7500 Miles

The last two days we have been on the infamous ferry from Aswan, Egypt to Wadi Halfa, Sudan. We had a bit of extra sleep in our camp before heading out across the old and new dams at Aswan in a convoy with a police escort. This was a special allowance made for our group; nobody is generally allowed to ride across the dams. The only restriction for us was that we couldn’t photograph it. After crossing the dams, we arrived at the ferry port on Lake Nasser. Hoards of people were already there, with all their goods to be transported to Sudan. We were let through the gates early to wait in a separate area with the few other foreigners destined for the ferry. There was a German couple driving a very burly Unimog-looking vehicle. Then there was a German/Mexican couple on touring bikes. Both couples were roughly following our route to Kenya.

After about two hours, we said our goodbyes to the Egyptian riders and Emeco (our Egyptian fixers) and were allowed to walk our bikes through the metal detectors (why?) and run our bags through the X-ray machines to wait near the ferry. On the docks sat two lovely cruise ships and a third utilitarian ferry. That was ours. Another half hour or so of logistics and we carried our bikes onto this legendary beast, through the mess hall, and up the stairs to the top deck, where the loading process continued until around 6PM.
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The last two days to Aswan have been fairly light. Both days were 115km, with an overnight on a football pitch (soccer field) in Edfu.

Edfu is one of the stops made by the Nile cruise ships. A group of us wandered onto one of them. It wasn’t departing for 45 minutes, so we decided to stay for some drinks. No surprise, the lounge was already occupied by Gerard, who has a pension for luxury. He also is known for having a lot of gadgets–even more than me. We moved to the top deck, which was complete with an infinity pool and full service bar. Hungry as usual, we took full advantage of the free chips and peanuts with our overpriced pina coladas.

I also managed to source the seven beers needed to pay the staff for the privilege of buying back my headlamp and tent bag at auction. The shop keeper gave them to me in a plain brown box. “You didn’t buy from me. Trouble from police.” Hmm. I didn’t realize beer trade was such an underground activity here. Alcohol is illegal in Sudan, though, so I’m glad to be finished with this task.

Now in Aswan, we’re all running around sourcing food for the ferry and things that will be harder to find in Sudan. I stocked up on sunblock and toilet paper. In the late afternoon, I went to a botanical garden on an island with Andra, Sherrif, and the two Muhammads. The aroma of the flora and all the greenery was a pleasant change from the pollution of the city.

Our trucks left us yesterday in Edfu to catch the ferry to Sudan. They travel on a separate ferry from the one we take tomorrow. That means we had to break from our regular messy packing routine and come up with a different system for these couple days to keep our valuables and necessities with us while the bulk of our stuff crosses with the trucks. This is all necessary because there are no open roads between Egypt and Sudan yet, and only one set of ferries per week.

As we’ll be in Sudan starting tomorrow, I have no idea when I’ll have Internet access again. Sorry again for the lack of pictures. Check out Gerald’s blog for a great collection in the meantime. The official TDA blog is also regularly updated (they have a satellite Internet connection).

Day 6 was relatively easy. I was 15 minutes late out of camp, as my cheap rear hub had come loose and had to be adjusted. All these late starts and tire problems are really starting to add up in my overall race time (not that I’m counting). Since I was the last out of camp, I didn’t see any other riders until lunch. Navigating through the town of Qena was a bit confusing as there was no flagging tape for us to follow, but I found my way.

After Qena, things got more interesting. We were now in the lush green Nile valley instead of the endless sprawling desert. The road follows the Nile, which brings with it one new interesting feature: people.

There is traffic. People wave when we go by. Children were lining up to wave. They stand in a line and say “Heee-llooooo.” The closer
we got to Luxor, the more “hello” began to be used interchangeably with “moneymoneymoney.” Some kids wanted me give us high-fives. One group even threw flowers. Others threw sticks. One boy raced me for a few blocks. He gave me a run for my money on his ancient single-speed bike, primarily made of rust.

Our camp is in the courtyard of a hotel in Luxor. I opted for a room this time so I could reorganize my gear and enjoy a hot shower, outlets to charge my stuff, and of course, a clean toilet. It seems about half the group still stayed in tents, working toward their goal of ENT (Every Night in a Tent).

Day 7 was our first rest day. Aside from running errands, I used the time to explore the area. Emeco took a few of us to see the Valley of the Kings and a few other sites. I “visited” the Luxor and Karnak temples on my own–I walked around them but didn’t pay to go inside. Back at the hotel, everyone’s laundry had been washed together and was hanging randomly on the clothes lines. It took a lot of searching to find all my clothing. It’s hard enough to recognize my cycling clothes at home (since I don’t usually wear cycling clothes), but with 50 other riders’ clothes in the mix it’s quite a challenge. Lesson learned: write your name on your laundry before giving it to hotel staff to wash.

In the evening, $14 bought us a buffet dinner with a belly dancing show. After the show, we were surprised when one of the men pulled a couple of cobras out of his bag and let them slither into the crowd. We took turns posing with the snakes, sometimes in quite compromising positions. One more shower to wash off the “ick” factor, and we were ready for some sleep before our next riding day.

The morning of the 5th day began with the slow, gentle climb over the mountain pass between the Red Sea and the Nile. The wind was in a rush to get to the Sea, however, and mistakenly under the belief that it had to follow the roads to get there. The local drivers don’t follow the roads as thoroughly as the wind did. No matter which way we turned, we were like little salmon swimming upstream. 130km.

Fortunately, I found some help riding loosely in groups in the morning. After lunch, I had formed a peleton with three other riders and we helped each other to the finish. If I had been able to do that on the second day, I might still be EFI.

We got into camp to another surprise. The staff had found both my headlamp and my tent bag. They were being auctioned off along with other lost items from other riders. I had to buy them back for 7 beers (not cheap in Egypt). Poor Paddy had to buy back his eyeglasses for 14 beers. Meanwhile, my missing tubes had reappeared in my bag just as mysteriously as they had disappeared. Finally, all my possessions seem to be accounted for. Camp was at another police checkpoint, where we formed our usual tent city and became the spectacle for the boisterous guards for the night.

Today was a long day. 160km is long under any conditions. Today was especially long. I rolled out of camp this morning to the tune of a low tire. I managed to pump it up and keep it going throughout the day with periodic top-ups. The first half of the day went pretty well. I stopped for a Mountain Dew after lunch, and my stomach returned pretty much to normal (coincidence?).

Not much further down the road, the winds began to change. Soon, we were pushing ourselves into a horrendous headwind. At least 40MPH. Probably faster. Our speed dropped accordingly. My speedometer showed 4MPH at one point. Even the downhills felt like steep uphills. I did some mental calculations and realized I wasn’t going to make it to the finish line by the end of the day, so I decided to grit my teeth and give it all I had. This amounted to a near full-out sprint for about four hours. The SAG wagon came by. They let me keep riding. Just a few km past the rest stop, however, it came by again. I heard the words I didn’t want to hear from Shanny: “We’re here to pick you up.”

Second day. Out of EFI. That was my biggest goal for the trip, and it was too soon to have it shattered. 15km to go. I was depressed, to say the least. No, try devastated. But I tried not to let it show too much. About a dozen other riders ran out of time today as well.

It was dark in camp when we arrived. It was also extremely windy and raining. These aren’t the best conditions for setting up new tents, but we all managed. My tent survived the night (except for its bag that blew away), and so did I. My head lamp seems to have disappeared, also.

After a big buffet breakfast at our hotel, we began our long, slow journey from Cairo. Our first stop was at the Giza Pyramids for a departure “ceremony” that consisted of a few photos and some catered refreshments. After this, we had a slow-moving police escort out of the city. The police presence was overwhelming, as all the officers seemed to want to take part, showing off their sirens in a continual game of one-upsmanship, while others barked through their loudspeakers something to the effect of “stay away from the white people,” apparently.

As we waved goodbye to our escorts at the edge of the city, we began a long slow climb to lunch, rising above the smog layer, and leaving the cacophony of traffic behind. The roads are wide, well-paved, and are filled with surprisingly light loads of traffic.

For me, lunch consisted of a peanut butter and tomato sandwich and a couple bananas. My stomach had been slightly upset all day, and after lunch it took a turn for the worse, culminating in a series of spectacular purging events that I won’t discuss any further.

It turns out that during our convoy from the city, one rider had three flat tires and eventually had to get on the truck. Already one person out of EFI status. I’m beginning to understand why EFI is so difficult to achieve, if a bike malfunction during a convoy can kick you out of the club.

Getting there is half the battle. Or so I’ve heard. I probably won’t be saying that at the end of the tour. Well I’m finally in Egypt, and am wandering the streets of Cairo with a handful of other riders I’ve just met.

Everyone has their own story of getting here. Here is mine:
My flight left from San Francisco, where–aside from trying to charge me more for carrying a bike–there were no problems. My connection in London was delayed a couple of hours, however, when our original plane broke down (they had to find a spare), two people didn’t show up (their luggage had to be removed), and the little truck that pushes the plane back from the gate caught fire (they had to extinguish the fire and find a spare truck).

Arriving in Cairo, I was surprised to find a taxi to the hotel waiting for me and another rider, Sunil. I had inquired about a ride to the hotel in advance, but hadn’t heard back from the hotel. It was a pleasant surprise, as the hotel is a bit out of town and taxis are expensive. The driver tried to charge me $160US for the trip though, and we’re still working out the details. The pre-arranged cost was supposed to be $28.

At the hotel, more confusion arose as I didn’t have a reservation until the next night and the staff couldn’t find Sunil’s reservation at all. As it was already 4:00AM at this point, I eventually broke down and paid $40 for a half-night in the room, including breakfast.

The following morning, at the hotel restaurant, the waiter waited until I got my first plate of food to inform me that half-night stays don’t qualify for free breakfast. Another 55 pounds. Ouch.

By noon I had met several other riders from the hotel. Eight of us piled into a small taxi to and headed downtown to see the museum and wander the streets. The Internet at the hotel is down (and 75 pounds per hour even if it was working), so my posts may be few and far between for the time being.