A walk on the wild side

So, today I think I almost bit off more than I could chew.

It started off well...
Today I decided to try and use the pseudo-public-transport to get into town. This seemed quite easy at first - I asked someone else waiting for it about what to catch, and this got me into town quickly and easily.
I spent a few hours wandering around Braamfontein and Newtown, where I can honestly say I didn't see a single other white guy. Checked out quite a few streets of random shops, and cafes where the till and serving area was seperated from the tables by a cage, and chaotic markets, and people who looked like they were living out of broken-down cars.

I stopped to have coffee and some food in Newtown, which is the relatively-upmarket end, and the guy at the cafe even asked me what I was doing there.

Then I tried to get home, and it all went a bit pear-shaped.
I stood at what I thought was the right place for ages without managing to get a ride. And the only other guy at the stop eventually walked off, saying he'd been waiting for over an hour unsuccessfully.
Half an hour later one of the dodgy minibuses stopped and answered YES to my question of whether they were going to Linden, and I hopped in...

He initially only half-jokingly tried to charge me 10x the normal going rate, but I called him on it, and he charged the right amount.
The ride was a bit uncomfortable - not only was I jammed into a minibus in such disrepair that the door didn't even close, but also it was full of africans jabbering in a language I couldn't understand, laughing at times. I'm sure at times it was laughing at my expense, but I figured it was an "interesting experience" at least.

I changed my mind when the minibus dropped me off in Randburg, and said they'd be back to pick me up again in an hour.. if I was still around. Randburg is a suburb I've been warned about and told it is distinctly NOT COOL AT ALL to be stranded in the middle of it on a friday night.
Strike a blow for inter-racial relations there, then.
I received more strange looks from people, just being there, and again when I was asking around if there was anything headed to Linden from there. (Linden is, apparently, one of the safest suburbs in all Joburg. Randburg is one of the least safe. I'm guessing they don't get much call for the dodgy minibuses to go between the two.)

So, I walked home. I may have mentioned that Johannesburg is a quite anti-pedestrian city.. well, that goes doubly so when it's night-time and you're walking down streets with no pavement and no working street-lights and in the one area you've been explicitly told not to walk around in.
I'd pretty much given up all hope of arriving home with any of my possessions and/or life, but the 4km walk was uneventful, apart from a couple of times when emergency vehicles went screaming past.

Journey in the morning: 30 mins.
Journey home: 3 hours, and numerous fingernails.