Riding along

I was trying to figure out what to title this blog. Should I call it “When two roads cross”, “The road less travelled”, “The long and winding road” or even “On the road again”. Roads here in Moundou are the subject of this blog.

In Moundou, there are a number of newly paved roads. These roads have been paved by Chinese companies. These paved roads make it much easier to travel around the city, however it is only main roads that are paved. The majority of roads are still just dirt. This means that in the rainy season they are full of puddles and in the dry season they are full of holes and they produce dust storms when it’s windy.

To get from my house to CENTRAM, you begin on a dirt road. Then you turn onto a road which becomes a paved road and the rest of the roads are paved. While on the moto, there is always lots to see. I pass a number of restaurants, mosques, and vendors on the side of the road. I pass little children shouting ‘Nasara’ (white person), little booths selling phone credit and people waiting in long lines for gas. (Side note, right now there is a gas shortage in Chad as because the Chadian government is in dispute with the Chinese refinery. This means that there are only a few gas stations that have gas, and long lines for it. Gas prices tripled from 500 CFA to 1500 CFA per litre, where $1 is equal to about 500 CFA. This means that gas is now $3/L, or in some cases even more.)

It takes about 7 minutes to get to CENTRAM from my house by moto and it is during this time that I’m able to see glimpses of the everyday lives of other Chadians.

Before ending, I did want to give you a little information on the RULES OF THE ROAD!

1) The smaller you are the less power you have.

This means that if you are a pedestrian you have no power. If you are a car on the other hand you can do what you want. Power order: pedestrians, bikes, motorcycles, cars, trucks. If they can hit you, get out of their way. I think of the streets of France where cars always stop for pedestrians and it is a far cry from here!

2) Stoplights are suggestions.

This is not the case for all vehicles. There are many that will stop when there is a red light, but it is important to make sure to check. What I have found is that often motorcycles with not go forward if it is a red light but they feel that it is ok to turn left or right (checking for traffic first). It’s a slightly different system.

3) Stopping in roundabouts

There are a number of roundabouts in Moundou, but the rule is the opposite from any I’ve seen. People entering roundabout have the right of way here instead of those already in them. This means that you enter the roundabout but then need to stop for any vehicles entering from the next street.

4) Who needs helmets!

Now before you get all worried, I wear my helmet when I go to work, but I don’t see anyone else wearing one.

Take a look at the attached  picture. You can see me and the administrative director of CENTRAM in the mirror. This is what a typical paved road looks like and on the left is a gas station.

I’ve also attached a sketch (not to scale and not totally accurate either) of my normal route to CENTRAM. There are stoplights (red circles), a roundabout (green circle) and even a speed bump (blue circle) along the way.