Day 96
Sleeping location: “555 Studio and Flats”, Luxor, Egypt
Distance (km today/total): 94 / 7613
Estimated climb (m today/total): 200 / 58200
Days off ahead: 3
Day in three words: Rebecca’s the celebrity
Throughout Egypt Rebecca and I have been cycling at similar paces because it means less hassle from the police, even though we wouldn’t necessarily do this if they weren’t around. On the few occasions we’ve become significantly separated it’s been because I zoomed off in a huff, and each time the police have stayed at the back with Rebecca. This morning Rebecca was in a huff of her own and zoomed off ahead of me, and the police...wait for it...zoomed off too, leaving me open to attacks from all the dangerous things that allegedly lurk in Egypt. Now it becomes clear who the escort is really for. We were reunited just before Qena, where the police again tried to meddle with our route. This time the guy tried to grab onto my saddle and I pushed him away, which in hindsight is absolutely crazy (“assaulting a police officer”?), but he took it very well and I felt a bit bad as he waved us goodbye. In Qena we had coffee and booked accommodation in Luxor, which was on the west bank so we had to cross the Nile again*. On the way out of town we met a young guy called Karim who was riding some kind of homemade racing bike, and who proudly told us he was part of Qena Cycling Club. They do team rides to Luxor on Fridays. Beats a spin round the north Kent hills.
From Qena we took the desert highway towards Luxor, it was fast and very deserty. The ground is slightly higher than the Nile floodplain so no water can be channelled here, and the disparity between the lush fields and the arid desert is amazing. From up high you can see the line where the green ends and the sand begins. This is one of the hottest, driest places on earth and without the Nile it would be totally dead. Along this section Rebecca and I often cycled apart, sometimes with me ahead and sometimes with her ahead, and the police almost always stuck with her. The theory is proven. At one point I could have done with the police when an enormous (5cm, no joke) wasp landed on my shoelaces. Conscious that Rebecca had received a nasty sting a few days earlier, I stopped pedalling and tried to figure out how to dislodge the beast, although all I actually did was stare at it and say “fuck” repeatedly. After what seemed like a lifetime it flew off, perhaps disgusted by my cursing.
At the main Luxor checkpoint we were going through the usual process, when there was a sudden flurry of shouting and the police started strapping on body armour and shouldering arms. I wondered whether we were under attack, but almost immediately a shiny rental car pulled out and an important looking man got out**. He was shown around the (suddenly extremely respectable and quiet) checkpoint, and probably wondered why two scruffy cyclists were sat in the middle of it. After a few minutes we were shown to our escort, which for some reason now consisted of two cars, each with two heavily armed soldiers in the back, rather than the usual one car containing one bored looking soldier with headphones in. The escort then took us an illogical route towards our hotel, which in a huge coincidence also happened to be the same route that the important man’s car took, so he got to see them taking such excellent care of us. About a minute after this they buggered off. I do believe we were used as political pawns.
Our apartment was nice and cheap and will be a good base for exploring all of the stuff round here. I was feeling drained and just wanted to hang out in the apartment, but Rebecca went out exploring and brought back a disgusting/delicious pizza, which pushed me over the edge into sleep by about 9.30pm.
*Luxor town is on the east bank, but most of the sights are spread out across the West Bank, along with a more limited amount of accommodation and places to eat. The nearest bridges are 60km downriver (in Qena, the one we took) or 15km upriver, so you need to pick your side early.
**Although he was wearing dark brown shoes with a dark grey suit, which is heinous.
Distance (km today/total): 94 / 7613
Estimated climb (m today/total): 200 / 58200
Days off ahead: 3
Day in three words: Rebecca’s the celebrity
Throughout Egypt Rebecca and I have been cycling at similar paces because it means less hassle from the police, even though we wouldn’t necessarily do this if they weren’t around. On the few occasions we’ve become significantly separated it’s been because I zoomed off in a huff, and each time the police have stayed at the back with Rebecca. This morning Rebecca was in a huff of her own and zoomed off ahead of me, and the police...wait for it...zoomed off too, leaving me open to attacks from all the dangerous things that allegedly lurk in Egypt. Now it becomes clear who the escort is really for. We were reunited just before Qena, where the police again tried to meddle with our route. This time the guy tried to grab onto my saddle and I pushed him away, which in hindsight is absolutely crazy (“assaulting a police officer”?), but he took it very well and I felt a bit bad as he waved us goodbye. In Qena we had coffee and booked accommodation in Luxor, which was on the west bank so we had to cross the Nile again*. On the way out of town we met a young guy called Karim who was riding some kind of homemade racing bike, and who proudly told us he was part of Qena Cycling Club. They do team rides to Luxor on Fridays. Beats a spin round the north Kent hills.
From Qena we took the desert highway towards Luxor, it was fast and very deserty. The ground is slightly higher than the Nile floodplain so no water can be channelled here, and the disparity between the lush fields and the arid desert is amazing. From up high you can see the line where the green ends and the sand begins. This is one of the hottest, driest places on earth and without the Nile it would be totally dead. Along this section Rebecca and I often cycled apart, sometimes with me ahead and sometimes with her ahead, and the police almost always stuck with her. The theory is proven. At one point I could have done with the police when an enormous (5cm, no joke) wasp landed on my shoelaces. Conscious that Rebecca had received a nasty sting a few days earlier, I stopped pedalling and tried to figure out how to dislodge the beast, although all I actually did was stare at it and say “fuck” repeatedly. After what seemed like a lifetime it flew off, perhaps disgusted by my cursing.
At the main Luxor checkpoint we were going through the usual process, when there was a sudden flurry of shouting and the police started strapping on body armour and shouldering arms. I wondered whether we were under attack, but almost immediately a shiny rental car pulled out and an important looking man got out**. He was shown around the (suddenly extremely respectable and quiet) checkpoint, and probably wondered why two scruffy cyclists were sat in the middle of it. After a few minutes we were shown to our escort, which for some reason now consisted of two cars, each with two heavily armed soldiers in the back, rather than the usual one car containing one bored looking soldier with headphones in. The escort then took us an illogical route towards our hotel, which in a huge coincidence also happened to be the same route that the important man’s car took, so he got to see them taking such excellent care of us. About a minute after this they buggered off. I do believe we were used as political pawns.
Our apartment was nice and cheap and will be a good base for exploring all of the stuff round here. I was feeling drained and just wanted to hang out in the apartment, but Rebecca went out exploring and brought back a disgusting/delicious pizza, which pushed me over the edge into sleep by about 9.30pm.
*Luxor town is on the east bank, but most of the sights are spread out across the West Bank, along with a more limited amount of accommodation and places to eat. The nearest bridges are 60km downriver (in Qena, the one we took) or 15km upriver, so you need to pick your side early.
**Although he was wearing dark brown shoes with a dark grey suit, which is heinous.
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