Day 124
Sleeping location: Al-Hawad Hotel, Al Qadarif, Sudan
Distance (km today/total): 78 / 9697
Estimated climb (m today/total): 200 / 62200
Oddest man award: Hassam
Distance (km today/total): 78 / 9697
Estimated climb (m today/total): 200 / 62200
Oddest man award: Hassam
Day in three words: In the oven
We were joined for breakfast by a giant horde of giant ants who appeared to be on the move past our campsite. They seemed to be carrying eggs so perhaps they were moving house. They were so many that you could hear a sort of rustling as they went by. We set off into a filthy headwind, which was manageable in the trees but very hard work when we were out on the open plains. This kept up for the whole day and made the going really tough, especially as it was another scorcher of a day. The riding was pretty unremarkable, past more scrubland and fields. We stopped for coffee and food at a cafe with a very excitable boy who loudly practiced the five English words he knew on us. He had a video of a giant snake attacking a helicopter on his phone* and was very tickled when I asked him if this had happened in his village. The only other notable thing was a soldier trying to work out Rebecca’s bike bell, then dinging it proudly once he’d figured it out.
We arrived in the quite big town of Al Qadarif mid afternoon and found a hotel without too much fuss. It was very basic and looked like it had possibly never been cleaned, but pickings seemed slim so we went with it anyway. We have formed a theory that hotels in Sudan start off luxurious and clean and charge a high price, then slowly degrade and keep dropping the price until the whole thing becomes actually uninhabitable and the building is condemned. This hotel had the bonus that the power was out, although this did in fairness appear to be a city-wide issue. We went out looking for some food in the hope that it would be back on when we returned.
There didn’t seem to be any restaurants whilst wandering the streets we were adopted by a strange man named Hassam, who was middle aged with a moustache and a peculiar sense of English speech. He showed us to a fish restaurant and ordered for us, but it soon became clear he wanted to eat with us and we didn’t have the heart to say no. I was feeling weak from the illness and the day’s exertions so Rebecca, bless her, had to do most of the heavy lifting conversation-wise. I spent most of the time marvelling at how the restaurant’s music mixed with a nearby high pitched announcement and made some kind of experimental Boards of Canada style electronica. After eating (some very tasty food**) with him for half an hour we made our excuses and left. I think he was slightly disappointed as he wanted to go for coffee or get an invitation to our wedding or something.
Back at the hotel the power was still off, which meant no fan or AC so the room was absolutely sweltering. We lay in the growing darkness, too hot to do much more than go to the bathroom for repeated showers, until around 6pm when it finally came back on. Sadly this was just a tease and it was soon off again, then on again, then off again, and so on until around 8pm when it finally came back for good, at which point we realised that the AC didn’t work anyway. Despite this, and the bed being made of a hard metal lattice with just a thin mattress atop, I was drifting in and out of sleep from about 8.15.
*From a film rather than a documentary...I hope
**Fried fish with some spicy aubergine curry stuff and the ubiquitous bread
We were joined for breakfast by a giant horde of giant ants who appeared to be on the move past our campsite. They seemed to be carrying eggs so perhaps they were moving house. They were so many that you could hear a sort of rustling as they went by. We set off into a filthy headwind, which was manageable in the trees but very hard work when we were out on the open plains. This kept up for the whole day and made the going really tough, especially as it was another scorcher of a day. The riding was pretty unremarkable, past more scrubland and fields. We stopped for coffee and food at a cafe with a very excitable boy who loudly practiced the five English words he knew on us. He had a video of a giant snake attacking a helicopter on his phone* and was very tickled when I asked him if this had happened in his village. The only other notable thing was a soldier trying to work out Rebecca’s bike bell, then dinging it proudly once he’d figured it out.
We arrived in the quite big town of Al Qadarif mid afternoon and found a hotel without too much fuss. It was very basic and looked like it had possibly never been cleaned, but pickings seemed slim so we went with it anyway. We have formed a theory that hotels in Sudan start off luxurious and clean and charge a high price, then slowly degrade and keep dropping the price until the whole thing becomes actually uninhabitable and the building is condemned. This hotel had the bonus that the power was out, although this did in fairness appear to be a city-wide issue. We went out looking for some food in the hope that it would be back on when we returned.
There didn’t seem to be any restaurants whilst wandering the streets we were adopted by a strange man named Hassam, who was middle aged with a moustache and a peculiar sense of English speech. He showed us to a fish restaurant and ordered for us, but it soon became clear he wanted to eat with us and we didn’t have the heart to say no. I was feeling weak from the illness and the day’s exertions so Rebecca, bless her, had to do most of the heavy lifting conversation-wise. I spent most of the time marvelling at how the restaurant’s music mixed with a nearby high pitched announcement and made some kind of experimental Boards of Canada style electronica. After eating (some very tasty food**) with him for half an hour we made our excuses and left. I think he was slightly disappointed as he wanted to go for coffee or get an invitation to our wedding or something.
Back at the hotel the power was still off, which meant no fan or AC so the room was absolutely sweltering. We lay in the growing darkness, too hot to do much more than go to the bathroom for repeated showers, until around 6pm when it finally came back on. Sadly this was just a tease and it was soon off again, then on again, then off again, and so on until around 8pm when it finally came back for good, at which point we realised that the AC didn’t work anyway. Despite this, and the bed being made of a hard metal lattice with just a thin mattress atop, I was drifting in and out of sleep from about 8.15.
*From a film rather than a documentary...I hope
**Fried fish with some spicy aubergine curry stuff and the ubiquitous bread
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