sand, sand and more sand

This is Mauritania! Sand, dand and more sand! Going over the border from Morocco to Mauritanis was indeed quite dangerous! While putting in the petrol in the taxi, the guy bend over the petrol tank, indeed , with a burning cigarette in his mouth! If I hadn;t screamed like mad, and just did everything to attract attention, I would have been blown sky high to smithereens! I went over the border about a week after the kidnapping of three spanish people! I figured out that it had all ready happened and I would be safe!
Don;t ever confuse the actions of mad fundamentalists with the average moslim! Bombing, kidnapping and the killing of people is HARAAM! Or in English a sin. And indeed the people of Mauritania are kind, gentle and rather sweet. Men feel like protecting me and want to help me. This impressed me over and over. Without wanting anything else but to be kind. I spend some time in Nouadhibou, a border town. Border towns are by nature very ugly, but this one won the major price! It made Yuendumu win the tidy town award! People just live literally on a garbagedump. Very depressing. It is a town with many different nationalities .People hoping and wishing to get from there to somewhere else, except it is the end stop for many.
From here I took the iron ore train to Choum. This was an experience never to be forgotten. I had so much fun. The young conductor, who sold me his bed, well wooden plank barely wide enough for my bottom, let alone anything else! Of course he refused the money several times. He mad me tea the whole eight hours, which was not really very good. If you have ever needed a train toilet in a third world country,you know what I am talking about. If you never have, take my word for it, it is NOT a pleasant experience! In Choum at 2.00 AM in the morning I was tossed of the train and hauled into a four wheel drive. This car took over two hours to be loaded and re loaded! Needless to say when I finally squeezed into my allocated spot, i doubled over from laughter! Here I am in the middle of nowhere, with the most amazing night sky ever!! With about 8 moslim nomad men, being squeesed into a spot a child wouldn;t fit in! BUt of course I did fit and I did travel! It was amazing. I arrived in Atar around 5.00 AM where you just crawl onto a mat and go to sleep until it is light! Atar was lovely, time has stood still there.