Day 95
Sleeping location: Dishna Sugar Factory, Egypt
Distance (km today/total): 118 / 7519
Estimated climb (m today/total): 100 / 58000
Donkeys vanquished: 2
Day in three words: Crossing the river
On our way out of town we gave our police escort the slip twice by going down routes they couldn’t, semi for fun and semi because the route was shorter that way. They were actually totally cool with it and got a friendly wave when they left. We did the usual 30km before coffee, but I was on the lookout for a hose so we could clean sand off the drivetrains, dry them off during coffee then re-lube. Eventually we found a kid who was more than happy to help, and it was fun squirting it around with an appreciative crowd around us. Rebecca foolishly asked me to spray her afterwards, and of course got a blast in the face. We had our coffee at a rural cafe where a large friendly man bought it for us, which was very nice of him. Here I realised that I still had the hotel room key, and not fancying a 60km round trip I tried to see if the police could relay it back to the hotel. They could not. What are they FOR?
We had to wait quite a while in a dusty town* for our next escort to show up, during which time we were surrounded by a million kids, then a bit later we had lunch in another dusty town** where we were surrounded by a million kids. The police had to keep shooing them away. It’s nice to add some excitement to people’s lives, but it does get exhausting sometimes. Usually I now respond to “what’s yurname” with a cheery hello, as they don’t recognise Kevin as a name and it takes several goes, which isn’t practical whilst cycling. At lunch I also decided to try one of the water dispensers that the locals use. It produced a lovely cold water, but it’s always drawn directly from the Nile or its channels and it tastes like it. It was quickly discarded.
After this we crossed the Nile itself for the first time since Beni Suef 400ish km ago, using a cool old barrage bridge. On this side the road was squeezed in between some desert cliffs and the river, with the odd banana plantation thrown in where possible, and as nobody lived here the road was lovely and quiet. This was my favourite bit of cycling in Egypt so far. After the next bridge things got busier and during this stretch two kids tried to race us on their donkeys. One faded fast but the other one stuck with us for a few km. He was holding a box and getting tossed around like a rag doll up there, but handled his steed with expert skill.
We told the last set of police about our sleeping needs and they suggested a checkpoint the other side of Dishna. We agreed and followed them to it, on the way seeing a tree with hundreds of egrets roosting in it. It looked like it was producing a crop of tiny white umbrellas. At the checkpoint the chief Mohammed (good guy) tried to get us to take a lift to the nearby Qena, but we held firm. (His argument for us not camping was “there are snakes and it gets cold”). He provided a room in the checkpoint for us to sleep in and we started our nighttime activities. After about half an hour he knocked and said he had found a proper room for us to sleep in nearby, no charge. We were reluctant but went along as he was insistent. It turned out to be in the onsite accommodation of an enormous sugar factory, and it was basic but decent enough. An army of helpers appeared from somewhere and helped us cart our stuff up to the room. After about 15 minutes in there there was a knock at the door. We had visions of them moving us to the banana plantation or something, but it was just someone bringing us some a cold bottle of water. Sometimes we feel a bit guilty about how well we are treated here.
*They are all dusty
**See
Distance (km today/total): 118 / 7519
Estimated climb (m today/total): 100 / 58000
Donkeys vanquished: 2
Day in three words: Crossing the river
On our way out of town we gave our police escort the slip twice by going down routes they couldn’t, semi for fun and semi because the route was shorter that way. They were actually totally cool with it and got a friendly wave when they left. We did the usual 30km before coffee, but I was on the lookout for a hose so we could clean sand off the drivetrains, dry them off during coffee then re-lube. Eventually we found a kid who was more than happy to help, and it was fun squirting it around with an appreciative crowd around us. Rebecca foolishly asked me to spray her afterwards, and of course got a blast in the face. We had our coffee at a rural cafe where a large friendly man bought it for us, which was very nice of him. Here I realised that I still had the hotel room key, and not fancying a 60km round trip I tried to see if the police could relay it back to the hotel. They could not. What are they FOR?
We had to wait quite a while in a dusty town* for our next escort to show up, during which time we were surrounded by a million kids, then a bit later we had lunch in another dusty town** where we were surrounded by a million kids. The police had to keep shooing them away. It’s nice to add some excitement to people’s lives, but it does get exhausting sometimes. Usually I now respond to “what’s yurname” with a cheery hello, as they don’t recognise Kevin as a name and it takes several goes, which isn’t practical whilst cycling. At lunch I also decided to try one of the water dispensers that the locals use. It produced a lovely cold water, but it’s always drawn directly from the Nile or its channels and it tastes like it. It was quickly discarded.
After this we crossed the Nile itself for the first time since Beni Suef 400ish km ago, using a cool old barrage bridge. On this side the road was squeezed in between some desert cliffs and the river, with the odd banana plantation thrown in where possible, and as nobody lived here the road was lovely and quiet. This was my favourite bit of cycling in Egypt so far. After the next bridge things got busier and during this stretch two kids tried to race us on their donkeys. One faded fast but the other one stuck with us for a few km. He was holding a box and getting tossed around like a rag doll up there, but handled his steed with expert skill.
We told the last set of police about our sleeping needs and they suggested a checkpoint the other side of Dishna. We agreed and followed them to it, on the way seeing a tree with hundreds of egrets roosting in it. It looked like it was producing a crop of tiny white umbrellas. At the checkpoint the chief Mohammed (good guy) tried to get us to take a lift to the nearby Qena, but we held firm. (His argument for us not camping was “there are snakes and it gets cold”). He provided a room in the checkpoint for us to sleep in and we started our nighttime activities. After about half an hour he knocked and said he had found a proper room for us to sleep in nearby, no charge. We were reluctant but went along as he was insistent. It turned out to be in the onsite accommodation of an enormous sugar factory, and it was basic but decent enough. An army of helpers appeared from somewhere and helped us cart our stuff up to the room. After about 15 minutes in there there was a knock at the door. We had visions of them moving us to the banana plantation or something, but it was just someone bringing us some a cold bottle of water. Sometimes we feel a bit guilty about how well we are treated here.
*They are all dusty
**See
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