A 200-carriage, iron ore freighter in sub-Saharan Africa is no place for a white wedding dress.
Two newlyweds looking for a honeymoon with a difference smuggled their way onto a cargo train in Mauritania.
Newly married Croatian travellers Kristijan and Andrea Ilicic felt like they had visited all the stereotypicalhoneymoon locations for work. Island escapes and Parisian hotels, which are the first thought of most couples, were not high on their list.
As travel influencers, they felt like they had seen it all before and were looking for something a little different. Between them they have visited over 150 countries. They settled on one neither had been to.
"We like to associate the honeymoon with a stereotype, sunsets over white sand, outlines of palm trees," they wrote.
"Such perfect postcard views can sometimes disappoint, but when you embark on a crazy adventure with no expectations… Well, you cannot be disappointed!"
The desert of northwest Africa is a harsh place to travel at the best of times. One of the few means of traversing the Sahara is on the back of heavy freight trains, carrying iron dust across the continent.
The highlight of their trip was a 700-kilometre journey in the back of a dusty cart, travelling from Zouérat to the Atlantic sea in Nouadhibou.
Train du Desert: The Ore train in Mauritania has become a tourist attraction in North West Africa. Photo / Bel; Wikimedia Commons
The Train du Desert in Mauritania has become an extreme tourist attraction. There are passenger cars on most services, which will set you back around $26. However, there is a 'free' option which has become the main method of getting between villages - riding the freight carriages.
Noisy, dirty and dangerous, it is a challenging journey. End to end it takes 20 hours. Temperatures can reach 45 degrees by day and below freezing at night. Falls and injuries are not uncommon.
Still as a backdrop for a wedding photo shoot - Kristijan and Andrea's primary concern - it was worth the danger.
"We will have something to tell the children," they said.
