Day 125
Sleeping location: Field 14.23N 35.94E, Sudan
Distance (km today/total): 77 / 9774
Estimated climb (m today/total): 200 / 62400
Lakes on the map: 0
Distance (km today/total): 77 / 9774
Estimated climb (m today/total): 200 / 62400
Lakes on the map: 0
Day in three words: The unexpected ferry
We woke up early after a fitful night’s sleep in the furnace and went out for morning coffee and a shopping spree, in an attempt to use up a big chunk of our remaining Sudanese money. We went to multiple shops and stalls but managed to pick up a lot of useful foodstuffs. At one place Rebecca managed to immediately procure a big bag of freshly baked bread, despite the massive queue, so we munched on that as we walked around. One shop had a man who greeted us in French, but when I tried to engage him in conversation it transpired he only knew about 5 phrases and was mostly just saying “foo foo la la” or some other French sounding nonsense. As we were leaving the hotel Hassam from yesterday appeared, but bizarrely didn't seem to recognise me. I must have made very little impression in my ghostly state. I was still feeling ghostly and really not in the mood to set off into the heat, but it wasn't like the hotel was a delightful haven, so set off we did.
The first 50km was the usual farmland/scrubland, poor road surface, cross/headwind and fierce heat. Weirdly there was one section of golden wheat and electricity pylons that really reminded me of the area round my hometown. After eating and stocking up on biscuits at a cafe we turned off the main road and into mystery. The next 100km of road didn’t exist on google maps but was apparently there and would take us into Ethiopia. Turning right did at least give us the wind, and as this was a small road it was lovely and peaceful for the next 25km. But at the end of it was a surprise: a sizeable lake, not on google maps, and shown on komoot as a blue section with a road running across it that I’d assumed was marshland. There was no bridge but we could see a ferry chugging across in the distance, so we backtracked and followed our noses to the place it ran from, half a km away.
The ferry was the usual African mixture of chaos and waiting, It wasn't a big boat but two tractors, a minibus and a load of motorbikes and passengers got on and pretty much filled the deck. Then it transpired that a car also wanted to get on, and he spent five minutes doing some kind of ridiculous fifty point turn in order to make it happen. As part of this he drove straight into Maggie’s rear pannier and knocked it off, but luckily it wasn’t damaged by this. Then we set off across the lake so slowly that I assumed the boat was being pushed by a few boys swimming in the water. We had arrived at the lake about 3.15pm but by the time we landed on the other side it was 5pm and almost sunset. We quickly found a quiet patch of field nearby. It wasn’t that hidden and a few locals saw us, including two who made sure we were ok, but the area was very quiet and we correctly assumed that once it got dark the ferry would stop running and there would be nobody around to disturb us.
Maggie was making a strange noise for the entire 200m ride and it soon transpired that the car had dented and bent the mudguard on the other side, probably by pushing her into a motorbike, to the extent that it was now rubbing on the wheel. Thankfully I have “indestructible” stainless steel guards and they were soon bent back into shape with pliers and some brute force. We watched the sun set over the lake then munched on some salad and bread. I was dozing off by 8pm again, but had been feeling better in the afternoon so hopefully the illness is finally on its way out for good.
We woke up early after a fitful night’s sleep in the furnace and went out for morning coffee and a shopping spree, in an attempt to use up a big chunk of our remaining Sudanese money. We went to multiple shops and stalls but managed to pick up a lot of useful foodstuffs. At one place Rebecca managed to immediately procure a big bag of freshly baked bread, despite the massive queue, so we munched on that as we walked around. One shop had a man who greeted us in French, but when I tried to engage him in conversation it transpired he only knew about 5 phrases and was mostly just saying “foo foo la la” or some other French sounding nonsense. As we were leaving the hotel Hassam from yesterday appeared, but bizarrely didn't seem to recognise me. I must have made very little impression in my ghostly state. I was still feeling ghostly and really not in the mood to set off into the heat, but it wasn't like the hotel was a delightful haven, so set off we did.
The first 50km was the usual farmland/scrubland, poor road surface, cross/headwind and fierce heat. Weirdly there was one section of golden wheat and electricity pylons that really reminded me of the area round my hometown. After eating and stocking up on biscuits at a cafe we turned off the main road and into mystery. The next 100km of road didn’t exist on google maps but was apparently there and would take us into Ethiopia. Turning right did at least give us the wind, and as this was a small road it was lovely and peaceful for the next 25km. But at the end of it was a surprise: a sizeable lake, not on google maps, and shown on komoot as a blue section with a road running across it that I’d assumed was marshland. There was no bridge but we could see a ferry chugging across in the distance, so we backtracked and followed our noses to the place it ran from, half a km away.
The ferry was the usual African mixture of chaos and waiting, It wasn't a big boat but two tractors, a minibus and a load of motorbikes and passengers got on and pretty much filled the deck. Then it transpired that a car also wanted to get on, and he spent five minutes doing some kind of ridiculous fifty point turn in order to make it happen. As part of this he drove straight into Maggie’s rear pannier and knocked it off, but luckily it wasn’t damaged by this. Then we set off across the lake so slowly that I assumed the boat was being pushed by a few boys swimming in the water. We had arrived at the lake about 3.15pm but by the time we landed on the other side it was 5pm and almost sunset. We quickly found a quiet patch of field nearby. It wasn’t that hidden and a few locals saw us, including two who made sure we were ok, but the area was very quiet and we correctly assumed that once it got dark the ferry would stop running and there would be nobody around to disturb us.
Maggie was making a strange noise for the entire 200m ride and it soon transpired that the car had dented and bent the mudguard on the other side, probably by pushing her into a motorbike, to the extent that it was now rubbing on the wheel. Thankfully I have “indestructible” stainless steel guards and they were soon bent back into shape with pliers and some brute force. We watched the sun set over the lake then munched on some salad and bread. I was dozing off by 8pm again, but had been feeling better in the afternoon so hopefully the illness is finally on its way out for good.
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