Trip Back!!!

I am now back in the capitol, PTL. Back when I had only lived in the capitol,I always wondered why all these aid workers looked forward to spending their R&R time in this city...now that I've spent 6 weeks in the middle of nowhere desert I totally understand.

The 10 hr trip only took 9 hours b/c we were just that anxious to get back...or to get away. I thought that trips home were supposed to go by faster than trips out but this one felt like it was twice as long!

A few highlights of the trip. Saw a lot of trucks like the one driving in this picture that won't load (sorry!)....and a lot on the side of the road restacking their loads because they fell off. The road we are on is the only road from the one port to the capitol so it's 'heavily traveled' meaning that you pass a big truck about every 5 minutes. The trucks drive about 30 mph so you basically just fly past them unless someone happens to be coming the other direction. Then you slam on your brakes, get whiplash and wait. There are no speed limits and no rules on these roads so you just go and hope no one gets in your way...it's kind of liberating.

About 4 hours into it the highway closed, there were all these big rocks just laying the road. No sign, just a bunch of really big rocks. None of the cars around us looked like they really knew what was going on so we just took off into the desert behind the guy in front of us...who really needs a paved road anyways?!? After about 15 minutes of just driving through the desert parallel to the road we came to a point where there were several cars just sitting around with the hoods up. We didn't really understand what everyone was doing out there in the middle of nowhere working on their cars but there were lots of Chinese workers just standing around so we decided to drive on the road. We didn't see any other cars for a really long time but since none of the Chinese guys ran at us waving their arms we figured it was ok.

Then there were the monkeys. I have been looking forward to seeing these monkeys again for 6 weeks now. Today we went a really long ways without seeing them and I was about to give up hope when I saw the commotion up ahead. They were everywhere, even in the road, hundreds of them! I was really excited (my roommate is still making fun of how excited I was) and taking pictures. We even pulled off to the side of the road so we wouldn't be in anyone's way, not that it's a well traveled road or anything but just in case. After a few minutes we were ready to keep going but then noticed that someone else was stopped coming the other way and they were in the middle of the road. Turns out, it was 2 white people!!! The first white people I've seen in 6 weeks!! I was actually more shocked to see the foreigners than I was to see the monkeys, I mean, I expected the monkeys but I NEVER expected to see any foreigners all the way out here. When they noticed us, they were just about as surprised as we were. We waved and they waved back and then we headed off into the desert again....and laughed until we cried for 30 minutes about the fact that we just saw monkeys and white people, 2 very rare things, at the same time!!! Kind of say, I know, but it's been a loooong 6 weeks.

The last 3 hours of the trip were the longest. Coming into the capitol there is all kind of traffic but mainly the big trucks that go really slow. Since you're close to the capitol there is also lots of traffic coming the other way so you can't pass....or can you? We spent about an hour on the dirt next to the road driving past all the slow cars who wished they could be cool like us. (we weren't the only ones) It's kind of sad that you could actually drive faster on the bumpy desert dirt than you could on the holey (lots of potholes) paved road.

But probably the best part of the whole trip was getting to spend 9 hours outside of my house without being constantly stared at. There was the kid throwing rocks at the car first thing when we left this morning but we didn't let him get to us and no one else got a good look. They might could see us coming but then we were gone and all they saw was a flash of white that could have been a foreigner...ah how sad.