep impression on me.. you see, at each village.. the kids will run out to the tracks and wave to the train's passengers.. most of them will shoud "Give me my money!", or "Give me! give me!" or "give me sweet!".. sigh... but this village.. the kids just came out to the tracks, and in their hands were bouquets of freshly picked bright red flowers.. and they just wave to us with the flowers and smile.. really sweet...
Mombasa Fort Jesus
overlooking the entrance to the port.. with a sand football field beside it.. I think i have yet to mention that in Nairobi... (and if you do not already know) there's lots of Indians.. ok, Asians.. and Indian cuisine is part of everyday food in Nairobi.. When i came to Mombasa.. and saw the Indian Ocean.. and walked around the Old Town and Fort Jesus.. i'm beginning to draw some parallels with Mombasa and Mumbai... Mumbai's the gateway to India.. and Mombasa's gateway to Africa.. lots of Indians came over with the British then.. and most Kenyans can speak English, just like Indians.. But now i wonder, how come we can see indians in kenya, but when we go india we didn't see any kenyans? why only singular direction?
Old town is nice.. together with Fort Jesus, it gives you a glimpse of Mombasa during the colonial times.. Most of the sea front is now nice apartments.. wow.. sat there for quite some time.. real nice to have an aprtment there..
Oh, oh!! I must make an advertisement here.. In old town, you
MUST go to this nice coffeehouse that serves great coffee, tea and juices at incredibly low prices.. i had a pot of swahili coffee for only 15ksh
The Jahazi Cafe project
A project setup so that the cafe can be the center of the community.. so far it looks like it's not succeeding.. sadly.. and a giant glass of mango juice for only 25ksh.. when you come to the roundabout at fort jesus, take the first left.. and Jahazi Coffeehouse is on your left.. about 8-10 buildings down.. it's a project set up by some young people to display their artwork, as well as to recreat the old coffeehouse as the centre of community activity for the neighbourhood.. great ambience, great prices, great value.. must try.. must go.. if i have another afternoon here, i may justr spend it all in the coffeehouse..
Will be going up to Lamu tomorrow.. 6hrs ride, 600ksh.. ticket guy said 100ksh/hr.. dunno joke or real.. so i asked if i ask the driver to drive faster, maybe i can pay 500ksh? see how, maybe from Lamu will fly back to nairobi.. i need some more days in nairobi to double check my visa.. i got my tanzania visa alreadsy.. but zambia said, "oh.. indonesia passport.. must fax to Lusaka (zambian capital) for them to approve.. can take up to 2 weeks.. oh shit.. 1-2 days i can afford.. 2 weeks will die.. especially now that i've joined the overland truck tour.. so i'm going to make sure
Inside the Jahazi Cafe
very nice.. i'm the only patron, surprisingly.. Big juice for 25ksh!! (67ksh=1USD) (big = last time those Big Tau Huay Zui 50cts that kind of glass.. same design.. ) i get the zimbabwe and malawi and botswana and namibia visa now.. =/ stupid indoneisan passport..
will put up photos at a later time.. now not too convenient..
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Psycho
non-member comment
Entrepreneurship
Woot! I think the kids that you met on the train ride who has red flowers very creative leh! they dared to be different! They are trying new method of marketing! FOREIGN TALENT!!! Singapore would need them! Then again, they might just be normal uncorrupted village kids. I tried to think about your singular direction question and... hey! It inspried me to uncover such great mysteries like: (1) How come the europeans followed the Spanish (i.e. Columbus) lead to migrate/move to the New World but not the other way round? Would have been nice to meet Iron Rod (son of Sitting Bull) in Paris, don't you think? How come the Chinese move from China to SE Asia but not the Malays from Malaysia/Indonesia? Hmmm... perhaps having come from Indon yourself, you can may know the answer to that? ;-)