Dar Es Salaam to Malawi. Border crossing

Dar Es Salaam to Malawi. Border crossing

Oh boy border crossings in Africa are difficult. Long trips from one country to another are exhausting and Dar Es Salaam to Malawi is no different. There is no easy and cheap way. You can fly but that would leave you $300 short.
I’ve read many different options that people used to travel this route but here is what conclusion I came to.

Taqwa bus Dar to Mbeya leaving Kariakoo 4am or Ubungo terminal at 6am sharp and arriving to Kasumulu border around 2am next day. 40,000Tsh ($18/£14)
You can stay on the bus and sleep or get a room for 20,000Tsh ($9). We stayed on a bus.
Border opens at 8am. Exchange money on Tanzania side, as rates are incredibly good. Get passport stamped to leave the country and walk to Malawi immigration. Visa cost $75 and they take only US dollars, so make sure you have that sorted.
Then get a free ride to Karonga. I ended up chatting with a guy going that way with his car.
From Karonga take a bus wherever you’re planning on going. I went to Mzuzu in order to reach Nkhata Bay. If you going same way use big bus and not mini bus, it’s cheaper and more comfortable (3000Mwk/$4/£3).
From Mzuzu get minibus to Nkhata Bay, they’re leaving often and cost 1500Mwk ($2).

Whole trip cost $24, which is pretty cheap considering the distance.

Whole trip took about 35hours but as I said there is no easy way to do it for cheap.
Update: many bloggers mentioned Scandinavia buses that are quite luxury, however they’re not operating anymore. You can buy Taqwa tickets in their office in town. Or can always ring them on +255716031819.

Hopefully this information is helpful as when I did research there was a great struggle to find a straight answe

Quito. The middle of the world.

Quito. The middle of the world.

After many hours of but rubbing on numerous buses, we’ve finally crossed 8th country border and reached Quito.IMG_6648

From what looked like a 4hour journey from frontera to Quito, turned out to be 6 hours on a curvy roads around Andes mountains. Should also mention, that bus broke twice and we needed to change into a different one, which was already full with people. Exhausted, hungry and angry at God knows who, we arrived to north terminal just to find that it doesn’t have an ATM and is in the middle of nowhere. Walked with backpacks a bit and problem was sorted- ATM found, we can take the bus and get out of here!

Public transport in Quito is cheap, bus ride cost $0.25.

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Rock, paper, scissors. Honduras wins!

Rock, paper, scissors. Honduras wins!

Once upon my travels, I decided to visit Honduras. Yes, same Honduras that is in top 10 most dangerous countries in Americas. Weird category to be a winner at.
Taking it’s reputation into acount, I’ve aimed to reached Utila in one day. I was aware that it’s over 600km between Rio Dulce and La Ceiba with a border crossing which usually slows back the journey dramatically. But with a little research and a fortune in my pocket I was hopeing to bring a plan into reality and be on a last ferry to Utila at 4PM. (more…)

Long way from Thailand to Cambodia. Border crossing

Long way from Thailand to Cambodia. Border crossing

Trip from Ko Tao to Bangkok cost 800THB and took twelve hours by boat and then bus. Walk around the island for best package deals, as prices vary from 800 to 1200THB. We decided not to stay in Bangkok because of current political issues and went straight to train station to catch a train to Cambodia. There are two slow trains a day from Hualamphong train station in Bangkok to the Thai border town of Aranya Prathet (48B, six hours); take the 5.55am service, otherwise you’ll end up spending the night at the border, as it’s open 7am to 8pm. Train ride is ok, as we slept most of a time. It’s simple but spacious, has toilets and constantly passing fruit sellers. (more…)

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