RE: Saving the planet18 Aug 2019 04:22
Klepto,
" If you go into any Gurdwara Sikh temple you will be given a free lunch or dinner and non alcoholic drinks.You won’t be asked to pray or give a donation but will have to cover your hair with a bandana which they will provide for you."
That's really interesting: now I know where to head for when my money runs out!
But I'm not at all religiously inclined, so I feel I'd be 'imposing', or rather, begging.
But it reminds me of a similar thing. Many years ago, I was involved with a geothermal drilling operation in Kenya. And there were serious delays in getting the rig from Mombassa (the port) to the rift valley location, some 700 km distant. So I talked with my boss, pursuaded him someone had to go to Mombassa to get a wriggle on, so he proposed it to the assembled crew and of course I was the 'volunteer' chosen for this solo mission.
Which was a real adventure in itself.
About ten days later, everything but the final load (other than some bits and bobs) had got out, and that 'final load' was a thing called the 'SCR Unit', which looks like a 40ft shipping container with a lot of heavy-duty cables attached. But inside, it's terribly fragile, so we set a self-imposed 40 kph speed for the transport along the Mombassa-Nairobi highwar, one of the most dangerous and pothole-ridden roads on earth. 'Transport' was a Volvo T12 4x6 with the load on a 50ft 'lowboy' in tow. Which I ended up driving on the second and third day, the driver having come down with malaria.
Now 40kph is considered real SLOW for that road. So via the CB we became the talk of the town, especially when there was a 'wasungu' (white man: me!) at the wheel. We saw some horrific accidents on the journey.
We had a 'convoyer' driving in front in a Jeep Cherokee. Normally, I'd be supposed to ride with him, but from the outset I'd ridden in the truck at my own insistance. 40kph it was going to be.
The Kenyan 'convoy man' was a muslim.
We set out some very careful plans about waypoints and stop-overs, which of course got modified on the way, as the truckdriver (before I took over) spent three hours in a clinic getting medication and care, during which time I sat in a bar drinking beer (no breathalisers in Kenya!).
But at every 'waypoint stop', when I and the others went to a local eatery with whatever meat was on offer, (and beer), the muslim 'convoyer' sought out the mosque. Where he received a 'free lunch', rather as you've described.
I must admit, I found that rather impressive.
That little 'safari' remains a fond memory. Our little 'crew' of four got on well, despite many cultural differences, and the SCR Unit made it intact.
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