Spent the morning wandering around the train yard in Dire Dawa. Marvelled at this crumbling abandoned carriage, imagining what these walls had witnessed in its heyday years. How much life had moved in and out of its doors, the endless views of dry countryside scrub it would have passed and what towns it would have seen develop in its time. It was almost as if we could still smell the snacks and coffee that were consumed on its long journeys, the presence of life was still raw and very real and turns out with good reason. We were told this little carriage was actually the functioning 3rd class 7-hour ride to the Djibouti border and had just arrived back in town last night.

On my way out I passed by the carriage’s toilet, which had most definitely seen better days, and noticed the English script scrawled above the non-existent door stating ‘My home is clean and sweet’.