couchsurfing

How I spent $140 dollars for the Month of September

by phil October 3, 2010 Cote D'Ivoire
Thumbnail image for How I spent $140 dollars for the Month of September

This is me making doughnut batter in Ghana. I am wearing my favorite shirt. It is lightweight, comfortable, mildly flattering, quick-drying, and somewhat immune to odor. Three years ago, before boarding an overnight bus to Arequipa, I was robbed in the Cusco bus station. I got on the bus with nothing except for passport, cash, [...]

Keep Reading →

Ivorians and Their Baguettes: a Few Observations and Some Pictures

by phil September 14, 2010 Cote D'Ivoire
Thumbnail image for Ivorians and Their Baguettes: a Few Observations and Some Pictures

Previously on Philintheblank: Twenty four hours of violent diarrhea and vomiting followed by eleven hours in a bus stairwell. Arrived in Abidjan exhausted, dirty, sunburnt, and bacteria-ridden. One night of revival at a posh hotel turned into six when I became trapped in an elevator and was offered free lodging. For six days I split [...]

Keep Reading →

Again Slow Travel Wins Out

by phil September 10, 2010 Cote D'Ivoire

If you asked me two days ago what I thought of Abidjan, I would have said it’s a city of idle soldiers on cratered sidewalks telling market women to give them peanuts for free. I was not feeling it. Behold the power of incredible Couchsurfing hosts. Faty, her boyfriend David, and brother Bless, have adopted [...]

Keep Reading →

Couchsurfing Takoradi and Some Leftover Accra Pics

by phil September 1, 2010 Ghana
bush ghana

Blazing out of Accra, red earth, two story termite mounds, and green everything else. On the bus to Takoradi, I was pleasantly hypnotized by the scene outside my window when the driver decided to let a pastor on board. The pastor yelled into our ears for two hours. This is typical in Ghana. The pastor [...]

Keep Reading →

Visiting Ms. Piggy in Accra

by phil July 12, 2010 Ghana

After spending an hour and a half in two different cramped and dilapidated minibuses, I am looking for a shared taxi to my final destination: Beach Road. My first couchsurfing experience has led me to the western-most neighborhoods of Accra, Ghana. Dansuman, Shiabu, Beach Road. All three suffering from low-lying geography, recent rain, and a [...]

Keep Reading →