You'll get tired from travelling...

especially if you're almost 2 meters tall the body doesn't really like travelling by planes. One of the reasons why I prefer trains is because it is comfortable, and you won't fall 30.000 feet when there's an engine problem. I left Lena's appartment at 10 in the morning almost two days ago. The travel was supposed to take 26 hours, but ended up taking 28 hours. Not too bad. The only plane being late was the one going from Nairobi to Lusaka and Lilongwe. It was a quite dramatic trip, maybe most of all because I am terrified of flying. It is one of the few things I am actually really afraid of doing. Anyway, I will come back to the drama very soon.

The first flight with KLM was a flight I already has done sometimes before. From Trondheim to Amsterdam. I had almost five hours in Schiphol, but decided to not go to the city of Amsterdam. To be honest, I didn't really do anything except buying some crappy fast food that I regretted afterwards. The rest of the trip was with Kenya Airways, and I must say that nothing except the name of the airline and the colours of the clothes of the personnel made it different from flying with KLM. Maybe a little bit better service. This was a painful flight, lasting for 8 hours. It was really warm and of course the only airline that has seats that is perfect for big bodies like mine is Widerøe, so I was not able to sleep at all. It didn't make it better that I had to sit between two people. I survived it, but not without drama. One guy went crazy on the plane, and the personnel had to jump on him and throw him to the floor. I guess he was drunk, and this is another good reason to ban alcohol on flights. I don't know his nationality, but he was definetely European, and I guess he's having some big problems now. The security personnel at the airport in Nairobi picked him up, and either he got a big fine, or had to go to the local police. Let's just say that I am happy to not be him.

Anyway, the last flight was ok, but I didn't know that we had to go to Lusaka first. At least I got to see the airport in Lusaka from the plane, but nothing more. We landed in Lilongwe about one hour late, and then the security check and issuing of visas was quite straightforward but a little bit slow. The driver from the hostel had to wait for me for two hours, but she was smiling when I met her, so I guess it didn't matter too much.

I am now sitting at the hostel in Lilongwe. The Mufasa Backpack Lodge. It's a really nice hostel, and I got a nice sleep lasting for at least 12 hours. The clock here is approaching 8 in the morning, and everybody is already up, so I guess it is about time to go have a look at the city. I got to see a little bit yesterday, but it is really chaotic and one of the girls I am sharing room with told me that I should not spend too much time in Lilongwe, but rather do the other things I planned like Cape Maclear and Zomba. I have my bed here for 4 nights... But I have some things I need to do here, like going to the Zambian consulate, so I guess I can make the best out of these days.

I will try to take some pictures for my next post.

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