Rwanda First Impressions: A Bicycle Friendly Nation vA 111
(Kabale, Uganda) - Morning, my friends. Ah, thank you. Ah? One minute. Oh, I need... I have something to do before leaving.
- You have forgotten about me. - Yes. - Oh, I need to write here. Oh, I didn't get it. Okay. Date. What's the day today? - My god. This Mercedes-Benz is overloaded. - It's overloaded. Yes. - Yeah.
- Let's go, guys. - Goodbye. - Lovely people here. I'm gonna miss the people in Uganda. Very friendly. Let's go to Rwanda, guys, today. So 25 kilometers to the border. And 100 kilometers to Kigali for today. - Wait. - Hey, my friend. - Hey, man. - Yes, yes, yes. - Wash, wash, wash, wash?
- Hey, white man. - For a wash? For a wash? - Ah? - For a wash? - For you? - Yeah. - What is for you? - Hey, man. - Ah? - Hello. - ...for you that I want to wash it. Let me take a photo. - You want to wash it? Yes. - Let me take a photo. And I post it. - Let me take a photo.
- Yeah, let me take a photo. Okay. - Okay, I... - So you go... - I need to go. - Go, please. - Have a good day. - Please. - Bye-bye. - Good day, my man. - Bye-bye. - Okay.
- Yes. Oh, it's cold this morning. It's quite cold in the misty mountains of Equatorial Africa.
And Kigali — right. - Hello. - Hello, man. - Yeah. - Hey, man. Stop, stop. - Hello. Ah? I don't understand.
I don't understand. - Ah? - I don't understand. - Yes. - Hello, man. - I'm going faster. - Hello, man. Stop. - You are fast, bro. - I'm fast.
- You are faster than me. - Yeah, because I have an engine. Where are you going? - Up to Buhara. - Okay. Hi. - Hey, sir. - How many kilometers are you going? - About 12 kilometers. - 12 kilometers. Okay. - Yeah. - Welcome. - Hello, hello, hello. Yes, yes. - Hello. How are you? - Good, good, good.
- I'm good. - I'm also good. - Hey. - How are you? - Hello, mzungu. - Hi. - Hi. The typical long queue of trucks at the border.
- How are you? - Hello. Good, good. How are you? - How are you? - Good. How are you? - I'm okay. - Hi. - Yes. - Where do I have to go? - Just directly. Directly.
- Directly? - Yeah, you go directly. - So, I don't stop here. I stop after. - No, you don't stop. It's a one-stop border. - One-stop border? Okay. - Yes. Okay. - Thank you. - Thank you. - Hi.
- Hello, hello. - Hello. - Hi. The border is here? - Yes.
- Yes. - Hello there, sir. - Hello. How are you? - Good. You? - Good. - In the bag. - Ah? - The bag. - In the bags? - Please. Please, get the bag inside. - Back there? - Yes. - Yes.
Here? - Yeah. - Can I get the bike inside? I can ride it here? - For bags, you bring this way bags. - Oh, I bring the bags. Okay. (Bags checked. Passport stamped out and in.) So that's what I want to change. So that's one, two ... 29, 30. So that's 600,000 ($156). - Yeah.
Yes. - Yeah. That's 250,000 ($65). - You, you, you, come. - Ah? Ah, you want me to come inside. Bye-bye. - Yeah. - Yeah. - How are you? - A camera. How are you? - Thank you. Thank you. - Thank you, thank you.
And I am in Rwanda, guys. Hi. - Hello. - Okay. Thank you. Bye-bye. - Safe journey. - Thank you, thank you! - Hello. - Where? Kigali? - And I am in Rwanda, guys.
I love this sensation of arriving in a new country. It's so awesome. - Hey, mzungu. How are you? - Yes. And I have piles of cash again like in Sudan, after changing the money at the border. Let's see how Rwanda is — the country of a thousand hills. Good, good.
Good, good. And what is good is that I am back riding on the correct side of the road. Hello, hello. And the border was very easy. No visa for French people, so... A super easy border.
- Bon voyage. - Bon voyage. Thank you! Some tea transportation. Ah? I can stand. Yes. Ah? You want me to stand? Yeah, yeah, but... No, I need to... I'm going go to Kigali today, so I... It's already midday, so... - Kigali.
- I can go? Okay, thank you. - Yeah. - Yes. Hello. - Hello. - Bye-bye. - Yeah. - Yeah.
Wow! Hello. - Hey, hey. - Hello. - Oh, a little pig. Yoo-hoo-hoo. Oh, it's so beautiful. Look at that. It's absolutely gorgeous.
Hello, hello. - Hey. - And somehow, I have passengers. I guess my shade must be quite good, it must be very good. - Stop. - Hello. - Hello.
- Hi, mzungu. - Hello. - Hey. - Hey. - Hello, hello, hello. - Morning. - Yeah. - Hello. - Good morning. - Hello, hello. - Hello, hello. - Hello, hello, hello, hello.
- How are you? It's really funny how your brain can create false impressions and false feelings. Because of the history... It's my first time in Rwanda. And because of the history, I even have the impression that I can smell the fresh blood from the massacres here that are so recent. I can really, truly say that I smell it, but I know it's my brain that creates this impression. - How are you? - Good. How are you? - I'm fine. - Hey. - Hey. - Hey, mzungu. - Yes.
Everyone is racing me. Hello, hello. - Yeah. - Yes, yes, yes. Oh my god, that's gorgeous. Oh, this country is so beautiful. - Hello, hello. - Hello, hello.
- Yeah. - Hello. - Yeah. - Yeah. - Hey. Hey. - Hey, mzungu. - Hello, hello, hello, hello. Hello, hello, hello. - Hi, hi. - Hey, hey. How are you? - I'm fine. - Good, good, good. - Yeah, how was the day? - Yeah, the day is good. Yeah. - It's good?
- Good, good, very good. - Yeah. - Yeah. - Yeah, just us. - Good, good. Just us. - Yeah. You have brought innovation here. - Innovation? - Yes. - Oh, this is innovation. Yes. - Yeah, that is innovation. - Yes, this is innovation. - Yeah. - I bring innovation indeed. - Yeah. You have... - Good. - You have to bring the innovation. - Yes, I bring innovation. Yes.
- Yeah. This is a bicycle, sir? - It's a bicycle. Yes. - This is a bicycle? - But a different kind. Yeah. - Yeah. - Yes. - This is different. - It's a... It's a tricycle. - It's? - A tricycle. - Yeah. - Three wheels. Tricycle. - What is that? - Hello, hello, hello. - Hello, hello, hello. - Human. - Human. - What is that? - Ah? - What is that? - Camera. - Hm? - Camera. - That is a camera. - Yes. - You see me?
- Yes. - You are watching me. - I'm watching you. Yes. - Yeah. You come from where? - I come from France. - France? - Yes. - I love you. - You love me? - Yeah. - I love you, too.
Good. So where are you going? - Oh, I came to see you. - Oh, you came to see me. - Yeah. - From there. From the village there.- I... - Okay. - I had just to see you. - Okay. Just to see me. - Yeah. - Nice. - Human, human.
- That's nice of you. Ah? - Human. - Yeah, yeah. I'm human. I realized that yesterday I removed all my plastic bags from my bags, because I know plastic bags are forbidden here, but they didn't check anything at the border. Man, they were too distracted by my bike. They very quickly X-rayed my bags, and that's all. They just asked me, "Do you have a drone?" I said, "No." And that's all. Hello. How are you? - How are you? - Good, good, good.
Yes, yes, yes. - Welcome. - Ah? Oh, I forgot that. (The trike wants to go down the hill) Okay. - Yes. - Bye-bye.
Hello, hello. - How are you? - Morning. - Good, good. How are you? Nice bicycles. - Yeah. - Hello. - Yeah. - Yeah. - Hi, hi. - Hi. - I just love the way my bike just makes people happy. Look at that, guys. This landscape. So I'm now climbing a pass at 2,100 meters high on my way to Kigali.
And then it's almost all the way downhill after this pass. Hi. - Yeah. - And I think that's the summit of the valley. Hello, hello. - You are welcome. - Yes. You... Here you are again. - Yeah. - Yeah, you cheated.
He climbed the hill with a truck. He was holding a truck. Let's see if we can find some food around here. - Hello, hello. - Hello, hello. - Yeah, we have a restaurant there. - Oh, you have food. - Yes. - Yeah, it's very good. That's what I'm looking for.
- Back in there. - You found me. That's perfect. - Yeah. - It's here? - Yeah. - Okay. Resto Chez Pari. - Yes. - Chez Pari. Very good. - Yeah. - Can I go behind?
Let's have some food. We found a good restaurant. Hello. - Hello, hello. - Hello, how are you? - Mzungu. - Mzungu, mzungu. - Are you fine? - Hello, man.
- What is this? - 1,000 ($0.8). - 1,000. I don't need it. It's okay. Let's go to eat, guys. - Yeah, yeah. - Yeah. - Yes. - Yes. - Yes. That's all my spectators. Sorry.
Great. Thank you! What do you have? What food do you have? Ah? - Potato, banana. - Potato, banana. - Chips. - Chips. - Rice. - Rice. - Rice? - Beans. - Rice with what? - Rice, beans, chips, potato, banana. - Okay. Do you have meat or...? Do you have some meat or...? - Yeah. - Chicken? - No. - What? Beef, goat? - Goat. - Goat? - Yeah.
- Can I have rice with bananas and goat's meat? How much is this? - Only 2,000 ($1.6). - 2,000. What else? - Beans. - Beans also. Yes. - Chips. - No chips. No. So okay. Rice, banana. Beans, and goat meat, please. - Yeah. - Thank you. Hi. - This is a camera. - This is a camera. Yes. - Yes. - Here. - Great. Thank you. Oh, look at that.
Oh, that's a lot of beans, bananas, rice, and the goat. Oh, wow. Chili. Thank you. And people... still my bike.
My bike is the queen of the show. Let's try our first Rwandan food. Healthy food; here, around here, all the local food is always very healthy.
Oh, the broth. And look at this chili. Wow, that looks good. It makes me sick. But I love it, actually. So I'll try a little bit.
Oh, the chili... The chili... The chili is so good. Wow. Oh, man. But it gave me an instant hiccup. Banana. There is this alarm. Wow. Do you have juice or something? - Juice? - Juice. Yes. - Juice. Yeah. - Yes. - What kind? - Fresh juice. You have it? - Fresh juice. - From... - We have... - Ah?
- Do you know Inyange? - Inyange? - Inyange juice? - I don't know, but I'll try. - Mango? - Mango? No, I'll try Inyange. Let's try Inyange. Apple. Okay. Oh, it's a brand. But do you have fresh? - Fresh? No. - Oh, you don't have fresh. That's okay. I'll take this. It's just the brand. Let's try the meat.
Very, very tender, actually. Wow. Sorry, do you have napkins? Napkins? - Napkins? - Napkins. - Food? - No, napkins. Yes. Thank you.
Maybe, I should speak French to the people. That's a very good micro eggplant. The broth is really something else. Look, the meat is so tender. I can cut it with my spoon, actually. Thank you. Look at that. I got some more meat. I don't know. It came out of nowhere. I struggle.
That's too many carbs for me. I struggle to eat that many carbs. But meat I can eat as much as I want. How much do I owe you? - 5,000 ($4). - 5,000. - Yes. - There you go. Thank you. - Thank you. Yeah, I'm finished. Yeah. Bye-bye. Thank you. Merci.
- Mzungu. - So... - Mzungu. Yes. - Mzungu. - The mzungu is back. - "Munienga". - "Munienga"? What is "munienga"? What is "munienga"? - You know Swahili? - Ah? - Swahili? - Yeah.
- Just a bit. - Just a bit. - Just a bit. Yeah. - Drive. - They want to drive it. - Ah, drive. - Yeah. - Yeah, drive. - Yeah. People want to drive my bike. But… No, I cannot. I need to go. - Yes. - You are going where?
Kigali? - I'm going to Kigali. Yeah. - Kigali city? - Kigali city. Yes. - Welcome ... arrival. Welcome ... arrival. - Welcome ... arrival.
Thank you. - Which city? City? - City? - Yeah. - City. Kigali. Paris. - Paris, France? - Paris, France. My city — Soissons. - Soissons. - Soissons, Soissons. - Soissons. - Soissons. Soissons.
- Tour de France. - Tour de France? - Yeah. - Tour de France. - Soissons. - Tour de... Ah, yes. Yes. - Yeah. - Ah? I don't... Sorry. "Kupanda". - "Kupanda". - Yeah. Oh, "kupanda". Ah, yes, yes. - "Kushuka". - "Kushuka". Yeah, okay. Okay, okay. - Safe arrival. - Thank you. - Safe journey.
- Now it's… "Kushuka", no? - "Kushuka". - "Kushuka". - Yeah. - From here to Kigali, downhill. - "Utelemo". - Ah? - "Utelemo". - "Utelemo". - Yeah. - Okay. My Swahili is getting better. - What is this? What does this do? - What? Camera. - Camera? - Camera.
Yeah. - Pictures. - Yes. - Picture. Yeah. - Yeah. - Picture, picture. - Yeah. - Picture. Picture people. Light. - Light. - Light.
Ah, you are hungry... Yes, but many people are hungry around here. I cannot solve this problem myself. - Yes. - Sorry.
Downhill. - Yeah, "kushuka". - "Kushuka". This. - Money. - Money. - Yeah. Give me money. - Why? - Yeah. - Why should I give you money? - Yeah. - Why? Why? - Why?
- Human, human. - Okay. I'm going. I want to go. Yes. - Yeah. - I'm going to Kigali. Goodbye, goodbye. - Yes. - Give me money. - No, no, no. - Give me money. - No, no, no. - Human. - Yes. - Can you give me a gift — money? - No. - No. No? - No. - Why? - Because why should I give you a gift?
So now it's downhill. I put on my helmet. It's downhill almost all the way to Kigali. - Hello.
- Hello. Hello, hello. - Yeah. - Hello. Hello, hello. - Hey. - Yeah. - Hello. - Hello. - Yeah. - Hey. - Yeah. - Hey. Camera. - Yeah.
- Hello. Yeah. That's funny. People seem... Opposite to what I expected, people seem to like cameras here. It's an authoritarian country, so I expected the opposite.
Well, that's nice. Hello. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. - Yeah, yeah. - Hey. - Yeah. - Hello. - Hi, hi. - Hey. Hey. - Hey. Yes, yes, yes. - Hello. - Yeah, yeah. - Hey, man. - Yeah, man. - Yeah. - Yeah.
- Morning, man. - Hi, hi, hi. Hello, hello, hello. Hello, hello. - Hello. - How are you? - How are you? - Thank you, thank you. - Good. Good, good. Let's go. Goodbye.
My sunglasses. What did I do? I lost a pair of sunglasses like this in Switzerland. Goodbye. Hello. - Hey. Hey, man. - Hey. - Go. Go, go, go. - Mzungu. - Mzungu. Yes. Hello. - Hello. - Electric bicycle. - Bicycle with electricity? - Yes.
- Yeah. - Yeah. - Hello. - And I've got a whole crew now. It's the country of cycling, man.
Everyone has a bicycle here. - How are you? - Good. Good, good. - Yeah. Good, good, good. - Yeah. - Yeah. Oh, man. These guys are true cyclists. They go fast. Yeah. - How are you? - Yeah. - Good, good. Fast, fast. - Go, go, go, go. - Good, good, good. - Go, go. - Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. - Yeah. - F*** you, f*** you. F*** you, f*** you. - F*** you, f*** you.
Yeah. - You're good? - Yes, now I'm gonna be slower. Yeah. - You'll be slower. - Hello. - Hi. Hello. Good, good. - Good. You are going here? - I'm going to Kigali. - Kigali? - Yeah, I'm going to Kigali. - Yes, yes. - Yes. Tired, tired. - Yeah.
- Hello, hello. - Oh, man. Something small all the time. Hi. Look at that. That's beautiful. Hi.
And you know what? We're arriving in Kigali, guys. And I did not find a single rainbow bump on the way. No more rainbow bumps. That's some skills.
Hi. - Mzungu, mzungu. - Hi. - Hello, hello. Look at that. This is fancy, guys. I'm going through a very fancy neighborhood.
Oh, man. There's a lot of money in Kigali. Wow. - Hi. - Hi. Do you know where is...? - Bravo. - Ah? - Bravo. - "Brahu"? - Bravo. - Bravo. Ah. - Yeah. - Yeah. - Thank you.
Do you know where Adriel Homes is? So Adriel Homes Woodland. So now I need to find my place to stay. I had a bit of an argument with the guy who is hosting me. He's unable to tell me clearly where the place is. He said it was near the Czech Embassy. - Embassy of who? - Of the Czech Republic.
- The Czech Republic. I don't know where that is. - Yeah, so basically I had a big argument with the guy — it doesn't make any sense — with the guy who is hosting me, because I asked him, "Can you give me the position of the place, because I won't have internet when I arrive, so I need to know where the place is before." And the guy told me, "Yes, the position of Booking is correct," and then he sent me a position which was three kilometers away from the position of Booking.com.
So then I was like, "Well, you told me it was correct, but then you sent me another position." So then he started to be, "Why are you complaining? It's easy." So basically, in the end, he sent me three different positions, three completely different positions, and he told me, "All the positions are correct. You should not complain. All the positions are perfectly correct." So I don't know where I'm going basically.
Hopefully, the position of the website is correct. (The website says it's here. But it is not here...) That's annoying.
No, because the route is supposed to be this one. - No, it is 416. This one. - This is 416. - Yeah. - Yes, it's supposed to be 416. - Yes. - Yes. It's what the guy told... But I don't know because the guy told me three different positions. He told me all the positions were correct, but they are all different.
So, I don't know. It's a bit hard to know where I'm going. So... Wait. Just take it. Put the number that you call. - Okay. So it's +250, no? Airtel. So it's okay? I can call or not? - Any number you can call.
- Which one? One or two. - Anyone. - Anyone. Okay. Thank you. - No more. I'm working here. - You're working here? - Yeah. - Ah, okay. Nice. I'm supposed to stay around here, but I don't know where the place is.
The guy cannot explain it to me. Hello. Yes, I called because I booked your place, and I am near it. But I have no idea where your place is. So I am... Where?
I'll give you someone who lent me his phone. He's local, I think. Yeah. - Hello. Hello, hello. I'm not getting well. - Thank you. - Diogène. - And your name? - Diogène.
- Diogène. Oh, Diogène. - Yes. - Wow. - You speak French? - Yeah, I speak French. I am French. Diogène — that's a nice name. Like the famous philosopher. - Yeah, a philosopher. Diogenes the cynic. - Cynic. Yeah. Diogenes the cynic. - You know him? - Yes, I know him. I like him very much.
(Searching for a man) It's you? - Yeah. - Okay. - He's just right here. - I'll give you something for your help. - Okay. Thank you. - Thank you. - Okay, welcome. - Thank you. - You, close, close. - Yes, I'll close. Okay, thank you. Thank you, my friend. Thank you, Diogenes. Merci. We go there? - Yeah.
- Nice. Yes. - Yes. - Ah, so it's 459. - Yeah. - Because your boss told me 456. And 456 is five kilometers away from here. - Oh, we are actually 457. - Ah, okay. So that's... Okay. I don't know why they told me 456. - Hello. - Hey. - Nice bike. - Yes. Thank you. - Yeah, yeah.
- So here is where my bike is stored. And here is my room, guys. Look at that. All my bags are here already. It's clean. A big bathroom that looks clean and nice. The GoPro is not good for the bathroom.
And I have even a small balcony. So my bike is stored down there. And oh my god, that was the weirdest check-in I ever made. Basically, the guy gave me three locations.
He told me the three locations were correct. He told me... Here it's quite easy actually. The streets have numbers. So he told me, "Street number 416, 420, and 456," and all... He told me, "All the locations are correct," and actually, the place is on Street 457. And Street 456 is actually three kilometers from here.
But when I sent him the position he sent me, he told me, "Yes, this is 100% correct." I don't know. People were very friendly on the road, but this... I feel kind of weird here in this guesthouse that doesn't know where it is. Basically, the owner doesn't know where his own guesthouse is. So see you for the next adventures. We made it to Kigali. Ciao, guys.
2024-04-23 01:57
