Singapore - Dubai - Dar Es Salaam [13/12/07]

Training Sessions

The preparation for the Kilimanjaro climb was an arduous one in which our training has included weekly hikes at Bukit Timah Hill, cardio workout few times a week, stairs training at Toa Payoh, as well as a hiking trip to Mount Kinabalu, Sabah. It was really sad that Jiahui could not join us for the Kilimanjaro trip due to some personal reasons so i kind of dedicated this long post entry of the trip to her. Some videos and photos during some of the trainings.


One of those routines at Toa Payoh

2nd last Sunday before trip... training at Bukit Timah Hill

Last training before the trip


13/12/07 - SINGAPORE CHANGI AIRPORT TO DUBAI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

As i was sitting in the plane waiting for take-off, it dawned on me that i would be on the African Continent in a few hours time. Frankly speaking, i was not exactly very excited. It was pretty weird in a way that normally i would be feeling ecstatic over any kind of departure to an exotic country but this time round, it seemed different. After much pondering over ths issue, i came out with two conclusions:
1)My lack of geographical imagination of Tanzania
This is due to the fact that i have never heard of or done any research on the country of Tanzania prior to the trip. If the word "Tanzania" is conjured in my mind, i would not be able to come out with any sort of images in linkage to the word. In a funny way, its this 'unexpected-ness' which kind of dampened the excitement level.

2)My student exchange in Kings College London
Prior to the trip, i have been busy settling the adminstrative issues for my student exchange in London. It was probably this 'over-excitement' over both trips at the same period of time that the excitement has waned off somehow.
The plane took off before having a short stopover at Kuala Lumpur. I really have to give 2 thumbs up for Emirates. I would think its one of the best flight i had so far among so many airlines. Watched 4 movies in all: Hairspray (i think its not bad), High School Musical 2 (i think its very corny), Transformers (real cool) and Stardust (airie-faerie). And finally, we arrived at Dubai International Airport.

I was indeed very excited to come to Dubai (despite only being in the airport) and it was indeed a cosmopolitan city. Just looking at the airport you would find a cosmopolitan mix of people from everywhere in the world. At first, we intended to find a space in the airport to prop ourselves before the next flight which would be 7 hours later. However, the whole airport seemed to be a gi-mongous refugee camp with people of all colours sleeping on the floor or on their mats. It was pretty amusing to find DUBAI, a world-renowned developed place having such sight in its airport. Moreover, i felt really uncomfortable and 'out of place' as the airport was dominated by the presence of the Arab people. In the end, we settled for the airport hotel all thanks to tien and her father's credit card. =P The hotel room was really cool, with a toilet bowl for washing your butt as well as a massage chair beside the bed.

Dubai International Airport

The 2 toilet bowls found in the toilet. One for big business, one for washing up after big business.

Our room in Dubai International Airport Hotel. Can you spot the massage chair?

It was a super long flight to Dar Es Salaam and when we touched down at the airport, we were greeted by the super long queue at the Visa section. And quite disgustingly (cos its really stuffy and hot in there), the queue didn't seem to move one bit. After what seemed to be like hours, we finally passed our passports to the guard before the counter. Guess what? Singaporeans do not have to apply or pay for Visas to enter Tanzania. WOW!! Great discovery! I was pretty surprised at the fact that Singapore is exempted from visa application to Tanzania. Unfortunately, Tien is a British citizen so we had to wait for her to clear her Visa application before we could get out of the airport.

Ireland: USD 100

Pakistan: USD 200

Singapore: Priceless aka Free

Welcome to Land of Mount Kilimanjaro in sweat and long queue.

We took a cab to Holiday Inn to deposit our bags. Along the way, i felt very 'out-of-place' in a way that there were many Africans around. I am not trying to be racist here but its just that i'm too used to being in a multi-racial and cosmopolitan environment that to be an ethnic minority seemed too weird an experience for me. The cab took us for a tour after we have deposited our bags in our respective rooms. First stop was the local fish market. When i stepped out of the cab, immediately i was greeted by a sense of fear. We were the only Asians in the vicinity and i personally felt like an exhibit being scrutinised by the majority of Africans. I did try to rationalize within me why i would have that kind of 'Orientalist' notion but i just could not help it. Anyway, we did entered the fish market and were pleasantly surprised to see the rich variety of produce from the Indian Oceans. There were cockles the size of your fist...imagine that being in your plate of char kuay teow. Yum...

After the fishmarket tour, we passed by a 'White area' where the residences of the caucasians were built. Through some personal observation, the area was like a gated community with high security. We did stopped by the Shoprich Supermart and the goods were very expensive for the locals. The average income for the locals was only US$50 a month. It seemed that the social polarisation of the Tanzanian society was pretty large.

The main transportation of the local Tanzanians is car. I don't mean the automobile car, but the 'kar' aka legs. It was a common sight to see them walking or running on the streets. The city bus (vans) wre normally sardine-packed with people. It was interesting to see the buses adopting names like "God is One", Ebenezer etc.

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Uploaded by jove85

Holiday Inn Dar Es Salaam

At the local fish market

A streetscape along the way

Selling produce on the streets

How do these people do that?

The 'rich' side of Dar Es Salaam

A bar that doesn't seem to a place where the locals will go

After the tour, we settled down to have our dinner at the restaurant in Holiday Inn. Aik and I had a whole chicken each to ourselves and it was a sumptuous meal. After that was rest for the night. =)