My Full Day In Kankan

I woke up and didn't know if I would go to Bamako or not. I took a shower and was surprised that there was hot water. Real hot water. Nice! And the bed was comfortable. And even though the electricity cut off in the night and the fan turned off, it wasn't hot. So I decided that I should spend the day in Kankan. A nice relaxing day.

I paid for another day and headed to the gare voiture. I asked some guy where the car to Bamako was and they all pointed down to a car. I headed down and a guy came out. I asked when it leaves and the price. My French was good. I understood the guy and he understood me. I felt good. It's going to be GF140000 (US$28) and I should get there about 6am. More expensive than I hoped and earlier than I hoped, but I understood everything and went away happy. I went to the BICIGUI but they neither have and ATM nor do they do cash advances. Thank goodness, I asked the guy at the gare voiture if there were money changers there in the morning. He had pointed to a guy and said he is there in the morning.

Then I headed back to put my Lonely Planet in my room. I did that, but then on the way out, when I tried to the lock the door, the key broke off in the lock. Yikes! I informed the manager and he brought in a locksmith. I watched the locksmith as he replaced the part with the lock. But it took him a really long time. He took the entire door lock mechanism apart. He spent minutes turning the key and watching the bolt. Then he'd hammer, twist parts with a pair of pliers, and go back to another minute or two of testing the key. Finally after an hour, he remounted the mechanism into the door and left.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. I wandered around the markets and got a baguette which I ate with some peanut butter. A policeman asked me something but I didn't understand him. I finally whipped out my wallet and took out a bill. He was insulted and pushed me away. I guess the police in Kankan aren't after bribes like in Conakry. That's nice.

The waitress at the hotel seemed to be deliberately ignore me. Less money I spend, I guess. Maybe she was enforcing Ramadan. I wrote into my journal and finished another English reading of The Road. At sundown, the men who hang out at the hotel all prayed and then ate. It started to rain. We all went in. I ordered a beer and a water and started a French/English reading of The Road to clear up my remaining questions.

There was a soccer game on. France vs. Serbia. Most of the crowd was for France. Two were for Serbia. I don't know why Muslims would be for Serbia. They must really hate France.
Well, tomorrow I wake up early and head to Mali. I'll have to make a big cash advance on my credit card. I need enough for 3 visas and all the transportation to Timbucktu.

September 10, 2008 22:07 Guinea local time