Maggie's Rambles

Sleeping location: Dahab Roof Hostel, Cairo Distance (km today/total): 0 / 6865 Estimated climb (m today/total): 0 / 57500 Distance walked: 15km Day in three words: Egypt’s got history After breakfast in the hostel (cheap and tasty) we headed off to explore Cairo at a decent...ish... time. First stop was the nearby Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, which is kind of a big deal. The collection of stuff was absolutely incredible, although the museum itself was a bit dated, the labelling was pretty nonexistent, there were a lot of repeated things (eg 20 identical tombs/vases/scrolls). They could have done a lot more with a lot less stuff, but even so it was still well worth 3hrs of our time, and we learned about the history and the context of some of the things we’ll see on our way down the Nile. The best stuff was in the Tutankhamun section, and the craftsmanship on some of the jewellery was astonishing, not to mention that this stuff was over three bloody thousand years old. I took a...

Sleeping location: Dahab Roof Hostel, Cairo Distance (km today/total): 15 / 6865 Estimated climb (m today/total): 0 / 57500 “Crashes” - 2 Day in three words: Cairo is crazy We enjoyed a VERY long lie in at the airbnb, which we had probably earned after 550km in 5 days, mostly into a headwind. During this time we also absolutely rinsed their fast wifi to download masses of podcasts, netflix and music. We had breakfast/brunch/lunch at a cafe which only did sweet things, meaning that our meal consisted entirely of cakes and an enormous peanut butter and banana milkshake. Egyptians are hugely proud of the footballer Mo Salah, who plays for Liverpool, and usually the first thing they say after learning that you’re English is his name with a thumbs up. As this frequently happens in restaurants Rebecca thought that “Musalah” was the word for the bill and we had a confusing interaction when we tried to pay. The traffic on the way into the centre of Cairo was beyond words; all I can say...

Sleeping location: Weird Airbnb in Nasr City, Cairo Distance (km today/total): 110 / 6850 Estimated climb (m today/total): 200 / 57500 Fast food eaten: too much Day in three words: Approach to Cairo After a predictably bad sleep we were up and off along the motorway again. There was a nagging headwind all day which made the going tougher than it should have been, as the roads were good and flat. We stopped for drinks and coffee at the first possible opportunity, where the guy tried to charge us 2-3 times a reasonable price. I “negotiated” him down but it was still expensive. This is the first time in Egypt someone has tried to blatantly rip us off, and hopefully not a sign of things to come. After maybe 40km we were made to wait by the side of the road for a replacement escort that we didn’t even want. “5 minutes” turned to 20, then we were told that actually yes we could just go on alone. This bureaucratic (yet inept) military bullshit is seriously ruining our time here and hone...

Sleeping location: Checkpoint at 30.08N 32.34E, Egypt Distance (km today/total): 87 / 6740 Estimated climb (m today/total): 200 / 57300 First proper rain since: Italy? Day in three words: Welcome to Africa We awoke to grey skies, and the man on reception mentioned that it might rain and our safety could be compromised. I had to assure him that getting a bit wet would not be dangerous unless the rain was made of bleach or something. For breakfast Rebecca produced a tub of “Newtella” made by the West Nile Food Company. Thankfully it did not contain newts, and was basically like Nutella but worse. Went well with bananas and bread though. Setting off we did have some spots of rain, but nothing serious (or dangerous). We started with a nice tailwind for 20km but eventually it shifted around and became a powerful crosswind. Scenery: more flat desert. This section would have been utterly uneventful if not for the rugby world cup semi final between England and NZ. I initially tried to ...

Sleeping location: White House Hotel, Ras Sedr, Egypt Distance (km today/total): 111 / 6653 Estimated climb (m today/total): 300 / 57100 Room: 101 Day in three words: Sick of police Our sleep in front of the noisy bank was so rubbish that we allowed ourselves a lie in until 6am, which also allowed some enterprising crows to have a peck at Rebecca’s food bag after the sun rose. An apple and some noodles sustained damage in this vicious attack. The morning’s escort chief was a bit of an arsehole and turned up 20 minutes later than the allocated time, having of course confiscated our passports in case we left early, because we are children who can’t be trusted. He then insisted on status updates every time we so much as slowed down, and placed himself about 2 feet away from us whenever we were trying to have a conversation. He also followed me into a shop and hurried me along to the extent that I forgot to buy any water. This was the period when I totally lost it with the escort s...

Sleeping location: In front of Misr Bank, Abu Rudies, Egypt Distance (km today/total): 131 / 6542 Estimated climb (m today/total): 300 / 56800 New taste sensation sandwiches: 2 Day in three words: Big gusty push We were up and out of the checkpoint quickly as we had no good breakfast food left and thought we’d get some in Al Tor 30km down the road. There was a headwind again but it was weaker than yesterday and our speed picked up to the dizzying heights of 18kph. Breakfast was a bit of a farce: we ordered separately and when three sandwiches appeared I thought they were mine and ate them all. No further food appeared so we had to re-order, which took the waiter about five attempts to understand. All the while the police escort was watching us and tapping their collective feet. It is a total pain having them around all the time, we always have to think about them and it totally removes the sense of freedom that is one of the best things about bike touring. I’m sure they hate dr...

Sleeping location: Military checkpoint in the desert at 28.02N 33.47E, Egypt Distance (km today/total): 98 / 6411 Estimated climb (m today/total): 400 / 56500 Average speed: 11kph Day in three words: An evil wind The day started nicely with the sight of an osprey carrying a fish in its claws, then the discovery of a tiny sand lizard, but this joy was tempered by the discovery that the wind had cruelly carried off my quilt’s stuff sack in the night. I was forced to use a carrier bag, which leaves the “compressed” quilt three times its usual size, which will not do at all. Following this I did manage to successfully replace my gear cable on the beach, but my trusty Leatherman wasn’t up to the task of making the final snip, so I had to zip tie the loose bit to the chainstay for now. We went for a ride around Ras Mohammed, which was pretty nice in an empty peaceful kind of way. The sea meets the desert here and there are some beautiful mangroves and clear-watered bays. We had a swim ...

Sleeping location: A tiny beach in Ras Mohammed NP, Egypt Distance (km today/total): 29 / 6313 Estimated climb (m today/total): 200 / 56100 Total dives in the Red Sea: 9 Day in three words: One last dip After a comparative lie in (7am) we packed up and headed to the dive shop, where they were very friendly and let us store our bikes inside no problem. The dives were bizarrely from an Italian restaurant that had its own jetty, but that didn’t detract from more Red Sea beautiful corals and fishes. As usual I failed to see anything big (shark/turtle/ray) but as usual there were tons of other smaller interesting things to gawp at. On the second dive we did some drift diving, which neither of us had done before and was very fun. There were also loads of quite big fish hanging around in the current, no idea what they were waiting for. We went back to the dive shop and headed off on the bikes for about 3.30, just about enough time to get to our destination of Ras Mohammed by dark....

Sleeping location: Ahmed’s apartment, Sharm, Egypt Distance (km today/total): 46 / 6284 Estimated climb (m today/total): 200 / 55900 Size of Sharm: huge Day in three words: A wasted day The day started with some nature as I discovered a strange crab spider merrily eating a fly whilst sat on my bag, then as we left I spotted some snake tracks about 10m from where we’d slept. On our way to the coast road we ignored the official track and instead cycled across the beach/desert* as it was easier. This was fun and felt very adventurous. The coast “road” turned out to be more sand, but this weird compacted type that was very bumpy. We passed through a sleepy little checkpoint where a nice young man with an AK47 was very confused by us, only letting us through after his superior showed up. We were trying to get to a dive shop for its opening at 8; I had wanted to email them from the dunes but there was no signal, and we wanted to dive with them today. The town of Nabq was a succession...

Sleeping location: Sand dunes 15km N of Nabq, Egypt Distance (km today/total): 73 / 6238 Estimated climb (m today/total): 800 / 55700 Armed escort: two trucks, four police, five soldiers Day in three words: Unnecessary VIP treatment We enjoyed our second final breakfast at Dahab Divers and made our way out of town at a sensible hour today. On the way out I picked up an Egyptian SIM card so we wouldn’t have to rely on wifi all the time; this went smoothly and wasn’t too expensive, but the guy looked well shady and is probably tracking me across Egypt now. We made it to the checkpoint by about 9.45am and expected a swift passage as we’d already gone through all the formalities the day before. Nope. We were left sitting around for an hour and a quarter before a police van pulled up with our friend from yesterday, at which point we were immediately allowed to leave. It soon became apparent that we had effectively been waiting for the police van, as it now began following us closely...

Sleeping location: Dahab Divers, Dahab, Egypt Distance (km today/total): 34 / 6165 Estimated climb (m today/total): 200 / 54900 Distance closer to Cape Town: 0 Day in three words: An escape, thwarted Today was the day we left Dahab, but the sleeping location might give away that this didn’t go perfectly. The day started well enough as we headed to a bar to watch the rugby world cup quarter final between England and Australia, which kicked off at 9.15am as it was in Japan. The bar didn’t sell proper coffee so we had to get a beer to give something back, although this also helped take the nerves off when Australia pegged it back to within a point just after half time. Happily (for the English) they didn’t score again and the last 20 minutes was enjoyably stress free as England won 40-16. The game finished at 11am and we headed back to the hotel to pack up the bikes and head off towards Sharm. Due to various admin we didn’t leave until 1pm, but this still left enough daylight to get...

Sleeping location: Dahab Divers, Dahab, Egypt Distance (km today/total): 0 / 6131 Estimated climb (m today/total): 0 / 54700 Dives: 5 Day in three words: Dahab, why not? A couple of days spent lazing by the beach, diving, eating nice food and drinking beers on the terrace of “Churchills sports bar and grill”*. Rebecca and I did two dives together on the first day, then on the second she decided against it and I did another three solo. She instead went snorkelling at a random location along the shore, and it was a great surprise to both of us when she happened to be directly above me when I surfaced from a dive. The reefs around here are super beautiful and have tons of interesting fishies, and I really enjoyed the diving; I also feel like my technique has really come on since I’ve been here. A shout out to Holly and Zaki, who I dived with when Rebecca wasn’t diving and who were great fun. We really liked Dahab, it’s super touristy but has a really laid back feel which seems to pe...

Sleeping location: Dahab Divers, Dahab, Egypt Distance (km today/total): 72 / 6131 Estimated climb (m today/total): 1000 / 54700 How hot? TOO HOT Day in three words: Sea desert sea After a few hours of sleep we were woken up by a combination of sunrise and a pack of goats wandering around the beach. It was a nice spot made less nice by loads of litter, crumbling buildings and barbed wire. It was horribly hot and sticky, as it had been through the night, and the idea of cycling up a big hill was not appealing. Happily the only road round the coast went out of town up a big hill. Depending on your definition it might even have been a mountain, and we went from sea level up to 800m within the first 15km. As we climbed the sun got higher and it got hotter and hotter, and by the top it was baking. The landscape was utterly desolate, with only one semi-village in the 65km of rock and sand between Nuweiba and Dahab. I guess it was beautiful in a stark, desert-y way, but honestly I’m get...

Sleeping location: A beach in Nuweiba, Egypt Distance (km today/total): 6 / 6059 Estimated climb (m today/total): 0 / 53700 Max depth: 18m Day in three words: Within and over The dive centre did a surprisingly good breakfast, although a (otherwise nice) mother and daughter took the last of the pockets eggs before I got there. Then we did two dives in the coral reefs of Aqaba. On the first one I had to do a refresher as I hadn’t dived for over two years, and it took me half the dive to get used to it again, but after that it was great. The corals and the fish were beautiful and it was easy diving. After the second dive we did some more chilling and made use of the pool/toilets/wifi before our ferry at 11pm. We spent the last of our Jordanian money on a passable dinner and headed off about 8.30 for the short but violently windy cycle to the ferry terminal. Having spent all of our Jordanian money, obviously there was then a 10 JOD pp exit tax. Thankfully I had some USD so I changed ...

Sleeping location: Arab Divers, Aqaba, Jordan Distance (km today/total): 24 / 6053 Estimated climb (m today/total): 100 / 53700 State: relaxed Day in three words: Down the coast We enjoyed the luxury of a lie in and relaxed in the weird hotel until checkout at noon. We didn’t want to stay there another night (too weird) and we wanted to do some diving, so Rebecca had researched a dive centre a bit down the coast from Aqaba itself. Before we left town we bought out tickets for the boat to Egypt - they are valid any day for the next three months, but we planned to go  the next evening (it leaves at 11pm...ish). After a short hot cycle we arrived at the place, but it turned out to be not as nice as the place across the road, so we went there instead. After booking a room and a couple of dives for the next day we spent the rest of the afternoon lounging by the pool and catching up on admin. For dinner we dressed up a bit and cycled to a very posh private resort called Tala Bay....

Sleeping location: Al Amer Chalet 2, Aqaba, Jordan Distance (km today/total): 82 / 6029 Estimated climb (m today/total): 500 / 53600 Camels seen: lots Day in three words: Down to sea We were up with the light and watched the sun rise whilst still snuggled up as it was pretty cold. Not having a tent made packing up quicker, and we enjoyed a leisurely coffee with a bits and pieces breakfast*. We also realised that the kit kat ripoff that Rebecca had bought the previous day was called a “Ticky Ticky Tak”, and had the slogan “Have a break, have a Ticky Ticky Tak” written on the side. Amazing. We cycled into the Wadi Rum town where all the hotels/campsites are, then left the bikes at an obliging guesthouse and went for a hike. The scenery continued to be amazing, especially when you left the road and walked along sandy tracks. Sand and towering rock walls in every direction, with added camels for extra jollity. We walked, and then scrambled up a rock face, to the Lawrence spring, wh...

Sleeping location: A quiet corner of the desert near the Wadi Rum visitor centre, Jordan Distance (km today/total): 104 / 5947 Estimated climb (m today/total): 600 / 53100 Grains of sand encountered: 2,146,960,783 Day in three words: Our just deserts It stayed peaceful throughout the night and into the morning, so we rose with the sun and enjoyed some oats and coffee without having to worry about packing up quickly. Once we left it was a short push back to the main road, but from there it was pretty easy going. Lots of rolling hills* over rocky ground, with some big flocks of sheep and lots of huge vultures gliding above. When we stopped for water the shop owner tried to rip us off but, was easily argued down once he realised we knew the legitimate price of things. After this he became weirdly friendly/needy and insisted that we stop for tea and that he followed me on “sistergram”. It feels like people here don’t really understand the concept of a rip-off; things cost what someon...

Sleeping location: A quiet hillside 10km outside Petra, Jordan Distance (km today/total): 10 / 5843 Estimated climb (m today/total): 600 / 52500 Climb out of Petra: steep Day in three words: Bit more Petra About midnight we were awoken by someone saying “hello” outside the tent. This turned out to be 3 park rangers who informed us that we were not allowed to sleep inside the national park, which we knew but had assumed that this area was not in the park because a) there were no signs, b) there was tons of litter, and c) there were other people sleeping around us. Apparently locals are allowed to sleep here, but tourists are not. After we explained ourselves, showed our documents and confirmed that we would be leaving the next day, they agreed that we could stay and drove off. A victory for the little guy. In the morning the owners of the pickup truck I had worried about actually invited us over for some breakfast and tea. They were called Sabin and Hamed and they were Jordanians ...

Sleeping location: Some sandy rocks near Petra, Jordan Distance (km today/total): 21 / 5833 Estimated climb (m today/total): 100 / 51900 Impressiveness of Petra: high Day in three words: Down to Petra We woke to find dozens of moths snuggled up in our possessions to shelter from the wind. It took ages to expel them and I was still finding random ones tucked away hours later. After sleeping at such altitude we had a long descent down to Little Petra. We went through increasingly beautiful scenery as the high scrubland gradually changed to desert with huge rock formations in every direction. It was deceptively steep and at one stage I accidentally hit 80kph, a new record for Maggie. We left the bikes at Little Petra and got a celebratory ice cream, which really hit the spot despite being wildly overpriced. LP was a nice “amuse bouche” for the main event, as it was (like the name suggested) a small version of it in every sense - smaller temples, less dramatic rock formations, less o...

Sleeping location: A hillside just off the Kings Highway on the way to Little Petra, Jordan Distance (km today/total): 47 / 5812 Estimated climb (m today/total): 500 / 51800 Main product of the region: wind Day in three words: The windy plain Rebecca was still recovering so we had a lazy morning with a casual breakfast and more Susu on the terrace. I made labneh with pomegranate again and he went absolutely crazy when it came out, going on ever more gymnastic missions to try and get to it. Eventually I gave him the empty pot and he buried his cute little face in there, obviously then getting labneh all over himself. Silly cat. We will miss him. There was a blustery wind all morning and the first section was across a wide open plain with loads of wind turbines. As you would expect, the wind was particularly strong here, and was right in our faces, so the going was slow and quite tough at first. At the end of the plain was the town of Shabak, which has another impressive crusader c...

Sleeping location: Mount Dana hotel, near Dana, Jordan Distance (km today/total): 28 / 5765 Estimated climb (m today/total): 500 / 51300 Hours spent in random family’s home: 3.5 Day in three words: Sick little Rebecca We made an early getaway but Rebecca was still feeling really bad and needed more rest, so we headed for the nearest town which according to google maps had some accommodation. Thankfully a lot of the way was downhill so she could freewheel and push when the road went uphill. None of the “hotels” in the middle of town existed, and the other one was a bit out of town down a steep hill, so she waited and I went to investigate. This place had at least once been a hotel, but now appeared to be some kind of squat, so I went back up to her. When I got back she had been adopted by a family who had seen her curled up by the side of the road. They insisted she come in and sleep, so after a bit of very British umming and ahhing we did that. Their names were Silam, Firaz and M...

Sleeping location: Sheep holding area, 10km south of At-Tafilah, Jordan Distance (km today/total): 71 / 5738 Estimated climb (m today/total): 1500 / 50800 Dogs: too many Day in three words: Wadi and dogs After a solid night’s sleep I was feeling better but not yet better, if you know what I mean, and well enough to cycle. Out of Kerak we had a long but gradual climb up to an undulating plateau with lots of rocky open fields, ruined buildings, goats and camels. In a lot of the fields they seemed to be growing litter, and looked to have a good crop this year. Littering seems to be the Jordanian national sport and it happens to an absurd degree - some bins have more litter around them than in them. This does lead to some interesting roadside treasure; so far I have picked up some thick rubber strip (for repairs), a canvas pouch (for pannier organisation) and four baby aubergines (for juggling with). On an unrelated note, Jordan also has some excellent biscuit/snack names. Favourites...

Sleeping location: Hotel Cairwan, Kerak, Jordan Distance (km today/total): 0 / 5667 Estimated climb (m today/total): 0 / 49300 Things done: 0 Day in three words: Sick little refugee The day started badly with me waking up and almost being sick at 4am, then waking up and actually being sick at 6am. The 7am wake up was delayed for two hours but it soon became clear that I was too ill for any cycling today. I wasn’t sick again but generally felt very weak, nauseous and feverish, and spent much of the day curled up under my UN Refugee Agency blanket (see yesterday). Rebecca was very caring apart from when she made me drink a chopped clove of garlic mixed into a bottle of shaneeneh,* which apparently the guy on reception said was good for sickness. To be fair I did feel better stomach-wise a bit later on. Highlight of the day was watching a herd of goats descend on the hotel’s garden and have to be shooed away before they started eating the trees. Early to bed in an attempt to recover...

Sleeping location: Hotel Cairwan, Kerak, Jordan Distance (km today/total): 20 / 5667 Estimated climb (m today/total): 800 / 49300 Free gifts (including teas): 8 Day in three words: Capture the castle Because the tent doors were shut the fly alarm clock malfunctioned and we woke up well after 7. There was another 800m of climbing to get through so we got going pretty quickly, but it was hard work as we’d both picked up an upset tummy from somewhere. We need to be more careful with food prep, but with those damn flies everywhere it’s difficult sometimes. Thankfully their numbers decreased as we climbed, they must not like heights. We got a lot of supportive honks and shouts from cars, and generally Jordanians seem to be very friendly and supportive once they reach the age of 16. The children can be a right pain and one group tried to chase me after I objected to them wiggling my wing mirror around. Thankfully a passing minibus stopped and told them off for being dicks, then gave me...

Sleeping location: Rocky ground amongst the switchbacks of the Kerak Highway, Jordan Distance (km today/total): 38 / 5647 Estimated climb (m today/total): 800 / 48500 Flies shooed: a million Day in three words: Dead Sea shenanigans As the tent doors were open the flies woke us up bright and early by landing on our faces.To avoid being constantly annoyed it’s easier to eventually submit to them, and allow them everywhere except your face and food. Their little tickles on your legs is almost soothing after a while. We had a nice breakfast of labneh* and pomegranate with pitta bread and jam, then set off towards the Wadi we’d camped near. You could go canyoning and although it was expensive we decided to give it a go, and it was amazing fun. Splashing around in the water, climbing up rocks and waterfalls, with the canyon’s enormous red walls either side. The route was mostly unsupervised and just had a bunch of random ropes at the technical bits, and there seemed to be a general dis...

Sleeping location: Near the outflow of Wadi Mujib into the Dead Sea, Jordan Distance (km today/total): 86 / 5609 Estimated climb (m today/total): 600 / 47700 Estimated descent: 1900m Day in three words: Let’s get low We were up and out of our camp spot early and with no issues. The route started off on some big roads and there was some more shitty driving, but for the most part people were quite respectful. We stopped for a coffee at a place where the guy made it with a hot plate filled with hot sand, it was pretty tasty despite the unnecessary addition of sugar. There were no toilets there so we tried at a “cafe” with a giant model crown outside. It turned out to be a local government building but they let us use the toilets anyway. After this we headed off onto quiet country roads and started a gradual descent towards the Dead Sea. We stopped off at Mount “Finding” Nebo where apparently Moses looked at some stuff. As befits a place where you look at stuff, the views down into...

Sleeping location: Behind a half finished building outside Marj Al Hamam, Jordan Distance (km today/total): 37 / 5523 Estimated climb (m today/total): 600 / 47100 Time spent attempting to leave Amman: 6hrs Day in three words: Can’t get out Breakfast did not contain the advertised falafel (after last night, are we cursed?) but some pocket eggs partially made up for this. We went for a morning wander around downtown and saw the Roman Amphitheatre and the Citadel, both of which were nice enough. In the shoe district was a trio of shops called “Man shose”, “Black shoes” and “Good for shoes”, which I enjoyed very much. After our walk we hit the road, heading out of Amman via some sightseeing and errand destinations along the way. My word it was awful. There is so much traffic and pollution and general chaos. Everyone honks constantly, which seems to mean any one of: “Hello” “I am here, please be aware” “Get out of my way” “Hey idiot the light changed 2 milliseconds ago” “Attentio...

Sleeping location: Al-Houriat Hotel, Amman, Jordan Distance (km today/total): 32 / 5486 Estimated climb (m today/total): 400 / 46500 Areas of Amman that are flat: none Day in three words: Proper Middle East After passport control and the (very spenny) visa purchase I sat down near the luggage carousel to wait for my battered boxes to arrive. Rebecca had amazingly come out to the airport to greet me at 3am and she was waiting the other side of the big green doors, but I couldn’t get to her until my luggage arrived. I waited in the oversized baggage section until almost everyone else had gone, then Rebecca mentioned that there was another place “at the back” where they had put her bike. True enough, both boxes were sitting in a dark corner, both upside down, both looking worse for wear. After a beautiful reunion Rebecca’s two Jordanian friends/admirers manhandled the massive boxes onto the top of the seats in the back of their minibus and we drove off to our nearby hotel apartment ...