Day 3-059
8 hrs, 3 .7 kms

It is really nice to wander around without a backpack or valuables. I want to experience that again. I'm going to catch the commuter train to the suburb towns of Wellington and Paarl... and then come back for another night at my Cape Town hostel.

The Cape Town transportation terminal is a good illustration of South Africa's fusion of Europe and African cultures: on the bottom floor is a European style train station, with your fast food chains, an information desk... screen with all the departure times.

Upstairs is an African station, with tiny little shops and booths where you can buy a hat or get a haircut... leading to a sea of minibuses that "leave when they get full"... typical African style.

I notice how the African style leans more towards private entrepreneurship, where individuals can have their little corner shop. The European model leans towards big corporate ownership .

I like the African stye better, but due to time constraints, I'm going to tame the European transport...

I head inside where someone calmly announces that certain stations will be closed today due to "vandalism and arson" I wonder how often that happens...

The trains does feel really scrappy and run down, blanketed with graffiti--much like the New York subways before Giuliani. And I'm the only white person on board... We head out past miles and miles of slums. The "real" Cape Town not shown in the brochures....

Wellington itself feels pretty run down at first. I remind myself that I'm not in Cape Town with security guards on every corner... I should stay in the crowded areas--but I do decide to risk it to do my Parkbench concert in a quiet park by the church.

There are two "Main Streets" here in Wellington. One line with Pakistani and Indian run grocery stores and cell phone shops, catering to the masses. Perpendicular to it is anothe "Main Street" with some fancier boutiques. I imagine this was the "white" Main Street during apartheid.

It is a reasonably pleasant walk, and the mountains in the distance give it a special charm... but after doing a loop around the center and past the university, I'm ready to move on.