(ethnic music)
- [Drew] I'm about to take
the most dangerous train ride in the world
across the West African country called Mauritania
in the middle of the Sahara Desert.
Operating since 1963, the train is over one mile long
and carries 17,000 tons of iron ore on 200 carriages
every single day.
The track begins at an iron ore mine
in a small town called Zouérat and goes 437 miles
across one of the harshest environments on earth
to a little beach town called Nouadhibou.
Daytime temperatures in the Sahara
are well over 100 degrees,
and by night, it drops down in the low 30s.
I have been a lot of places,
and I've done a lot of things across 194 countries,
but this experience is unlike anything I've ever attempted.
- Yeehaw!
- Also, I must admit that I'm feeling quite exhausted,
because I've been on the road non-stop for eight months.
Mexico, Egypt, Turkey, Kurdistan, Dubai, Afghanistan,
Ghana, Tanzania, Ecuador, Venezuela, Iraq,
and now I'm capping off the journey with Mauritania.
I came to this country once three years ago,
but wasn't able to take the train back then.
Just two weeks ago, my good buddy Thomas from Yes Theory,
the same guy I went to Afghanistan with,
called me up and asked if I was interested
to do it together.
Obviously, the answer was yes.
We both flew from different sides of the world
to Mauritania's fascinating capital city, called Nouakchott.
I hope you guys are ready to hear about
potentially the craziest adventure of our lives.
(dramatic music)
Very quickly, guys, I want to let you know
that my JUST GO European collection
just went live this morning.
The inspiration for the design
is all my favorite places and landmarks in Europe,
because as you and I both know, Europe is amazing,
and I wanted to celebrate that.
We only have 200 of these red t-shirts,
200 of the blue t-shirts,
and 100 of these really cool globe hats,
and it's first come, first served,
so click the link below in the description
for your chance to get yours before they sell out.
And with that all being said,
let's head back to Mauritania to the train story.
- [Thomas] Oh my God.
- [Drew] I was trying to start my GoPro!
- [Thomas] Dude, I thought you abandoned me.
- No, no, no. How are you, man?
- How are you doing, bro? - Are you all right?
- Yeah, I'm doing great. - Okay, cool.
Thomas and I were hosted
at a friend's friend's family's house
who were so kind in giving us a delicious meal
and a room to sleep in.
It's a pleasure to be in the company of good people.
This is the tea.
- Merci beaucoup.
- [Drew] They also helped us mentally prepare
for the journey of a lifetime.
- This is awesome. This is so...
I can't stop smiling.
- [Drew] Dude.
(ethnic music)
We hit the road in an 11 hour taxi ride.
I repeat: 11 hour taxi ride, straight to Zouérat,
a dusty village in the middle of nowhere.
We just pulled over here, because on Google Maps...
I checked my phone, and right there is Western Sahara.
It's an unrecognized territory.
It's a place I really want to go.
Unfortunately, we don't have time really
to cross the border,
but it's one of those countries that's like,
after you've finished all 197 in the world,
the next tier would be those unrecognized territories.
Finally, we arrived in Zouérat
and were told that the train started here,
but had no idea where to find it,
and we had 24 hours to figure everything out by ourselves.
- [Thomas] We're sleeping here?
- [Drew] Are you serious? Oh my God, we are sleeping here.
Holy smokes. Salaam alaikum.
- We're sleeping next to this guy.
- Bro, are we really sleeping here?
Like, are we actually sleeping here?
I've slept in a lot of places in my life, but this one's...
I'm really getting out of my comfort zone,
let's put it that way.
- I'm so glad that you've been to all of these countries
and that this is comfortable for you
and that I'm with you on it.
- At least we have this TV to watch TV.
This is like a full-on adventure now.
We've got to find food.
We've got to figure out how to get around this place.
Luckily, Thomas speaks French fluently,
one of the national languages of Mauritania.
- [Thomas] Bonjour. Ça va?
Ça va bien, et vous?
- [Drew] It's a skill that I really wish I had.
- We're not the only ones that have done this train,
but I don't think a lot of people
do what we're doing right now.
- Right.
Come here to hang out for 24 hours before the train.
There are definitely more goats than people in this town.
I would bet my money on that.
(rhythmic drum music)
Pretty cool.
We met a local friend and he's taking us around,
and that's really the best way to see a city.
(they converse in French)
- He goes to school here, but he lives in Nouadhibou.
(foreigner speaking French)
The town Nouadhibou, which is at the end of the train ride,
where we're going tomorrow.
Says it's very pretty.
- [Drew] Have you taken the train before?
(they converse in French)
He says you meet people, you make tea, you listen to music.
- [Drew] Amazing. That's so cool.
- He says it's a great time.
- [Drew] Awesome.
But not everyone had the same opinion as him.
We're going to take the train.
- Train? - [Drew] Train.
- You will take the train? - [Drew] Yeah.
Well, it's very hard. It's very hard. (chuckles)
- [Drew] Why is it so hard?
- To city is so far.
- [Drew] How many hours?
- Maybe 30 hours.
- [Drew] What? 30 hours?
- 30 hours.
- 30 hours? What?
Dude, are you serious?
We're starving.
We haven't eaten anything all day except for like peanuts
and tuna fish in the car,
so we asked them to take us to a restaurant,
and here we are.
- [Man] Salaam alaikum.
- Food has arrived. Eating with our hands.
- Yeah. There's plates come, but there's no utensils.
- We haven't eaten all day, so this is going to be a treat.
(they converse in French)
Zouérat!
Mauritania!
(downbeat ethnic music)
We have just left the house.
We got all these bags.
I think we're about to cross the Sahara right now
on an iron ore train.
(downbeat ethnic music continues)
Oh my God.
- Holy (beep). That's the mine.
- This is something we haven't really talked about,
but is this illegal?
- [Thomas] I think it's a gray area.
I don't think it's allowed, but I don't think
that they necessarily try to prevent people from doing it.
- Yeah, I think you're right,
because we're not paying anything to get on it.
We're hitching a ride for free
across more than 1000 kilometers.
- Starting to get pretty nervous.
- Yeah. I feel nervous, man.
Oh my God.
This is about to be
probably the craziest 24 hours of my life.
(rhythmic drum music)
- We've no idea when the (beep) it's going to leave,
we don't know how long we're going to have,
and he also said locals just show up,
so we also don't know who we're going to be with.
- So should we say goodbye to these guys now, or?
- I think they're going to wait with us.
- [Drew] Hey, you're about to take more pictures of us.
- [Thomas] He wants a photo.
- [Drew] Look at his phone case. (laughs)
Doing a little eating before we get on the train,
because this is about to be covered in dust.
We got tuna fish.
Tuna fish and a baguette.
- [Thomas] Where'd you get the tuna from?
- I got it from the store earlier.
(solemn percussive music)
So the train was delayed like two to three hours,
so Thomas and I crashed in this little house.
- [Thomas] One of the guys said we should take these off.
He said it's actually forbidden to have them on the train.
Because of how strong the wind is,
it's caught people and flicked them off of the train.
- [Drew] Seriously?
- [Thomas] It's like a sail.
- [Drew] I actually kind of believe that.
The train is four hours late.
We've just been waiting in this room. Flies everywhere.
How long is the train? 18 hours?
- [Thomas] 20 hours.
- You know what I just realized?
The world's longest flight is like 17 hours,
from Sydney to London.
- I would definitely take the world's longest plane
over this.
- It's going to be awesome.
(rhythmic percussive music) (train horn blasting)
- Holy (beep). The train has finally arrived.
- We've been waiting forever
and we're finally getting on this train.
It's arriving right now.
- It's going to be the most brutal train ride
we've ever had,
but other than that, I'm very excited.
- Holy (beep)!
How are we going to sit on top of the iron ore?
Look, it's still full!
Last moments on land before jumping up on the train.
Get on! Dude, get on, get on, get on!
- Here, take it.
- [Drew] Dude, you're going to get so (beep) dirty
as soon as you jump in here.
Oh, (beep).
Right now we're shaping the iron ore
because they wet it apparently, so this is the only time
it's going to be a little bit bendable.
- How are you feeling right now?
- I'm feeling really excited and really nervous,
both about 50%.
How are you feeling?
- I'm just excited to be honest.
I'm so (beep) happy to be here.
Merci!
He's just telling me, he's right there,
he's saying you gotta be careful, because when it starts,
the whole thing is going to jerk really (beep) hard.
There goes our guides.
- Bye-bye!
Oh, (beep).
(Drew and Thomas cheering and laughing)
- This is so amazing! - We did it!
- We're already moving,
and oh my God, this is going to be one hell of a trip, man.
Whoo!
(dramatic, energetic music)
- It's just sinking in how dusty this is going to get.
- [Drew] We are the only people on this entire train.
You can see the front and you can see the back.
What kind of crazy (beep) would do this, my friend?
I love pushing myself out of my comfort zone,
and this is exactly getting out of your comfort zone
and just doing what you love.
And this is an amazing moment.
I'm just so happy right now to be doing this
with one of my best friends.
I got the goosebumps,
and it's just hard to talk right now and share my feelings,
but this is just really freaking cool.
Okay, so I weighed all the options
and I'm going to pee in a bottle,
but I'm going to do it up there in case I miss the bottle.
I don't want to pee on my bed.
- Drew's peeing on the iron ore train!
- [Drew] I didn't spill a drop. I got every bit in there.
I'm going to save it for when I gotta pee again.
- [Thomas] Just throw it out.
- [Drew] Why? I-
- [Thomas] No, no, no. Pour the pee out.
- [Drew] That was so stupid, what I just did.
That was so (beep) stupid.
Oh, pour the pee out?
- [Thomas] Yeah.
- [Drew] What if it gets over my face?
- [Thomas] Lean over a little bit.
Just pick out where the wind is going. Yeah.
(fast-paced ethnic music)
- Holy (beep), dude! (laughs)
- Yeehaw!
- Nothing but Sahara for miles and miles.
- We're going very, very slow right now,
so we actually have a moment
to stand up here relatively safely
to just capture how ridiculous this whole-
- Bro, your face is still covered
in iron ore right now. (laughs)
- Every time you touch your face,
you just end up putting so much.
Do I have any on my face?
- [Drew] It's all over your face, man.
This is (beep) dangerous, bro.
- Dude, imagine getting-
- Anything happens to us right now,
we're basically dead meat.
- We wouldn't be able to let anyone know
if one of us falls off.
Like, how would we contact the driver? Scream?
- [Thomas] This whole thing is shaking,
and it's very heavy, so it properly whips you.
- I just want to take a moment and say,
dude, I'm so happy we're doing this together,
and I'm so happy that we have the opportunity
to make a cool story and share it with the world.
It's just really special. Holy crap, man.
- (beep) crazy, dude.
- Dude, you're (beep) crazy, bro.
- You're insane.
- [Drew] Dude, both of us.
- [Thomas] I can't believe how much-
- [Drew] We feed off each other's energy
is what we do, you know?
The sun is going down.
This is our last few moments of light for the next 12 hours,
and our last few moments of warmth.
There's people living right there.
Oh my God, my hand is so black.
We're coming coming to our very first stop right now,
almost at sunset.
(soft xylophone music)
It's officially nighttime.
Eat some dinner.
We got nuts, brownies, water. (chuckles)
And bananas.
- It's getting wobbly and wonky.
It's going to be a long night.
- This is going to keep me nice and warm.
And the crazy part is,
we still have like 13 more hours on this train. (laughs)
Even though I look so extremely uncomfortable right now,
I'm having the best time of my life, bro.
It's 1:57 AM, I'm in my blanket right now,
and we literally just stopped.
I checked the map, and we are nowhere near any towns.
Hopefully it's not a technical issue.
I really hope we're not stuck here all night.
It's freezing outside.
Yo! Dude, it's almost morning.
- [Thomas] Are you praying?
- [Drew] No, I was just recording a video.
- [Thomas] Oh.
- [Drew] Dude.
- [Thomas] I thought you were like a random dude.
- [Drew] What?
- [Thomas] I thought you were a random dude.
- [Drew] Why?
- [Thomas] I don't know.
I thought you were sleeping
and then a random dude was here praying or something.
I think I was dreaming.
- It's six o'clock in the morning. I'm in my tent.
I managed to sleep a couple hours,
but I'm freezing cold right now
and we're waiting for the sunrise.
I am completely covered in black. My breath stinks.
I can smell my breath inside of this face mask.
Holy (beep).
- [Thomas] Good morning!
- [Drew] Good morning, dude. Sunrise!
- [Thomas] Sunrise is always my favorite time of the day.
Everything is calm. The world is just waking up.
And now to be in the middle of nowhere, watching it...
When you climb to the top of a mountain,
it's so treacherous and challenging,
and then you get to the top and you get to see the view.
That's exactly what this moment feels like.
Because we started, and we weren't surrounded by dunes,
beautiful desert like this.
So to wake up to that, and with the sunrise,
feeling very grateful right now.
- I am completely speechless at the moment.
Watching the sunrise in the absolute middle of the desert.
The past 12 hours have been complete darkness,
and very, very cold.
And I did sleep a bit,
but I kept tossing and turning and moving my legs,
and I'd have to sleep in the fetal position.
Even though we have six, maybe five more hours left,
this is probably going to be the best moment.
We did it, bro!
Almost.
At least we made it to sunrise.
Getting out of my blanket
for the first time in like 12 hours.
The sun is rising, and we're rolling up to a town.
(Drew whooping)
(beep), man! Whoa!
First time we've see any kind of civilization since Choum,
which felt like 10 years ago.
(warm guitar music)
(Drew sighs)
- We are
close,
maybe five to ten miles away.
It seems like the finish line is just around the corner.
- [Thomas] Whoo!
- Oh my God. Please don't fall, please don't fall.
Man.
- [Thomas] Holy shit. - What an adventure.
Like, in every sense of the word "adventure."
We... I don't want to say we did it.
We're almost there.
But it was such a great, great experience.
And it's really tough to see right now,
but right there,
you can see a guy standing on top of the iron ore,
so there are other people doing it.
I think we're passing a dumpster!
(they groan)
- [Thomas] That was the worst smell I've ever smelt.
- That was terrible.
I'm tasting poop.
- [Thomas] The ocean!
Whoo!
(warm guitar music continues)
Oh, (beep).
- Holy (beep). Dude, it's moving already.
I jumped down at the last possible second!
Holy (beep), dude!
- What the (beep)!
- Oh my God.
It's hard to put into words
how incredible this experience has been,
and to share it with someone so like-minded and adventurous
made it that much more memorable.
As tough as it was physically, mentally, and emotionally,
the adrenaline rush is what we live for.
I encourage you to push yourself out of your comfort zone,
because that's where you may find your happiest self.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart
for watching this video,
and stay tuned for the next four episodes
as I take you deeper inside Mauritanian culture,
lifestyle, and cuisine.
I'll see you next week.
(warm guitar music continues)
(water running)
- I've never been this dirty in my entire life.
So much (beep).
(water gurgling)
- We just washed ourselves in the bathroom of this cafe.
Thomas got his coffee.
Oh, yeah.
- So happy right now.
We feel semi-clean. Still really dirty.
My beard is covered in iron ore, but...
Able to change clothes,
and now we have a six hour drive back to Nouakchott.
We did it, man. - We did it.
- Unbelievable experience. - Yep.
- I'm Drew Binsky, and if you like my travel videos,
please click "subscribe" and ring that little bell
so you can get notified on all my upcoming videos
as I take you to every single country in the world.