9 Hours on a Bus

I’ve been kind of a “site rat” these days so I thought it high time to get out of Jinja and go see some new sights. That place is called The West Nile (not to be confused with the mosquito disease) and it’s in the North West corner of Uganda.

Now, Uganda is a small country (they say about the size of Oregon), but in case you’ve missed my saying so before, transportation is VERY BAD and it takes FOREVER to go the shortest distance, let alone across the country. So I had to stay overnight in the capital before I could continue the journey the following day.

The good thing about that was that I got to have my first hot shower since February.

Wowwww….. so nice! ^_^

So I wake up bright and early to walk to the bus park. It’s dark and raining and there’s people everywhere fighting for a seat on the 7:30 bus. Thankfully, I had reserved my seat the previous day. Even got a window! :) We arrive at our stop around 4pm.

The ride overall actually wasn’t that bad, just very long. I’m just glad it wasn’t the worst case scenario: bus breaking down, non-stop road blocks, construction, etc. But that wasn’t my final stop… I met my friend to go to her place…which was another 2 hours away! WOW!

***I just wanna take this moment to give mad props to her and everyone else who lives SO FAR away and has to do that journey ALL THE TIME!

Uganda has many different tribes, each a little different than the other. The ones who live up there speak a language not related at all to the ones they speak down country so I had no idea how to greet other than in English. The people in the north are also known for being very friendly and polite. They’re usually darker and taller as well. The land is more flat, the climate is hotter, the rain is less, and the houses are usually huts. It's a totally different world. It’s beautiful.

Arua is a very nice, clean, and well organized town. It also has a bomb-dot-com kitenge (fabric) market! I wish I would’ve brought more money. MAKE ALL THE CLOTHE-EZ!

On my way back home, I stopped at another PCV friend’s site for a 2 night layover. We went on a hike up a random hill and were instantly surrounded by the village kids who lived nearby. These kids acted as our tour guides showing us how to get up this rocky hill without a trail. On the way back down, they got out their broken jerry cans and started sledding down a really long and smooth stone. One kid had been carrying a machete so he chopped some tree branches to also use as a sled. ***This is how deforestation actually happens*** They all piled on and slid down. It only got better when my friend and I joined in. I’m so sad I didn’t have my camera with me, but I don’t think any picture could ever capture how simply amazing that moment was.

Sometimes, I really love this country <3