Headin' South....

Pacific Hotel, Lilongwe: 06:15hrs

Back to Blantyre today.  The coach was supposed to leave Lilongwe at 6.30 this morning from the Pacific Hotel quite near the house, before going on to the “coach station” in the old town for 7am, and then south.  So I set my alarm for 5am to make sure that I could pack up and have a coffee before leaving.  Lawrence got me to the right spot in plenty of time, and we sat in the car to wait.  6.10 came and went.  6.20 came and went.  Some other people arrived for the coach, but sadly the coach didn’t.  

Departure time: 06:30hrs; no people, no bus

6.30 came and went, and so it was decision time.  Do I wait there on the  assumption that the coach would turn up eventually, or should we head over the the old town in case they’d decided not to leave from the first stop for whatever reason.  I tried calling the phone numbers on the ticket wallet, but neither of them worked.  In the end we drove over to the old town, and caught sight of the bus going towards the first stop after all – it was just running quite late for some reason.  In any event, I got on it when it eventually arrived.

I’d thought there’d be a free for all, but it turned out the seats were pre-allocated.  My heart semi-stopped when I was told that my seat number was #13!  The coach was OK – they have a “bus hostess” who serves you a little tray containing a vegetable samosa and a small muffin, and a soft drink of your choice.  They also have a music player and a video machine, so once we were well underway she played The Matrix.  But I’ve never seen such a huge crack in a windscreen as there was right in front of the driver’s eyline.

The coach in Blantyre

Thankfully I’d got my IPOD and so was able to listen to my own stuff in peace with my eyes shut.  About an hour from Blantyre we had to stop at a police roadblock and everyone had to get out while the bus was checked over.  I’ve no idea what they were looking for, but it happens every time there, I’m told.  The local villagers even have barbeques set up roasting sweetcorn to sell to the coach travellers – I didn’t partake myself.  In the end I got to Blantyre at around 11:30.  I got off the bus having spoken to Peter who offered to pick me up in Daisy, but stupidly I'd got off at a different stop to the one I was supposed to, so Peter had to drive over to get me.

I'll get the hang of this one day.

This evening, Natasa, Peter and I went out for a curry at a place opposite Ryalls Hotel.  A nice chicken dish for me - medium-hot with jeera rice and a plain paratha, all washed down with a Carlsberg Green.  Very pleasant.