The City I Thought Was Dubai.
By: Reginald Ben-Halliday
Tags: Travel Writing, Nigeria, City Living, Show Your City, Abuja

The City I Thought Was Dubai.

The sound of my alarm clock blaring on my bedside table very early in the morning on a Saturday, meant two things. One, it was 5 in the morning and two, the first bus traveling to Abuja would be leaving an hour from that time.

I pulled myself from my bed and hurried to the bathroom to have a quick shower. It was going to be my first time traveling to the Federal capital of Nigeria to spend the holiday with a relative. I was very excited for the trip. I placed my luggage in my father’s car and we drove off to the bus station.

It was the second week of the month December, I could feel the harmatan(cold, but dusty breeze) creeping into the city I grew up in, the city of Port-Harcourt. Nothing interesting was happening in Port Harcourt especially during Christmas. Most of the people here usually travel out to various place to spend their holiday. Some travel to their villages, while some leave the country.

We got to the Bus station. The place was rowdy, a lot of people where traveling today as well. I was rushed by some rough looking guys, asking where I was going. “Calabar! Kano! Lagos!” they yelled to my face. One of them attempted to take my luggage from me. I was 16 at the time, so it was easy for any of those guys to have pulled my bag and run with it. But my father stepped in, pulled me away from them and took me to a place where he could pay for my bus ticket

I got a ticket to ride in a luxurious bus. When the bus was finally full and ready to move, I waved my father goodbye as the bus drove out of the bus station.

Abuja here we come.

Long distance travel can be stressful sometimes. Aside the fact that you’d spend long hours on the road before reaching your destination, there are other factors or issues that could make the journey a bit frustrating for road Travelers. Not minding whether you are in a luxurious bus or not.

If the driver is inexperienced and slow or if he is crazy on the wheels: I travel by road a lot and the number one thing I hate is a driver who isn’t too familiar with the routes to our destination. Such drivers usually drive slowly and sometimes end up confused on which turn to take. A journey that could take perhaps eight hours, could take more than that if the driver is inexperience. Then there’s the driver who doesn’t believe in slowing down. He is usually reckless on the road, he hits every bumps and loves to argue with passengers. If you are traveling in a bus with a driver like that, you should pray really hard to God to take the wheel. Seriously. Traveling with noisy kids: Kids that cry and make noise a lot are the worst to be with in a long journey. They make you tired even before the journey starts. Not having enough room to stretch your legs And lastly, sitting down next to someone that smells of cigar: Imagine sitting in a vehicle for hours next to someone that smells like he finished a or two pack of cigarette. It’s a nightmare.

They are so many frustrating issues you might face traveling by road; Road accidents, Road side robberies and so on. But there is one exciting part about traveling by road that excites me. Meeting new people in the bus, Spending those long hours listening to them talk about themselves, what they do and things they know. I make new friends on road travels, some I would forget the moment they get to their destinations and some I still keep in touch with till date.