Downtown Johannesburg

Jo'burg (photo by TravellingFool.com)

With an opportunity to sleep in, we did the opposite. Or at least my brother and I did. We were eager to make sure that we had plenty of time to enjoy the breakfast buffet, especially since it will be our last at Garden Court Sandton.

The croissants at breakfast are so magical. Like fluffy warm buttery bits of mana from the heavens. I ate four of them this morning. I just couldn't resist, even though the fourth made me a bit too full. 

As breakfast came to a close I went ahead and purchased tickets for us to go on a sightseeing bus tour. There was a slight miscalculation on my part and instead of the bus picking us up near the hotel, it was actually about 20 minutes away. We had two options - a couple of cabs or the train. My mother said lets emulate the amazing race and try the train. 

We got a bit lost on the way there in our efforts to avoid a long flight of stairs that divides our hotel and the train station. Instead of going directly there we walked a long circle through the mall and then ended up literally across the street from where we started. When we finally did get there and get tickets/cards for everyone we hopped on the super fast escalators and went down deep into the bowels of Sandton. 

The Guatrain is quite nice. There weren't too many people on it and those on it seemed to be middle or upper class. It makes sense since the train is a bit on the expensive side (roughly $2.50USD each way). The seats and train cars reminded me of the Long Island Rail Road back home. 

Exiting the train at Johannesburg Park we found the sightseeing bus fairly easily. The plaza had a bunch of homeless men scattered across the open area asking for money. We waited for the bus to arrive near the ticket booth. There was a mini mart selling hookahs and biltong (still haven't tried it yet) where we picked up some waters. Waiting near the booth there was a foul stench that burned my nostrils. I thought that someone in our party was wearing old pants that they forgot to Febreeze or check to see if they were okay to wear. The group I was with thought it was me! Eventually we realized that the smell of urine and butt was just from the area we were in. 

Thankfully the tour bus driver came to get us and we could escape to the open top bus. We spent the first circuit listening to the audio portion of the tour and looking at all the landmarks of the city. 

It was amazing to see how poor, dirty, and decreped some blocks were with brand new or classic looking buildings right next to them. There were some things like Ghandi square (a bus depot with a Ghandi statue) and Constitution Hill which looked nothing like I expected them to. They were all tucked away and hidden behind the common everyday activities or buildings or construction going on. 

On the second go-around we couldn't decide where to stop. There really wasn't anything that jumped out at us. We considered the Origins Centre and the SAB World of Beer but we didn't have too much time left before the last bus would leave so we settled on Gold Reef City to grab some food. 

Gold Reef City was an interesting place. The food was good. I had veggie toastie which was so spicy that I thought I would never feel my lips again. We checked out the casino as well. It was interesting to see the same slot machines we have in the states, but instead of cashing out and getting a paper voucher the money is put on your casino membership card instead. 

The ride back to the train station was beautiful. I spent the evening with James and EJ sitting on the restaurant patio, enjoying a whiskey and their company. There was even a group of drunk Japanese businessmen sitting at the next table, who reminded me of the guys I used to travel with back home. It was a great ending to our last night in Sandton.