On the bus station in Lilongwe one cannot pass before being offered all kind of merchandise and asked about location where one would like to go.
Bus station is full of shuttles - mini buses that serve all kind of town and villages. Ticket price is negotiable depending on somebody interest in destination, time of the day and of course distance to go. Price in the afternoon is higher than in the morning because there are less mini buses in service (real demand and supply economy). Price in the evening is the highest because of safety concerns (holes on the road, chance of stolen vehicle, etc.). Visitors are in many cases asked to pay more, although one can negotiate the price. Departure time is not fixed. It depends when mini bus gets sufficient number of passengers, usually 18-20 squeezed sardines. Andrea and I waiting 2.5 hours for the departure. If you are even slightly claustrophobic, these right are not recommended. However, if you are waiting in the middle of nowhere, you would not be left on the road because of insufficient space in the bus. The driver and co-driver would always squeeze another passenger and all passengers would squeeze a little bit more without any single complain.
Na autobusnoj stanici u Lilongweu ne mozete prouc a da vam netko ne pokusa prodati nesto ili vas upitati gdje idete.
Autobusna stanica je puna mini busova koji opsluzuju male gradove i sela. Cijena karte je fleksibilna i ovis o vasoj zainteresiranosti za destinaciju, vrijeme dana i naravno udaljnosti do destinacije. Popodnevna cijena je visa nego jutarnja jer manje autobusica koji opsluzjuju putnike. Vecernja cijena je visa zbog sigurnosnh razloga (rupe na cesti, sansa da vozilo bude ukradeno itd.). U vecini slucajeva posjetiteljima se naplacuje visa cijena, ali uvijek postoji sansa pogadjanja i pregovaranja. Vrijeme polaska nije odredjeno i ovisi kada autobisic nadje 18-20 putnika za svoje destinacije, Ako ste iti malo klasutrofobicni ova vozila nisu preporucena jer su putnici dosta stisnuti u vozilu. Ali u slucaju da cekate mini bus usred nicega, nikad necete biti ostavljeni na cesti. Vozac i kovozac ce uvijek naci jos neko mjesto, a svi putnici ce se spremno stisnut bez ikakvog prigovora.
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| Mini buses are everywhere |
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| I have never seen so many mini buses at one place |
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| Typical minibus outside |
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| Typical minibus inside (we were in the fourth row excluding driver's row) |
2 comments:
Andrea? My Andrea is asking which one is that Andrea :-) And finally, where is that big lake, when we will see how big is it. After all you are familiar with the big lakes :-). Regards from Zagreb dear friend :-)
Zoran, you can tell Andrea that Andrea is a pretty Chinese Canadian girl in the photos (especially in Cape Maclear and Livingstonia Beach). Yes, I am very familiar with big lakes in Canada, although i prefer small lakes over there. The lake is approx. 1000 km long and it really reminds me of Adriatic sea. It is warm all year round and if I stayed in Malawi, it would be on the lake for sure. Best regards to you and your family, Leo
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