Tour d'Afrique - Cairo to Cape Town by Bike

• Riding in convoy to the ferry in Aswan was pretty funny.  They shut down the road over the Nile dam for us to cross.
• Getting on the ferry, then watching the ferry being packed from the boat was absolutely hilarious!  Picture 40 people trying to get over 100 heavy bags and 40 high-end bikes onto a boat while being trampled by people with massive bags of potatoes, car parts, textiles, you name it also trying to get on the boat.  People (I'm assuming were officials) would occasionally close the gate to the boat, but would let us climb over and/or around it with our payload.  The neighbouring barge was also being packed to enormous heights from trucks that were packed to double the height of the cab.  No words can describe, absolute mayhem!  I can't believe that this happens every week.
• While on the ferry, I met some guys that I met in Cairo from Iceland and Sweden that decided to head to Sudan.  They were going to try to head to Khartoum by camel, not sure how that will go.
• Getting off the ferry in Wadi Halfa, Sudan was pretty much the same.  This time however, we had be to "inspected" by customs.  The official (my guide book warned me about) wanted us to unload the truck, put the bags from the square that they were arranged in to two lines, have all of the bags open, started to call from a list of names, inspected one bag, asked if we had a doctor, asked the Swedish rider whether he had medication for his wife's stomach tumor, after a long awkward discussion, decided ex-lax and immodium would do the trick and accepted some, told everyone to bring their bags to him, told everyone to put the bags back in a line, was fed up inspecting bags so put an "inspected" sticker on all of them, etc., etc., etc.  You get the picture.  I think he was getting some entertainment from all of our weird gear.
• The biking in Sudan has been awesome (note this is coming from the point of view of an adventure racer that doesn't like paved roads)!  Though most days have been on the order of half of the distances we were doing in Egypt, the effort is far higher.  I seem to start my daily journal writings with something on the order of "Amazing day, just amazing!"  Washboards have been abundant, violent and seldom avoidable, but makes the arrival at camp extremely rewarding.  Taking off shoot roads has varying success, but occasionally warrants some great riding!  I am very happy to be one of the riders that is on a mountain bike with wider tires and a suspension fork.
• Some have noticed, I got my first stage win!  The first day in Sudan, we discovered that though all roads go the same direction, some lend to faster riding.  Jan and I came into lunch first the other day even though we thought we were 4th, 5th.  I waited for the top riders to arrive and was going to wait for them to leave until I noticed that the tandem bike snuck away from lunch without my noticing.  I left about 5 minutes behind them and decided that since there were no towns along the road, I would push that day.  I eventually caught them and was the first rider to arrive.  Not the sweetest stage win, but I got my stage winner plate none the less.
• Since then, I have slowed a great deal.  The scenery through the desert is amazing and surprisingly diverse!  I have stopped in many villages along the way.  A few times I was offered a wife.  She didn't seem to accept when I offered to take her back to Canada by pointing at my bike seat.  The Sudanese people are extremely friendly and generous!  I stopped in one town along the Nile where a Swedish rider and I were given a massive platter of bread, pasta, beef and dips.  It was very good!  My limited Arabic (to the effect of good morning, hello, water, thank-you, and a few other basics) entertains the locals as English is not as abundant here.  We have gone through pockets of a Nubian language as well.  I only know thank-you and hello in that one.
• Now I'm in Dongola, half-way between the Egyptian border and Khartoum on a rest day.  Even though I have been taking it much easier over the past couple of days, the longer time in the saddle and more riding in the heat of the day takes a lot out of me.
• Overall, having an absolute blast.  This whole experience from the fun stories, to waving and talking with locals, to riding some great terrain, to passing through some amazing scenery, to enjoying the incredible desert night stars is far too much to explain.

# posted by Andrew @ 1/29/2007 08:13:00 a.m. 0 comments

• It seemed that Egyptians love noise!  In traffic drivers always have one hand on the horn.  Many bicycles are equipped with air horns that are louder than some truck horns.
• Prayer songs occur 5 times per day in the largest of cities and smallest of villages.  The speakers they use are always cranked to their max (as judged by the raspy quality) and are atop the mosque towers so the voice travels far.
• Brake lights in some cars are accompanied by a catchy electronic Arabic tune that I long thought was some one's mobile phone.  You can imagine what that is like in Cairo.
• Emergency vehicle sirens are drowned out by so much other noise.
• Our wake up call while with our Egyptian tour company that supported us for the first leg of the journey consisted of a number of loud horn blasts from the buses, accompanied by a whistle, banging of pots and pans and occasionally the fire truck siren when it was there (I am still not entirely sure why the fire truck was at a number of our camps).

• It was interesting to repeatedly note that children were often shoo-ed away like dogs.
• Children are also very independent; parents are seldom seen.  The kids not only get a good "street-wise" education, but apparently receive good schooling as well.  Most could speak very good English and some spoke decent French as well.  Economically smart in the interest of future tourism I guess.

• On one hand, there is an expression of "Egypt time" where things will happen eventually.  Generally, it is pretty laid back which I don't mind.  For example, after ordering some pita bread from a place where there were many ready and many were piling out of the oven as we were standing there, it still took a great deal of time to have someone actually take our money.  Much in Egyptian life seems to work on this schedule; it works.
• On the other hand, the second anyone is behind the wheel of a car, they are in the biggest rush of their lives!  I thought traffic in Cairo was pretty entertaining, even in more rural settings people still try crazy things just to move a little faster.  Incredible!

• Needless to say, there is a gargantuan amount of ancient history in Egypt. As such, tourists are in abundance all over.  It seems that most towns have the touristy front to it where you can be quoted some incredible prices (like the equivalent $5USD for four oranges), then have a section slightly removed where locals frequent ( i.e. $1USD for four good oranges and some bananas as well).
• Since tourism generates an incredible revenue, the police are unbelievably abundant and have check points frequently on the main roads.  Foreigners are only allowed to travel these roads in police-escorted convoys that stop all traffic when they pass at 90km/h.  I have met some along the way that easily overcame this with bribery though.
• Photos are not allowed to be taken of any ancient historical item for claims that the flash will degrade the artifacts.  Some places will however sell you a permit to take pictures of these artifacts for a high price.
• I noticed first in a town, I was seen as a walking $.  Everyone wants to help so that you will offer a tip.  I biked by a guy that pointed to a mountain then asked for a tip for doing so.  However, once you have been there for a bit, they seem to treat you as one of the locals.  I enjoyed this since I could observe typical life unfold from a fly-on-the-wall point of view.

• Once you were not seen as a source of money, people are very friendly.  I was walking back to camp from a temple in Luxor and had a police officer jump out from behind some bushes to try to scare me.  He laughed hysterically, then introduced me to all of his co-workers while making fun of the few Arabic words I know.  The Emeco staff (tour company) were not only always friendly, but highly entertaining as well.  Many other fun stories about fun interactions with locals!

Thanks Egypt!  I had a blast!

# posted by Andrew @ 1/29/2007 07:33:00 a.m. 0 comments