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thrilled when I realized I only had 35 kilometres left. The next time I checked my map, it
was downto 24kilometres. Myspirits grew as the kilometres dropped forIhad one imme-
diate goal: to be off the bike. Thankfully, the quality of the road improved allowing me to
achieve this goal quicker.
Lowandbehold,IarrivedinLoubomo(alsocalledDolisie).Thetownwassurroun-
dedbyhillsandforsuchalargeplaceitwassoquiet.TheCongoreallyhadonlytwomajor
roads and they both met in this town forming an upside-down 'T'. The north-south road
which I just completed started at the Gabonese border and ended in Loubomo. The west-
east road started at the port city of Pointe Noire, cut through Loubomo and terminated in
Brazzaville. I was excited for the next morning for I would be on that road heading east to
the capital.
I found the Catholic Mission and was immediately welcomed. Father Gerdain pre-
pared me a pasta dinner and after a quick shower, we chatted until my eyelids grew heavy.
I excused myself and went to bed totally exhausted.
The next morning, I woke up bright and early. After a great breakfast and mass,
the sisters and Father Gerdain said good-bye to me. Just before I left, I noticed a statue of
Holy Mary outside the Church. As I touched it and said a quick prayer, I was flooded with
a sense of happiness.
The first 20 kilometres were very scenic but challenging due to the road's dimin-
ishing quality. After I passed through Loudima at the 50 kilometre mark, my heart sank. In
front of me was a one-lane, rock-infested track. I was told that ever since the rail line was
built toPointe-Noire, thegovernment hadlet theroadsfall toruin.Thisstretch ofroadwas
a testament to that. I must add here that the quality of the road wasn't consistent either for
it kept switching. As soon as I came to a clearing to cross a bridge, there were three kilo-
metres of asphalt road. Then it reverted back to gravel with some stretches infested with
large puddles. Finally, the surface was covered in rocks and large perilous ruts which al-
most seemed like canyons on both sides of the road.
At Nkay, I ate a small lunch of mangoes and rested under the shade of a tree. I con-
tinued on and shortly after, my stomach reminded me that what I ate for lunch was not
enough. So, with 27 kilometres to go, I stopped again and ate some bread, bananas and to
my utter joy, I found two wrapped toffees at the bottom of my bag. Man did I savour them
(you have to enjoy the little pleasures in life!)
The road was still wet from a previous rainfall and its surface was exceptionally
slippery. With a lack of tread on both tires, I was quite fortunate that I only I ended up slid-
ingintothetreesonce.With8kilometresuntilmydestination,Itookabreaktophotograph
the scenery.
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