Crossing into Smallest Country of Africa Lesotho S7 EP.64 | Pakistan to South Africa
Assalam Alekum Everyone. Welcome back to the channel from Bethlehem, South Africa. We reached here last night because we are going to Lesotho. And today we are about 40 to 50 km away from the border of Lesotho. The plan is that we will have breakfast here and leave shortly. We will cross the border of Lesotho.
And I have found a point ahead called Katse Dam. It is about 225 km away from here. I found the pictures very beautiful.
And I thought that if we go there and explore this area. It may take us 4 to 4.5 hours to cross the border. Normally, it takes 1 to 1.5 hours to cross the border. I think we will enjoy exploring this area. I don't know about the road because there are some asphalt roads and gravel roads in Lesotho.
We will try to explore the gravel roads and the beauty of Lesotho. Because you won't find a country like this in the whole region. Firstly, it is landlocked.
And secondly, the mountains here. A lot of South Africans go to Lesotho for hiking, camping and enjoying the mountains. So I thought we will also go there. Our motorcycle, Rangeeli, is standing back there. I just have to have breakfast and leave. We found a nice lodge yesterday evening.
And this is the restaurant where we will have breakfast today. We have a very good breakfast today. Normally, I have always had a good experience at family-bread and breakfast places. Wherever you go, it is neat and clean and well-managed.
We have cereals in the first shift. We have 4 to 5 different cereals, fruits, yogurt, juice and coffee. We also have eggs and other things. So we need a good breakfast today. Because we don't know how our day in Lesotho will go. We will get some energy from here and then leave.
Bismillah... In the name of Allah Prayer for the journey Ya Allah, may we have a good day today. Please open the doors. This has been one of the best guest house experiences.
100% value for money. It was a great breakfast. Now we will cross this small town as we leave. According to the navigation, it is 61 km from here to the border. It will take us almost an hour.
We just need to fill up the fuel. This is the beautiful mosque of this town, Al Noor. Most of the people in this town are in the farming business. You can see the shops and stores here and there. That gives you an idea. Let's see how our border crossing in Lesotho goes.
I don't have much information about Lesotho. I know a little bit about this country. Let's see how this country treats us.
It's a small country and we won't be spending much time there. We will just see the mountains for a couple of days and then leave. You will find all the facilities in any small or big town. That's a church on the right.
It looks quite old. It's Saturday. A lot of shops are closed. The weather is beautiful today.
It's about 23 to 24 degrees here. There's a cool breeze. It's a summer day. It was about 18 to 19 degrees at night.
I didn't even need an AC at night. I slept well with a fan on. The weather in this region is amazing.
People have beautiful houses here. This area is really beautiful. Seems more like a canyon region. We are about 6 to 7 km from the border. Almost there. It's gonna be a small town.
And the border is right next to it. Welcome to South Africa and Lesotho border. The name of the place is Kladensport. I think we have to go this way. Let's park here and see where the immigration is.
It's a quiet airport. I mean border crossing. Hi, how are you? I am good, thank you. Where is the immigration? With a motorcycle or leave it here? Okay, thank you. At first I thought that Lesotho must be inside South Africa. And there may be a few changes.
But no, it's proper. You have to cross immigration and all. It opens at 6 in the morning and closes at 10 at night. Thank you very much. What is your name? Faisal.
Faisal is from Islamabad. He is crossing the border with us. Have you been living in Lesotho? Since when? About 10 years. There is a village near Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Jang Bahadur.
Let's cross the border, Faisal. Okay. Bismillah. In the name of Allah. We have crossed South Africa.
You can say that this is one of the easiest border crossings. They have stamped our passports. We also needed a stamp on Carnet. Because we are going to a new country now.
So that was necessary. And with that, bye bye South Africa. For a couple of days. After that we will enter again from Lesotho. There is a very beautiful mountain pass. I have planned to enter from there.
I think there is no river down there. There seems to be a river. Yes, there is a small river. Yes, there is little water in it.
We have to go from here. There are trucks on the left side. We will go to the right side and park Rangeeli. It is possible that I will have to get the bike entrance registered on carnet. The advantage of these borders is that due to less crowd, there is no tension about the luggage. There is no issue that the luggage is lying behind.
Look at the other bikers, they are roaming around Lesotho. Where are they from? I think they are from South Africa. Bismillah Ar-Rahman Ar-Rahim Welcome to Lesotho. It took us 10 minutes to cross the border on one side.
And 5 to 10 minutes on the other side. That's it. All the work is done here. I have to go to them. Let's see what they are saying.
Hello ma'am, how are you? Toll gate fee, okay. So can we pay by card or cash? Card as well. So the toll gate is 60 Rand? Sorry? 8? Okay, thank you. Thank you very much.
You can say that we have paid almost 4.5 dollars here. It's okay. There was no visa fee on the German passport. Just a simple stamp.
There was no registration at all. No computer check as well. Welcome to Lesotho. There was just one entry made about the motorcycle. For how long I am staying here.
Where I am going. And the name of the exit border. I think they asked me.
That's it. No special checking. No much information. They just let us go. And we have paid just 4 dollars. This is the total cost of crossing the border.
It was nice. They have a really good setup. There aren't any issues.
Everyone is very polite. That's what I have noticed. Not only here but also in South Africa. I think we will go to the store with Faisal. We will buy SIM from there. Because Vodacom is not working here.
So we might need internet. To see the roads. To book a lodge. To use Google maps.
Would be nice to have some tea before we leave. The change in the landscape has brought some excitement. Otherwise, it was very flat. It started with Botswana. In South Africa, it was a bit up and down.
The area we are passing through was also flat. It's pretty nice here. There's a cool breeze. Lesotho has a population of 2.1 or 2.2 million. It is said to be the only country in the world where... The ethnicity of population of this city is Basotho.
95% of the population is Basotho. I think they signed an agreement with Britain in Dutch times. To get protection for their colony. And they have been a British colony for a long time.
They got independence in 1966. Overall, it is said that this is a very poor country. Half of the population is below the poverty line. But the education system is good here. You will find the most educated people in South Africa or the whole region. The literacy rate is 80%+.
So these were some facts that I wanted to share with you. I don't know if it's their currency or they use Rand. Otherwise they would have asked me to pay in their local currency at the border. This is the first town of this area. There are towns 4 to 5 km from the border on both sides. I don't think we will need fuel from here.
I have seen some places on the map where we can get fuel in a 100 km. These are traditional houses. Along with concrete houses. It's a mix and match here. Almost everyone is wearing a cap or an umbrella. The sun is very strong here.
I think Lesotho is at an altitude of over 1000 m. The tallest peak in the southern region of South Africa is also at an altitude of over 3400 m. It's also here in Lesotho.
I hope we will get to see some beautiful mountain scenery here. It's a small area but the population is 2.1 to 2.2 million. We came from Botswana which is a big country.
But their population is almost the same as the population here. Except for South Africa, all the other countries I have visited, the roads get worse after you leave the main road. But in South Africa, almost everywhere I have visited, the roads are good. You can see the huge difference between here and South Africa.
You don't feel like you are in Africa when you are in South Africa. But here, you will feel like you are in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Malawi. It's quite similar to all those countries. Assalam Alekum This is Faisal bhai. He has served us tea.
My first thought was that they use rands in this country as well. But this is their own currency. This is...
This is a 100 bill of Lesotho. Do you have a South African bill as well? This is Nelson Mandela's picture. I think this is the royal family. The 100 of South Africa and the 100 of Lesotho are equal. Both are valid here. You can use them as you like. I have some South African money. I think I can manage.
Maybe I can use my credit card. This is the 50. The same royal family picture.
What is their language? Their language is Susotho. Susotho. It's written in their local language.
Do people speak English here? They speak English in addition to their own language. Let's see. We will leave soon. We are waiting for the SIM card. We will leave once we get it. We are planning to cover 175-200 km from here. We will reach Katse dam from here.
It's a beautiful area. Thank you so much Faisal bhai. I was listening to their stories. I am a bit curious about the security and safety situation in these countries. He told me that it's a very good place for business. His store was quite a busy place.
However, everything is closed as soon as the dusk falls. Living here is a bit tough. Especially because there isn't much here for families. South Africa on the contrary is a much nicer place. Everything is easily available and one can travel freely.
He told me about a robbery incident at his store, just a few days back. These are some of the issues here. However, countries with such problems also offer a lot of good business. This looks like a relatively bigger town. I have seen a lot of fuel pumps on the way. I have taken a sim card.
So we can now use Google to find anything we need. I don't know... the sim normally costs $1 or so. No issue there. We have got a data package of about 3 GB. It also has a credit of about 10 rands.
Just in case we need to make phone calls. Most of the times, I have to call a lodge for booking. This place looks rather lively. Looks like there's some event taking place.
The whole area down there is full of corn. Let's see what's happening here. Hi bro. How are you?
What's going on here? Ah... Cultural celebration. Graduation O. The graduating students are celebrating here. Okay, so it's allowed to go and see it. Thank you.
We have walked our way to this celebration party. Looks like the whole village is here. But it will be interesting to see their cultural event.
I haven't seen anyone in Africa yet. Overall people are very friendly and a bit curious. Who is this guy? Let's go to the other side. That side? Yeah, let's go that side.
You don't shoot. Sorry? When I shoot a video. Yes, yes. I think he is asking for money.
What? Sir. Come, come. Quite a scene here. Everyone is asking you to join them.
We have made a few videos of their event. But it was a bit weird to be here with so many people. Everyone was trying to convince me to go there. So that they can allow me to go there. And then you have to pay for it.
We have paid around 200 rand here. And then we made a video. Our bike is parked ahead.
Let's get going. I don't know how long this celebration will last. But it was good. I found it interesting. So I thought of taking a short break here.
And look at the kids gathered around the motorcycle there. Hello You can say that I am on the most beautiful bridge in our Africa trip. There is one more bridge that I must mention. And that was the bridge next to Victoria Falls. That was very beautiful. And so is this. Amazing.
Lissoto has turned out to be worth the effort on the very first day. People used to tell me that I'll love the mountains in Lesotho. And I would wonder... Mountains in Africa?? But the mountains in Lesotho are really wonderful. And because of less traffic, there is very little pollution. Consequently, the visibility is very high.
So it's great to be able to see and enjoy your ride from a distance. And if you have a 310 km bike, and you want to go uphill, it's going to be quite an ask for the motorcycle. So you will have time to see and observe things. There used to be a lodge called Katse Lodge, here.
Apparently there's construction work going on there. So that is closed. Let's see what other options we have here. Let's keep looking around. I can see a few more on Google. Let's visit them.
This is Brovita. Guest house. Let me check it on Google. Okay, let's go to Brovita. Let's see where it is.
The sun is so strong that I can't see anything. We have found the guest house. As soon as I entered the gate, my camera turned off.
So I thought to show you the guest house. There is a party going on here. It's weekend. So I decided to avoid the front rooms here. We opted for the back rooms that we can sleep comfortably. There are only one or two guest houses here.
One is closed. And this one. We have found a room for us here.
We have parked our bike here. This is the reception. And we have taken a room behind this. So that the noise does not reach there.
Let me show you the room. It's a beautiful, clean and small room. But we will sleep comfortably here. And apart from that, we will have tea and coffee here. If needed.
There is no water here. And there is a small, clean and beautiful washroom here. I have paid 850 Rand for this. And if you convert it into dollars, it becomes 45 USD.
Including breakfast. I think it's reasonable. I have no idea about the prices here. The prices should be a little lower. But there are no guest houses around here. So it will be a little expensive due to lack of competition.
Let's take some rest now. We will go out and take some drone shots of this area. The sun is a little high now.
Let it go down a little. It's dinner time. And today we have trout fish in front of us. Some fries. And some salad with corns. And what is this? Carrot.
I am very hungry. We just had breakfast today. I did eat some light snacks that I found in my bag. Let's have our dinner now. It looks amazing. Hopefully the taste will be good as well. I am not sure how much I paid for it.
They haven't taken the bill yet. But it will be around $10. Let's try it and see how it tastes. It looks delicious.
I may be a bit too hungry today. But the fish is also amazing. Let's have our dinner now. I hope you liked the vlog. If you did, please Like, Subscribe and Share. Remember me in your prayers.
See you in the next one. Allah Hafiz.
2024-05-06 05:21
