Hi Guys, I'm still on the roll.
Having been lulled to tranquility by the decadence of French culture transplanted across the Atlantic to Guyane, where roads are good without potholes, plenty of direction signs, gas stations galore, and ATM's at every bank, my relapse into a third world situation was immediate and brutal.
On Wednesdays there are only two departures by the ferry going from St. Laurent, Guyane, to Albina, Suriname, one at 7.00 and the other at 17.00. So check their schedules as soon as you're in town. Price E3.50, no charge for the bike.
On the other side customs and immigration were supposed to be at the landing, customs was, but immigration was "over there". I went over there, and they told my, "no, over there." So after going back and forth a few times, a compassionate local showed me the way on his bicycle. It was half-way in between. Got stamped in. Over to customs. Looking over all my documents for the bike, incl. intern. driver's licence, the officer wrote out a piece of paper for me allowing me to drive in Surianme for 7 days without paying anything. No nonsense about insurance, etc. Extension possible.
I made the mistake of not tanking up before leaving Guyane, now my tank was more than half empty, "cambio" was closed, bec. they had run out of money, and I had only euros. I hit the road nevertheless, or rather, the road hit me. Pothole on top of pothole, no direction signs, no distance indicated. I had no way of knowing how far Paramaribo was away. No houses along the road, not even shacks. No wires. This was a war zone not very long ago. Finally a gas station. I pulled in asking him to accept my euros. But he pointed up to Heaven. Was he a Muslim, Inshallah? No. No electricity, hence no pump. On we go. The next several gas stations were also blacked out. Finally a hardware store and cambio. Now I had at least local currency. All I needed now was "Strom", as the Dutch and the Germans call it. Finally a station with a working pump. They had their own generator and my business. I put in 23 litres into that barrel of mine. I don't like to cut it that close.
Paramaribo, some 120km from Albina, is a nice little town. Parbo is good to relieve all that stress. Let's see what else is going on here.