After the Orange River, to the Free State, we passed a big board written “WELCOME TO THE FREE STATE PROVINCE”. That made me feel a certain warm feeling that I cannot explain.

There were not many mountains, only hills and valleys. We were surrounded by farms.

Most of the farmhouses were surrounded by trees like it was a custom. The grassy lands on the farm were waving backwards. I wondered how on earth can one person own this big wide land with numerous animals on it.

Life on farms was no good; I heard very bad stories.

The farm workers were reportedly working longer-hours than normal time. They had loads of work and earned peanuts. They were not allowed to bury their families around the farm land. In some cases the workers had lived on the farms for almost twenty years. They would end up fighting in court with their employer. There was even a saying that farm worker are slaves.

The heat was unbearable. I had to unbutton the jacket I wore. I wore a large brown jacket. The distance was so long and boring before we reached Rouxiville. The most boring distance was yet to come. Smithfield and Redersburg were other two towns that we passed through before Bloemfontein.

At the entrance in Bloemfontein we were welcomed by the informal settlement on the right hand side.

As we got in deeper and deeper into the city’s Central Business District, the University of the Free State was on my left side, with its big beautiful buildings. This must be the main campus, I thought as we passed. They had a sports field and with equipment of very high quality which tells all about the calibre of this university. The university had discrimination related incidents where white students were accused of assaulting non-white students. I remember thinking, it’s twenty years since the apartheid regime but there are still incidents like this.

The street lights were on. It was 19:50 when we alighted at Caltex Garage. It took us about four hours to ride from Queenstown to Bloemfontein. We had the best ride by the way. Each of us paid R120 and parted ways with the couple. The Chevrolet pulled off and disappeared in the crowded streets of Bloemfontein. The old man was destined for Thunessen, I heard that from the short conversation he had with my dad. Thunessen was a town before Welkom.

We got on a very old taxi that I even doubted it would make it to Welkom. Welkom is more than 100km away from Bloemfontein. We were going to pass three towns Bredfort, Thunessen and Virginia. The driver of the taxi had his radio on. Not even one of the passengers talked, as if we were at a funeral service.

The noise from the engine was so loud you couldn’t hear the radio. I looked at the pasted paper on the back of the driver’s seat.

ONLY PIGS EAT IN THE CAR, SO DON’T BE ONE. That roused my mind that I hadn’t eaten anything since I left home.

Maybe I was hungry but I just couldn’t feel the hunger.

There were not many farms this time around. Not far from the road there were mines with tall towers, and the lights of what seemed to be the residence of mine workers.

The old man alighted way before we got in the middle of Thunessen. Maybe that was the shortest way to the township he lived in. Thank God there were no passengers for Virginia, which was a bit aside from the way to Welkom. It would cost us more time.

In no time we were in Welkom. My feet were sore when we arrived. I had to ignore the little pain. There was no time to nurse it, I had to soldier on. We took one more ride from Welkom to Thabong, Welkom’s biggest township.

Welkom is an Afrikaans name which means ‘welcome’. Welkom had various mines. Most of those mines were owned by Harmony Company, if not all of them. My dad was working in one of those mines.

Sesotho was the main language, with very high numbers of people in the town’s populations speaking Sesotho. Afrikaans, Xitsonga , Isixhosa and Isizulu were other presented languages.

In Thabong Township I lived in a section called Thubelisha, a mix of shacks and RDP houses. There were dusty streets and one main gravel road across the township. At least we had taps in our yards and electricity. Otherwise Thubelisha with no electricity would be so damn boring.

I couldn’t see much when I arrived. It was already 22:00 in the evening. I lived in a two roomed shack. There was not much furniture. I left my luggage on the centre of the room. I was exhausted. I jumped for bed.

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Tell us what you think: Have you travelled a long distance trip? How was it?