Saturday, 13th Jan, 2007

From Cairo to Desert Camping.

Leaving Cairo, I had a feeling in my heart I can't explain. As we were being police escorted, first from the hotel to the pyramids, and then from the pyramids out of Cairo, I think it first hit me the magnitude of the whole thing. "Oh my God," I kept thinking, and getting a chill. We had to ride in convoy for about the first 40 km, until we were well outside of Cairo. It was kind of fun. We were riding in a 4-lane traffic highway! But the police were good at showing their toughness and putting on sirens when needed to keep the traffic over so that it didn't splatter us.

Once out of Cairo, we were free to continue at our own pace. It was a lovely day (a bit cold, but that was o.k., if you kept cycling) and the landscape was so ... Egyptian, I guess! Haha. I kept looking around and thinking, "Hey! Little pyraminds!" But then I'd think about it and realize it was just a bunch of rocks or neatly formed sand.

For the record, by the way, Egypt is not flat. It may be desert, but get flat out of the mind. We climbed a total of 2,176 feet. O.k., not exactly mountainous, but not flat!

At night, people were talking about all the months of preparation they'd done for this trip. I kept chuckling because my preparation began at 10:00 p.m., when I started packing, 7 hours before my flight was to leave at 5:00 a.m. Needless to say, I forgot a few things and I didn't have a few other things that were on Tour d'Afrique's "essential to be packed" list. Like spare inner tubes. I'd have brought some with me if I had them. Annett was at my house as I was packing. Her job was to hand me the Super every once in a while, when I asked for a sip of it. I was reading the "essential to be packed" list out loud and kept saying, "Don't have that. Don't have that. Nope, don't have that either." This really worried Annett, you could see her astonishment, so I laughed, suggested she take another sip of Super and said, "Don't worry. Everything'll be just fine." Though I am a bit worried, I must say, about the lack of spare inner tubes. On the plane, I started making a mental list of all the things I'd forgotten. This list included a few key items that I really wish I had, such as my WHO Yellow Card for vaccinations. We need that one to get into some of the coutries we'll pass through. For that matter, we needed it for Egypt, but after some delay, they ended up waving me through at the Cairo airport. A bit worried about that one but I'm hoping Patrick is going to scan it and send it, so I'll have it by the time we reach Sudan. Most of the forgotten items, however, like fingernail clippers and razor blades, are not so essential and can be bought en route. Oh. Also, forgot to call Beckie and give my regrets that I can't make her wedding, even though calling her was on my agenda. No problem. I'll do it in Luxor.

All in all, a great start and feeling tired and great after day 1!!

For those who like the stats, (as I would), here they are:

---------------TODAY ------------TOTAL
Cycled --------127.5 km -----------127.5 km
Sagged --------0 ------------------ 0
Total Dist. -----127.5 km -----------127.5 km
In saddle: ------7 hrs 30 min ------- 7 hrs 30 min
Ascended: ----- 2,176 feet ---------- 2,176 feet