You can definitely stop in Choum no problem. This company is ideal for the budget traveller & is all done in a way to make you feel safe & comfortable. Read More Finlands Secret Burger King SaunaContinue. travel Manage Settings Socit Nationale Industrielle et Minire, Hitchhiking and Backpacking in Saudi Arabia, Is it Ethical to Visit Saudi Arabia as a Tourist, Travel Guide to Afghan Village in Pakistan, The day I was accused of being an Islamic State Spy, Tips and how to travel to Mauritania in 2022, How to travel to Syria in 2022: Need to know. In any case, that man helped me a lot. At more than 430 miles long, the Mauritania Railway has been transporting iron ore across the blistering heat of the Sahara Desert since 1963. You can also hitchhike it and travel across the Sahara desert in style just make sure you dont fall off. Im planning to go to Mauritania and ride the train in April. Your email address will not be published. This is the worlds deadliest (and longest) train. Wise enables you to send money across the world, without international transaction fees or outrageous exchange rates. Now I want to show you how to do the same. Mattresses, building supplies, satellite dishesanything the remote towns need. city of orange activities The owner and guy in charge is a Frenchman named Sebastien. A trip across the Mauritanian desert, visiting caravan cities and riding 20 hours on top of the Iron Ore train. It was they who informed me that, if I wanted to ride on the first wagons, I had to go more than 2km further, but they were actually kind enough to take me there. If you are using a CNAME origin record, make sure it is valid and resolvable. The Mauritania Railway: Backbone of the Sahara, a short documentary film. That being said, many of the older generation in Mauritania have outdated views on women traveling alone and on LGBTQ issues. Jan 29 - Feb 5, 2023. I dont know the actual reasons, but this is Mauritania and you dont always need to find the logic. I recommend going there at 11am. My daughters have been living in Barcelona for many years now, and I go there quite often he said. If you dont feel like taking such a wild journey, there is the option of traveling in the actual passenger wagon, even though some intrepid travelers may tell you its not that worth it. [1][2] It consists of a single, 704-kilometre (437mi) railway line linking the iron mining centre of Zourat with the port of Nouadhibou, via Fderik and Choum. Once at the station, all I could see was the passenger carriage and a few locomotives. And was it hard to get on? Please note we drive back from Nouadihbou on the morning of Sunday 3rd, so we won't reach Nouakchott until the afternoon. In 2020, Mauritania exported a total of $3.7B, making it the number 125 exporter in the world. Its complicated, especially because your hands will become dirty as soon as you get in, so I recommend bringing only food that can be eaten without touching, like bananas or a sandwich wrapped in aluminum foil, for example. Heres a video of me riding the Iron Ore train across Mauritania in 2022: Getting to the start point for the train is a little bit difficult. Travel Hacks What I recommend is going to the railway office (located here) to ask for the approximate departure time from that day in particular. I think I jumped on the 4th or 5th wagon. Mauritania (With Iron Ore Train) 2022 . Digital Nomad Well as it turned out, I liked the country more than I could possibly imagine. While its true that traveling with all the dust is, weirdly, an outstanding experience, each traveler has a different worldview with different objectives and life ambitions and, depending on your preferences, not everybody enjoys 20 hours sitting on top of a toxic pile of dusty iron, plus this is an adventure for which you need to be logistically prepared, with proper clothes and gear, and there are few who travel with all this equipment. Ive always wanted to do this! However, the station isnt very far from the town and if its not too late, you may find cars going to Atar. Opened in 1963, it consists of a single, 704-kilometre (437 mi) railway line linking the iron mining centre of Zouerate with the port of Nouadhibou, via Fderik and Choum. Apparently, 1 out of 20 times, the train doesnt stop in Choum but it goes straight to Nouadhibou. How do you go to the bathroom, especially women. Those ores are so important for the poor country that they are mined around the clock. Mainly benefiting from the increase in the price o. Lifestyle [3] Following Mauritania's annexation of southern Western Sahara in 1976, the line came under constant attack by Polisario militia, effectively putting the line out of use and thereby crippling Mauritania's economy. Performance & security by Cloudflare. Jan 22 - 29, 2023 Group size: 10 - 18 About this trip Come and experience the most EPIC TRAVEL ADVENTURE on the planet, hitching a ride on the Iron Ore train through the Sahara. The Train du Desert in Mauritania is 2km long and consists of 200 carriages. Digital Nomads And second, because one of the good things about arriving in Nouadhibou is that it is a city with all modern comforts, filled with all types of hotel where you can get a good shower after the long, dirty ride, besides having plenty of food options. Towns and settlements are separated by vast stretches of inhospitable desert. Thanks! For women might be a bit trickier but perfectly doable. Construction of the line began in 1960, with it opening in 1963. Its one of the most off the beaten path destinations and COVID cases are relatively low. Slowly, the train began to accelerate until it reached an average speed of 35km/h and, from there, I have nothing to tell but wonderful things. North Korea is a fascinating country. Your IP: This area of 600km alongside the borders of Mauritania and the Polisario Western Sahara, actually, looks like from another planet. Philippines Fortunately, a good man offered to take me in his 44 to the exact spot where the locomotive would stop, allegedly, a location even more inhospitable than the previous one, where there was nothing but sand and a few rusty wagons along the train tracks. Deep in the Sahara and the deadly red area on the MOFA map. Measuring at up to 3 kilometers long (1.9 miles), trains that run on this 700-kilometer (435-mile) line are some of the longest and heaviest in the world. All of our fun facts are from the Around the World in 800 Facts series, by Jordan Simons. This is Mauritania, and having an extra load of patience is a must. It is a good place to meet mostly french tourists and expats there. It's impossible to discern anything in the jostle of passengers and the rasping dust the . About cars going to Atar, I am not entirely sure, but unless you are at the end of the train, where the passenger car is, I dont think youll find any because cars will be gone by the time you arrive there (its a long train!). The train is the bedrock of the Mauritanian economy and a lifeline to the outside world for the people who live along its route. I dont really remember but I think I saw it in a documentary not so long ago. The open-air top provides no respite from the scorching heat of the day and the frigid air of the night. What year is it in North Korea? But at least the passengers have a working toilet. I arrived in Choum at 4am. Or I have to spend one night in Choum? Thanks for sharing and great tips. . Each wagon carries up to 84 tons of iron ore, making the train one of the heaviest and longest in the world. Required fields are marked *. Assuming things go smoothly and there isnt any breakdown, the journey takes 18-20 hours from Zourat. Additional troubleshooting information here. Passengers include locals, merchants, and occasionally some adventure tourists. Do you want to travel to Mauritania with Against the Compass?Join our Mauritania Expedition: Feb 8th to 15thIt includes riding the Iron Ore TrainCLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE. The train is up to 3km (1.8 miles) in length with over 200 freight carriages, carrying up to 84 tons of iron ore. The most recent exports are led by Iron Ore ($1.33B), Gold ($820M), Non-fillet Frozen Fish ($417M), Processed Crustaceans ($293M . , of the iron ore train that runs between de coastal town of Nouadhibou and the mine in Zourat, in the east of the country. What a great experience. I barely slept, but felt comfortable. Girls LOVE Travel is ecstatic to work alongside Mudita Adventures to bring you a bucket-list trip to Mauritania, featuring the infamous Iron Ore train ride across the Sahara desert!. I did bring a sandwich and ate it during the 10 minutes that we stopped in Choum. [citation needed]. Croatian newlyweds Kristijan and Andrea Ilicic hopped a freight train carrying wagons of dirty iron ore across the baking hot deserts of Mauritania in northwest Africa to celebrate their marriage. The Mauritania Railway is the national railway of Mauritania. A simplified look on the 700-km long iron ore train route and Mauritania But hidden away underneath the sand, away from the public in a remote corner and military zone, lay crazy amounts of precious iron ore deposits. We chatted about the purpose of my visit, and he never managed to assimilate why the hell I wanted to ride the train with all the dust, when I supposedly could pay the 15 cost of getting into the passenger wagon, a significant amount many Mauritanians cant. [citation needed], In January 2019, the railway resumed tourism after a ten-year hiatus; part of the track ran through a forbidden tourist area. After a 17-hour-long arduous journey, the train arrives at Nouadhibou, where the ore-blackened passengers climb down from their perches and unload their cargo. Do we need to book hotels in advance? 1590. The train arrives and you jump on, thats it. One of the best trips I've ever been on, this is the type of raw adventure travel that you'll remember for the rest of your life. I am not really interested in spending the whole night on iron ore The main question is, will there be some cars waiting for picking up passengers at Choum train station to Atar when the train arrive from Zourat? At night, however, its a different story. Yet, Zourats only connection to the city of Nouadhibou, the countrys only major shipping port on the Atlantic coast, is via a railway. Hi Peter, I didnt know about this train in Congo but I am very curious now! Fun Fact Mauritania iron ore train journey | Nouadhibou to zouerat sahara desert train Vlogmauritania, iron ore train, nouadhibou, mauritania railway, mauritania trai. With the line now secure, repairs were conducted and trains starting using it once again in the early 1980s. Mauritania is one of the final frontiers. Photo about Iron ore train in the Sahara on Atar-Nouadhibou route. About 15 wagons away, I was able to make out a Mauritanian loading tens of goats and, a few wagons further along, another man seemed to be loading more than 30 suitcases, as if he decided to move out to his new place riding on the Iron Ore Train. In any case, riding this train was enough motive for making a trip to Mauritania. We'd recommend bringing a GPS or using your phone as a navigation tool. The. Miferma (Mines de Fer de Mauritanie) was created in 1952 to exploit iron ore deposits in the Kedia d'Idjil area of northern Mauritania. Click here to skip the other content and read my tips about how to ride the Iron Ore Train. Furthermore, in the passenger carriage you are likely to meet curious Mauritanians with whom to interact, share stories, have some tea, etc., but keep in mind that its always packed, with barely any place to sit, so dont expect it to be the most comfortable journey ever. Prior to this the railway had operated US-built EMD SDL40-2s, also with special modifications to deal with operating in dusty and high temperature environments, which themselves were the replacement for twenty-one MIFERNA Class CC locomotives which had been custom-made in France to operate in the same rough conditions. [7] Passenger cars are sometimes attached to freight trains, but more often passengers simply ride atop the ore hopper cars freely. I felt way much safer during my 10 days in Mauritania than during the 1 day layover in Tunis. Cloudflare Ray ID: 767dc14bc9f3900d Almost 3km long, with only one passenger wagon, the train carries iron ore from the mines of Zouerat in the middle of the Mauritanian Sahara, to the Atlantic port of Nouadhibou, on the west coast of the country. The journey is long and miserable. Did you know that in Finland, theres a Burger King with a Sauna built into it. Iron Ore Train Travel Guide.arly as possible (we did it at dusk and while the train was moving, which was intense). For more information about the country, dont forget to check my travel guide to Mauritania, Insurance for traveling in MauritaniaI strongly recommend IATI Insurance: COVID-19 + full Mauritania coverageBUY IT HERE TO GET YOUR SPECIAL DISCOUNT. 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