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Date: September 09, 2004
It has taken me five extra days to reach the launching
pad for Lesotho. People have kept telling me, "You don't want
to go there. It's not safe." SO i have riden hundreds of kilometers
around these areas, and through some of them. They seem fine. The
kids are as friendly as ever, and the old people are as respectful
and compassionate as ever, and the young women are flirty as ever,
the problem is the young men. But it wasn't bad. I would never have
suspected anything if people weren't so paranoid. But I haven't
been taking any chances. When a kind, elder black man told me, "Those
people aren't right," I reversed direction.
I rode through two days of frigid rain to get here.
i am glad South Africa has excellent camping facilities. I took
a hot shower and stuffed two bottles of hot water into my threadbare
sleeping bag to keep me warm at night. It seems unfeasible to climb
up to 3000 meters to the Lesotho plateau. I can see snow up there.
yesterday there was "heavy snow" on the pass. Most locals
say, I paraphrase: You'll be stuck in a blizzard and just slide
back down the pass, that is if you are lucky; if you're not lucky....
The most sage advice from the old-timers and tour guides all over
the world says, again i paraphrase: It may be raining. It may be
sunny. You'll have to go and see for yourself. It's possible, it
just depends how much you want it.
So, after the Andes, Tibet and New Zealand, I am thinking
I can do this. One more big effort up the Drakensburg Mountains
and Sani Pass. My main concern is not snow but rain. I have bought
cold-weather clothes again hoping to sell them on the other side.
It is only about 417 km over gravel roads and about 6 steep mountain
passes.
You'll hear from me again when i am coasting down
to Cape Town.
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