113.
Abidjan, Ivory Coast:
The only pretty woman aboard the bus offers to share a taxi with me from the bus depot and she soon drops me off at a nice western-style hotel. The room--with hot shower and clean sheets--costs eight dollars a night, which is more than I want to pay but I am too tired to seek out a cheaper place. I sleep peacefully in this comparative luxury!
In the morning I go to a nearby very modern bank with whole ivory elephant tusks for door handles to get some local currency. The part of the city I am in is very neat and modern. There are no beggars and the people on the streets are well dressed and look content. Many of the men have interesting tattoo patterns on their faces.
I locate the Upper Volta Embassy and since I am the only tourist around am given VIP treatment. This visa stamp costs one dollar US.
I find the train depot and learn that a train to Upper Volta will leave in the afternoon.
I am the only white person in the depot--in fact I am the only white person out and about in this whole town.
A tough-looking guard leads me to the head of the line of about a thousand travelers and helps me buy a second-class ticket that costs exactly half the first-class fare. This guard carries a three-foot length of fan belt as an encourager and gets lots of room and respect from the waiting crowds.
Nobody is buying first-class tickets.
With my ticket in hand I am able to force my way into an already jammed second-class coach. There is standing room only. I guess the hopeful travelers remaining in the station are out of luck because you couldn’t get another passenger on this train with a shoehorn!
We stand crammed together all day until sunset when the train finally starts to move.
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