Eventually arrived in Bolga, my first stop, at 10am. There is a significant VSO community there, working mainly in education. At 10am, it was a magnificent 39 degrees, the sun directly overhead, beating down and blinding. Bolga is a small town, with a smallish market and very dry. There are lots of rectangular concrete buildings out of which NGOs operate, crumbling and almost war-torn in appearance.
Cows and pigs accompany the chickens and goats roaming freely in the streets. It is cheaper than the south and certainly more deprived, but not as deprived as I expected. There is less choice in the shops, motorbikes outnumber cars as the preferred means of transport. And there are new and unexpected things – sun-dried tomatoes laid out by the roadside, brightly vibrant red, drying in the hot sun as flies feast on their rapidly shrivelling flesh and a vibrant cultural centre selling jewellery., leather goods and baskets.
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| Kids playing near the crumbling buildings |
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| Old market, Bolga - so dry! |
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| Making baskets in the cultural centre - I may have bought one... or two... |
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| Tomatoes - spot the flies! |
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