Day 23 - Jan 31

Yesterday was the rest day in Khartoum.  I had grand plans for seeing the sites and the city but unfortunately it was not meant to be.  I thought I had beaten the illness and was ready to go.  But as soon as I ate, it was like feeding the beast.  I got deathly sick again.  Even up to last night.  I felt fairly good so I ate a big meal to prepare for the days ahead.  Bad choice... I got so sick, I sat on the toilet and held the waste can.  The medics advice to this point was... let your body get rid of it on its own.  At that point I said enough is enough.  I took a massive dose of antibiotics, anti nausea and anti diaharea medicine.   The diaharea medicine makes you drowsy so off to sleep I went.  By morning I felt much better.  So my rest day was spent around close proximity to the "facilities".

I felt so good this morning that I road 90 miles into a headwind all day and heat that reach 120 degrees!  Needless to say it was a long, tough, hot day.  I felt good and fairly strong.  So strong that I road cover for a couple of people who were in trouble with the wind and heat.  Most of the afternoon I rode point and let the draft pull the others along.  Hey, when you have it go with it!

This section of the tour is the toughest of the entire trip as per the head tour director.  It is an eight day stretch without a break.  It starts off with the 90 mile day today, followed by a 100 mile day tomorrow.  Then we have to change tires because we are are going off road for three days.  Then we are back on road and cross into Ethiopia.  The last two days of the eight start the climbing.  Day 7 is a 1,000 meter climbing day of 60 miles and day 8 is a 2,500 meter climb and 64 miles long.

To give you an idea of the climb over the next 15 riding days...  We will have a total of 14,940 meters of total climbing.  That equates to 9.3 miles of up or 49,015 feet or like climbing Mount Everest one and two thirds times in 15 days!  All this in 100+ degree heat...  Oh this is going to be fun!!!  And as everyone is saying, and we are paying to do this!  

Plastic is the demise of the African landscape.  Plastic bags are blowing around everywhere.  I call them the African Tumbleweed.

There is certainly no Department of Transportation enforcing any load codes on trucks.  So many are overloaded and dangerous like this truck.

The landscape and roads have changed since Khartoum.  The roads are so much worse, something akin to the chip seal roads of West Texas combined with the potholes of a post Chicago winter.  The vegetation has become more common and the sand is giving way to dirt and rock.

Well I need to get some rest to be able to tackle tomorrow's 100/100...  100 miles in 100 mile heat!

Day 21 - Jan 29

Well things have solidified for me to an extent if you know what I mean.  I have been taking some anti nausea pills which has brought back my appetite somewhat.  So I am on the mend!

I road the 87 kilometers into Khartoum today.  We did this before lunch.  The closer we came to Khartoum the more the desert was giving up its bareness to acacia trees and scrub bushes.  We had to pass thru several police check points on the road.  They were no big deal because the tour company had already gotten approval for us to pass.  But at one check point there was not only the typical police/military with their small arms and AK47's but just a bit past it was a soldier manning a heavy weapons anti tank/anti aircraft gun.  From what we hear things are heating up here in Sudan.  Doctors Without Borders has ordered all of their people out of the country.  The Blue Nile region is the hotspot as the government supposedly bombed a hospital.  We had to get special Visa Permits when we entered Sudan to be able to take photos.  Part of the Visa spells out that we are not to take photos that are unflattering to Sudan.  And that the police can check our cameras at any time and confiscate them if unflattering photos are found.  I guess that is to control photo journalists.

Well back to the journey into Khartoum...  We had an escort from the Tourism Police when we got to Khartoum.  We had to all gather up and cycle as a tight group with police vehicles front and back as well as others rushing ahead to close off intersections.  We were the event of the year as we entered.  People all stopped and watched as we rode by.  We created one helluva traffic mess.  We passed through very rural markets and shops as we entered the city proper.  When we came to the bridge crossing the Blue Nile... large modern high rise buildings appeared.  It looked like two completely different cities.  One was very poor and third worldly and the other a rich modern one.  It will be interesting to explore it tomorrow.

I am going to rest tomorrow as I am not all the way back to the pink of it as yet.  So i am not sure how much i am going to see.  I am getting a hotel room rather than camping for the rest day. Oh a hotel!!! A room with a real toilet, not a desert you have to dig a hole in or a hole in the floor that you have to strategically hit.  And a bed... this time with a box spring and a mattress.  The simple things of life.

Day 20 - Jan 28

Had a rough night and day today.  I could strangle the little bottle refilling bugger.  I made many "runs" (no pun intended) out to my favorite tree last night to dig a hole and make a deposit.  I marked them by putting a rock on top, that way I wouldn't dig up any prior treasures.  By morning it looked like I had a neat little rock garden.  If I were in need of a colonoscopy, I would be ready to go.    (Only those that have had one would understand). Can't be anything left in there.

Couldn't quite get my self to eat breakfast as the thought of food was unsettling.  I did east a hard boiled egg as I thought it would be quite neutral.  It sat in there like a lead brick.  I did go for the ride today because the thought of just sitting around and riding the truck seemed like a bad idea.  I made it to the lunch stop at 87 kilometers but that was all she wrote.  I stopped at a coke stop about 10K before that because something sweet sounded so good.  I drank about half of the coke and decided that wasn't such a good idea after all.  A couple of hundred yards from the coke stop the lead brick of a hard boiled egg and the coke started a fight in my stomach.  Not sure who won but they both made a break for it on the side of the road.  That cemented my decision to ride no further past the lunch stop.  Well that and it was already in the 90"s, it was heading to well over a hundred and the wind was picking up sand and starting to sand blast.  I feel confident I made the right decision for me.  I heard the voice of my daughter in my head... Now Dad don't be silly and keep going after EFI, you need to take care of yourself and be safe.    So safe I am, take care of myself I did.  :)

Now on to a more positive note...

Here is a picture of Africa's version of a one room school house.  The teacher is teaching a class of boys from the area.  Saw this as I was riding this morning.  The girls are not taught in the same class as boys.

As we are riding along we periodically see groups of camels grazing and feeding on the trees and shrubs.  It appears as though they are wild and roaming as there are no houses or dwellings nearby.

Yesterday we stopped in a local market/bizarre/souk.  It was definitely not a market where they see westerners or women.  Myself and a woman from the trip went into the market.  We were the talk of the place.  People would come from other parts of the area to see the foreigners in the market.  The woman I visited the market with asked if I saw any other women there.  No not a one.  We saw many little nooks of goods for sale.  This market apparently was for all the area people to bring their wares to sell to the other locals.  The butcher had meat hanging on hooks out in the open in the blazing sun and covered in flies.  I watched the butcher sharpening his knife then wipe it off with a clothe.  Then he blew his nose in the clothe, sharpened his knife some more and then wipe his knife with the clothe again.  The health standards are at a different level here.  Brings back the thought of that saying...  whatever doesn't kill you will make you stronger.  They are not dead so they must be ever so strong!

Day 19 -Jan 27

Welcome to hell... or should I say Dante's Inferno.  Last night just before midnight it was still 80 degrees in my tent.  A situation that falls in the category of less than ideal for a good nights sleep.  I finally got to sleep around one.  Then at 4:30 the Islamic call to prayer started over the loud speakers from a mosque in a nearby village.  Well it really isn't the call to prayer.  What it is, is the alert that in a half hour the call to prayer is to happen.  That lasts about 10 minutes.  Then the real call to prayer happens at 5:00 and last for 15 minutes.  This morning was special because someone's alarm went off at 5:45.  Beep-beep,  Beep-beep,  beep-beep.  Well you get the gist of it.  It went on for 5 minutes, it went on for 10 minutes and at 15 minutes I got to the point of ... that's all's I can stands and I can't stands no more.  So I said in a direct voice....  Would somebody turn off their alarm already!!!  There might have been a couple of different words in there.  It was a topic of conversation in the camp and people were guessing as to who did it.  Rather than let the blame fall on the innocent, I stepped up to it.  People said it was deserved and they had been wishing it would stop but....  The comments were that the message was delivered with a certain tone to it.  Oh well, I guess I will have to work on my tone extraction techniques.  But people said they doubt an alarm will go off for a time again!

Back to welcome to hell...  In the afternoon of today's ride the bike computers thermometer read 49 degrees Celsius.  For the non metric peoples that is 120 degrees.  Holy hell it was hot out there today.  89 miles in the heat.  Tomorrow is 90 miles and it is supposed to be hotter.  So eat your heart out all of you stuck in winter with snow and sub zero temps!

And lastly,  a medical update.  The little boy with the hose refilling water bottles at the coke stop and selling them as new, got me.  Let's just say the bottom is falling out of my market.  And we are in a desert camp with no bathroom facilities, heck no nothing...  running water or anything.  So off I go into the desert at a fairly quick pace to dig a hole to do my business, on a regular basis.

:(

Day 18 - Jan 26

Today was a good day.  After the rest day, I actually felt rested.  It was an 88 mile day with some climbing but nothing really tough.  That and we had a slight tailwind for the morning up until lunch.  So it was nice sailing with the legs feeling good.  We road through desert scenery with the Nile a couple of miles off to our left.  You could see in the distance a line of green to denote it.  

After the lunch stop the wind had shifted and we were getting it now in the face.  But my legs were strong and I was eating up the kilometers at 27 kph.  Not bad for into the wind.  We had a coke stop about 30k after lunch in a small village.  By then it was really heating up.  Once that sun starts climbing the temp takes off.  We were the talk of the village.  People came from all around to see these crazy people on a bike.  We cycled on for another 20k to another coke stop.  Here is a picture of one of the patrons who drank some tea and then laid down for a mid day nap.

Several of the riders did a quick stop and took off.  We had been making such good time we decided to rest in the shade as it already was 94 degrees in the shade.  HOT!  I drank a couple of bottles of water that I bought at the shop.  I am hoping I did not make a mistake.  The second bottle the guy got out of a cooler on the side and said these colder.  I did not think anything about it until later. Later on I saw him refilling water bottles from the hose and putting them in the cooler.  Hope I don't get sick.

Along the route we saw a camel trading market.  It had a corral with many camels.  That explained the littering along the road of camel carcasses rotting in the sun.  They used this route to drive their camels to market.  As a matter of fact the desert camp we are staying at is nick named dead camel camp because right in the middle of camp is the ....  petrified remains of a camel.

Dead camel camp

It is almost 8 o'clock now and it is still 85 degrees in my tent.  Thank god I brought the little fan with me.

We have three more riding days to get to Khartoum.  An 89 mile day, a 90 mile day and then a 55 mile day.

Day 17 - Jan 25

The rest day.....  Ahhhh the rest day.  Nothing is sweeter than the rest day. I took it so nice and easy.  I wish I could say that I had a good nights sleep but the hotel (again I will say using that word is a misnomer and should not conjure up any level of comfort beyond a roof overhead) obviously needs are more defined parameter for a bed.  The bed that I had consisted of a box spring.  I do believe that the mattress must be on back order because it is missing.  Or maybe I got the box spring and the room next to me got the mattress.  Have you ever tried to get a good nights sleep on just a box spring?

A couple of us took a Tuk Tuk up into the market district of Dongola for breakfast.  We bought fresh baked bread at the bakery, some sweet roll things with dates and honey.  A little farther up we got some just off the trees bananas.  And lastly we bought some strawberry jam.  We sat at an outdoor market bench and made a makeshift breakfast.  It was quite good.  

Then a nap of course.

For lunch we rode our bikes up through the central market district.  What an adventure that was.  There are Tuk Tuks flying around everywhere and no one seems to know any traffic laws.  They just pass each other on the side of the road, heading into oncoming traffic or just run two side by side in a sort of game of chicken.  Speaking of chicken, we went to a little hole in the wall place that had a rack of chickens on a rotisserie.  I got a whole chicken, rice and bread for the equivalent of $3.  

I do think the amount of food that I am getting accustomed to eating will be problematic in the long run.  But for now, anything that gets within arms reach is consumed....

After lunch of course was nap #2.  :)

One last note...  when you think that you are doing something epic there is always one that can put you in your place.  For instance, riding Cairo to Capetown sounds epic, right?  After all, less than 500 people have ever done it.  And this year is the longest ever because the road along Lake Nassar just opened.  Previous trips took a two day long ferry, we pedaled the whole way.  Oh well I digressed in my thoughts of the epic ness of this journey.  Yesterday I came across a Spanish guy in his mid 20's as I was coming down the road to Dongela.  He had his bike loaded with 2 front packs, 2 rear packs and a rack on the back stuffed with gear.  He was riding totally self supported with over 50 pounds on his bike.  I asked him how far he came from....  He has been on the road for 8 months and started riding in Madrid!  He was riding to Capetown as well.  So my epic somehow seemed to dim in the light of his truly epic adventure.

This is a Tuk Tuk for those that did not know.  They are everywhere!

This where I am.  Tomorrow starts 4 days of riding and we will be in Khartoum.

There are no napkins at the restaurants.  After you eat you go outside and wash your hands in a trough like the one in the picture.  The water that comes out isn't the cleanest either.

And of course a Tuk Tuk in the picture as well.

Day 16 - Jan 24

Today was a grand day.  We road 115 kilometers to Dongola.  At the start of the day we had a 30 kilometer time trial.  Blew through it in 52 minutes and 7 seconds.  This was complete with hills and shifting side to headwinds.

After the time trials kept the pace up at 37 kph as it felt good.  Had an encounter day as well.  Encountered a group of kids who locked their hands  and stretched across the road again.  They want to stop you so that you give them money.  I just picked up the pace and kept on a straight course and did not deter.  Once they figured out I wasn't stopping, they quickly abandoned the road.  Another spot further a herd of goats was on the side of the road.  As I got closer they decided to cross.  I swerved wide just missing one.  Would not have been pretty broadsiding a goat.

We lost a rider from the tour last week.  It was in a road construction area.  He tried to job up to a curb section.  He didn't clear it and got banged up pretty good.  They were talking about airlifting him to Istanbul for a hip replacement.  Another rider has come down with the flu and a lung infection.  Hope it doesn't start working its way through the group.

I decided to get a hotel room (I do use the term very loosely) as tomorrow is a rest day.  Sleeping in the tent doesn't work well now that we have hit the heat.  I forgot to get an air condition tent. :)  you can't go in the tent til well after the sun sets as it is over 100 degrees inside.

I intend to use tomorrow fully for the intent of its wording...  Rest Day!  Nothing but recuperating going on here.

Couple of camels just grazing along the side of the road.

Common mode of transportation... riding a donkey along the road.  You see a lot of these.  Or they the donkey pulling a cart.

A hut made of mud bricks with an unusual conical shape.

A couple of local women in Dongola preparing to carry home sacks.

Notice how they carry the sacks, aloft on their heads.  These were not light.  You should have seen them hoisting them up.

Day 15 - Jan 23

Whew what a day.  It started out as one of those off days and went even off-er (probably not a word but my brain is too tired to be articulate).  Had a rough night of sleep which led to a rather disorganized folding up of my wayward home (tent).  By the time I got settled and ready, everyone else had left camp.  So off I set on my own.  Cycling straight into a headwind!  Mile after mile or more appropriately kilometer after kilometer slugging it out.  I was out on the bike for eight and a half hours battling the wind.  Luckily it slacked at times which allowed me to pick up some easier kilometers but then it would come back with a hard push.  The temperature hit 93 degrees by the noon hour and I had plenty left to pedal.  That and my soar shoulder is now in full rebellion.  It is refusing to reach for the handlebars.  Or I should say that is making it difficult by injecting a high degree of discomfort into what should be a required riding position.  All of this is adding to an accumulated fatigue status which is typical for this point in a long distance bike trip.   One more day and then a rest day in Dongola!!! 

Enough of the complaining.  One thing that is great is that every now and then you will be riding along and it hits you... I am riding in the Nubian Desert of Africa!  WOW!  When it hits you, it snaps you out of the aches and pains and brings you into the moment.  A fantastic place to be.

Our camp last night was just a short distance from the Nile.  A couple of us went to see the sunset over the Nile.  It was breathtaking.  We did misjudge how fast it gets dark though.  When the sun sets there is no lights at all.  It is dark as dark can be.  You can't even see 5 feet in front of you.  We tried with a small flashlight to navigate  our way through the vegetation along the banks to get back to camp.  At one point the frogs that were loud in their croaking stopped.  I told the others that typically means there is a predator about, in this case a croc.  We picked up our pace and got even more lost.  Finally we emerged in the middle of a local village.  They were quite surprised to see us come up from the river.  A couple of the women pointed us in the direction of camp and we made it home an hour or so later.  

Speaking of the Nile....  we road along the Nile most of today.  On our right we could see a lush tropical green valley and on the left, stark desolation.  At the end of the day, hot, sweaty, dehydrated and crusted in sand and dust, I headed down to the Nile with a bar of soap.  I dipped in the Nile which was freezing and felt soooo good.  Then I soaped up for my bath in the waters of the life giving river.  My first shower/bath in four days.  Amazing how such simple things can feel so good!  

This is a home in one of the villages.  It is in the foreground and made of sticks and brush bound together to make it.

Behind it is another of one of the richer of the village.  It is made of bricks that are a mix of mud and straw then baked in the sun.  Once the structure is built they then cover it in a coating of mud paste.  Some are then painted bright colors with gates to a compound area.

Here is another example of a thatched hut/home.

This is a picture of a gold camp.  It is a collection of ragtag shacks.  Way back in the days of the Pharoahs, Nubia was the land of gold.  It provided the gold for Egyptian kings to decorate their pyramids, crowns and jewels.

MILESTONE ALERT!

Just crossed the 1,000 mile mark!  I have pedaled for 1,000 miles down through Africa!

Day 14 - Jan 22

Wow, what a difference a day makes or should I say border.  We had a 94 mile day with almost 2,000 feet of climbing. Sure felt like a lot more than 2,000 feet.  What a difference was the temperature.  We have been complaining because we have had to layer each day due to the cold.  Well not today!  Today's ride the temp hit 85 degrees.  I want the cold back.  :)

It was so hot that it was hard to keep hydrated.  But it was a good ride.  We did a little over 50 miles before lunch.  It was the 44 after lunch that really took it out of you.  That and most of the hills were in the afternoon.  The landscape has actually turned quite mountainous.  The roads in Sudan are more chip and seal than Egypt, so a bit rougher of a ride.  I gave all I had today and coasted in on fumes.  Tomorrow is another 90+ mile day.  Not sure how we can have so many 90+ days and the average daily mileage for the trip be in the low 70's.  Go figure!

The SIM card I bought for Egypt must have had a GPS chip in it because it literally stopped working at the Egyptian border.  A mile before the border yes, after the border... no.  

We had a fabulous dinner last night.  It was cooked by the locals.  We had chicken and beef kabobs, BBQ chicken, rice and French fries.  For my Coast 2 Coast friends, it tasted like it came from Ann's kitchen.  I sure do miss her cooking on this trip because nothing else has tasted as good.  The food has been just fuel and not the flavor of tasty food as Ann's.

The terrain is getting taller

Day 13 - Jan 21

This morning I witnessed a truly amazing sunrise.  I caught it just as the sun was announcing its intention to rise from the horizon and the night sky was still resisting.  Or in Egyptian terms, I witness the final moments when Geb the god of the earth was holding on to his last passionate touch with Nut the goddess of the heavens.  I know the photo pales in comparison to what I saw but here it is....

Today was the adventure through the border crossing.  It started out with a short ride through Abu Simbel and then to a ferry.  We took the ferry across Lake Nassar.  It went fairly efficiently.  That would be the last efficient thing for the day.  We landed on the east side of the lake and began our journey through the Nubian Desert.  I didn't know, that the day before the rest day was my last day of the Sahara.  I rode the Sahara from top to bottom!  Now I have the Nubian Desert to conquer.  

We road for 30 miles til we got to the Egyptian Sudanese border and the stop and wait began.  The Egyptian exit visa went fairly quickly but the entry into Sudan took over 3 hours.  There were plenty of government "officials" standing around but not too much work being accomplished.  Kind of the saying....  plenty of chiefs and not enough Indians.  In the middle of it all tea time was declared and everyone disappeared for a tea. The whole crossing stopped and waited.

Once we finally got past the border we rode straight into a hot desert crossing headwind.  But I rode in a group of 8 and we formed a wedge peleton.  We were riding about 38 to 42 kph into a fairly brisk headwind.  So the final kilometers wizzed by quickly.  We are now in Wadi Halfa.  The town is not much of a town and appears to be wide open like a Wild West town.  Anything goes....

I do believe we went across more than border, I think we went back in time or more appropriately we truly have entered the third world.  

My ability to get messages out and blog posts will truly slow down from this point til I get out of this country.  Although I'm told Ethiopia is going to be the treat of the trip.

A natural pyramid as it is called

The Nubian Desert sand has the red color of the Sahara but it also has a tan colored top layer.  That makes it quite different.

The scenery from the Sahara to the Nubian is distinct.  Subtle but it does have the appearance of a different terrain.

Day 12 - Jan 20

Wow , what a rest day!  We toured the two temples at Abu Simbel.  They were built by Ramses II the ruler of Egypt.  They both are very well preserved but they also have a modern history to them.  The governments of the area wanted to build a dam to control the flooding of the Nile so that built the Aswan Dam and created Lake Nassar.  But the two temples would have been squarely under the water in their original location.  So a consortium of countries came together to work a modern marvel of engineering.  They moved the temples block by block and reconstructed them above the water line at their present location.  The temples were cut into over 1400 blocks weighing in over 15 tons.  They put them all back together so that they would appear seamless.  It was a masterful job.

I have so many pictures that it is tough to choose the limited number to share.

The entrance to the first temple.  You can see the mammoth scale by seeing the person on the steps in comparison to the statues

This is inside the temple a depiction of Ramses slaying the Syrians

Another carving of Ramses attacking the Persians.

And here I am... I have finally found the key to life.  The symble that I am holding is the Egyptian sign for life.  Took me long enough to find the key to life, right?!

And of course I am posing like a Pharoah.  Of course that is how they pose them for the afterlife.

This is the entrance to the second temple.  See the enormity?  And they moved both of them....

This is a picture of a local Souk (market). We created quite a stir when we came to it.  We were the only non locals.  

This is how the lady carried her purchases home from the Souk.  She walked perfectly fine and didn't flinch while she balanced a box of goodies on her head and walked a good distance home.

Day 11 - Jan 19

Day 11 was a continuation of day 10.  Fantastic or at least the morning portion was.  We cycled across the upper Sahara.  You could see for miles and miles.  Just a vast flat wasteland.  It gave you the feeling of insignificance.  

We had a nice tailwind for the morning and first part of the afternoon about 90 of the 155 kilometers for the day.  Once again we were just flying across the desert eating up the miles.  Then just after lunch the directions had us taking the fork to the left.  Oh no, WRONG DIRECTION!  Wrong direction to maintain the beautiful tailwind.  Then a couple of kilometers past that the road veered to the left.  The first thought was....  dear lord no, not that direction.  Oh yes, that direction!  Into the teeth of a strong headwind.  We didn't realize how strong the tailwind had been until then.  But it sure was a massive headwind.  We went from knocking out the miles at 29-30 mph to eaking out 9-10 mph.  So went the afternoon.... slugging it out against the wind.  Dearly winning one small kilometer at a time.  In this case I was glad it was kilometers versus miles.  You had at least a bigger sense of accomplishment when you would see 1 then 2 then 3 kilometers rack up versus the much larger and less frequent degree of success that miles afford.  

We couldn't wait to get the day done.  I coasted into the desert camp with nothing left.  Or more appropriately, less than nothing because the 96 miles took all that I had and more.  Thank god tomorrow is a rest day.

Sand sand and more sand,

The road just seemed to disappear into the vastness of the desert

So harsh and inhospitable

This is where we are... Abu Sibel

Only 40 more kilometers and we will have conquered Egypt!

Day 10 addition

Just wanted to write a note of thanks to those that are posting comments to the blog.  It is helping me to keep going.  Thanks for the support!

Day 10 - Jan 18

Today I woke and did not see my breath in the tent, could feel my toes and the tent wasn't covered in frost. I knew it was going to be a good day!

I stepped out of the tent and saw the sun rising over the Nile.  The rays of the sun were shimmering on the water.  It was so beautiful.  I sat on a rock and just took it in.  I was mesmerized for so long that I ended up being the last out of camp this morning.  It was just too peaceful to break away from.

The first couple of kilometers were a bit rough.  The legs were sore, the wind was up and blowing directly into your face.  But then at about kilometer 6 I found IT!  The groove, the feeling, my stride....  It all sort of came together.  It felt like a well oiled machine.  The legs were pumping like pistons generating the power to melt away the miles.  I just let 'er run...  20 kph, 25 kph, 30 kph, 40 kph.  I was running in the high 30's and low 40s for a good stretch and then on one section really unleashed the legs and flew along at 55 kph.  Man did it feel good.  

Today was supposed to be a 78 mile day but somehow it turned into a 91 mile day.  If all the days keep running longer and longer and we are not compensated with corresponding shorter days, then I can only reach one conclusion....  Tour d'Afrique has somehow been able to lengthen the continent of Africa!

Well as I said it was a fabulous day.  Clear skies, bright sun, beautiful desert and good pavement.  Have to cherish these because plenty more of the others to come.

The one thing that is nice about this trip is they have great road signs.  If you get lost you can just look at the signs figure out where you are and then get back on track.  Here are some examples:

See how can you get lost with signs like these.  Right?!

Day 9 - Jan 17

Woke up this morning and it was so cold I could see my breath in the tent.  There was frost all on the outside of the tent.  Could hardly get the pegs out because my fingertips were frozen.  Never thoughts I would need thermal jacket and ski gloves in Egypt.

We rode 62 miles today and are now about to Aswan.  I have included  a map to show where we are.  It was a cold start but once the sun started climbing it got warm very quickly.  The morning part of the ride was spectacular.  It was a winding rode through patches of lush green where there was irrigation from the Nile and then stark desert.  The road went through many small villages that was so unique to see.  We are in areas that can be described as third world.  The people are nice to a degree.  They certainly are wondering what we are doing, where we are going and why are we in their places.  

The afternoon turned though.  It went from friendly villagers to many encounters with rock throwing kids to even worse.  I got hit square in the hip with a good sized rock.  Hurt like hell.  Stopped the bike and the kids ran off.  One of the tour coordinators stopped in a villages square to direct riders to ensure they didn't miss the turn.  He was swamped with kids who were reaching in his pockets opening his backpack and taking things.  A couple of riders were run off the road by a couple of kids in a Tuk Tuk.  The worst was one female rider was groaped and another had a kid hanging out of a Tuk Tuk trying to cut her backpack off with a knife.  Cannot figure what gets into these kids minds to think that is ok.

This is where we are.  We left Cairo and went southeast to the Red Sea and then cut back inland to Luxor and now due south.  We will be out of Egypt in a couple more days.

The Nile River that makes the land alongside it green and lush.

This is the winding road that we took today.  In and out of greenery and desert scene.

One of the small villages cut out of the desert landscape.  

Day 8 - Jan 16

Today was a 71 mile day that was picture perfect.  We started out and as usual we had to layer up as it was in the 40s.  But by lunch stop it was in the 60s.  The road conditions were perfect not much of a wind and the sun was out with a clear blue sky.  Perfect!

Road thru the morning and it seemed almost effortless.  The first 45 miles just flowed under the bike without having to strain or change gears but once or twice.  The scenery out of Luxor was almost tropical despite the low temperatures.  There were date palms everywhere.  Green, green, green framed by the brownish red mountains the lined the valley floor.  We had a lunch stop right on the banks of the Nile.  The sun was shining on the water and a gentle set of waves lapping against the bank.  I could have sat there for hours with the warm sun on my face.  I did sit there for quite a while but then had to get back on the bike and pedal away.  The rest of the afternoon ride I found my rhythm.  I started out fairly slow but then began to pickup speed.  I was coasting along at about 35kph.  The ride today took us through many small villages.  Many of the riders again were hit by stones and sticks as they went through.  I only got one rock thrown at me.  Once I saw the rock sail by I slammed on my brakes and turned around and went at them.  The kids were scared and ran in panic.  I got back to where the had thrown them and saw several duck into houses.  A mother came out and I yelled ... they don't throw stones, it is wrong!  She turned around and started yelling at the kids.  A police car pulled up to me a bit further up the road at a railroad crossing.  One of the officers said in his best broken English ...  good job.  He must have seen me yell at them.

We finished the day in the early afternoon and had time to go the the ruins of the Temple of Horace in Idfu.  It was the most preserved temple that I have been to so far.  It had room after room of beautiful wall carvings.  It is amazing to see and imagine the people who accomplished these great feats.  I have attached several pictures but again non of these comes close to what I saw.

The entrance to the temple is massive.

This is if the courtyard once through the main gates and then an entrance to the temple itself.

This is the falcon which is one of the god Harace' forms.  If you look at the first picture you see the falcon at the main gate entrance.  This will give you some scale as to the size of it.

The walls of the rooms were covered in heiroglyphics.  Each one is a story of some event or great deed.  I wish I could read them.  You could spend weeks reading all that there is in the temple.

This is what the early Christians did when they outlawed worship of the gods and idols.  They actually went into the temples and chiseled out the likenesses of some if the gods.  It is a sin what they did.