The Desert Train: A Journey Through The Sahara To The Atlantic Coast | TRACKS

[Music] there are trains in the middle of nowhere a line on the horizon even deep in the sahara there is a world of silence and sometimes agitation [Music] hello and welcome to mauritania i'm in the sahara a setting that is unique in the world to view the show of dunes and infiniti my journey will take me from the sahara desert the largest in the world to nua on the atlantic coast by train come on let's go [Music] the sahara is also a matter for the rails in mauritania the ocean of sand is split by the railroad tracks the iron ore train is a source of life for the whole country composed of 90 desert and became independent since 1960 [Music] a scrap metal monster hiding another smaller tourist train for the desert travelers [Music] hello yes it's going to be nice to discover your country with you sure we'll start on the train and then we'll see something else great we're not going to do anything without drinking a welcome cup of tea first in mauritania's tradition the famous traditional tea is the custard my friend we have to take off our shoes even in the train in mauritania yes to respect the custom i think i'm going to drink a lot of tea mauritania right yes like everybody who lives here what are you doing why do you have to stir the tea to make foam yes it's for foaming and to make it look good only for aesthetics only aesthetics my friend but it's also the way of tea there's a big difference there's no comparison for every person you love and care for wouldn't serve tea without foam so it means you're starting to care about me now yes you're my friend [Music] well here we go [Music] between two giant convoys of iron ore on the same track the desert train transports about 15 hikers and adventure travel enthusiasts they finally discovered this country which was neglected for about 10 years because of instability and terrorism that is to say for 135 kilometers we have underground basins that this water train supplies you're the guide of this desert train nice to meet you there are travelers and walkers with us is it new and important the return of the desert train a secure country is a rich country it's neither the business numbers fish gold nor diamonds it's safety first the wealth of the country and that's the case here today in mauritania here is the proof there are tourists on the desert train he didn't run for 12 years and this year hamdullah the train is running in this desert i've been waiting for this for 12 years shukran thank you very much [Applause] [Music] [Music] waiting for the ore train my guide bulla is taking me to the desert by other means of transport just as safe and consistent [Music] it's going to be a bumpy ride all aboard here we go it's pretty good up here drunk in freedom the camel drivers in their sand principality perpetuate the art of the caravan [Music] we arrive in a singular oasis tennessee where only the wives stay waiting for their husbands who go to work in the iron ore salt mines [Laughter] [Music] what are these stories these women are telling in their singing it's about a woman who's missing her husband he's been away for a couple of months and she really wants him back home all right it's a love song then yes there you go thank you my friend [Music] your husband went to work outside the oasis yes and he'll be back in a few days and then it'll be party time again she's telling you that you have reminded her of her husband she is saying that tonight he'll be back there's going to be a special party for him so all the women will gather and she's going to do her braid and her henna she's going to make herself beautiful for her husband despite her age [Music] [Music] thank you in tennessee the women fight against abandonment cultivating plots of land to the edge of the oasis they also welcome desert walkers when they venture out here [Music] it's a lovely little place a good night except when there's sand everywhere of course hello hello olivia did you sleep well i slept very well and you yes so now i'm going to show you the oasis and the beautiful dunes of tennessee okay these dunes are very beautiful let's go [Music] in the forgotten oasis the women are not only fighting loneliness but also the sand selding the dunes are great moving walls and sand waves overwhelm everything even souls well this oasis has to be earned it's beautiful yes it has to be earned but unfortunately as you can see this oasis risks disappearance in a few years threatened by the dunes and censorship exactly so every year the desert is expanding a little bit more yes apparently the desert is expanding by five meters a year there are walls including a higher one is there anything we can do about that sand tilting people living here have tried every means at their disposal to stop the dunes from advancing but to no avail all the date palms we can see all over there aren't enough to stop the expansion of the desert no they aren't this tree in front of us is called the prosopis okay it does stop the advance of the dunes but also draws water 150 meters below the surface it's a risk to the phreatic table i think that this oasis has only a few years left and people here don't want to leave no they don't they want to stay here in tennessee [Music] the sandstorms lift all the dirt up and forces humility humans can only bow to these gigantic hourglasses a silence of a thousand silences wrote centex i'm glad to see the desert with you by your desert it is a great pleasure for me to see you discovering this beautiful mauritanian desert that i love and discovering the oysters absolutely mauritania is a big country twice the size of france how many people still live in the desert surface area of mauritania is one million thirty thousand and seven hundred square kilometers it's twice the size of france and four times the size of germany but its population hasn't yet reached four million inhabitants and ten percent of this uh nomadic which means that 400 000 people are now living in this huge desert yes surviving we live off date palms farming and other businesses of course [Music] in one of these remote towns philippe a french humanitarian takes care of a small school the desert madrasa the eccol hello hello everyone how are you me too are you all right children hello [Music] here are some pencils so children can write thank you cards to philippe and his friends at the association and notebooks here you go here you go you already got one no the children seem very happy that we're giving them notebooks and pens yes they're very happy even if they don't quite express it out of modesty in reserve because it's the basis of education especially for young girls but there's one thing that never fails their eyes they're shining with joy philippe i feel you are very moved when you speak about your humanitarian work here you were very attracted to this country does that mean you're committed now you're involved yes i do think that we have some kind of responsibility as europeans we are wealthier so we have facilities that they can't even imagine here you're passionate about this oh yes it's my every day mauritania is a country of 4 million inhabitants the majority of the population is less than 25 years old so there are huge needs for education i imagine yes there's a huge need for education especially since we're starting from a very low base culturally these are populations of farmers who are now more semi-nomadic than nomadic but they've come back to fit in settling on the land of their ancestors where often a great great great grandfather is buried and what makes us have a connection to the points of settlement of populations at the moment several families are regrouping and where there are school-aged children they naturally are asking to have a school which they often build themselves it's just makeshift but it's not bad to use that word because they don't have the means the difficulty beyond that from a national aspect is to find enough teachers to hold that many positions hence the government's policy to seek to group together to mutualize this is our base pooling resources so that as many people as possible can use it in one place [Music] in this echo disabler built by the association children come from very far away thanks to an all-terrain and open-air school pickup [Music] at the end of the dunes the desert train resumes his course railroad sand road the saharan train also likes to take its time hello thierry hello i know you are passionate about mauritania but also about art so i come and sit with you nice to meet you nice to meet you so you travel and you paint mauritanian landscapes yes a sketch and so on yeah here are the tickets this was our first camp last night in the village of azuki so here it is this morning it's not finished it's tenzag's pass actually we've come off the shelter of a draw and we went down to take the road you seem to know this country very well don't you it's a country i've known since my early childhood oh so you've actually lived here i've lived here since 1963. my father worked on the firmer at the time it is the working part of the training he and his colleagues were detached from the sncf okay so he was involved in the construction of the royals yes he was it started in 1962 in fact when the line was created okay so your dad actually built the line he participated incrementally to the construction site how fast did it go it was pretty fast since it was several kilometers a day per day yes that's a lot it's a line that's 650 kilometers long which starts from the seashore where all the materials were arriving and goes to zurat where there is iron ore mining in any case you clearly carry mauritania in your heart you love this country that's my second home yes [Music] the desert train takes me to zourate the city of the iron mine this is the city of mauritania's treasure chest its treasure which is well guarded the scenery changes abruptly from gold to fire another world awaits me beyond the dunes [Music] the iron mine of zouarati santek zupere spotted it flying over the moore's desert in 1929 during the time of the airpost a dante and universe crisscrossed by steel dinosaurs nibbling at its flanks day and night with brave truckers behind it is 200 tons 200 tons 200 tons of all we'd better check the bricks before we go down yes of course the company is clear to ensure that safety is the priority of all priorities and is it a job that is passed down from father to son here for some of us yes for you yes and we are very happy to work in this company despite the fatigue and all that but this is a sacrifice for our country of course yeah i do feel that there is a certain pride in you and the other employees when it comes to the mining company we're very happy it gives us strength it's our company the iron ore is conveyed to the plane and then to the big aura train never before has the railroad been so worthy of its name hello can we go up okay so you're going to nuadebo yes okay how are you can i come with you of course excellent thank you very much is it this way here it is the legendary sahara train a beast the 16 000 ton monster shakes the sand around it and runs like a giant reptile through the vastness and mystery of the land the desert home of the wind and caravans made of steel in ways of ever-changing sand amazing to see this welcoming tea ceremony in all weathers and even at full speed [Music] there's a nice view here from the train very nice view this train which is the the ore train is a very big train it's a really really big train still the longest train in the world yes sometimes it's more than a mile long and you as the operation controller you make this trip very often very often yes you're in charge of what's happening on the railroad tracks there are camels aren't there oh yeah we control everything sometimes camels come and cross the track and sometimes the train crushes them and what's wrong with the railroad tracks when there's the meeting of trains that's a problem you have to be careful when you pass each other when we meet yes two kilometers on one side two kilometers on the other side each train when they see each other has to stop and doesn't leave until the other train crossing is gone okay so someone says yes we'll be taking the 30 mile an hour turn around yeah for braking all right we're going to pass the seven driver wow we passed the train going the other way yes exactly it's an empty train coming from nua dibu and apparently it's going to be a very long one our train is almost a mile long and i think this is almost the same length we'll be careful we take this little break and have opportunity to go see the passengers right at the end of the train but it's almost a mile walk then it may be maybe it's an exaggeration see you soon [Music] hello [Music] i'll try to find some passengers yes go for it yes it's there thanks a lot thanks for the ride i've gained two kilometers hello how are you will you accept me on board your carriage can i come up i can't see anything now you have to do it 20 times to learn how you have to be professional huh i hope i can breathe a little with this thank you for accepting me so i don't have a train ticket is that okay no problem it's free we don't pay it well now it's gonna be cold so we have to cover up and also protect and what do you do for a living we're looking for gold looking for gold yes is it hard to travel on the train when it's cold at night and well with the dust yes there's dust it's cold there's a lot of inconveniences but it's okay are you going to be okay yes [Music] hassan tells me about his quest for nuggets in the desert not far from the railroad tracks he sometimes only brings back small treasures but he and his friends keep the secret and hope one day to make a fortune [Music] well i'm gonna put some ski goggles on soon right they're nice you're going all the way yes guess what what's your job i'm a taxi driver driver too yes a truck no it's a taxi no a taxi okay a taxi in the desert yes taxi new extra transport oh yes everywhere yes everywhere it's cold is it working ah yes there's fire that for me thank you wherever we are in hospitality i'm very touched by the attitude of mauritanians wherever they are in the desert in the villages or on the world's longest iron ore train and surely one of the nicest trains it's for you you like it the skip and the beast on the railroad trailer the new nomads prepare their shelter with lungs infested with iron particles a camel ride under the benevolent lights of the sahara desert and its lost kingdoms a prayer on the metal frames and under the moon here the milky way and the railroad go so well together we're three under the blanket we'll keep warm good night [Music] so [Music] i was delighted to share these moments with all of you bye bye see you soon bye yes thank you very much i'm getting up onto the only passenger car which is full and where every half square meter is occupied there's no space there's no free space it's it's full sorry is there a space for me here no yeah there's just a little bit of space all right good evening can i sit here [Music] my name is olivier and you are my name is ali ali it's a little warmer then on the iron or wagon you can take this off there's no problem i see that everyone's well equipped here yes everyone is well equipped we can eat and drink we can eat we can have fun we can the only problem is there's not much space right yes right and we're still working it out yes we'll work it out among ourselves you live in by the sea yes i live in newar with the famous white headlights i know the white head oh what are you doing over there i do technical studies technical studies and what would be your job afterwards in auto mechanics with this knowledge you're sure to find work in mauritania you know you know mauritania is a country where it's quite hard to get your degree and find a job that suits you it's very difficult yes you're about to get your mechanics diploma do you have hope in mauritania yes yes so tomorrow for the future of the country yes yes i have a lot of hope for the new generation i have great hope this generation has the spirit to change to build the new mauritania tell me ali on the train is it a chance for mauritanians to meet to talk to each other to meet and talk to each other yes discuss and exchange positive ideas ideas that can also contribute in the future slow and steady wins the race i think that it's gonna be okay [Music] only us the next generation is after that we're a little dirty yes there's a lot of dust there you see that yes thank you for having me yeah very good the beast continues its race throughout the night with its 16 000 tons of cargo and hope in the hole a little nap before the next stop over in the crush passengers sleep where they can sometimes standing up [Music] oh it's deserted a train station finally or rather a few households in the middle of nowhere was a short night it's true that the sandman can't make a fortune in the desert [Music] i'm leaving the life base the iron ore society based look it's written right there it's a camp in the middle of the desert it's good to be rested and above all in a clean place i'm going to visit this little desert station and apparently there aren't many people [Music] an unlikely village which sprang from the sands and lives only thanks to the railroad [Music] the dunes and walls combine here the desert remains king and knows how to take back all its rights [Music] why does it feel like we're in a small village on the railway the sleepers are recovered enough for constructing buildings gutters and also to fight against the silting resourcefulness [Music] a landscape of eternity where the sand dissolves time and erases the tracks like the first city of chingetti a city that's been mythical for centuries buried in the wind [Music] [Music] in front of yes why because the sand finally forced the city to evacuate the sand is gaining ground so people are expelled by it okay and it's all because of that strong east wind that blows behind us it's all because of this prevailing wind from the east if you don't mind my saying so we're stepping on houses that have been completely covered with sand so we're really stepping on houses and it's going to be the case for the second and also the third chingetti you stay optimistic on the fate of the desert cities and oasis i'll stay optimistic until the day i die especially for this city which is a holy city for us the seventh holy city of islam so we're going to fight to save this holy city [Music] the merchants and scholars who stopped at this oasis during the pilgrimages left one of the great treasures of the desert here a library of sands there's also this the trail of ancient caravans [Music] [Music] we are in one of the old libraries of qingeti all right and here is the curator mr abdullah one of this family sons okay you have to wear gloves [Music] i can't wait to see this from the 13th century unbelievable look at these colors is this a religious manuscript it's a theology manuscript was it written in inch getty or was it brought here by the oasis inhabitant it was brought back through the mecca paths [Music] in this oasis of books works of poetry arabic grammar geometry astrology and even a manual by the great persian scholar avicenna signed by his own hand i'm amazed you have centuries and centuries of history preserved here in the small library sheltered from the wind and the dust [Music] with bula we decide to camp on the caravan trail which gets closer to the iron convoy bulla who's regaining his nomadic instincts finds a perfect place between the dunes of great loneliness [Music] we're gonna make our shelter here yes the sun goes down quickly here in the desert and it's going to get cold yes so let's hurry up and go yeah come we have everything we need we have sleeping bags mattresses everything we need [Music] my master of the desert tells me i must set up the tenth well because if i don't we might get a little surprise in the early morning with the night wind it's okay now [Music] so tonight i'm going to taste camel has it got a strong taste no no not strong it's tender yes but a little tasty of course everything we do has taste you won't regret coming to mauritania i already don't regret it at all and i feel like you're living through it again when you're only far away from the village far away from the city you're almost another now i'm getting my strength back my friend yes we have to let's taste this camel meat dromedary meat to be accurate here is salt my friend if you're short of it before just right all right enjoy thank you the meat is tender it's very tasty and a little strong it's really delicious thank you for this invitation to the devil welcomes her all right yes buddy there we go getting ready for the night we're in the sleeping bags if you're cold you can go sleep into the tent yes absolutely oh look at this show oh yeah it's unbelievable to see all those stars wow good night good night see you tomorrow [Laughter] [Music] the next day i'm joining a small convoy that's eagerly waiting a vital artery in the desert the water train which is also a mobile shop tens of cubic meters at each stage for free to help the nomads in their great transhumans [Music] [Music] does the water go here yes it's coming along nicely there's a hell of a flow and the water arrives in this well lost in the depths of the desert by which the farmers and animals know well and which is refueled every week by this train of life and its great tank cars [Music] [Music] are you the conductor why do we call it the train of life because it's a train that supplies the entire population from a distance of 569 kilometers to newer debut i see that there's not only water but there's also food passengers and mostly animals you're carrying a lot of things this is for the mobile vendors these are merchants who have been around for years they have their reserved wagons where they can put their goods also for supplying people along the way do you like the job of being a life conductor yes i like it a lot i love it because it did a lot to me how do you feel is a general knowledge all the way through alaikum [Music] [Music] the train of life is slowing down which is a good sign we are apparently at a supply point a small village that's inhabited i can see heads popping out i think musa the conductor is eagerly awaited we can get a lot of things here yes this is bread bread yes it's bread bread comes for breading food all right how about this it's a dess oh lentils foreign instead of giving back a few bucks our merchant friend has thrown a can of sardines that makes it easy oh a customer forgot to pay desert men are honest [Music] [Music] in this village the shepherds aren't sure if they'll sell their goats [Music] one of them found a taker [Music] hello hello hello how are you how's business today is it working or not a little not much no it's not much this long road it's not much and is it better than say having a fixed shop the ones who run the big businesses are people with a lot of money i don't have enough money that's why i'm taking the train so i don't have to pay for transportation there's a good compromise you come here every week for the train yes we're coming because it's like a marketplace this train is very important for the village it brings us food and everything we need [Music] [Music] it's the final stretch the ore train takes us to the port of nuedibu on the shores of the ocean and to the end of the long peninsula [Music] my friend bulla went ahead to see his family again final stop for passengers and our precious iron cargo oh hello olivia to see you again are you okay did you have a good trip great trip happy to hear that and full of encounters glad to see you again here you're welcome i'm thrilled we're in your country and you're just in my city [Music] in nuodibu the iron is loaded on board mainly chinese ships nearly 80 percent of this very pure iron ore is purchased by china for the trifle of a hundred dollars a ton [Music] between the bay and the ocean boule is showing me around nuedibu a port that has become the economic lungs of mauritania even its fisheries have kept the charm of ancient times [Music] wow it's very busy in this portion yes this is the biggest port of artisanal fisheries and mauritania as you can see this port creates a lot of work for people not only mauritanians but also other nationalities who come here to work this means that mauritania is a country which is open to everyone hello hello you're a fishing boss here yes i am okay so fishing here in mauritania has been great activity one of the most important for the country's wealth right is that still the case of course this activity is one of the most lucrative and mauritania after the iron activity fishing comes in second place it generates funding tremendously and creates much needed jobs our mauritanian coasts still as fish abundant as ever of course the mauritanian coast you often hear as i do is one of the richest sources of fish in the world does that mean that fish is still a traditional staple dish for mauritanians [Music] unfortunately there is no specific boat to supply the local market there are boats which do it but they're not so well equipped to supply the market here i know you have to go so i won't delay you anymore muslim so i wish you a good day and great fishing thank you thanks a lot see you thank you goodbye bye in mauritania fisheries agreements are very favorable to certain countries including china and russia at the expense of local buyers fish a treasure that's also going back to the open sea [Music] there we go the journey ends up here on the white headland by the ocean a long haul through the dreamlike sceneries of june but also a desert that is after all very varied i've been especially moved by the generosity and hospitality of the mauritanians i've been able to meet and by bula my guide but also maloom the teacher ali the student and many others mauritania is a gem that hasn't finished revealing all its secrets anyway it's an endearing country that opens its door for you see you soon

Channel: TRACKS - Travel Documentaries

Views: 670,558

Keywords: TRACKS, tracks travel, Documentary movies - topic, travel documentary, culture documentary, full travel documentary, train journey, the sahara, desert, largest desert in the world, the sahara desert documentary, atlantic coast, On the rails, Mauritania, iron train, traveling through the sahara desert, North Africa, Travel Documentary, train transport, travel on trains, full documentary 2021, bbc documentary 2022, tv shows - topic

Id: FhRl3Vq9Gt4

Length: 51min 59sec (3119 seconds)

Published: Sat Jan 15 2022