On the approach into Ukrainian airspace the pilot seemed to get suddenly diverted due to flashes of bright lights and bad turbulence so quite a few hours later we landed. The large moustachioed customs man stamped my passport on arrival with the words “Velkom to Agadoo Mr Gary”
Exhausted with jag lag I made my way to the overnight accommodation provided to find that it wasn’t quite ready as builders hadn’t quite put the finishing touches on it yet.
Things always look better in the morning sun, I told myself. The hotel didn’t, but a morning walk revealed a more promising sight. Now, clearly in North Africa, the sun was shining and palm trees and abundant succulent cactus improved the mood.
My first job today was to nip down the shops to get some replacement clobber as i knew that walking around, wearing just a thong, was probably prohibited in a Muslim country. With it being Sunday, most of the shops were closed but i did manage to get a few bits from a helpful fella at the local souk.
I have to say, the folk are really friendly and helpful. I only needed a few things but ended up buying a complete wardrobe of traitor style cloaks, 3 thick wollen kaftans, several pairs of camel leather slippers, 4 fashionable hats, a kilo of dates, 5 litres of Argan oil and even a couple of handmade carpets due to the man knowing that not only did his three brothers had shops open today but so did his nephew and brother in law too. It took most of the day and several cups of mint tea later before we loaded up his father-in-laws taxi to head back to the hotel….
“What a hippy diddly crazy world”
The Frank and Walter’s came out with this in 1991 and it’s stuck with me since hearing it…
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