Accidental Tourist

Why you should be a tourist in your own town

Exploring on his bike and with his camera, Tembisa local Lungile Sojini feels like a tourist all the time

12 February 2017 - 02:00 By Lungile Sojini

Exploring on his bike and with his camera, Tembisa local Lungile Sojini feels like a tourist all the time Earlier last year I bought a bicycle. In December, I bought a camera. While I neglected the bike for almost all of 2016, I've been on it again this year thanks to the camera.Work sees me travel to a lot of places. I live in Tembisa (east of Johannesburg, if you really have to know). Travelling from Tembisa (in a taxi) to Johannesburg then Parktown is my normal routine. I feel like a tourist all the time. Sometimes my final destinations are Sandton, Braamfontein, Melville, Alexandra or Atteridgeville. I go to these places maybe once, twice but never enough to get used to them.story_article_left1 In Joburg, the streets are so crowded and space is never enough. If you are not telling someone to watch it or move it, some stranger behind you is saying that to you. That's Jozi for you. You never get used to it. And if you ask for directions to the Parktown taxi rank - your first time going there - the Jozians will gladly walk you there. Once they get you there, they expect a big pay day. "How much?" you ask. Considering it didn't take them more than five minutes to walk you to the place, R2 should be sufficient to compensate them for their trouble, you think. And who can blame you? Normally you are immune to those street beggars who play to the gallery and appeal to your emotions. But these are a special kind of beggar."Ah, some money to buy myself a cold drink!" they say.A gasp from your side. A cold drink goes for R10 or R15 - probably as much money to get you to Parktown. You sigh. But because you are not a tourist per se, but an accidental one, you hand them a R2 coin. It should be enough, but no, they want more. And they start calling you names. You tell them that if they are unhappy with your tip, they can give it back, which they don't. Next time work throws you in the same destination, you vow to remember the trickery of these guys. But somehow you never come back. In Sandton, they are quiet. It's as if someone is gonna ask you how rich you are if you talk too loudly. I love it, though. Is it the inaccessibility? I don't know. But whenever you are there, keep quiet: everyone is rich. And of course, don't take pictures near the Nelson Mandela statue. I never do. Unless you revel in calling yourself a domestic traveller - or if you believe in your country's literature - by all accounts please don't.I went to Atteridgeville once. I love that place. I don't see myself travelling there in the near future, but I won't forget the time I was there. It's a long journey to get there, a reminder how big the country is. And of course a reminder that most places we visit, we do so accidentally.I still travel when I'm not working. On my bike, with my camera, around Tembisa where I stay. Perhaps I'm a domestic tourist twice over. Now with the camera, I get to see things I wouldn't have otherwise seen without it. I photograph horses, goats, dogs, shacks and the nothingness of the empty sky. When I get home and view my images, I also find things I hadn't seen before. Even bland images soothe me. This year, I wish for myself a car. For now it seems a good idea to go take a selfie with the bronze Mandela! Everyone else is doing it, why not me?• Do you have a funny or quirky story about your travels? Send 600 words to travelmag@sundaytimes.co.za..

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