(engine whirs)
(metal screeching) (suspenseful music)
- Okay, you may be wondering as I am right now,
what happens when you're hurtling through
the driest part of Africa at 65 kilometers an hour
on a metal death machine while gale force winds
whip little pebbles at every single inch of exposed skin?
And you have to use the bathroom!
(Laughing) (wind whooshing)
- It is working! - It's working!
- It's going everywhere!
- [Eva] Oh my God!
(relaxing music) (train screeching)
- Mauritania, West Africa.
No one comes here.
It's 99% desert with only 1,500 foreign tourists in 2018.
What brings us here is a train.
It's the longest in the world.
We've heard locals hop it as a free and fast way
to and from the coast to the interior of the country.
Here's the catch though, it transports iron ore.
The plan?
We have no plan.
All we've got is a name of a mining town, Zouérat.
(relaxing dubstep music)
(bell rings)
[In French] You board here. You board it here.
We are so confused. (Eva chuckles)
(engine whirring)
(train screeching)
(laughs) Whoa, quick, quick, quick!
Okay so, we're on the train.
Not the way we expected to be on the train.
So, we arrived and the locals said
let's go, let's go, it's leaving, it's leaving!
And they're tryna get us into
the passenger car, which we are now.
As you know though the real experience is
on the back of the iron or coal.
Is this it?
- Maybe.
- [Mike] This is our first piece of iron ore.
It was just taken from me, I don't know why.
[Mike in French]: But we don't want to pay for a ticket
[Eva in French]: Because we really don't have any money.
[Mike in French]: We want to go... to go on the...
[Eva in French]: And that's why. We have 500 Ouguiya, that's it
[Man In French]: You want to go on the Mineral Car?
[Mike In French]: Yes, Exactly
[Man in French]: You'll ride the Mineral Car and get off?
- Ah, okay, sorry, I'm so sorry.
(speaking in foreign language)
- Okay!
The iron ore, yeah, the mineral.
[Kid in French]: It's not good. It's not good.
[Mike in French]: It's not good? But it's what we want.
(wind whooshing)
Go, go, go, go, go (grunts)!
(exhales sharply) Uh-huh.
Let's do it! (speaking foreign language)
Okay, (speaks foreign language).
Let's go babe.
(man speaks foreign language)
Uh-huh!
Eva, get on the train! (Eva laughing)
Look at this (laughs).
Yeah (laughs)!
Welcome to the backbone of the Sahara!
This is the iron ore train that connects Zouérat,
the mining city, to the port town of Nouadibou.
This payload, this iron ore,
goes to the coast to be exported.
And it's gonna be our home for the next 20 hours.
I hope you're ready for this. (screeching)
I hope we're ready for this! - Whoa, (squeals) wo-ho!
(laughs) Oh, I don't think we're ready for this (chuckles).
You can see that there is the mine.
I think it's best if we actually
just lay low for a little bit.
- Yeah. - Because I don't know
how legal this is, I think it's just tolerated.
But maybe our presence shouldn't
be known to the people out there.
(clanking) Oh!
- (squeals) Wow, (beep) that was intense.
- This is gonna be a rough 20 hours.
- Oh my God, this is just the beginning (laughs).
We're good. - We're gonna keep our
heads low until we pass the mine.
And then we'll pop back up and get a couple more shots.
(soft whirring and screeching)
(metal clanking)
Okay (chuckles) so we're here.
The train hasn't really left yet.
It's just been going back and forth.
Connecting to other cars.
And so, it'll go one direction maybe a couple 100 meters.
And then, slam!
And the other direction, slam!
Just zigzagging as all of these hundreds
and hundreds of rail cars connect together.
It's a little bit unpredictable.
Very loud! (metal screeching)
I would be expecting another jolt here soon.
So, if we brace ourselves. - Oh!
- How's this for a third date?
- [Eva] (laughs) Recommended!
Highly recommended!
(bang) Ah!
- Oh, there it is!
Are you okay? - Yeah.
- All right. (loud squealing)
And that, I believe, either a male waiting call.
Or a dying dinosaur.
It's the sound of our journey beginning, finally.
It's quite ominous.
It's like those suspense cues in a horror movie.
(wind whooshing)
(relaxing music)
Wo-ho!
We just turned the corner!
I think we get a taste of what the wind's gonna be like.
- Oh my God! - It is much more intense
than we first thought, wow!
Are you okay?
- (sputtering) Feels bad, gah!
- Much more intense.
You can see the iron ore blowing off of the cars up ahead.
It's definitely a whole different experience.
Once we got out into the open desert.
(clanking)
- This is a lot more than I thought I signed up for!
The wind is so strong, oh my God,
it stings you through these layers!
Whoa, I'm holding out on this.
20 hours!
(uplifting music)
- Yeah (laughs)!
Oh (laughs)!
Wo-ho (laughs)!
You can tell we've changed our clothes.
To something a little bit warmer.
Eva's down here about to cook (banging)--
- Argh, oh! - Whoa!
That's gonna happen a lot tonight.
- I've got about a billion layers on.
And I'm ready for dinner.
'Cause we've been on this train for like, four, five hours.
And we haven't had a single bite to eat of anything.
I'm starving!
And we've got!
Bread! - Bread, yeah!
- [Eva] Wo-ho!
And we've got (mumbles).
- [Mike] What is it?
- Coke! - Coca-Cola?
- Yeah! - For real?
- [Eva] I got us Coca-Cola!
- [Mike] Oh my God, best surprise ever!
- I know (laughs)! - Any rum?
- No (laughs)! (Mike laughs)
But a Snickers (laughs). - A Snickers?
Wow!
Whoa, hold on, brace, brace, brace!
(loud clank)
(murmuring off microphone)
(loud bang) Whoa!
Oh yeah, give me that butter!
- Mm!
Dinner time, pretty simple.
Bread, butter, done!
- Eva and I were just talking about
the things we do and why we do them.
This is not exactly a comfortable experience (laughs).
But I guess that's the point.
There's a book of mine that I like a lot
called, "The Power of Myth" by Joseph Campbell.
In that book he says, "Maybe we're not searching
"for the meaning of life, we're searching for
"the experience of being alive."
Dust in our eyes and our skin pink by the wind and iron ore.
But I feel alive!
How about you! - Yeah, very raw!
- (laughs) And that's why we do it.
This light here
is Choum, the only stop on the train.
There's a man here with a flash light.
He's probably looking to get a ride like us.
(train whirs and screeches) (calm vocal music)
Yeah, just this, look at it.
- A million stars! - A million stars.
(calm vocal music)
- I know this doesn't seem like the most conventional
kind of bed, but there's no other choice.
We've gotta make ourselves comfortable
somehow so this is what we're doing.
A little mat, Mike's got a cushion.
A bit of a luxury here, (chuckles) which I don't have.
And two sleeping bags, that's it.
This is how we're spending tonight.
Hopefully we can sleep through the next 10 hours
until we get to the coast and Nouadibou.
So, wish us a peaceful and clam night
here (chuckles) on the windswept Sahara!
(gentle whooshing and screeching)
(Eva sneezes)
- Oh!
(metal creaking)
(fabric flapping)
According to our map, we're about
100 kilometers from Nouadibou.
It's breakfast time and we're living the luxury life.
We have one very flat slightly gray piece of bread.
And we've got a boiled egg.
But on the inside it's gonna be just fine.
No iron ore, it comes with its own packaging.
(egg cracks) (suspenseful music)
Breakfast time!
(metal creaking loudly)
Oh!
Exactly what we need!
(relaxing music)
We've been on this iron ore train for 20 hours.
And all my zippers are all gummed up with this fine powder.
What we've learned is that Blistex is great for chapped lips
but also great for loosening zippers.
Isn't that right, Eva? - Yeah, fantastic!
(both laughing)
- So, if you ever have stuck zippers,
rub a little Blistex in there.
And it'll zip right back up.
Guys, I think this is it!
We've got cars lined up.
People yelling.
Oh, we arrived in Nouadibou.
Let's get our stuff quickly before the train keeps moving.
That guy has been following us
for the past kilometer (chuckles) down the dusty road!
As soon as he saw us he assumed we wanted a taxi.
And he's right, we do want a taxi!
Our friend up here is staying on for the ride I guess.
(laughs) But this where our journey, whoa!
Journey ends.
For now.
- Less.
- Whoa!
Let's get to town!
(upbeat music)
When you put two adventure travel YouTubers
together in a hotel room it is always a giant mess!
Hey, it's Mike Corey of Fearless & Far.
And I'm here with. - Eva of Eva Zubeck!
- (laughs) Both travel the world making cool videos.
But you know that already.
But one thing you might not know is
if you press the notification bell
and you're subscribed you get these notifications
immediately when I post videos.
Like this amazing one we just filmed!
I think our lungs might have recovered from the black dust,
but I know our camera here hasn't.
'Cause this lens has been effed up ever since!
- Yeah, with tons of black dust coming out of my camera,
my hair, my nose-- - Suitcase, clothing.
- Yeah (chuckles). - Everything for weeks after.
But we had a fantastic time.
Mauritania was probably one of
the coolest countries we've been to in a while.
Partly because it is extremely remote.
And while people don't always enjoy filming,
or you filming them, they were
extremely friendly the entire time.
We both have more videos coming up about Mauritania.
Outside is Bangladesh!
Make sure to check out that series.
And also make sure to subscribe to us both.
Especially Eva, the lovely co-host here on YouTube today.
- Yeah (laughs)!
- Chase your fears dragons and I'll catch you
in the next video on Fearless & Far.
(upbeat music)