Day 108, 2011/08/17 Dahab to Masada in Israel via Taba and Eilat

Day 108, 2011/08/17 Dahab to Masada in Israel via Taba and Eilat

I have spent almost a week here in Dahab, and it is time to move on. I have given myself a full week to travel to Haifa in Israel. I want to make sure I have some spare time on my hands incase something goes wrong with the bike etc. I know from this point on, trying to keep within my budget is going to be tough. Africa jas been cheap however, Israel is like Europe, and expensive. As an example, here in Dahab I have managed to get a hotel room for R120 per night, while in Israel I am battling to get a a single bed in a dorm room for less that R200 per night. As for the fuel, well in Egypt it is a crazy R2.10 per liter, while in Israel it is almost R15 per liter. Yeah say no more! I am only about 120 km from the border post with Israel called Taba. I know it is going to be a long day trying to get through the border post so, book an overnight stop in Masada on the Dead Sea. I am up very early and packed by the time comes up at 5 am. All is going according to plan until I hit a problem with my bike. It simply will not start. All the lights etc come on however, the starter motor does not want to turn over. Oh shit! And it would happen once i have fully loaded the bike and am about to climb onto it with all my hike gear already on. It may be 5 am in the morning however, the temp is already unbearable for anyone wearing log pants, let alone biking gear! To add salt to the wound, there is no downhill in sight! Great, so i call the front desk Clark over and ask him for a push. Luckily we manage to get her running. I quickly put on my hamlet and hit the road North. In what appears no time, I arrive at the Taba border post. What i did not expect was the length of time i would have to spend at the Egyptian border post. I had to unpack all my panniers and have them scanned. For what? Who knows? Anyway, this Africa/Middle East so we do not argue, we just follow instructions. Anyway, almost an hour later I manage to cross the border onto the Israeli side. I am met by an absolutely drop dead gorgeous security guard on that side. In hindsight, I was wondering if this a tack tick for one to drop one's guard! Anyway, I had to also unpack everything and it all got scanned, in addition, I had to hand over the keys to my bike. What I did not know at the time was that, my bike was going to be taken to a workshop where it to would be scrutinized, and I would not be surprised if they added some form of tracking device to it to! Anyway, eventually I make it past the scanning counter after they find exception with my cooking gas canister and of all things my tyre compressor. I am starting to think that I am almost through when I hit the immigration/passport counter. Having a Sudanese stamp in one's South African passport in not a good thing to have when you attempting to enter Israel. I am iterigated for a number of times and made to wait for over four hours. At least the eye candy on display at the border post is nothing short of stunning! And they all work for security or passport control. At one point I was hoping they would subject me to a strip search, which of course does not happen! Eventually, after almost 5 hours of border post formalities, my passport is stamped and I am free to enter. By this stage it is getting close to midday,precisely the time of say i was not wanting to travel in. At least I have only 220 odd km to travel to Masada, and after arranging 3rd party insurance I hit the road. The Negev desert is nice and hot but in almost no time I arrive at the Dead Sea. What an amazing sight! There are places that are so salty that, it looks like ice/snow! Amazing! It is not log before I arrive at my overnight accommodation. It is the Masada Youth Hostel. Really lovely, clean place. Well worth the price tag! 

Day 108, 2011/08/17

  

Day 107, 2011/08/16 Dahab

Day 107, 2011/08/16 Dahab

My last day on Dahab and I have decided to take it easy. Nothing on the itinerary except beach, sun, cocktails and a lovely dinner. I meet up with the truck overlanders again for dinner. They went sooooo big the previous night they all are drinking cool drinks. We end up going for dinner at the Chinese place where I order crispy friend duck. Not great, certainly would never order that again! Oh how i miss Soi in Melville Johannesburg at times like this. 

Day 106, 2011/08/15 Dahab

Day 106, 2011/08/15 Dahab

With only two more days in Dahab, I have decided to do some more diving today. Today, we head south, along the dry, barren landscape in search of some dive spots. There is myself and a Polish couple with their father in tow. They are 30m divers so, once again, i have my own personal dive master. The two dive sights we visit are Um el Sid and Golden Blocks. On the second doe. Over shoot the exit point and end up having to do some swimming with all our diving gear on. Fun!
On returning to Dahab city itself, I bump into the overland truckers again. Great to see them again. They are here for 5 days of R&R. It is Gerom's birthday so needless to say, the everyone goes huge! 
 

Day 105, 2011/08/14 Dahab

Day 105, 2011/08/14 Dahab

I have always want to ride a horse along a beach. The beaches are beyond amazing here so the decision wether to go riding is a no brainer! The guide picked me up from the hotel. Him on a brown horse, and I on some grey one. The horses here look so thin and underfed that, I feel sorry for the horse and the fact that it has to carry my fat ass. However, the horse appears to cope just fine. We head towards the quiet beaches of the big lagoon in Dahab, where the only other people around are the kite and wind surfers. We did some slow walking and some awesome galloping along the beach. Wow! It was amazing. Definitely something I will do that again. Perhaps drag Joni with, with Kayla in tow! 

Day 105, 2011/08/14

Day 104, 2011/08/13 Dahab

Day 104, 2011/08/13  Dahab 

After two days of vegetating, I decide that it is time for me to get off my lazy ass and do sone diving. I decided to do two dives with Backpackers Divers. With the reefs along the shore front, the dives here involve beach entries. The morning dive was at a reef called The Lighthouse. One does not have to venture more than 30m from the shoreline before you arrive at the reefs, and wow are they amazing! 
The afternoon dive os a little further up the shoreline, at a place called Eels Garden.  Appropriate called since there are hundreds of eels in the sand banks, which come out when you are at a distance. The entry is amazing, one has to swim through a canyon of coral reefs which, is amazing in itself. 


 

Day 104, 2011/08/13

Day 103, 2011/08/12 Dahab

Day 103, 2011/08/12  Dahab 

I have decided to take it easy, and do absolutely nothing except chill and relax on the beach and have a couple of beers at Yalla Bar.
  

Day 102, 2011/08/11 Dahab

Day 102, 2011/08/11  Dahab 

I have decided to take it easy, and do absolutely nothing except chill and relax on the beach and have a couple of beers at Yalla Bar.


  

Day 102, 2011/08/11

Day 101, 2011/08/10 Cairo to Dahab on Red Sea

Day 101, 2011/08/10  Cairo to Dahab on Red Sea 

Day 101, 2011/08/10

I must admit, the thought of leaving Cairo has been haunting me since I arrived in that horrendous traffic on Sunday. Not that the traffic was bad, more like it was just simply too overwhelming. Anyway, I have been doing some observations and have discovered that, the city comes to a grinding halt at about 4 am. To the point where, there is no hooting! Believe it or not! So I have decided that, since the sunrise is at 5 am, I will make sure that,i am ready to hit the road by then. 
What a perfect decision! The roads were almost entirely deserted, and I was able to negotiate the streets and highways with ease. What a pleasure! Nice to be able to ride without stressing about being killed at every turn. The temperature is also perfect and I am able to cover the 120 km to Suez in no time. Suez turns out to be a big port city, with loads, upon loads of military everywhere. Well if you start to understand the canals strategic importance for the the entire worlds shipping, you can perhaps appreciate why there is soo much military. 
I must admit, I was unable to see the actual canal itself, or any of the ships in it, which was a disappointment. Instead, I was routed through a tunnel benief the channel which, was amazing in itself. 
Once on the other side, it was a case of crossing the breadth of the Sania peninsula from West to East. That involved crossing a 300 km stretch of desert which contained some amazing scenery. Eventually after almost 7 hours in the saddle and, almost 600 km completed for the day, I eventually arrive in the city of Dahab. The Yasmina is the hotel which will host me for the next couple of days. Beach, sun, sea, diving etc is an amazing way to spend the next 7 days! 

Day 100, 2011/08/09 Cairo

Day 100, 2011/08/09  Cairo

After 100 days on the road, I decide to take it extremely easy and just sit and chill. That is precisely what I did, and at the same time caught up on some journalling. 

Day 99, 2011/08/08 Cairo

Day 99, 2011/08/08  Cairo

Day 99, 2011/08/08

What would a visit to Cairo be without a visit to the pyramids. This is my first visit to Cairo and thus, have to make the traditional pilgrimage to Giza as part of my stay. The hotel managed to arrange my own private taxi for the entire day, at a reasonable cost. Wadia was there at 8:30 sharp to pick me up. First stop was Giza and the pyramids and sphinx. It was truly amazing to see the pure size and scale of those things. Amazing what egos people must have had to want to build such structures to put themselves in. Then off to Sakkara, and this time some small tombs and, an example of a stepped pyramid. Also got to see the inside of one  of the smaller pyramids. Amazing how they managed to construct those things with access tunnels and all. 
Then off to Dahshur, and the Bent and Red pyramids. These are also some of the biggest in Egypt but, perhaps lesser known. The nice thing about this sights that, at no additional cost, you get the opportunity to see the inside of the Red pyramid at no extra cost. Just that, no one tells you what physical exercise it is going to be, until you do it. The access tunnel starts halfway up the one side of the pyramid, and drops deep down inside the pyramid. Needless to say, i was out of breath by the time I had finished. The pyramid contains three separate chambers at the core of the structure, truely amazing feet of engineering. Then finally off to Memphis, no not Teensy, and to see some artifacts, the most impressive is one of Ramesis II. It is a colossal statue of himself, well half of it, and it is flat as it no longer has any legs. 
Finally, in the heat and chaos of Cairo traffic, we make our way back to my hotel and an afternoon of R&R. Life in Africa is hectic! 
   

Day 98, 2011/08/07 Hurghada to Cairo

Day 98, 2011/08/07  Hurghada to Cairo

Day 98, 2011/08/07

I have decided to not go to Suez but rather go directly to Cairo. The distance is less than I expected and being 450 km, it is most certainly manageable in one day. I get up early to make sure I miss the intense midday heat, and am on the road by 6 am. As I progress along the road, fighting some extremely strong headwinds, does the magnitude of today's ride start to cement itself in my mind. Yeah, I am only 450 km from crossing Africa! Well Johannesburg, I'd not Cape Town, and I guess to be accurate, I should infect get to Alexandria and the Mediterranean to be precise but, for all intense and purposes, I would have accomplished all those 98 days ago. As Cairo gets closer, I can feel the excitement slowly build up in me and I start to appreciate what an accomplishment it is. Many are keen to do something like this but never have balls, funds, time to. Yeah I guess how many modern day working people, with family commitments, can afford to do something like this. Not many, let alone the fact that many of us in the modern world are too busy chasing money to stop and smell the roses and actually there is more to life than big pay cheques, fancy cars and snobbish suburbs! 
Anyway, the road North follows the coast almost the entire way, passing many oil fields and refineries. I even happen to go past the biggest wind farm I have ever seen. It is so long that, it stretches for over 10km. Impressive! 
The road eventually turns away from the coast approximately 50 km from Suez and heads North Westerly 120 km towards Cairo. The road is pleasantly quiet until about 20 km from Cairo, when I hit the infamous Ring Road. Oh boy,what a nightmare! It is a 4 lane highway. Not that anyone actually uses the lanes to travel in. And almost all the cars have dents and scratches on them! Not the kind of stuff you want to start riding thru after about 5 hours of bike riding! Also, the GPS has a limited road set, so I battle at a number of junctions on the highway to be in the correct lane for the split offs. Not fun! It feels like a real live version of those Play Station arcade games, like Need for speed, or gone in 60 seconds! Just everyone else is in a car, and i am the only idiot on a bike! 
After negotiating about 15 km of Ring Road, i finally get routed off the freeway onto a main road and into the backup traffic. It is about 12 noon, and the temp must be close to 35 degrees. So I start to melt in my biking gear. One nightmare into another! I force myself through the traffic and manage to scratch numerous cars with my soft panniers. In South Africa, i would have been shot dead by tue motorists for that, no one blinks an eye here. The GPS eventually routes me through Tahrir Square, where the Egyptian Revolution of 25 th January this year h taken place. The place is wall to wall army and riot police however, i am not overcome by fear and feel actually very safe. It is not far from there that I find my hotel for my stay,The Berlin Hotel. It has aircon and safe parking, what else can a biker ask for! 

Day 97, 2011/08/06 Hurghada

Day 97, 2011/08/06  Hurghada

Nothing really planed, so decided to chill on the beach an catch some suns rays while reading my book. 

Day 96, 2011/08/05 Hurghada

Day 96, 2011/08/05  Hurghada

Day 96, 2011/08/05

The Red Sea is notorious for being one of the best places to go diving or/and snorkeling. So I have decided to go diving today with the small dive shop Dinos. I am there only diver for the day so, I get to five with the dive master. How is that for first class treatment. We get transported to the port where we jump onto a boat with other divers from another diving shop. I guess this is how it works. Each dive shop has their own dive gear, they then rent space on dive boats who take people out to sea. Logical enough! 
The others onboard are from Holland and Russian. I must admit, there are loads of Russian/Eastern Block tourists here, even many sighs are written in Cyrillic. 
The reef is not far from the coast, and the boat trip is a mere 30 min. Both dives are amazing and I get to see loads on lion fish, rays, eels, stone fish etc. The two dives are separated by a lovely spread of local food for lunch. 
The diving was very good, just not as amazing as I recall when I was in Sharm el Sheikh ten years ago. Perhaps it is not as nice here as it is there or, perhaps over commercialization has destroyed the corals here. Will have to do more diving in Sanai and then see how it compares.
  

Day 95, 2011/08/04 Luxor to Hurghada and the Red Sea

Day 95, 2011/08/04 Luxor to Hurghada and the Red Sea 

Day 95, 2011/08/04

Time to move North again, this time Way from the Nile and towards the Red Sea and perhaps some cooler weather. The trip today is not long, it is under 300 km but, to avoid the heat, I am on the road by 6am. The first section followers the Nile for about 60 km before turning off right for a 160 km stretch through the desert. This will be my first serious stretch through a desert without Dave and Naomi as my backup vehicle. I am a little nervous, and again my mind listens to almost every sound/vibration my bike makes, to be sure all is well with her. The trip through the desert proceeds as planned, and I am stopped for the first time at one of the many "police" checkpoints. I am told to wait, while he runs inside and clearly radios someone. My attitude thus far in the trip, has been to be clam and very nice to everyone I encounter, especially people with authority/ power. And true to form,this time it works out to. I am told I can proceed, and after a quick chat with the officer I am on my way again.
I arrive in Hurghada just after 11 am. The place looks like a holiday resort on steroids. There are hundreds of resorts spanning a 15 km stretch of coastline, one bigger than the other. And in amongst those are, what appears to be, a large number of holiday apartment blocks,many of which are semi complete. Looks to me like a tourist/property boom gone/going bust to me. 
I eventually find a cheapish hotel in the centre of down opposite the main beach, it has aircon which is my main criteria. Cinderellas, as it is called turns out to be the main drinking hole for Dutch and German expats, so I get to meet some interesting people. After some afternoon rest, i hit the beach, the first beach since Dar el Salam. 

Day 94, 2011/08/03 Luxor

Day 94, 2011/08/03 Luxor

I contemplated doing the Valley of the Queens however, I decided there were some logistical things that needed my attention, and no more pressing was the booking of the ferry from Haifa to Italy. The lady from Grimaldi, had mentioned to me that, the boat for the 12 th was now fully booked, and that I could only catch the one on the 24th. Lovely,i go from having too little time in Egypt, to having too much. Anyway,that is the way things work out. So I decide that, the best thing should do is book my seat on the boat before it gets sold out. Nothing too complicated I thought, just complete a couple of forms, with credit card details, and fax back. Well that is if you can find a fax machine that is! Not only a fax machine,one with ability to dial internationally,I.e. Italy! Eventually, after walking almost the entire city centre flat,I would one, the only thing is,they want to charge me an arm and a leg for the service. I give it a skip and decide to do it in another way. The only problem is that, it is Ramadan so almost everything is closed during the day and,if that ain't enough, it is also the first day of Mubarak's trial, so the rest of the nation is glued to the television screens. Amazing, it is like Big Brother, but only it is for real. 
I eventually find a internet cafe and manage to wake up the owner, who is sleeping because it is Ramadan, and he has been up to all hours of the morning. He manages to scan in the pages and we send them off to Grimaldi at a fraction of the price it would have cost me. Excellent,feel relieved that that headache has been sorted out, now I can chill for the rest of the day. 

 

Day 93, 2011/08/02 Luxor and Valley of the Kings

Day 93, 2011/08/02 Luxor and Valley of the Kings

Day 93, 2011/08/02

I gave set aside a couple of days here in Luxor, manly to do some sightseeing and,to sort out some logistical things. Today however, is dedicated to sightseeing, and the Valley of the Kings. I will be going by bike, and the previous day revealed to me that, it can get very hot during the day so, an early start was planned. The Vlley of the Kings, is situated on the West bank, about 5 km from the Nile river itself. Its location was chosen for many reasons by the Egyptians, one of them being that, the one mountain looks like a pyramid. There are numerous tombs here of a number of pharaohs, including the famous Tutankhamen. I decide only to go see a couple of the free inclusive ones and give Tut, and the additional fee a skip. Some of those tombs are amazing. What was also amazing, was some of the strange things those people believed in, actually much like modern day religion I guess to! 
It does not take me long to start to melt in the heat, and I am back at the hotel,in aircon by about 10:30. The remainder of the day is spent relaxing, reading and doing some journaling. Later that evening,Dave,Naomi and I go to a lovely proper restaurant in town. Have not been to one of those since I left Johannesburg. It served some amazing local food, just done in a far more upmarket way. 

Day 92, 2011/08/01 Aswan to Luxor

Day 92, 2011/08/01 Aswan to Luxor

Day 92, 2011/08/01

From Day 92, 2011/08/01

It has been more than a week since I have been on my bike and it is great to be on the road again and heading North. Today the trip is only about 240 km or so, along the Nile river to Luxor. It is my first real ride in Egypt and, since Dave and Naomi left the day before, I will be riding on my own. Not that is a problem just that, my brain does tinge things with me every time i travel alone. I become nervous with regards to my bike not breaking down. So, I listen to almost every sound it makes, every odd vibration it makes, to make sure all is well with her. 
The road North is along the Nile river. Amazing scenery of green and dry desert abound. The road is lovely, pity about the drivers! The Egyptian drivers, are living up to their reputation at being bad drivers, with several incidents of vehicles over taking vehicles in my oncoming lane. I wonder if the Egyptian taught the Kenyans to drive or the other way round. I posed this question to Dave later, and he said that would imply one of the two must then have learnt to drive, which was clearly not the situation! The other thing ido notice, like in Kenya and Tanzania, is the sheer quantity of speed humps. Very irritating to negotiate. Also, there are many "police" checkpoints at very regular intervals, not that I get stopped, but they are there. They do not appear to be new, I.e., since the revolution,they are most certainly permanent structures. 
Since Dave and Naomi, are in Luxor, i phone ahead to get there GPS coords of where we are staying. The place is called the Philip Hotel. I arrive at about 10:30, just perfect time to avoid the noon day sun. I meet up with Dave and Naomi later, after their visit to the Valley of the Kings, we have a couple of sundowners next to the pool on the roof.

Day 91, 2011/07/31 Aswan and Abu Simbel

Day 91, 2011/07/31 Aswan and Abu Simbel

Day 91, 2011/07/31

Farren, the guide for the truck overlanders, was kind enough to postpone their trip to Abu Simbel to Sunday so I could tag along. Once again, what a great guy. Naomi and Dave on the other hand, have decided to head towards Luxor. They were not very keen on the Abu Simbel temple thing. 
The only down side to the visit to the temple I'd the fact that it involves a 4 am start. Yeah, not my cup of tea normally. However, we have been told that, for security reasons, we need to travel in convoy. I am sure this gets the hair on the back of some tourist to stand on end! Anyway, the bus meets up with other tourist buses a couple of km from the hotel, and at 430 am we all drive off together. Well that is what I thought! I thought we would have the accompaniment of several army/police vehicles? Did not see any! I thought the buses would at least all travel at more or less the same speed, within sight of each other? None of that happened! Thought perhaps an army/police officer would climb on each bus? Did not see any do that! So what as the precise purpose of this so called convoy then? Who knows, but it all looked like a load of crap to me. 
At least we are able to catchup on some lost sleep on the bus, and arrive in Abu Simbel just before 8 am. The heat of the day is starting to reveal its ugly head. We are given more or less an hour to take in the sights and sounds before the "convoy" leaves to return to Aswan. 
For those who do not know of Abu Simbel, it consists of two massive temples cut from the rock face. One is for king Ramessies II and the other for his wife, Neferti. 
The size and scale of these temples are amazing, never mind the art and sculptures inside. To think they date back to 1200 BC. Amazing! What makes them even more amazing is the fact that, in the 60's when they build the Aswan dam, because of the temples location along the Nile river, they had to be moved to be preserved. This was no small task and took 5 years to complete. Both temples, together with their external facades, were moved a distance of 210 m, and up an elevation of 60 m to their new home, on the banks of the Aswan dam. The audio visual display, in the auditorium, gives a brief interlude into how this was done. 
10am soon arrives, and we make our 3 1/2 hour drive back to Aswan. At least the bus has aircon! 
The remainder of the afternoon is spent catching up on emails, journalling and blogging.



 

Day 90, 2011/07/30 Aswan

Day 90, 2011/07/30 Aswan

Day 90, 2011/07/30

We meet Mohammed, our fixer, at reception at 830am sharp. He has quoted us $50 each to assist us with getting our bikes through customs and licensed, with new plates. That naturally excludes all the expenses we need to pay, both taxes and bribes. Yes bribes. Nothing happens in Egypt unless things get oiled along the way. Even if it is their job, they normally want to get paid for any effort they exert. Mohammed's dad is our taxi driver for the day, so we will not be hassling for transport all the time. We first visit the traffic department to purchase a set of documents which, we will complete as part of the process. This purchase at least is legal and part of the process. Then off to the port to offload the vehicles and customs. We are fortunate to find the Cytech team also there. Good news, will make the off loading of the bike easier. After the cars are successfully off loaded,it is the turn of the bikes, and just like with the loading, it is organized chaos! There is initially loads of screaming and shouting but eventually an agreement is reached on how it is to be done. Amazing! It actually turns out to easier to off load them than to load them. The fact that there are more than enough big strong guys to assist certainly does help. 
Then customs! It appears to take forever for the officials to complete the forms that we purchased earlier. Why it takes so long? Not sure, perhaps we should have added additional lubrication at some point. Eventually the forms complete, it is the turn of the "engineer" to perform his magic. Not that that is rocket science, and why we needed an "engineer" god only knows but, he eventually takes imprints of our manufacturing plates, which are affixed to the forms. At this point, we part with E£ 600, part taxes, part lubrication. Then off to testing station about 5 km away, to get his autograph on the completed forms. The finally back to the traffic department for the final time. There we purchase third party insurance and get issued a set of new plates. Then back to the port to fit the new plates and collect the vehicles. How anyone does this without a fixer, god only knows. The process is overly complex, unlike anything else in Africa thus far, and filled with corruption that our fixer appears to know how to navigate with flying colours. By the time we are finished the entire process, it is 330pm and we each out of pocket for a minimum of E£ 800! At least we finally in Egypt, together with our vehicles, what a relief. It calls for a celebration, and after picking up Naomi at the hotel, we head for McDonalds for some comfort food. 

Day 89, 2011/07/29 Aswan

Day 89, 2011/07/29 Aswan

Amazing how, a good bed and a working aircon can contribute to an amazing nights rest. I was in bed by about 8 pm the previous night and only awoke at first light this morning. First good nights sleep I have had since Ethiopia. Well overdue! Our vehicles apparently arrive today however, it being Friday and all in a Muslim country, we have been told nothing will happen until Saturday. So we affectively have the day dedicated to R&R. Nothing wrong with that. After a brief walk around the market/sout I return to the hotel and spend most of the day in my room making use of the free WiFi and catching up on lost sleep.
 

Day 89, 2011/07/29

Day 88, 2011/07/28 Wadi Halfa to Aswan Egypt

Day 88,  2011/07/28 Wadi Halfa to Aswan Egypt

Day 88, 2011/07/28

I managed to get some sleep on the baking hot deck floor eventually, and it was the early morning light that eventually woke me up. All over deck, and in gangways and, where ever people could find space, there were bodies of people sleeping. A real safety hazard I am sure, not that that is a concern to anyone in Africa! I eventually make it to the bathroom after clambering over numerous bodies along the way, to find a guy washing his feet in the basin. Well I guess brushing my teeth can wait until we reach land I guess! By the time I return on deck, the sun is starting to make its appearance and hence the deck has been converted into an open air Mosque. I have never personally been to a Mosque, so it is interesting for me to observe how Muslims pray.
The next 6 hours appear to never end and I can not wait to finally setoff the boat and into some form of civilized environment with aircon and a number of cold beverages. At this point, that looked so far away! 
Eventually, we arrived in Aswan, and little did i know at the time that, the long hard process had hardly begun! First, the authorities would not allow anyone to disembark. Why? Who knows! So we were forced to sit in the baking sun for a further hour. Eventually,the boat docked, and we were allowed to disembark. With everyone hot and bothered from being made to wait in the heat, the disembarking became a free for all. People were trying to carry their luggage which, consisted of about 5 boxes each, off while, at the same time people were trying to board the boat! And all this was happening while the police officials were trying to do passport checks at the door. I in my desperation to get off made an attempt to join the exit queue but, soon discovered that I had bitten off more than I can chew and eventually decided just to wait until more sanity prevailed. 
Eventually,in all the confusion, I managed to disembark,nothing like finally getting off that awful boat. However, the suffering was not over, and we were forced to queue in the blazing heat. Finally, the Cytech fixer intervened and for once being a white foreigner had its advantages and we were given special priority and hustled through security quickly.
With no real idea on where to stay the next couple of evenings, while we wait for the vehicles to arrive, we decide to tag along with the truck overlanders, to their hotel. Farren, the tour leader, was such a nice guy and allowed us to travel with them in their bus. The bus had aircon and I was finally starting to feel like the end of the long ordeal was approaching an end. 
The hotel situated on the banks of the Nile, in the city of Aswan, was called Orchida, and the rooms had aircon. That is all i really needed! It was also vey well priced, and at R85 a night, I thought it was a bargain.
After a quick shower, just to get the body temperature down to something a little more manageable, I decide to join up with the overlanders with a visit NcDonallds. I am not normally a Mc fan however, after the lack of civilization and heat I had to endure for the last couple of weeks, I need some comfort food and what is better than pure junk food! 

Day 87, 2011/07/27 Wadi Halfa to Aswan Egypt

Day 87,  2011/07/27 Wadi Halfa to Aswan Egypt 

Day 87, 2011/07/27

Perhaps one of the most important lessons I have learnt on this trip, is that too much information can be counter productive. I recall my Moyale road incident where, I had heard soo much about that road that, when I eventually set to traverse it, I was a nervous reck from the information overload I had experienced in the days leading up to it. Actually knowing less, would have meant far more peaceful nights rest before and hence, far more tranquil experience. 
Well with regards to the ferry crossing, the fact that I knew almost nothing was a true blessing in disguise because, if I perhaps knew how bad that boat would be then perhaps, I would have worked myself into a state before boarding. 
However, before we could board the boat, there was the problem of loading the vehicles onto the barge that needed to be attended to. We all met up with the Cytech crowd in town at about 1130 and made our way to the port. After dealing with the Sudanese customs officials in the blazing sun, it was off to the barge to load the bikes and cars. The peer, from which the boats and bikes are loaded is about 5 km away from the peer where you board the boat. Why different peers, who knows? The loading was a nightmare! Firstly, there is nothing like 20 bikers trying to do a task together! Especially, if these people are all confident strong personalities. You guessed it, there were hence 40 different opinions on how it should be done. Add to that, 50 degree heat, with a baking noon day sun, and you have a receipt for a number of heated discussions. Needless to say that, eventually sanity prevailed and we managed to load all 19 bikes onto the barge without any of them suffering any damage. 
Then the cars, and that is when the pawpaw hit the fan. The ship owner had no problem with Dave's car however, the Cytech vehicle, was in his mind too big for the barge. He claimed that it would not fit. After proving that it would by taking measurements, the owner then changed his tune and then said it would make his boat unstable. This was naturally all a load of nonsense, he was looking to try make some additional money off the situation and boy did he. After numerous arguments, several phone callas to Mazan etc, and a couple of hundred dollars, the Cytech vehicle was eventually loaded. Amazing how a couple of hundred dollars can make a ship all of a sudden stable! Amazing! 
It was about 3:30 pm by the time we managed to finish loading all the vehicles, and we still had paper work to sort out before catching the ferry at 5pm. So quickly back to the port to pay Mazan for his efforts, to collect our carnets and then off to the ferry peer. 
Thank god we had asked a couple of truck overlanders to save us some space on deck because, by the time we got there, the boat was almost full and all seats in the cabins had been taken. Not that one would want to actually take one's designated seat,it was soo dirty and rundown. So the option of sleeping on deck, squeezed between a number of locals, in the baking sun, was far more palatable than a dingy, dirty,stinky, AIR-CONDITIONED cabin. Dave and Naomi brought a couple of tarpaulin sheets with them and we soon managed to erect our own shelter on the deck, out of the blazing sun. 
It was not long after boarding that, the boat set sail and for the next 20 odd hours, this shit hole would be home!  

Day 86, 2011/07/26 Wadi Halfa

Day 86,  2011/07/26 Wadi Halfa

What a disastrous night's sleep. Halfway through the evening, while lovely and cool in front of the fan, a huge dust storm made its appearance. Well that would have all been fine if there were windows and doors to close but, there are none so, we, and everything was all covered in this thick layer of sand. Nothing like trying to sleep in a bed full of sand! And, in to make maters worse, the electricity was cut so, the lovely cool fan no longer worked! What a nightmare! I was hence, left with no other option but to move my bed outside, and sleep out in the open. Not that that was any cooler! 
Mazan mentioned to us that, another 18 bikers from an organized group called Cytech were arriving today and that, we would be loading our vehicles with theirs onto the barge latter today. Well that was all wishful thinking. The Cytech guys did arrive later in the afternoon however, the loading of the barge was postponed until tomorrow.

Day 86, 2011/07/26

Day 85, 2011/07/25 Wadi Halfa

Day 85,  2011/07/25 Wadi Halfa

I have officially been on the road now for 12 weeks not too bad all things considered. I have managed to see a fair amount of thins thus far, without feeling like I have rushed things too much. Let's not kid, to really explore all there is, one would have to spend a couple of months in each country. Not the kind of time I have freely available at this point in my life.
With nothing really to do but "chill" until Wednesday, that is what we attempt to do all day. However, I find it very difficult to "chill" when the temp is close to 50 in the shade and, proceed to spend almost the entire day just flat on my bed, just in my underpants, in front of the fan. Short of a visit to town, and an attempt at journalling, the day is fairly uneventful.

Day 85, 2011/07/25

Day 84, 2011/07/24 Nile river just north of to Wadi Halfa

Day 84,  2011/07/24  Nile river just north of  to Wadi Halfa 

Day 84, 2011/07/24

It is amazing thought to think that, only 300 odd km separate me from the border between me and Egypt. I never thought I would get this far and, it is slightly surreal. Once again, we leave early to avoid the immense heat. On the way, I require fuel which, ISA little hard to come by and, eventually I have to purchase it from guys with Jerry cans on the side of the road. No wonder I get ripped off and pay 50% more per liter. Anyway, who is going to argue when you in the middle of the desert and you desperate for fuel! 
The road is lovely tarmac with, some lovely twisty sections however, nothing like Ethiopia. There is a continues dust cloud overhead which, makes the air temperature  a little more pleasant, and we manage to arrive in Wadi Halfa by about 11 am. On arrival in town, we manage to bump in to our fixer Mazan who, invites us to stay at his house which, we except. And, after a lovely lunch with a number of frozen drinks just to cool off, we follow the GPS to his house. The sun is now burning hot, and the 4km trip to his home feels like an eternity, the heat, with all my gear on is simply unbearable! I am take serious strain! On arrival at Mazan's house, he is not home so, we are forced to take shelter from the heat in Dave and Naomi's car. Thank god for those two or else, I would have died by now! 
Mazan eventually arrives and invites us into his home. Never been into a locals house yet, and it is very interesting to see them from the inside. There are no windows or doors to speak of, and everything is open. Well guess in these kind of temperatures, you looking for maximum ventilation and hence, the best way to create it is through the elimination of doors and windows. In addition, Mazan shows us to our room. The room once again opens out onto the courtyard and, in addition, it also has a large evaporation cooling fan. Brilliant, finally some form of cold air. Needless to say it works like a charm and, regardless of the fact that, we need to fill it with two buckets of water every hour, I have found heaven in the middle of the desert at last! Since it is Sunday, and the ferry does not leave until Wednesday, we have a number of days to kill, and where better than sitting in front of this fan!

Day 83, 2011/07/23 Karima to Nile river just north of Dongola

Day 83,  2011/07/23 Karima to Nile river just north of Dongola

Day 83, 2011/07/23

Asking the farmer to let us camp turns out to be the best decision by far. We ended up camping besides his well which, in addition to giving us Locke fresh drinking water, gave us a lovely jacuzzi to! I kid you not! The well had a three phase electricity supply, to which the farmer had connected a huge water pump. The water was being pumped into a big troff, which then had separate pipes leading of it to the various water channels. This troff, turned out to be the most amazing jacuzzi ever. As a result of the high ambient temperatures, the water came out of the well at about 20 odd degrees. Just perfect! The temperature together with the sheer quantity of water being pumped, created this amazing whirlpool affect in the troff. Add to that the fact that we were in the middle of the desert, made for an amazing experience. 
Pity that we could not spend the entire day there else, we would have, trust me! After thanking the farmer, we hit the road relatively early and head to Karima city itself where, apparently some old boat steamers can be found. These boats, are relics from the days before public transport in the form formal roads existed and, the best road available was in fact the Nile river itself. We eventually find the boats, beached on the banks of the Nile just outside town. However, it is not long before some local arrives and tells us we may not take any pictures and that, we must go. Pity but he'll, I managed to get a couple of photos in before he arrived so I am happy to leave and make our way to our next destination, namely Dongola. 
The road to Dongola, is this lovely new stretch of Tarmac which, bisects the previous longer and windier route along the Nile river. The only thing is,this 190 km stretch cuts straight across some horrendous desert section with temperatures in excess of 50 degrees! The stuff a full set of biking gears was designed for. Not!!!
However, with Naomi and Dave continually supplying me with lovely cold water from their fridge, the trip is far more comfortable than it would be. Not that riding in 50 degree heat is at all a walk in the park! We arrive in Dongola before12 which, is just perfect timing to avoid the noon day sun/heat. After a lunch stop at a local restaurant, we seek out the Internet cafe as we have about 4 hours to kill before we can safely hit the road again, without dying of heat exhaustion. The internet cafe has no aircon so relief from the heat is minimal. The owner keeps on apologizing for the extreme heat, like it is his fault. Just another way the Sudanese are so hospitable. Eventually 4pm rolls by and, fen the thou the heat is unbearable, we decide to see if we can make some headway to Wadi Halfa. 
The heat is hectic but, we manage to cover approximately 120 km north, which makes the following day that little bit easier. 
We decide to once again seek out a place to stay close to farms, much like we did in Karima, and eventually find a spot right alongside the Nile river itself. The farmer is very kind and welcomes us to pitch our tent next to he land, on the banks of the river. After a quick pitching of the tent, I knead on down to the river for my first dip in the Nile. 

Day 82, 2011/07/22 Desert near Atabara to Karima

Day 82,  2011/07/22 Desert near  Atabara to Karima

After another evening of being sand blasted in my tent by strong hot winds, we are up early and hit the road by 8 am. All goes well until we arrive at one of the checkpoints. A security guy, with a gun in his holster pulls us over and requests to see our passports. Which,like we have done throughout Africa and Sudan, produce and show to him. He is immediately unhappy with us and once we tell him that we are on the way to Moroe and Atbara, he says we may not! He produces some photo copies of old tourist permits which he, in his very broken English, tries to explain we are missing. We know of these permits however, also know that they are no longer valid/needed. Needless to say a whole argument then insures, where he says we need to return to Khartoum and we refuse to do so! A real stalemate situation where neither side wants to budge. The security guy,who I determine is called Hasan, is adamant that,we can not proceed and need to go back. After discussing with him that our intention is actually to get to Wadi Halfa, he relaxes and his tone begins to change. He finally concedes and says we may proceed to Wadi Halfa as long as we do not visit the pyramids at Moroe. Naturally, just to get going, we agree to his demands and promise to do as he says. What a nightmare, I have been on the road now in Africa for almost 12 weeks, and this is now the real first time I have had to deal with something like this. Before leaving on this trip, people warned me of situations like this, but it has actually been the exception to the rule rather than the norm. So, encountering it for the first time is always a little unsettling and frustrating. Anyway,the outcome was a success and we are able to proceed. 
Naturally, we do not listen to his instructions and make a stop at the Moroe Pyramids,not that I am able too take advantage and actually get to see them. The wind is howling, and the amount of dust in the air makes it very unpleasant for me and my hard contact lenses so, Dave and Naomi visit them on my behalf while,i sit in the airconditioned car.Heaven! 
Hundred or so kilometers further on, we eventually arrive in the city of Arabat. It is approximately 12 noon and manage to find a local restaurant. The temperature in the sun is suicidally hot, so anything away from it is a relief. It is Friday, and what we are not aware of is that, all businesses close their doors between 1pm and 3pm. So, we request to be locked into the restaurant, as this is the only cool place we could find and wait for 3 pm. The owner agrees, and we reciprocate by making sure we frequent his cold drinks frequently! A number of the staff remain with us in the restaurant. What follows, is the most amazing flow of sheer Sudanese hospitality. They are so taken aback by our presents that,we end up chatting to them almost the entire afternoon. To say that the Sudanese are extremely friendly would be an understatement, and even coffees are served for which we are told are on the house. Amazing stuff! 
4 pm rolls by,and with the air temperature slightly more manageable, we decide to see if we can make some headway towards Karima. This stretch of road, involves crossing approximately 300 km of pure desert. Not fun,however, we have no other option. The first 50 km are hard going, not only do I have to contend with 40 degree heat, but also very strong winds, which force me to lean the bike into it.
These winds, only appear to get stronger and it is not long before the sky blackens,not with storm clouds but with a sand cloud. Yes,I am about to ride through my first sand storm. Another first! The visibility drops drastically, and hovers around about 50-80 m for large distances. That,together with the strong winds,makes for some really unpleasant riding. I manage to keep the sand out of my eyes and hence, my contact lenses do not give me any trouble. The sand storm persists for about 50 km until, it is replaced by a rain storm. Yes, rain in the middle of the desert! I am so relieved at the cooling effect of the rain that, ido nit even think of stopping to put on my sin gear. I can nit begin to describe the feeling of being cool, to the point of actually feeling cold, for the first time in two weeks. Such relief, I cannot begin to describe! However, the relief does not last long, and shortly after the last drops haven fallen on me, the hot air simply just dries them off, and the rain slowly gets replaced by hot dry air. We manage to maintain a good average speed thru the sand and rain storm that, we manage to make Karima     Just before nightfall. With no real tourist facilities to mention, we are left with no other option but to bush camp however, rather than simply camp on the side of the road, we decide that perhaps we should ask one of the gamers if we can camp align side one of his fields. This turns out to be a brilliant idea. Naomi spotted an ideal green spot, while Dave and I proceeded to do the negotiating with the farmer with our very broken Arabic and, loads of sign language. It takes awhile however,in typical Sudanese hospitality, they are more than willing for us to camp near there well. We are over the moon,nothing like some lovely green grass to pitch one's tent on! Our arrival sparks loads of interest and in no time, a number of locals arrive to see the strange new arrivals in town.