Thursday, 1st February 2007

To: Desert Camp #8

Amazing tail winds today! Flew! Otherwise, more desert. Nothing special, other than the beauty of the desert. Nice, paved road. Lately, days are cooler than they were last week. Headed away from the Nile yesterday, and won't catch up with it again until Khartoum. This may explain why we didn't pass any neat villages today.

Biggest thing of note is that we passed 3 bus stops today. These are places that buses on long journeys stop so that passengers can get food and drinks. Don't think in terms of bus stations like Greyhound bus stations from back in the U.S. No. Think of a few bamboo structures in the middle of a desert, on the side of the road. One of the structures may be used as a kitchen where they prepare bean ("foul") to serve with bread. You can also buy juice, water (bottled), or tea. The smoking pipes (shishas) that I saw in Egypt are not so common in Sudan but I saw them at one of the bus stops. They then usually have tables outside in the shade, where people can sit and eat. That's the picture you must have when I talk of a bus stop.

Anyway, I stopped at all 3 bus stops. The first was in the morning, and I happened to be riding with Tom (from U.S.A.) at that time so we stopped together. Nothing special happened. At the 2nd, after lunch, I was alone. People were a bit friendly. Of note were 6 bearded men, all wearing the long white attire that they often wear here, all eating beans and bread from the same plate, while standing (not sitting) around a table. At the 3rd stop, I caught up with about 8 of our riders.

Speaking of eats, I forgot to mention something that happened in Dongola on our rest day. Abdil, our Sudanese guide, took me to lunch to a very local place. Guess what we ate? Camel liver. It was good and spicey! I loved Dongola! Will also miss Abdil, as he is becoming a nice friend. He's a bit older, with grown children. Nice man.

---------------- TODAY ------------- TOTAL
Cycled --------- 129 km (80 mi) ------ 1,437 km (889 mi)
Sagged --------- 0 --------------------- 314.5 km (207.5 mi)
Total ----------- 129 km (80 mi) ------- 1,751.5 km (1,096.5 mi)
In saddle ------- 5 hrs 33 min ---------- 87 hrs 15 min
Ascended ------- 637 feet --------------- 14,017 feet