Day 107
Sleeping location: Desert 21.12N 30.52E, Sudan
Distance (km today/total): 103 / 8388
Estimated climb (m today/total): 300 / 59500
Dead cows: approx 40
Day in three words: Unidentified cycling objects
We were up early to visit the Alien Registration Office, although not as early as Alberto and Javi, who were about 15 minutes into the process when we arrived. As a result of this, and of their organisational skills such as “owning a pen” they were done a while before us and we said our goodbyes. They are on a tighter timeframe than us and have faster bike setups, so it’s likely that they will be ahead of us for the rest of the journey, although we might cross over in Khartoum. After a some relatively painless faff we were successfully registered as aliens, although my official document has my name as “Kevey Baul” which is not ideal. After a brief rendition of the Sting song Englishman in Sudan we hit the town to stock up on food before heading into the desert. The selection wasn’t exactly great, but the town was friendly and we scored some tasty falafel and egg sandwiches for 25p each. Originally I just got 2 but they were so good we bought another 6 to take with us. Sudanese food already seems pretty tasty and varied despite the limited ingredients they’re working with.
As we liked the town we decided to stay for a coffee and a bash on the cryptic crossword app*. I tried to ask for four coffees with no sugar but instead got two coffees with four sugars, which would probably have set into toffee if left long enough. As a result we “had to” get two more and do some more crossword, so we didn’t leave town until almost noon. Immediately the road was straight back into pure sandy desert, so empty and quiet that every so often a helipad had been created by painting a giant H in the middle of the road. This is probably going to be the vibe until Khartoum. Most people would find the prospect of crossing 1000km of nothingness awful, but we are weird so we cycled into it with joy in our hearts. It helped that the riding conditions were great, with beautiful asphalt, a nice tail/crosswind keeping us quick and cool, and friendly toots and waves from the few vehicles that went past. The phrase “maximum vehicle occupancy” doesn’t seem to exist in Sudan so one vehicle could produce up to twenty waves.
There were some odd sights along the road. For the first 30km there were dozens of dead cows spaced out, some in horrible death poses after being semi mummified by the hot dry air. My guess is that they got lost and started wandering along the road away from water, dying one by one. I also saw a pond, sitting in the middle of all of this rock and sand, seemingly unaware that it wasn't meant to be there. Immediately after this was a man, walking down the desert highway from nowhere to nowhere. He enjoyed me dinging my bell and gave me a cheerful wave. Rebecca saw neither the pond or the man, so perhaps they were just mirages... Possibly the strangest sight came at a roadside cafe, where a lorry from Dewsbury, West Yorkshire was parked up outside. He’s as far from home as we are.
We rode pretty solidly after leaving and knocked off 100km before calling it a day, spotting a suitable rocky outcrop and dragging our bikes across the sand to it. I’ve really missed the freedom to just stop when you want, although I’d also forgotten about the admin of finding a decent spot to camp - thankfully it’s pretty easy in the world’s biggest desert. We didn’t pitch the tent as it’s nice to take any opportunity to sleep under the stars, which were incredible. We could hear the infrequent traffic on the road, and at one point an extraordinary noise filled the valley, sort of like a cross between an air horn and church organ in full flow. It turned out to be coming from a lorry which was speeding along playing this tune to nobody. It was melancholy yet also hilarious. I’m very happy to be wild camping again.
*Rebecca has taught me how to do them and now I can’t get enough. We do them together in the morning like an old married couple.
Distance (km today/total): 103 / 8388
Estimated climb (m today/total): 300 / 59500
Dead cows: approx 40
Day in three words: Unidentified cycling objects
We were up early to visit the Alien Registration Office, although not as early as Alberto and Javi, who were about 15 minutes into the process when we arrived. As a result of this, and of their organisational skills such as “owning a pen” they were done a while before us and we said our goodbyes. They are on a tighter timeframe than us and have faster bike setups, so it’s likely that they will be ahead of us for the rest of the journey, although we might cross over in Khartoum. After a some relatively painless faff we were successfully registered as aliens, although my official document has my name as “Kevey Baul” which is not ideal. After a brief rendition of the Sting song Englishman in Sudan we hit the town to stock up on food before heading into the desert. The selection wasn’t exactly great, but the town was friendly and we scored some tasty falafel and egg sandwiches for 25p each. Originally I just got 2 but they were so good we bought another 6 to take with us. Sudanese food already seems pretty tasty and varied despite the limited ingredients they’re working with.
As we liked the town we decided to stay for a coffee and a bash on the cryptic crossword app*. I tried to ask for four coffees with no sugar but instead got two coffees with four sugars, which would probably have set into toffee if left long enough. As a result we “had to” get two more and do some more crossword, so we didn’t leave town until almost noon. Immediately the road was straight back into pure sandy desert, so empty and quiet that every so often a helipad had been created by painting a giant H in the middle of the road. This is probably going to be the vibe until Khartoum. Most people would find the prospect of crossing 1000km of nothingness awful, but we are weird so we cycled into it with joy in our hearts. It helped that the riding conditions were great, with beautiful asphalt, a nice tail/crosswind keeping us quick and cool, and friendly toots and waves from the few vehicles that went past. The phrase “maximum vehicle occupancy” doesn’t seem to exist in Sudan so one vehicle could produce up to twenty waves.
There were some odd sights along the road. For the first 30km there were dozens of dead cows spaced out, some in horrible death poses after being semi mummified by the hot dry air. My guess is that they got lost and started wandering along the road away from water, dying one by one. I also saw a pond, sitting in the middle of all of this rock and sand, seemingly unaware that it wasn't meant to be there. Immediately after this was a man, walking down the desert highway from nowhere to nowhere. He enjoyed me dinging my bell and gave me a cheerful wave. Rebecca saw neither the pond or the man, so perhaps they were just mirages... Possibly the strangest sight came at a roadside cafe, where a lorry from Dewsbury, West Yorkshire was parked up outside. He’s as far from home as we are.
We rode pretty solidly after leaving and knocked off 100km before calling it a day, spotting a suitable rocky outcrop and dragging our bikes across the sand to it. I’ve really missed the freedom to just stop when you want, although I’d also forgotten about the admin of finding a decent spot to camp - thankfully it’s pretty easy in the world’s biggest desert. We didn’t pitch the tent as it’s nice to take any opportunity to sleep under the stars, which were incredible. We could hear the infrequent traffic on the road, and at one point an extraordinary noise filled the valley, sort of like a cross between an air horn and church organ in full flow. It turned out to be coming from a lorry which was speeding along playing this tune to nobody. It was melancholy yet also hilarious. I’m very happy to be wild camping again.
*Rebecca has taught me how to do them and now I can’t get enough. We do them together in the morning like an old married couple.
Comments
Post a Comment