To Ride the Kombi.....part 2

After loading 2 big barrels of water onto the trailer of the minibus, stuffed in all the luggages, the drive of the kombi slammed the door shut (otherwise the door just wont close). I said hi to the person sitting on my lap and off we go.

We quickily stopped by a gas station after about 15 min's of ride. The driver apparantly forgot to pee before he starts off the (what will become a 6 hrs long) road trip. Everyone got a chance to pee there and I spent sometime pondering getting a phone card at that point, I was looking at my fully powered, fully receptive (MTN & Vodacom) cell phone and I decided not to. (and I regretted it badly, putting too much faith into modern technology).

We were stopped at a police check point 5 minutes later. We all think there will be a major delay because it is so obvious that we are over crowded and the kombi is overloaded. Haarrgg! No, the police officers just came over, make sure all the window and doors can be closed and shut and he let us go. Later we found out that as long as you can close the door and windows and shut them, you can carry as much stuff in a kombi as you like...I think someday someone is going to break the Guiness Record.

The first part of the trip is alright, until we reach umpangeni. The sky is getting very dark, and the there is no street lamps. We are getting further and further away from urban areas while the driver is driving faster and faster. The kombi's front light is not working properly. So, we end up driving in 140km/h in pitch black night, with the possiblily of driving into cows, springboks, trucks and cars traveling at 140 in the opposite lane

To ride the Kombi.....Part 1

The kombi, as I have mentioned, is a small minibus with a capacity for 18 pple. It is a popular way for South Africans to travel around. It is cheap, fast (too fast) and it is never full.

The three of us, hopped down from our "proper taxi" and ended up in one of the many kombi stations in Durban. It has rows of kombis waiting for passengers. We were told the kombi that goes to Manguzi Hospital will depart on 2pm, we were also told to get in the kombi so to secure a better seat. Well, so we waited in a small kombi, packed with 20 pple and their luggages from 1230 to 1500. We didnt dare to leave our luggage unattended and we also didnt dare to wander around the kombi station (not safe). We had to take turns to have toilet breaks.

Manguzi..here I come Part 2

All is well and we are all very excited until we reach the Durban airport taxi stand.

We were told by the Dr in-charge of medical students from the Manguzi hospitals that we can take a "Taxi" to go to the hospital from the Durban Airport.

What we didnt know, is that:
1)Manguzi hospital is at a small village 500KM away (5hrs drive at 120Km/H)
2)"taxi" means mini-bus a.k.a. "Kombi" in Zulu which takes 20 pples and all their luggage (with a capacity for only 18). and drive in insane speed...in the dark...with no head light
3)the taxi that we see in the taxi stand is called "proper taxi" or "metered taxi" in local terms.
4)If we take the "proper taxi", it is gonna cost us (at least)10000rand to get there .

So at the end, we took a "proper taxi" to a kombi station and catched a kombi....

Manguzi...here I come Part 1

Making a long distance call from South Africa to hong kong with a credit card is super expensive...

but Chiu Yi has got no choice.. she lost her cell phone on the flight from Hong Kong to Johannesburg, and she had to cancel her subscription the painful right. The flight took 13 hrs...and a super fat man sat right next to me...I watched 5 movies (kill bill, last samuri, the girl with the pearl ear ring...etc)

we spent 2 hrs in J'burg airport waiting for our transit to Durban, we dared not venture off the airport due to some bloody stories involving tourist and pyschopathic random killers. So we tried to look for local SA food in the airport food court, but there wasn't any....

Before there was light.......

Today is the last day of the 2 days long combined clinical examination, I think i did badly.....I said "sorry, I dont know" 3 times.

Well... I have to buy and pack things for my South african trip on the 9th.. I am going with Chiu Yi and Po...2 girls...(believe me.... I am so unlucky). On the other hand, I have to spend as much time with my family and my girl friend before I leave. I think I am going to miss them.