Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
After breakfast with Father, we shook hands and he wished me a safe journey. I
visited the chapel one last time and with the directions of a few locals, I found the road to
Luabo. Even though I joked about it the night before, I in fact decided to cycle the back
roadstothewest ofthenational road.Why?Aftercloser examination ofmymap,themain
road was deemed impassable during the rainy season.
The road to Luabo would have been horrendous for a car or truck. However, for a
bicycle, therewasalocal paththatwentaroundthebushes,hugerutsandpotholes. Ididn't
rush and kept my speed low because of the tires. After the initial rough spots, the road im-
proved tremendously so I actually did increase my speed. The road surface consisted of
smoothed rock with a thin film of sand. It was ideal for my tires and I managed 47 kilo-
metres in 3½ hours.
It rained a little en route but I kept on going and soon I arrived into Luabo. What a
beautifultown!TheroadwaslinedwithhugetreesplantedlongagobytheBelgians.There
were a lot of two story buildings. The Spanish sisters welcomed me and we chatted as I
ate lunch. After, I visited their chapel and said the Rosary. I was escorted to the Fathers'
rectory and they explained who I was and I quickly received a room. I took a shower, and
then ate dinner which consisted of shima (bidya). I had a great conversation with the two
Polish and two Zaïrian Franciscan priests and eventually hit the sack.
The next morning I left after a huge breakfast and thank-you. Leaving the village,
the road crossed rough terrain until I arrived at a tributary of the Lualaba River. The next
31 kilometres to Kinda were quick with very little sand. I was practically ascending the
whole day with very few descents. I came across a T-junction after Kinda and turned to the
left. The road then split. I wasn't 100% sure of my decision but I opted to stay on the main
'road' which was mostly a tractor track/narrow footpath thus keeping to the left.
After this point, sand became an issue. Since the sun was out all day, the sand was
dry and very difficult to negotiate. As soon as I came across these patches, I hopped off
the bike and walked. There were no foot paths that I could defer to anymore so it was slow
but at least I was moving forward. The cook back in Kamina told me that this route was
an excellent road. I guess he said what I wanted to hear and/or that he didn't really know
but felt compelled to answer as if he did. Either way, there I was pushing my bike when it
dawnedonmethatIwascompletelyalone.Isawnovillagersorlocalcyclistsfortheentire
day (vehicles were a given). I guess it wasn't a popular route among the locals.
I yelled out a couple of times to vent the stress that was building. I was getting a
bit anxious to get to my next village and felt my heart starting to race. I had to consciously
relaxmyselfandregulatemybreathing.IwashappythatIatethathugebreakfastforIused
every calorie. The views were nonexistent for the road was surrounded by vegetation and
even ifit wasn't,Ispent most ofthe daylooking at twofeet ofgroundinfrontofmytire to
avoid any mishaps.
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