Into Sudan
I have just turned my laptop on to find the screen has been damaged by weight/compression. Hopefully it holds up for the next 3.5months, or it could be the end of the blog! We have been in Sudan for 1.5 days and all of us seem to eb liking it in comparison to Egypt! Border crossing was pretty smooth. We left the hotel before sunrise, and cycled in convoy to the ferry terminal (i.e. boat ramp). It was pretty cold - t shirt, thermal shirt, body warmer, down jacket, gloves, scarf and still cold! The ferry arrived within about half an hour, and we pushed our bikes onto a cargo barge type ferry, followed by brightly coloured cargo trucks.
Dylan had sourced out some seats upstairs, so i grabbed one too, and huddled out of the wind. Many people were trying to use up the copious amounts of data we had bought in Cairo - Marty was video calling his wife, i was downloading apps which I am bound not to use. Using the mobile phone is a compromise between battery charging (not very easy in desert camp!) and entertainment/convenience of using.
The journey across the water to the border (I assume Lake Nasser however I don’t have a map to check) took about an hour. Jenna and I went in search of tea. The kitchen was located on the vehicle deck, so we had to pick a path between the closely parked trucks, and they didn’t have chocks under their wheels! A bit nerve-racking. They brewed us some tea, and took some selfies with us before letting us return to our seats.
The sun was above the horizon now, so it was starting to warm, but still cold. As we pulled into the shore, the trucks left first and then we all cycled off towards Sudan. it was a very enjoyable and quick 35km, Maurice managed to get a puncture, and plenty of people rallied around to help. Puncture no. 4 for the group. The majority of riders are using ‘Schwalbe Marathon or Marathon Plus’ tyres. Highly recommend, they have a thicker region over the centre of the tyre making them more puncture resistant that your standard tyres. The atmosphere was relaxed, the usual steam train pulled away up front, along with a few extras. i rode with Steph most of the way, it was nice to mix it up a bit. Steph is a very reflective, and provides thought provoking conversation. The border is in two stages. First you leave Egypt. We have lunch while waiting - more for entertainment than any other reason! Finally someone came and collected all our passports. They then returned 5minutes later stating they had changed their mind and we would have to present them individually. Thirty of us filed into the immigration room, and one by one presented our passports to the two men behind the counter. The first man looked at the Egyptian visa and stamped it, the second man then received the passport and held on to it. It later prevailed that the second man in fact couriered our passports to the computer room, where someone else did something else. Over an hour later our passports reappeared and we were free to proceed to the Sudanese part. While waiting for our passports Don went and spent the remaining Egyptian pounds on large amounts of soft drinks and Egpytian kitkats, which he disseminated amongst us. We were entertained by the cargo trucks passing over the weigh station,
guessing what their precariously balanced cargo may be. The Sudanese border comprised an entry room, and then a large room much like a check in office at an airport. We all took a seat, filled in three forms, one of which was a photo taking permit which we have to carry on us at all times. The ‘Exit form’ said ‘Exit for Non-Sudanese. Life is better without drugs.’ A lot of the men on the tour are mildly concerned that the next two weeks will be teetotal as Sudan is alcohol free. The check in office room had four booths, occupied by a single computer each. All four of these were empty. There were about 14 nonofficial looking men lingering at a desk at one side of the room, talking to each other, playing on their phones. Two of them were on the right side of the desk, and appeared to be vaguely constructive, the others were there for moral support. Two hours of sitting on those chairs, with only each other as entertainment, you realise how flattering and unflattering lycra can be! Finally cleared for entry we proceeded to the gate. I managed to throw myself to the floor before we had even passed through the gate, and bent my shifter handle again! Highly embarrassing in front of everyone, but we were on our way! The desert in Sudan is different from that in Cairo - the sand is more red. There are dead cattle every couple of km’s along the road. The tarmac is still good quality. There have been distance markers every couple of kms, starting at the border, informing us how for to Khartoum. i thought they would be taunting but they have actually made me feel we are making progress!
We had a wind assisted ride to Wadi Halfa, the border town for our first camp. Again the group was mixed up, and in high spirits, making for a very enjoyable hour and a bit/35km. Camp at Wadi Halfa was beside a park. Our local contact had organised a black market money man, and also someone had turned up selling simcards. There was a queue for both of this facilities so I sorted my tent before changing money.
29 sudanese pounds to the U.S. dollar, a greatly improved rate than that advertised on the internet. Apparently this is because the government gives the impression that the economy is doing well, when in reality they want as much foreign currency as they can get? Not quite sure I understand it well enough, but that is what I have been told. Sim cards were less straight forward, and alot more time consuming. Instead of simply buying the simcard, you bought the card, then bought another card with the amount of date on, had to register one card, and then register the other. It took about 15mins per person, and even then seemed to fail more times that it succeeded. I managed too nab one, and it worked, however I did sit there wit my dinner waiting so as not to lose my place in the queue. Such is the drive to be connected with the world. Indeed I did feel instant relief when it worked! A quick after dinner jaunt into town and we were all very happy with the Sudan vibe. The people seem alot less pushy, aggressive and in your face. We sat outside not the street with the locals, some people had shisha and the rest tea. When asked about price, there was no confused look and a double charging for foreigners. The streets were full of locals (about 0.5% of them were female!), and there was music playing. ‘I like Sudan, but am reserving judgement pending cycling conditions.’ Today was our first full day cycling in Sudan -150km through the desert to Farkha. A nice morning cycle. We saw the sunrise as we left camp, and amazingly huge ball of fire of the horizon. Our directions today were very simple: 5km right at roundabout. 79km lunch. 95km coke stop. 150km camp. There was one road from Wadi Halfa to here. We had a good tail wind all the way to lunch, breezed in at about 10am. The dead cattle lining the road were becoming less regular. We passed quite a few trucks heading towards the border, with live cattle on, so have reasoned that the dead cattle are those that have died in transit and been evicted from the truck. There are not any grazing cattle, or live cattle, anywhere but on the trucks. I did feel like I had worked and my appetite, or maybe my lack of restraint!, reflected this. Back on the bike after lunch were kept a good pace to the Coke Stop, The coke stop was wooden shack just back from the road, with four long tables, plastic chairs and another small shed at the side. The shed at the side looked like a store room, with an empty drinks fridge. The man opened the chest freezer and there were about 20 bottles of coke and 10 bottles of sprite. There was confusion about payment, but we got there in the end. The man was holding one finger up, and then nine fingers. WE assumed this meant 19 pounds altogether and kept trying to give him 20….what he actually meant was one bottle was 9!. I gave him 40 for the four of them and we went to sit down. I assumed he would keep the change, but he came after me and gave me four coins! While we were eating the men who lived/worked/owned the shack sat down on the carpet behind us for lunch.
They had a large tray between them, with about 6 dishes with different curry type things, and then a pile of bread. They sat around the tray, on the carpet, and used the bread to eat the curries. The next 25km were enjoyable, however the last 30km were hard! There was a swirling head wind and the boys were pulling a good pace. We sat at between 25-30km/h.
Jenna and I took the lead for a very short time before being made redundant. The wind was draining, and there were some ups and downs too. The other thing about the wind here is that it is dry and warm. We haven’t come across that before. It dries your hands, and your lips. You can feel the intensity of the sun on your skin too. At one point I had a mini (60second) tantrum, The boys at the front were being competitive and speeding up to show each other they could, I was trying to keep up, spinning on the hill. Suddenly I just thought it was stupid, and dropped back saying ‘I don’t want to go this fast. It’s a stupid speed.’ I was laughing at myself for saying it but meant it all the same. I am anti-competitive for the sake of being competitive!
We rolled into camp, finally, at about 1.30. I had some Sprite still in my frame bag so we sat in the shade, had some soup (they provide soup in the afternoons on riding days) and sprite before putting up the tent.
As it is a ‘desert camp’ there are no showers or toilets. The Nile is hover about 5-10mins walk away. We trekked down and had a swim in the Nile!
The current was pretty brisk so none of us ventured deeper than mid-thigh. It was cold/bracing, but as soon as you stood up you felt warm, which made it very refreshing. I was dressed in bikini and cycle top, and even managed to wash my hair and my clothes. Made up for the difficult cycling! The rest of the afternoon was spent stretching, and learning from Jordan as he ran the bike workshop. Dylan had a shifter that wasn’t changing smoothly - needed cable adjusted - and Anton’s bottom bracket was graunching (sand in it, and needed cleaning). I was hungry by dinner time, for the first time all trip - steak, rice and goats cheese salad. Tomorrow is a bus day to Dongola. The Sudanese border was closed the day we were planning on crossing, so we had an extra rest day in Luxor. We now need to make up a day and therefore are taking the bus. I am relieved! I think we will cycle enough over the next few months anyway! Definitely feel the real work starts now. The cycling and the camping have just stepped up a notch!
