Country Quest - Western Sahara #186

Coming in to land near Laayoune in Western Sahara (Source: own photo)

Over the last two days, I had the pleasure of visiting Western Sahara for the very first time. My visit brought my Countries & Territories tally to 186 out of a total of 266, which means that, thankfully, I still have some 31% of the world left to visit.

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I experienced great kindness in Laayoune. I arrived after nightfall and I had no dirhams for a taxi. There was no working ATM at the airport, so I walked up to a group of guys hanging out at the taxi rank and explained in my mediocre Spanish that I needed to go to a forex bureau to get dirhams and then to go to my hotel.

One of the guys spoke Spanish. He asked if I would like him to come with me in the taxi to help me? I introduced myself and said yes please with great relief. His said his name was Ali.

In Laayoune, you share taxis, so in addition to the driver, Ali, and myself there were two other passengers with suitcases. We had the windows rolled down all the way as we drove and the pleasant evening desert air breezed through the car.

We soon found ourselves meandering the narrow streets of the bustling commercial centre of Laayoune. You live at night in these parts, because the days are so hot. The streets were full of people and brightly lit shops and music and street-food vendors and young men and young women checking each other out.

Suddenly, perhaps because there was so much to look at, our taxi rammed into the back of a pickup truck in front of us. Both drivers got out and checked the damage and then they chatted for a while and then they laughed and shook hands and then they got back into their cars and we continued on our way.

We dropped off the two other passengers and their suitcases and continued to a forex bureau that Ali knew. To my surprise, Ali made sure I got the mid-market rate. Then we headed towards my hotel. On the way, Ali told me he had come back from Rabat after spending the day applying for a permit to go and work in Portugal.

When we got to the hotel, I took out some money to pay him, but he flatly refused. It has been a pleasure to help you, he said. I insisted at least I should pay for the taxi, but this too he refused. As he sped away, he leaned out of the window and with a big smile said,

"Somos gente del desierto. Somos gente buena y tranquila. Disfrute de tu visita a Laayoune!"

The End