From the office to the gorillas

For many tired 25-40-year-old business owners and successful horses of the middle level, the consumerism is the only sign of its own existence.The rest is a reflexive manifestation of life. In order not to break a thin thread with reality, they are increasingly saved by the flight in distant countries. "I am a shadow of my own life. When my alarm clock calls at 7 am, I already think that I will finish the day at about 23 o’clock and in an hour will get through the traffic jams to the house. Per day I drink five to six cups of very strong coffee, a few jars of generics, I will answer 70-80 calls on two mobile phones, and at the weekend I will tell, looking at one point, my psychiatrist about the successes of your business and that not I understand who my wife is", – Writes a successful businessman in a blog, holder of a six-row dollar bill.

In summer, less and less talk about work and more and more about how to run away from her. "Przeze. Dispower all books. Show in the window two figs. Pass bottles. Take a ticket. Sit in reserved seat. Fall in Tibet" – So accurately formulated one of the buddies, which has long escaped from the linear world of the business and finally lost from the species somewhere in the southern states of India.

They are called fashionable word "Downshifter". They abandoned other people’s goals for life for themselves and their family. For many, it is accompanied by a decrease in salary and position, refusal to traditional career and "rat race".

Igor Zhulebin 5 years worked by the middle manager in the company of transport logistics. The everyday picture of the world with a solid fixed work schedule, ever chatting for the workplace and the feeling of life passing by, forced him once to collect a backpack, buy a ticket to Kenya and without special training to immerse yourself in the black continent and the unknown. Having emerged after six months of the journey, Igor found out that the world is not limited to the monitor screen, and Africa is very similar to Russia, and the whole world behaves in relation to Africa just like his supervisors in the office to their subordinates.

The taste of Africa

– Two years ago I didn’t want to winter in a cold city at all and work in the order of the subdelive office, "says Igor Zhulebin. – I bought a directory Lonely Planet and a plane ticket to Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, at an inexpensive tariff, for $ 800. It always seemed to me that the most interesting on the Black Continent is central Africa – low-talked space, living away from civilization, where the car meets 1 time per month, and the dollar can be worn to eat a whole family.

Therefore, coming to civilized Kenya, I went to Zaire and Congo Brazzaville. To get the hitchhiker to Uganda from Nairobi, I needed somewhere 3 days. The path is simple, the first Catholic priest picked me on his tarantas and prompted me that it was worth holding the Catholic missions – there will always feed, go, will give out the night and prompt the path. South of Uganda – a quiet resort country on the hills, where they speak English. There is a beautiful little town at the origins of the Nile, where huge birds go straight in the center, looking for food on urban lumps. Lake Victoria is stronger sensations than the Indian Ocean.

If you are afraid of war, do not shift north. It is there who lives Joseph Koni, who gives children Kalashi.

My next goal was the major city of Kisangani. From the border of Uganda, I drove on the scooter, which hired together with the driver for $ 5 per day. My "stalker" I didn’t understand absolutely nothing, and we drove with him during the week, communicating at the level of signs, until I left the end of the road at the turn of the jungle. Further I had to go on foot. It was very important to check the situation all the time: sometimes the rebels are starting the uprisings somewhere. Then I tried to wait into some village and do not go further. Just looked at people, walked, helped local residents in a simple job. In Africa, armed lyuli is not as terrible as officials. Great failure to meet an official – they are sure that any foreigner should pay for breathing their country. Once upon a time on the official, I was forced to lay out a whole condition by local standards – $ 50.

Crazy was in Zaire. It is rich in natural resources a country owned by either foreigners, or a very limited number of local. The population is strongly stratified, most people are incredibly poor.

Most often I spent the night in Catholic missions, which are in any more or less large village. They can put a tent in the yard. In total, I did 500km to Kisangani. Of these, the last 250 km I had to go on foot, and 150km to drive on the trunk of the bike. During this time, I met only one car, which has already tried to overcome the same way for a month – gasoline is also brought by bikes. So when he ends, people just break the tents and wait when they take a new. The most terrible part of the path was the so-called tunnel – a pipe-shaped in cross section of a segment of a path of approximately 50 km long in absolutely overgrown jungle, where there is sometimes leaving. In such a wilderness, healthy gorillas are very close, and sometimes it becomes terrible.

Enlightenment

From Kisangani I swam in the Great African River – Congo. At first I was able to sit on a motorized cake. These are several rope-related long boats with an awning tent. They are loaded, and among the cargo people are sitting. In such a boat there is very little space. Pursing the knees, I tried to go four days, but it was so uncomfortable to me that I moved to Bartz and sailed on it for 2 months. The local population lives, swimming up and down the river, buying and selling some kind of simple goods and passing the rented for the sail to the capital.

To my surprise, all neighbors on the barge were mobile phones that worked even in the most deaf places. While all the neighbors are very poor people and they fed on the literally by the feed and maize piping, and the food was prepared on a hiking burzhuyk. Although food there is still injected. Through the river, throw a hook, and several fish is thrown at him. But people are incredibly lazy. Going into one hut, I tried to buy food or fruit. It turned out that there are nothing in people there, they are starving, because they simply do not know how to catch fish and do not want to learn, but there are no fruits, because they told the last harvest and ate, and now waiting for a new.

Very rarely who comes to some entrepreneurial idea. The most typical view of the business is to distort the forests, trees in three or four clashes and half a year to melt with them to Kinshasa on the raft. There are trunks for decent money. Kinshasa herself is New York Africa. Huge megalopolis with lots of clubs and very rich life. After a long swimming among the jungle I was surprised. Normal modern European city with a completely luxurious ambassador.

My return ticket was from Kenya, but by the end of the trip, I already wanted home scary. I had to move to Cameroon, from where it flies once a week "Aeroflot" And you can fly to Moscow for $ 1000.

Returning, I realized that life does not boil down to the set of actions inside the office and the house or the fashionable route of travel agencies.

Igor Zhulebin, traveler: "Africa is good, but at home is better. True to understand this without Africa can not do".

Africa

Budget 4-month travel to Africa – $ 2700 ($ 800 per ticket back and back Moscow -Nairobi) with a total length of the path of more than 5 thousand. KM. Hostel in civilized Kenya cost $ 8. Costs for hitchhiking to Uganda – a couple of dollars for food. The cost of the road and food to Kissinger – no more than $ 100, a bicycle driver – $ 20, a motorcycle with a driver – $ 30 and moped – $ 30. Barge ticket over the entire Congo River – $ 20, food during the alloy on the stock exchange – $ 20. Hostel in Kinshasa – $ 5-8.

Bribe on the borders – $ 5, registration – $ 50-60, Visa Uganda cost – $ 20, Kenya – $ 50,

Zaire (2-month visa) – $ 140, Congo visa – Brazzaville – $ 60,

Visa to Cameroon – $ 50. Penalty on the border of the Congo Cameroon for registration violation – $ 15. Hour crossing through the Congo in Cameroon – $ 15. Return ticket cost of Cameroon – $ 1500 (received by Western Union from friends). In Moscow "Aeroflot" Returned $ 200 for the unused return ticket Nairobi – Moscow.

"3-month travel budget to Asia – $ 1400, term – 3 months. Train Moscow – Tashkent (3 days), ticket price – 7-9 thousand. rubles. By bus to Samarkand – penny. To Tajikistan for $ 20 by taxi through pass. Next, you need to go from Dushanbe to border with Afghanistan 1 hour on a minibus. Get a Pakistan visa is very difficult, it is better to fly from Kabul to Delhi for $ 220. Indian visa cost me $ 50-60, and in this country I spent the most time. Delhi bought the best bike that could only buy (cost $ 100). It was driving to the state of Gujarat 500 km, sometimes approaching trains. Then on trains to Goa – $ 8-10. Upon arrival in the popular Russian province, I first had to remove the expensive hotel for $ 10. Then he rented the roof site, slept on the mat ($ 1 per night). From Goa went south to Carnataka to the city of Bangalore. This is Indian "Silicon Valley", incredibly developed high-tech city. From Bangalore – on the bike 300 km. Lived in hotels up to $ 5, which is completely normal. Further by bus to Madras ($ 5-8) and the train Madras – Calcutta for $ 10. Hotel in Calcutta, like everywhere – $ 5. By train to Darzellling – $ 8. Further to Nepal and Mount Kathmandu. Lived on Freak Street for $ 1 per day. I waited for a visa to Burma 1 week, paid $ 60 for it. The cost of living in the capital of Burma is $ 5 for overnight and $ 2 for food. Further by plane to border with Thailand (visa – $ 50) spent $ 25 per day, Laos (visa – $ 20), food – $ 2. Visa to China – $ 30. Inside China to Manchuria on Trains – $ 100. From Transbaikalsk to Moscow for $ 150 on trains", – Igor Zhulebin says.