Bus Ride to Musanze

Over Easter weekend my friend and I went to Musanze, formerly known as Ruhengari. Previous to the program that we are both on, my friend had lived in Musanze off and on for 2 years, so she knows the city real well. She told me before we got on the bus in Kigali that I have to stay awake because the view will be amazing. Well she was right.
The ride there took a little over 2 hours. I was lucky enough to get a window seat for the ride, and did I ever enjoy it. To get from Kigali to Musanze you have to travel Northwest up into 'mountain' country. Essentially you weave your way amongst hills the entire time. It was amazing to see the country side. Most of these hills were either fully tiered or just planted directly on the slope. We saw many people both out and about, aka walking on the road, and then we saw many people working in the fields. As we passed through small towns and villages we saw people doing anything and everything that they could possibly do. I felt like it was the Rwanda that I was missing because I live in Kigali. Now don't get me wrong, I love Kigali, but something can be said for the countryside.

As we got farther North the weather did get colder, which is GREAT. I was sitting next to the window so I got the amazing breeze in my face, I had not felt so wonderful for about 15 weeks. But then what do you know happens, the Rwandese get cold so they asked me to close the window so I did.. yet for that short time with the window open it made the bus ride even better.
I would also like to note that I happened to see two waterfalls on the bus ride. Also once you get to Musanze it is really neat because whenever you look up at the skyline you see the volcanos looming in the distance.

The bus ride back was almost as good, the only down side was that it rained so the views weren't as good as the ride up. That just means I will have to go back to see what I missed.