Good Day – January 24th
Well, the shortest route to Luang Prabang is going inland, but somehow I got it in my head to follow the coast for a lot longer. Banteay Chmar was the first target and it didn’t look like there were going to be many places to stay, but thereafter there seemed some possibilities. So that turned out to be a very fascinating day.
Hotel Payment Headaches
At first I had to deal with the hotel. I had made the first reservation online and then you couldn’t pay with a credit card. And then when it came down to renewal — because I ended up staying three nights there — they basically would not do that at the hotel unless I paid in cash. And cash is at a premium since you have to pay money to get the money, probably somewhere between 5 and 10% most of the time because of ATM fees. So that wasn’t my favorite way of doing it.
They basically told me that if I went to the internet, I would get a better price rather than dealing with the people at the hotel. Well, I guess that’s what happened. So I booked every day for the next day and ended up being able to pay the hotel with a credit card that way. When it came down to paying for the food, I couldn’t pay with a credit card either — their system wasn’t equipped for that. I found that most of the time in Angola that may have to do with it being credit as opposed to debit, but also being a US card. So you need to be prepared for just about anything when it comes to money.
45 Kilometers of Corrugated Road
So then it was about noon and time to go. The road was absolutely perfect for the first part. Then there were some signs that there might be a change in road condition. As it turned out, I had not really read up on all that stuff — just take it as we go. There was about 45 kilometers of corrugated road, though I didn’t know that ahead of time. Corrugated, so not paved, and you’re just rumbling along. You obviously cannot go as fast because there are big holes and it slows you down a fair bit.
But to my surprise, 45 kilometers later, they had gotten to put in new road. It wasn’t quite finished yet, but the pavement was down, so that was good. For the 45 kilometers, they did have some bridges put in already — you couldn’t get on the bridge yet, there was no decking, but the structure was there. So they’re making headway, but it’s all going pretty slow.
The Namib Desert Meets the Angolan Coast
Past Bintiaba, I decided to see if I could find the one or two places that looked like they might exist on the coast. The road was quite a ways from the coast and it turned out to be an extension of the Namib Desert into Angola. At some point it was getting really, really late — later than I’d like — but that corrugated road had taken more time, obviously.
So I was driving along and then at the horizon there were these overland trucks coming my direction, but they all turned onto a road to get to the shore. Five or six, maybe seven overland trucks, all lined up driving along on the horizon, going toward probably a camping spot. It was tempting to follow them and spend the night there, but I had to stick with what I had wanted to do. Most likely a group of people from Europe that rent overland trucks in South Africa and go all the way to Angola to see some of that. Maybe another time. So that was fun to see.
Finding Mariquita in the Dark
At some point I stopped. There was a road about 25 kilometers off the main road to get to a certain place, but it turned out there was no hotel there. Somebody pointed out that another 20 kilometers and I’d get to a turnoff where there are some possibilities. There was a sending tower with equipment — that was my telltale sign. I turned off the main road, but it was starting to get really darkish and I had really no idea how far I had to go.
There were confusing trails because sometimes they start a new track when another one gets too sandy. At some point another yellow truck turned out to be ahead of me and he stopped to let me pass. I stopped and asked him if there was indeed a hotel down the track. He said yes, just keep going left. My Portuguese isn’t all that great, but okay. It turned out there are two hotels — Soba and Marikita. I ended up following the Marikita sign until at one point I turned left, even though the sign wasn’t pointing that way. So I did a few extra kilometers.
The track was rough but doable. You go through the mountains, follow the track on high beam because by that time it was dark. At some point I found a gate with somebody manning it, even though it was open. He confirmed yes, there was a hotel at the bottom — I just didn’t know how far. That was another six kilometers. Just go slow in the dark, can’t see anything, but we’ll fix that tomorrow because there is no other way out.
A Surprise Arrival – Meeting Rui and Monica
At some point near the gate there was a station with a lot of noisy equipment — that was all the gear for the hotel. I had not made a reservation, which I quite often do not because I never know if I’m going to get there. I got to the place to park and found some one-level buildings. I started walking around and found the owner’s house, but nobody was responding to my knocking. So I kept walking and got to the restaurant part where two people were sitting.
They turned out to be the owners of the place — Portuguese-Angolan — and they were a really nice couple, Rui and Monica. They were very hospitable. They were just finishing their dinner but right away sorted things out and were able to get me in there as well. I was just hoping for a cup of soup or something, but no — that was a full chicken dinner. We had a great conversation. They were obviously very, very surprised because you don’t expect somebody driving up there in the dark with no reservation. But that was certainly part of the fun.
I ended up speaking with Monica for a little bit longer while I had dinner, just getting a better idea of what was happening here. Obviously I had to see things — and that was going to be the next day. But we were right on the ocean. A beautiful spot. Thanks for being along.
