you know marco,
i am a gambian; and i've lived in the west for the past 15 years, i hate to disagree with you but you are absolutely right. job well done there should be more guys like out there exposing these lazy asses to get a job.
Re: Hi Tim, thanks for your comment(s). Truly I´ve been a lazy blogger in the past year, and so my new year resolution is to write a bit more regularly :-)
Marco
Hey Marco,
Another interesting read - I think the section regarding religion is proof of the old (but slightly modified) adage that states as some things change, most things stay the same. Hope it won't be another six months before the next blog though...
Re: in Honduras? Hey, Vanetza... nice to hear from you. Well, as for question number 1: kids call me "Mister", as "Mister D'Aprile" was too much for me to handle. The second one: Nope, haven't given up Turkey, Central America is a "side" project. And last, I've never cycled Thailand, so can't help much on itineraries, but I'm extremely jealous...
In honduras? Hey Marco,
so you finally made it to Central America! Great, since you already speak the language! Are you a teacher now? Do your students listen well to Master Marco? Of do they call to you as Sir d'Aprilie? And did you say goodbye to Galicia and Istanbul forever? Or is this just another side-project in the mysterious ways of Marco? We think and talk about you sometimes! Iwan and I are going cycling in Thailand next year. We have 5 weeks. Do you have any recommendations for us?
Hope you are well.
Hope you are happy.
Wishing lot's of smiles...
Nessie
Self-Comment A self-comment, almost a year after the publication of the article. It's an e-mail sent to me by an expert in meteorology. The email was long, I summarize (and translate, it was in spanish):
"The trails left by the planes are not due to exhaust gases, but to the rupture of an unstable equilibrium that occurs in presence of over-cooled steam; the temperature is below the dew point, but the water stays as gas. (...) The duration of contrails and their evolution depends on the weather conditions existing at any given moment. (...) I personally believe that the real problem are not in the trails, but rather the number of aircrafts travelling every day, leaving on the extreme upper part of our atmosphere the remains of the enormous amount of fuel needed to keep those planes in flight. "
Solo female visitors to Africa I am thinking of visiting West Africa and know friends that have been there. During my online research, one thing has jumped out at me; on internet forums the majority of the posters about West Africa (eg Ghana etc) are invariably white women from Western countries. On many occasions they reveal in their posts that they travelled there alone.
Now, I'm not suggesting that this immediately implies they are sex tourists, but the very clear demographic profiling does raise suspicions. High profile female sex tourism destinations such as the Caribbean show that single and unaccompained (unless by other single, white females) tourists make up a very high proportion of the visitors. Similar "scenes" can be witnessed in parts of North Africa.
To "John" Maybe you forgot to mention that such behaviours of mine were adopted only AFTER being treated so rudely (and fined while peacefully cycling) by them. İ can assure you that in our first meeting İ was extremely polite.
As for "how come you don't cycle on motorways in Germany, Austria or İtaly?" Well, in these countries ordinary roads don't suddently turn into motorways, hence you can't possibly enter them by mistake. İt's a rather consistent difference.
A few quotes: I refused to pay the 75 fine .... chewing insults against these servants of power ... I self-arrested myself by locking myself up into the detention room ... I cut him short, icily ...
And then you wonder why they treated you as they did? You got the same attitude from them as they got it from you.
Do you talk that way to the police in Italy also?
And home come you don't cycle on highways in Germany, Austria, Italy?
Seems to me, like you are the one with the attitude problem and obviously think that once you cross the eastern border you can do anything you want, since the rules there don't apply to you.
Ciao Marco! ti ho ritrovato per caso cercando dei blog sulla Guinea Bissau. Complimenti per il tuo blog.
"Confesso" che io uso tuttora la LP, o meglio, la leggo come fosse un libro per farmi un idea del paese in cui sono. poi è ovvio che per i posti dove dormire ogni nuova edizione esce già superata, con tutti i posti economici della vecchia che hanno almeno raddoppiato i prezzi, tanto sono sulla LP e la gente ci va comunque...
Per quanto riguarda Chatwin, ci si riferisce, se ricordo bene, all'introduzione (titolata "lamento per l'Afghanistan") di un mitico libro di Robert Byron, "La via per l'Oxiana" che ti straconsiglio di leggere! non sono proprio sicuro però che si riferisse al fondatore dalla LP, ma più probabilmente agli hippy in generale.
un saluto dal Mercante!
Slovenian Police very interesting, thank you. Im about to go to the Austrian Alps and drop down into Italy (Trieste). Was interested to read more about your bad experiences with Sloevnian police but couldn't find the link. Im an English teacher living in Moscow so know about corrupt opportunist bullies like this. What happened to you?
Re: To Margit Are you suggesting that, while mature men travelling to Thailand or Philippines for pretty much buying sex (or "love") makes for a depravated lot of losers, mature women doing the same in Gambia or Senegal are there because they caught the true spirit of Africa? an interesting point...
sounds about right I've been travelling in West Africa for a while and can confirm that it's everywhere.
It would seem that Dakar's better hotels seem to cater almost exclusively for the French female sex tourist.
It's not suprising though that they make up the bulk of the visitors as West Africa doesn't have a great dealto offer the traditional tourist.
A Mistery! Hello my traveller friend, welcome back on the road and blogging (I comment in english this time). I agree with you on expats, most of those I've met during my trips are so negative about everything and everyone that make me wonder why the f... are they living there? But I guess money is always the answer...
Luca
It all looks.... so sweet! And Istanbul sounds so interesting! We just bought a van this weekend! Maybe we can drive all the way there? Kisses from Belgium, Vanetsa!
The chubby, long-haired little boy of the picture is me back in the '70s. Today I look a bit different, but deep down I kept the same level of suspicious curiosity. I Travel in no hurry and this blog is the instrument to tell my story. I'm not english mother tongue, so please be indulgent with any grammatical/structural awkwardness you might stumble upon.
ITALIANO
Ecco il link alla versione italiana del mio blog: Marcoelitaliano... full info
sherwin sombilon
non-member comment
nice one!
Life of a seaman is not easy.That is why i am interested in this!