Hurry Up and Wait

Riding the Tour D’Afrique, days 13 to 22, Abu Simbel to Khartoum

Distance Cycled: 2240km

Metres Climbed: 5541m

Time on Bike: 72:17:16

Time in Truck: 0:00:00

Race Position: 3rd

The last 10 days has seen us complete our crossing of the world's largest desert (non-polar for you pedants). This section began by boarding a ferry across lake Nasser to reach the only open border with Sudan. Then began the not insignificant challenge of attempting to cross said border. With numerous check points and countless forms to fill in with identical information and arbitrary queuing behind the final gate once all checks had passed, Patience was certainly a virtue and the motto of the day was "hurry up and wait".

We then began our long stretch across the desert through northern Sudan. I cannot explain, nor do the photos provide due justice to, the sheer vastness of the Sahara. For mile after mile we pedalled through an endless sandy, dusty and flat landscape, punctured only by tiny settlements and the, not all that infrequent, dead camel. Riding wise we were treated to the glorious tailwind that had graced us since early on Egypt, combined with the pan flat terrain it was, on paper at least, easy pedalling. However the endless desert landscape provided little to distract the mind and body from the physical exertion,

But with the bleakness of the terrain we have been treated to some of the warmest and genuine welcomes from the Sudanese people. Everyone on the trip has been pleasantly surprised by the Sudan. Probably the country we visit that is the least understood in western societies, marred by the north-south civil war and the Darfur conflict. However, at every interaction we find a chorus of "hello's" and "welcome to Sudan" and numerous people beckoning us over for photos and conversations about what we're doing in their country, always without the hint of expected re-numeration that we had become accustomed to in Egypt.. Halfway through the stretch we had a rest day in the town of Dongola, camping in what appeared to be an abandoned fairground on the banks of the Nile. Here we tasted a sense of life in Sudan, well of the tourist route (if that is such a thing in Sudan). Escorted around the town in tuk tuks, though traffic that can only be described as organised insanity, we shared "chai" (a super sweet syrupy version of tea) with local elders and dined at one of the many restaurants, that despite full looking menus, seemed to only serve an option of chicken - grilled or fried. No, the vegetarian diet is not going all that well here...

On our final days riding into Khartoum, a particular highlight was happening across the Sudanese national cycling team out on a training ride in the opposite direction, who then cycled with us for a few kilometeres - not every day you get to cycle with a national squad.