Warnings (before departure): "Hi Benoit , I’m sorry but am unable to assist since I am presently in Netherlands Amsterdam and will return to Cape Town possibly mid to end of Jan. next year. My advice to you and very seriously is NOT to cycle since you will be robbed and likely shot as were 4 old Dutch tourists yesterday and 2 Dutch tourists murdered last week. You are a foreigner and so you have money / credit cards and other things of value, even if it's just the bicycle. The crime is VERY SERIOUS. School kids are murdered for cell phones and most happen in broad daylight. I5 University lecturers/professors have also been murdered, doctors etc too. Our statistics are about 169 000 murders per year .The government has banned releasing statistics a few months ago since it will ruin their image before the World Cup. I’ve lost 8 friends in 9 years through murder. DON’T cycle. Go by bus. Get a Bazz bus ticket from most backpacker hostels. Its a hop-on hop-off ticket to anywhere in South Africa and usually at or near others hostels. Most of the passengers are the backpacker crowd. Please don’t cycle, the roads are dangerous due to drivers having illegal licences and you are a soft target. If you would like to know more or any suggestions then don’t hesitate to ask me. Sorry once again.
In good faith"
Michael Lawson.

I am very sorry to hear that you are in Johannesburg. Which suburb are you in? I was born there but I will probably never return..... I’m sure you have been to Cape Town before and know what I am talking about .. ha.. ha.. Jerome Gray, Cape town, vipassana meditator.

I did not even write to him that I was intending to hitch-hike.
Such warnings may raise some very basic questions:
- Would I be ending my life's circle of misery (samsara) over there ?
- Am I flying one way ticket to the cape of Good Hope (some kind of lost paradise) ?
If no answer in the next few months to such not-so-(extra)-ordinary questions it means I will be gone for ever...


The turning wheel of the Dhamma will operate for me. I never dreamt my life but instead always lived my dreams.

Lire la suite