[ Conakry, Guinea ]
Once I sorted out the exit stamp, the border crossing was a breeze. It was two and a half days through rain forest, on a road I had chosen because the map called it “National Highway 3.” If by “National Highway” they meant “Muddy single-track only passable on foot or by two-wheeled transport” then they were spot on. Their inaccuracy was my bliss, however, and the transit to Boke was hot, rainy, difficult and outstandingly eventful.
That I had managed to cross the border in a place where I could neither change nor obtain money added a layer of excitement to the whole endeavor. 
In Boke, I finally found a bank, got a SIM card, and hit a paved highway. I needed to decide whether or not to take a detour to Fria–a mining town where I was hoping to meet a friend of a friend. WHen the detour turned out to be thirty miles of inadvisable track taking me back into the rain forest? Mind made up. Off to Fria it was!
