Transportation is cool

Getting around the country is fairly easy in Burkina, one simply needs decent french and small change, as in most other situations here.  Long trips can be accomplished on large buses, old tour buses usually, I took one from Ouagadougou to Banfora, my regional capital, and it was a pleasant experience, besides getting slightly felt up by a woman on the last "leg" of the trip, I crack myself up.  Its easy for me as a dude, but can be dangerous or at least uncomfortable for a lady, because of the lack of a bubble of personal space and handsy Burkinabe guys.  So thats the big buses.  It is forbidden for me to ride in a car or a motorcycle (moto) because of the dangerous traffic, so for routes that lack a big bus, it is necessary to take a bush taxi.  A bush taxi is a singular experience and involves much haggling and stinkiness at first, with the amount of haggling diminishing with practice.  A bush taxi is a van the size of a VW van and can usually fit 18 passenger, thats right, 18, with several boys in the employ of the driver who tie your bag and bike to the top of the van.  To get to my site from Ouagadougou, it is necessary to take a 6 hour big bus to Banfora and a 15 to 30 minute bush taxi to Siniena, so I have it very easy compared to some volunteers who only have bush taxis near their sites.  Bush taxis run near my site often, and it is a simple as flagging it down on the side of the road.  I can also bike the 12km to Siniena if I want.