James: As per Mark's blog we are in Khartoum getting fat on decent food but getting here across the Sahara desert was an experience that we will both remember for a long long time. We boarded the infamous Aswan to Wadi Halfa ferry on the 14th of November with a fresh visa in our passport and staked out a spot on deck. We thought we were going to miss the ferry as we only got our visas at 10 that morning and we still had to cycle the 20km to the port, but African time was on our side and once on board we still had to wait 5 hours before we set sail. The crossing of Lake Nasser was not half bad and our 2nd class ticket even came with a meal. We slept on deck with all the overlanders and few locals and whiled the hours away chatting, reading and napping.
After 24 hours we arrived at the dusty town of Wadi Halfa in Sudan. Wadi Halfa was relocated when the Aswan High Dam was built. The town does not have much going for it other than a few crusty hotels (read dirt floor with a bucket of water), some 'resturants' selling fuul (fava beans with cooking oil and lemon juice ground into a paste with a coke bottle) and flat breads and the 'Aliens Registration Office'. We being foreigners are termed Aliens and have to register and be issued with a travel permit. This is on top of the visa that is stamped in Egypt and in Wadi Halfa. The process was extremely bureacratic. We essentially went in cirlces and visited 4 different offices sometimes more than once. After an hour we had the final signature from the 'Captain', had paid another US$30 and were free to go. Not wanting to stay in Wadi Halfa, we headed out into the desert.
Simon, who we met in Aswan decided to cycle with us down to Khartoum. It was great having him with us. He has done some serious cycling touring and kept us enthralled with tons of stories and tips. We only cycled 20 km out of Wadi Halfa before we set up camp a kilometre or so off the road. Being in the middle of nowhere, with no one around, desert as far as the eye could see and a perfect starry sky was a welcome contrast to the chaos of Egypt. We were so glad to be in Sudan! From Wadi Halfa it was 400km of tar road (thanks to the Chinese) to a town called Dongola. It took us three and a bit days to get there largely thanks to the most amazing tail wind that blows in from the Med. We were flying along in excess of 30km/h most of the time. There are loads of Nubian villages along this section and we stopped in at a few to see what they were like. We even dipped our ankles in the Nile. Many of the villages had a shop and we refueled on pepsi, tea biscuits and cakes. That and fuul, flat breads and few other tinned foods was all you could get. Not exactly varied. On our first proper day of cycling we got to experience Sudanese hospitality. We stopped to buy a pepsi and were promptly invited to join some locals for lunch. It was quite an amusing lunch as our Arabic was basic at most and they could not speak English. There was loads of handwaving going on. One guy, who was a Kenyan migrant worker, did speak English and was suprised that there were white people in South Africa!
We arrived at Dongola quite late because we decided to have a bath... We came across a borehole pumping water into some fields and took the oppurtunity to scrub our smelly bodies. Till that point the only water we had come across, other than the Nile, was drinking water that the communities place in clay pots along the road for travellers to drink. Many people are wary of the water but we were drinking it untreated without a problem.
Dongola was not much. We were expecting this flashy town with shops, restuarants, fancy hotels, etc. This was not the case unfortunately. We did have a great meal here though. We met a Sudanese gentleman called Ali who had lived in Croatia for 25 years and had now returned to his home town. He insisted on buying us dinner at a local spot. The food was great and we were joined by an off duty army officer. Both were fascitinated by our trip.
Our plan from Dongola was to head across a barren section of desert to the town of Karima. Its 175 km and in a SE direction, ie across the trail wind. Not ideal. We got a head start that night and headed out to the desert. The next morning we wanted to do 100 km, camp and then do 75km to Karima. A great plan except that the lovely tailwind was now a cross wind and at times a headwind. Its was blowing a gale and sand routinely blew across the road. Trucks that drove past us were leaning to one side and so were we. Our speed went down to 6-8 km/h at times. It was awful. We had to tie our hats down and cover our faces with Buffs.
After 30 km and 4 hours we spotted a radio mast and some shade and decided to stop and rest up and hope that the wind eased later on. We were even prepared to cycle into the night if it meant less wind. We parked ourselves in the shade and had lunch and then snooze. In the afternoon two motorcyclists came past. Turned out they were South Africans (Tanya and Francois) who had ridden Chinese motor bikes up from Cape Town. They stopped to say hi and joined us for cuppa tea. A bunch of German motorcyclists we met on the ferry also stopped. They even had a dog with them who sat in a side car!
The wind did not die down. It got worse. We decided to cut our losses and spend the night at the radio tower and cycle back to Dongola and follow the nile south. Heading to Karima would take us ages and we did not have much water. Elsewhere this would have been fine as water is generally available in clay pots. On this section there is nothing but desert. And Wind! So we camped. At about 2 am I heard the sounds of someone being sick. It was Simon. Half an hour later I was doing the 100 m dash with some white gold in my hand. This continued to sunrise. We were definately heading back to Dongola now. Mark escaped the Nile Nasties this time. Lucky bugger. It was 50 km back to Dongola and it took us the whole morning. We were in a bad way and the wind was now a headwind. We arrived in Dongola weather beaten and sunburnt and in need of liquids. We hydrated on upteen cokes and decided we need to rest up for a day at least before continueing to Khartoum. We found a 'motel' of sorts were all the truckers stay for SDG30 (about GBP6) and prompty past out on some crusty, and very likely to be flee ridden, matresses.
Rest worked wonders and although our stomachs were still not right we headed south along the west bank of the nile with a large stack of tissues clipped to our panniers for emergency purposes. Headed south was great. We had the tailwind behind us we did not have to push that hard. But then the road headed SE again and the hated cross wind came back to drive us mad. It was a matter of plugging in your ipod, putting your head down and trying to avoid doing mental arithmetic on distance covered, time, distance to go. 320 km from Khartoum we left the nile and head south across the desert. This looks like a pretty barren stretch and it is. There are no villages but there are some truck stops were you can buy some limited cooldrinks and foodstuff. Also there are clay pots of water every 30-40km. This route would impossible without those pots. Just as we were looking for a camp site on this road we came across two German cyclists, Franz and Barbara. They had cycled up from Durban. We decided to camp together and the told us about their journey so far and also the cycle tours they have done. They cycled through Tibet without a permit, sneaking through check points at night. We said good bye the next day as they headed north into the headwind. We felt very sorry for them. They could only get a 14 day transit visa and did not have much time to get to Wadi Halfa. This and a headwind were not a good combination. We even suggested that if it gets really bad they can always jump on a bus. The busses on this road are this creatively decorated Chinese beast that fly down the road in excess of 120 km/h and attempt to blow you off the road with the amount of air they displaced.
The Germans had a head wind but we had a tailwind. We clocked in 178km/h that day before camping on a saddle between two koppies. One of the koppies looked like it had been a gun emplacement in years gone by. With such a big day we only had 125km to go to Khartoum. We thought it would be easy. It proved to be quite tough! The road headed SE again and along came the cross wind all the way to Khartoum. Ipods went on again and we tried to distract ourselves from the monotony of the ride and the heat. We limited our drink stops and did not eat much (we did not have much food and the stalls did not have much either) and eventually got to the 0km marker. Problem is the 0km marker is 25km outside Khartoum. Whoever's idea that was deserves a smack! The 0km mark was dusty spot next to a shanty town! We pushed on and started navigating through the 'burbs' Khartoum. There were no street signs and we relied on asking people which way to go in broken Arabic. The traffic was a bit crazy too and we had to weeve around tuk tuks, trucks, busses and the delight that is the NGO land cruiser swallowing petrol by the barrel. After an hour of this we crossed the Nile on the new bridge and got to see Khartoum. We were quite impressed. There were loads of skyscrapers including one that looked like the Gherkin in London. We were going to stay at Simon's friend Rosa's flat which is in central Khartoum. With a bit of help from the Lonely Planet we found the correct street and went off in search of food as Rosa was at an Arabic lesson. We found a cheerful spot and ate two double egg burgers each. It was heaven! So much better than fuul and flatbreads! Rosa's lesson finished and we went to her flat. It was such a relief to get there. A sanctuary out of the desert and the promise of a shower, a bed and good food. Thank you Rosa!
As Mark noted we have been in Khartoum a couple of days now which have included drinks at the UK Embassy and a party in a country where alcohol use results in 40 lashes. It was legal though as it was in diplomatic properties. Good times aside we have noticed cracks in our rear wheels under the rim tape. Not great. We are trying to order some new better rims to be sent to Addis Ababa. We just hope the current wheels will last that far. Gear failure has been a bit of a regular occurance on this trip. Gear that we bought that had great reviews and promises from manufacturers, which in reality are far from the truth has been an ongoing saga. Our pannier bags for one are falling apart and we are regulary repairing them with nuts and bolts we have to source in the local markets. I will never buy Carradice again. We should have gone for Ortliebs. Wheels are the other story. We went for super strong Mavics which have been used by other tourers and now we have had three rim failures between us. Lesson's learnt I suppose but expensive gear should be fit for purpose and not fail after 4500km of tar road riding.And today the screen of Mark's kindle broke!
On a happy note, today we got our Ethiopian visas. It was painless and took less than a day. Submit the application and pay in the morning and collect your handwritten visa in the afternoon. Now we just have to hope the wheels get us there. We intend to hit the road tomorrow or the next day depending on whether we can sort out a bike parts order. Anybody heading from London to Addis Ababa in the next 2 weeks??
Ma salama (adios!)
After 24 hours we arrived at the dusty town of Wadi Halfa in Sudan. Wadi Halfa was relocated when the Aswan High Dam was built. The town does not have much going for it other than a few crusty hotels (read dirt floor with a bucket of water), some 'resturants' selling fuul (fava beans with cooking oil and lemon juice ground into a paste with a coke bottle) and flat breads and the 'Aliens Registration Office'. We being foreigners are termed Aliens and have to register and be issued with a travel permit. This is on top of the visa that is stamped in Egypt and in Wadi Halfa. The process was extremely bureacratic. We essentially went in cirlces and visited 4 different offices sometimes more than once. After an hour we had the final signature from the 'Captain', had paid another US$30 and were free to go. Not wanting to stay in Wadi Halfa, we headed out into the desert.
Simon, who we met in Aswan decided to cycle with us down to Khartoum. It was great having him with us. He has done some serious cycling touring and kept us enthralled with tons of stories and tips. We only cycled 20 km out of Wadi Halfa before we set up camp a kilometre or so off the road. Being in the middle of nowhere, with no one around, desert as far as the eye could see and a perfect starry sky was a welcome contrast to the chaos of Egypt. We were so glad to be in Sudan! From Wadi Halfa it was 400km of tar road (thanks to the Chinese) to a town called Dongola. It took us three and a bit days to get there largely thanks to the most amazing tail wind that blows in from the Med. We were flying along in excess of 30km/h most of the time. There are loads of Nubian villages along this section and we stopped in at a few to see what they were like. We even dipped our ankles in the Nile. Many of the villages had a shop and we refueled on pepsi, tea biscuits and cakes. That and fuul, flat breads and few other tinned foods was all you could get. Not exactly varied. On our first proper day of cycling we got to experience Sudanese hospitality. We stopped to buy a pepsi and were promptly invited to join some locals for lunch. It was quite an amusing lunch as our Arabic was basic at most and they could not speak English. There was loads of handwaving going on. One guy, who was a Kenyan migrant worker, did speak English and was suprised that there were white people in South Africa!
We arrived at Dongola quite late because we decided to have a bath... We came across a borehole pumping water into some fields and took the oppurtunity to scrub our smelly bodies. Till that point the only water we had come across, other than the Nile, was drinking water that the communities place in clay pots along the road for travellers to drink. Many people are wary of the water but we were drinking it untreated without a problem.
Dongola was not much. We were expecting this flashy town with shops, restuarants, fancy hotels, etc. This was not the case unfortunately. We did have a great meal here though. We met a Sudanese gentleman called Ali who had lived in Croatia for 25 years and had now returned to his home town. He insisted on buying us dinner at a local spot. The food was great and we were joined by an off duty army officer. Both were fascitinated by our trip.
Our plan from Dongola was to head across a barren section of desert to the town of Karima. Its 175 km and in a SE direction, ie across the trail wind. Not ideal. We got a head start that night and headed out to the desert. The next morning we wanted to do 100 km, camp and then do 75km to Karima. A great plan except that the lovely tailwind was now a cross wind and at times a headwind. Its was blowing a gale and sand routinely blew across the road. Trucks that drove past us were leaning to one side and so were we. Our speed went down to 6-8 km/h at times. It was awful. We had to tie our hats down and cover our faces with Buffs.
After 30 km and 4 hours we spotted a radio mast and some shade and decided to stop and rest up and hope that the wind eased later on. We were even prepared to cycle into the night if it meant less wind. We parked ourselves in the shade and had lunch and then snooze. In the afternoon two motorcyclists came past. Turned out they were South Africans (Tanya and Francois) who had ridden Chinese motor bikes up from Cape Town. They stopped to say hi and joined us for cuppa tea. A bunch of German motorcyclists we met on the ferry also stopped. They even had a dog with them who sat in a side car!
The wind did not die down. It got worse. We decided to cut our losses and spend the night at the radio tower and cycle back to Dongola and follow the nile south. Heading to Karima would take us ages and we did not have much water. Elsewhere this would have been fine as water is generally available in clay pots. On this section there is nothing but desert. And Wind! So we camped. At about 2 am I heard the sounds of someone being sick. It was Simon. Half an hour later I was doing the 100 m dash with some white gold in my hand. This continued to sunrise. We were definately heading back to Dongola now. Mark escaped the Nile Nasties this time. Lucky bugger. It was 50 km back to Dongola and it took us the whole morning. We were in a bad way and the wind was now a headwind. We arrived in Dongola weather beaten and sunburnt and in need of liquids. We hydrated on upteen cokes and decided we need to rest up for a day at least before continueing to Khartoum. We found a 'motel' of sorts were all the truckers stay for SDG30 (about GBP6) and prompty past out on some crusty, and very likely to be flee ridden, matresses.
Rest worked wonders and although our stomachs were still not right we headed south along the west bank of the nile with a large stack of tissues clipped to our panniers for emergency purposes. Headed south was great. We had the tailwind behind us we did not have to push that hard. But then the road headed SE again and the hated cross wind came back to drive us mad. It was a matter of plugging in your ipod, putting your head down and trying to avoid doing mental arithmetic on distance covered, time, distance to go. 320 km from Khartoum we left the nile and head south across the desert. This looks like a pretty barren stretch and it is. There are no villages but there are some truck stops were you can buy some limited cooldrinks and foodstuff. Also there are clay pots of water every 30-40km. This route would impossible without those pots. Just as we were looking for a camp site on this road we came across two German cyclists, Franz and Barbara. They had cycled up from Durban. We decided to camp together and the told us about their journey so far and also the cycle tours they have done. They cycled through Tibet without a permit, sneaking through check points at night. We said good bye the next day as they headed north into the headwind. We felt very sorry for them. They could only get a 14 day transit visa and did not have much time to get to Wadi Halfa. This and a headwind were not a good combination. We even suggested that if it gets really bad they can always jump on a bus. The busses on this road are this creatively decorated Chinese beast that fly down the road in excess of 120 km/h and attempt to blow you off the road with the amount of air they displaced.
The Germans had a head wind but we had a tailwind. We clocked in 178km/h that day before camping on a saddle between two koppies. One of the koppies looked like it had been a gun emplacement in years gone by. With such a big day we only had 125km to go to Khartoum. We thought it would be easy. It proved to be quite tough! The road headed SE again and along came the cross wind all the way to Khartoum. Ipods went on again and we tried to distract ourselves from the monotony of the ride and the heat. We limited our drink stops and did not eat much (we did not have much food and the stalls did not have much either) and eventually got to the 0km marker. Problem is the 0km marker is 25km outside Khartoum. Whoever's idea that was deserves a smack! The 0km mark was dusty spot next to a shanty town! We pushed on and started navigating through the 'burbs' Khartoum. There were no street signs and we relied on asking people which way to go in broken Arabic. The traffic was a bit crazy too and we had to weeve around tuk tuks, trucks, busses and the delight that is the NGO land cruiser swallowing petrol by the barrel. After an hour of this we crossed the Nile on the new bridge and got to see Khartoum. We were quite impressed. There were loads of skyscrapers including one that looked like the Gherkin in London. We were going to stay at Simon's friend Rosa's flat which is in central Khartoum. With a bit of help from the Lonely Planet we found the correct street and went off in search of food as Rosa was at an Arabic lesson. We found a cheerful spot and ate two double egg burgers each. It was heaven! So much better than fuul and flatbreads! Rosa's lesson finished and we went to her flat. It was such a relief to get there. A sanctuary out of the desert and the promise of a shower, a bed and good food. Thank you Rosa!
As Mark noted we have been in Khartoum a couple of days now which have included drinks at the UK Embassy and a party in a country where alcohol use results in 40 lashes. It was legal though as it was in diplomatic properties. Good times aside we have noticed cracks in our rear wheels under the rim tape. Not great. We are trying to order some new better rims to be sent to Addis Ababa. We just hope the current wheels will last that far. Gear failure has been a bit of a regular occurance on this trip. Gear that we bought that had great reviews and promises from manufacturers, which in reality are far from the truth has been an ongoing saga. Our pannier bags for one are falling apart and we are regulary repairing them with nuts and bolts we have to source in the local markets. I will never buy Carradice again. We should have gone for Ortliebs. Wheels are the other story. We went for super strong Mavics which have been used by other tourers and now we have had three rim failures between us. Lesson's learnt I suppose but expensive gear should be fit for purpose and not fail after 4500km of tar road riding.And today the screen of Mark's kindle broke!
On a happy note, today we got our Ethiopian visas. It was painless and took less than a day. Submit the application and pay in the morning and collect your handwritten visa in the afternoon. Now we just have to hope the wheels get us there. We intend to hit the road tomorrow or the next day depending on whether we can sort out a bike parts order. Anybody heading from London to Addis Ababa in the next 2 weeks??
Ma salama (adios!)
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