Poly poly (slowly slowly)
“˜That’s mutiny Mr Christian’. Well the thought did occur to me; while four of us sat drinking tea a good hour after the rest of the group has disappeared over the horizon.
We had two options today, 200kilometres of sand or the same on tarmac. I think three took the sand option, Mike, Steve and Chris – Aussies all. Good on yer mate! However, before deciding such weighty matters, a few of us decided to mull the trip over before it becomes a memory. Hence more tea and a late start.
I think a few more bikes took their time but as always, there are those for whom the road is a challenge to be taken on with speed and immediacy. Also, a new hotel awaited (with internet, it was rumored), just a couple of hours away.
Everyone has his or her own way of savouring of the journey; it’s a personal choice. Mine is slowly, with stops here and there to take in a new culture. Today we stopped to talk to ladies washing their laundry and hastily recruited an interpreter; it was an eye opening experience. As was watching drinking water being drawn from a square hole in the earth a scant metre away from another used to wash clothes. Clean bottled water was something we were taking for granted. Makes you think.
As the sun sets on another day of this tour we are sitting overlooking another wide and sinuous tributary turning into a honey and sepia scene from yesterday, as dugouts from another era make their way home. A fish eagle cries. Perfection.
