Car chase in 70s Mogadishu!!!

[Chimera]

NSS agent is pursuing a Soviet spy, their cars are coming from the road heading to Merca and Kismayo. This is 1979, all Soviets are enemies of the state.

 

(Blank map)

 

The spy's objective is to lose the NSS agent in the maze of urban Mogadishu, and reach the old port, he has a slight headstart.

 

 

What type of landmarks and neighbourhoods would they be encountering on their way? Does the road in the map - where the chase the starts - even lead to Merca and Kismayo, or should I start the chase coming from the E1 road?

[Miskiin-Macruuf-Aqiyaar]

But there was no Dharkanleey degmo in '79 nooh. Qariirada dib ha loogu noqdo.

[Alpha Blondy]

lol@adam. this is awersome.

[Abwaan]

Miskiin-Macruuf-Aqiyaar;770110 wrote:

But there was no Dharkanleey degmo in '79 nooh. Qariirada dib ha loogu noqdo.

Looooool....maka yaabtay sxb...

[Chimera]

Miskiin-Macruuf-Aqiyaar;770110 wrote:

But there was no Dharkanleey degmo in '79 nooh. Qariirada dib ha loogu noqdo.

Lol! That's where you guys come in. I need assistance on the network of roads, neighbourhoods and landmarks in Mogadishu. What was that road called then in the 70s? Also, another situation involves one of my starlets leaving the National Theatre by the back door with her bodyguards, through the alleyway, and then her car enters the road (at the farthest tree of the below pic) and subsequently takes a right turn. What are the names of these two streets? (especially the one the mini-buses are riding on)

 

 

How far is the Al-Uruba hotel from the National Theatre?:#

 

 

And where was the NSS headquarters located? I have a thousand more questions but answers to these would help me progress significantly. If someone knows of a good map that shows everything I need, I would be very grateful( I once had such a map, but can't recall its location, it had road names like "Via Liberia" etc)

[Archdemos]

i see you've already contributed to making this site more intersting again. Welcome back saxeeb. sorry i cant help on this one, but intrigued to read the final product.

[Chimera]

Thank Arch, good to see you're still around. Its a minor project intended to be a pocketbook, until I know precisely where I'm going with my main hexalogy; I'm focusing on little delights in different genres instead.

[Chimera]

Beautiful written piece on the Somali music scene of 1970s Mogadishu; Magool's graceful voice what a joy! Ahmed Abukar's "Caashooy" is great too, very funky.

 

 

http://blogs.voanews.com/african-music-treasures/2008/05/20/the-light-sound-of-mogadishu/

 

Cinema Hamar

 

[Miskiin-Macruuf-Aqiyaar]

Daa'uud, these google street maps is a start. It has most of central Xamar's most famous streets and their names.

 

[/img]

 

In this map, one of the most famous street names in Xamar is not shown, though. That is Jidka Maka Almakurama. It starts from where it says Saxafi Hotel and goes all the way to where it says Football Field However, all other famous street names wey qoranyihiin.

 

You also wanted to know the distance between Tiyaatarka Qaranka and Hoteel Alcuruba. Well, here is a little map that can help you.

 

 

Tiyaatarka Qaranka was located close to where it says Taalada Dhagaxtuur. Hoteel Curuba was located, I think, south of where it says British Embassy. I am not sure, but it is somewhere around there. So you can do the math calculation if you want.

 

If you want to know where my family lived at, we lived close to literally where it says Jidka Wadnaha, just immediate south of where it says Wadnaha in the first map.

[Miskiin-Macruuf-Aqiyaar]

About your picture, which road the minibuses are on. I think it is on the extended Maka Almakurama Rd.

[Chimera]

Thanks alot for that information MMA, very appreciated! I know you were young at the time of cosmopolitan Mogadishu, but did you ever see a Cadillac on the city's roads? What type of cars were prominent back then; American or European/Asian? I know the late dictator was a collector of luxury cars but did any of the musicians drive anything fancy?

 

I'm tempted to invoke artistic license and just drop a Bentley or a Cadillac on Al-Uruba's parking lot. Somalia did afterall have Cadillac designed armoured vehicles, why not civilian designs?

[NGONGE]

I'd love to hear what the NSS agent was saying as he was conducting the chase. How many nacla and how many wareer badna (yes, I already have tuujiye behind the wheel in my mind's eye).

[Miskiin-Macruuf-Aqiyaar]

Chimera;770936 wrote:

Thanks alot for that information MMA, very appreciated! I know you were young at the time of cosmopolitan Mogadishu, but did you ever see a Cadillac on the city's roads? What type of cars were prominent back then; American or European/Asian? I know the late dictator was a collector of luxury cars but did any of the musicians drive anything fancy?

 

I'm tempted to invoke artistic license and just drop a Bentley or a Cadillac on Al-Uruba's parking lot. Somalia did afterall have Cadillac designed armoured vehicles, why not civilian designs?

at Cadillac.

 

Most common cars on the streets of Xamar back then was produced by a Talyaani company, Fiat. There were Fiat trucks, Fiat trailers, Fiat compact ones and Fiat minis. But there were also other cars, most notably Volkswagen Beetle, aka Fakis, a lot of Toyota Cressida, Toyota Corollas, Land Rovers and in late '80s, Range Rovers and Toyota Landcruisers. There were also other European-made cars like the German Mercedes and BMWs, the French Citroen. The eldest brother in the family drove one, Citroen, in early to mid '80s. I loved how it automatically lowered to ground by a push of a button. I have yet to see another car that can lower to the ground to this day, only buses or other public transports have that.

 

It looked like this:

 

[Chimera]

NGONGE;770939 wrote:

I'd love to hear what the NSS agent was saying as he was conducting the chase. How many nacla and how many wareer badna (yes, I already have tuujiye behind the wheel in my mind's eye).

LOL, that description would fit the older partner better, my story revolves around the younger agent; the smooth operator, the ladiesman, the soldier fresh from the wars in Mozambique and the O-gaden War with a mind full of Pan-Somali and African Unity ideals, which I'm all going to crash somewhere at the end of the book.

[Chimera]

Miskiin-Macruuf-Aqiyaar;771161 wrote:

at Cadillac.

Yeah, on second thought I have opted for a classic limousine, they were more common for a starlet or officials according to my uncle, but I made it a white one instead.

 

Most common cars on the streets of Xamar back then was produced by a Talyaani company,

Fiat

. There were Fiat trucks, Fiat trailers, Fiat compact ones and Fiat minis. But there were also other cars, most notably Volkswagen Beetle, aka

Fakis

, a lot of Toyota Cressida, Toyota Corollas, Land Rovers and in late '80s, Range Rovers and Toyota Landcruisers. There were also other European-made cars like the German Mercedes and BMWs, the French Citroen. The eldest brother in the family drove one, Citroen, in early to mid '80s. I loved how it automatically lowered to ground by a push of a button. I have yet to see another car that can lower to the ground to this day, only buses or other public transports have that.

 

It looked like this:

 

Now I'm wondering whether I should go with a black version of that Citroen or the Renault IKA Torino* i'm currently using. The Citroen was also a major player in the recent 70s spy film "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" or other 70s movies like Munich, but I wasn't sure whether that car was even imported by Somali car dealers back then.

 

*

 

Quite happy now, truly MMA you're a walking library! Did you ever chance to see the interior of the Al-Uruba Hotel?