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Sunday 20th February Again, it was an early start. Mohammed Amin met us on the road out of the village to say goodbye. It was a lovely start as we picked up a much better road through the villages that skirted the Nile. Everyone smiled and waved as we went past and the number of offers of tea was incredible. The Nile provided a lush green scenery- a massive contrast to what we had been cycling through in the last few days. After just over an hour and 20km, we stopped to rest under a tree by some more water jars. We seemed to be one man down though - we had lost Roberto. After about 10 minutes, Alvero went to find him, and soon returned with Roberto in tow. It seems he had accepted one of the offers of tea and had been trying to catch up ever since. As we sat there under the cool shade of the tree, swatting midges, an old man appeared, bringing with him a tray of coffee. As time went on, we would find this behaviour less and less surprising. We said our 'thank you's and pedalled on and easily completed the last 10km into the town of Abri, the largest so far on the road from Wadi Halfa. Hoping to meet Stephan and Fritzi we went to the only hotel in town, only to discover that they had already moved on that day. We decided that Abri was an ideal place to have an extended lunchtime stop. Having wheeled our bikes into the courtyard of the hotel, where we could leave them unattended, we soon found a cafe where we could have the essential tea and fuul. Whilst we were in the cafe, we were summoned by the local security man to go and register. It didn't take long and they were very friendly. We then went off in search of Pepsis whilst the boys went off to find a barber. With newly shaved boys and full tummies we trooped back to the hotel where we could have a quick nap on the not-so-appealing beds and have a cold shower. This was not such a pleasant experience for Kate as one of the local guys insisted on locking her in the shower and then peering at her through the window. She was definitely not amused and gave him a good shouting at. We decided to rest until 5pm so that we could miss out on the hot afternoon sun. On the way out we picked up a final cold Pepsi and pedalled on refreshed and much cleaner. The afternoon riding was fantastic but the midges were in full force and only when we were riding at full speed were we able to escape the huge swarms that engulfed us. At one point, we passed a football pitch where we met a lad with a bike. We don't think he counted on Alvero's sheer speed as he started to race us. The Spaniard soon left him for dust. After about 31km, the sun was starting to go down and the flies were getting too much, so we decided to find somewhere to stop. As we entered a small village, we asked a man if there was a place where we could stay and he pointed to a small cafe only 50metres away. Whilst we were unpacking, we soon had the attention of a few children and a donkey, the latter of which decided it would be a good idea to sneeze on Kate! Soon though, we were completely alone in the empty shack as we did our usual evening chores. Once it was dark, even the midges disappeared leaving us in peace to calmly eat our 'dindins' and lounge outside on the sand watching the stars. Monday 21st February Riding the next day wasn't as easy but we still made good time and we stopped once in the morning for some delicious shai and homemade biscuits in what seemed to be a community house by the road. Of course, these were offered without charge. After about 45km we decided to stop in a small village and ask where the local restaurant was. As it was, we ended up sprawled out on large straw mats underneath a tree on the side of the road, surrounded by scores of inquisitive locals. Word had got round that the "awaya's" were in town and so many villagers on their donkeys arrived to have a good stare. This was also another chance for Roberto to try his hand at riding a donkey, having not been so successful in guiding it in the right direction the first time! We spent a really enjoyable if maybe not a restful afternoon chatting with the locals until a pick-up arrived containing Fritzi and Stephan. This added to everybody's amusement as they got out of the van, off-loaded their bags and bikes and joined us for food. Unfortunately, for Stephan and Fritzi, the riding turned difficult again when we left at 4.30pm. The road climbed a steep, rocky outcrop next to the Nile. The going was very tough and extremely hot. We only cycled about 12km that evening to a restaurant called Abu Sarra where, it was without a doubt, we would be spending the night. Once again, the flies and hundreds of midges had become intolerable so we were quite glad to have found some personal head 'mosi' nets as these seemed to be providing some sort of relief....if looking a little daft! Food on the menu was surprisingly fuul...with bread, but this time with some fried eggs. This was the first time the guy had ever fried eggs so Alvero soon found himself giving cookery lessons in the kitchen! It was a busy truck stop and whilst we were there, a number of buses and trucks arrived, disgorging its occupants for half an hour whilst they took food and drink. On one of these occasions we met a Swiss couple who were travelling north to Wadi Halfa. It felt like a bit of a random encounter in the desert, as apart from our fellow cyclists we hadn't seen any other tourist. It was a hot and sweaty night and so as a result, Paul and Alvero found themselves a patch on the straw mat amidst all the other men in front of the TV and amused themselves with WWF Wrestling until it was cooler. We had been after the wilderness experience and so didn't expect to find a TV plugged into a generator in the middle of the desert! Tuesday 22nd February None of us were too fresh when we did the 18km to Delgo the next morning. Again, we were treated to tea and dates before we headed to the souq where we bought some supplies and had another meal of fuul and bread! After Delgo, we pushed on again but unfortunately the combination of the heat and the sand split us into two groups. The four of us continued until we got to the start of the short cut across the desert. By then the heat was getting far too oppressive and we didn't want to set off out into the desert during the hottest part of the day. We found ourselves being invited into a simple but beautiful house by three giggling ladies. They were quite happy to offer shai and put henna on Roberto's hands. (Roberto just had to try everything!) Henna is only used on men as part of the marriage ritual and so it was unsurprising that this gave way to much curiosity from the locals throughout the rest of the trip! Kate got on particularly well with the ladies and found that they could appreciate her cheekiness quite easily. At about 2 o clock, Stephan and Fritzi turned up fairly exhausted and ended up in the same house. At 3pm, after only two hours of rest, we said goodbye to Stephan and Fritzi and set off onto the desert short cut. We had been told that there was only one road to the town of Kerma based on the side of the Nile and that there were five villages along the way where we could get water. So with this in mind, we only took three litres each of water with us. Unfortunately, this misinformation meant that we were wholly unprepared for what lay ahead. There were no villages or water stops, and almost no vehicles. It was the hardest road so far and we spent long stretches pushing the bikes through the sand. It was mercilessly hot and very slow progress, becoming even more slow as dehydration and exhaustion set in. Even the Spaniards' and Kate's usual high morale took a huge dent, as the Nile never seemed to arrive. It had been dark for over an hour when we finally pushed our bikes into the first settlement. It was 8.30pm and we'd ridden 52km through the desert that afternoon and were in need of some serious hydration. Luckily, the first thing we came to were some water jars where we drank our fill. Opposite was a house where after a few gentle enquiries about restaurants and hotels they invited us to sit out on straw mats and eat fuul and bread, followed by a nice cup of shai and some helva. They then very kindly laid out some more mats to the side of the house where we could lay out our sleeping bags and had one of the most peaceful nights sleep since Aswan. Wednesday 23rd February As soon as we awoke the next morning, a boy from the house arrived with a tray of milky sweet tea and some biscuits to kick start our day. Again, they refused our offers of money, almost as if it was an insult. It was only meant to be a couple of kilometres to Kerma and 10km to Argo where we could cross the Nile by boat. Once again, this was not the case as distances seem to be a mystery to most Sudanese! It was 5km into Kerma where we stopped for some food and finding that Brits were not so popular we promptly changed our nationality to French! After lots of different distance estimations we eventually arrived in Argo after 22km! The road weaving through the villages to Argo was very sandy and the rubbish we had to cycle through was disgusting. It was a very sad and disappointing sight after what we had already seen. When we arrived at the riverbank, men were swimming in the Nile, and washing their donkeys in the water - not a major ferry terminal! It was surprisingly easy to get our bikes onto the small power boat which would take us across and we soon found ourselves dragging our bikes onto the west bank of the Nike, 40km away from Dongola. Determined to reach Dongola that day, we pushed the pace on the now slightly better road and by 2 o clock had done over 20km. we were in desperate need of shade and for once it wasn't quite as forthcoming. After a few enquiries a local English teacher called Nawal invited us into her house and whilst the boys rested, Kate had to endure group interrogation by Nawal and all her friends. It was a pleasant experience, despite being absolutely knackered, but having to lie about our wedding service and the reception was difficult! We were both feeling quite bad side effects from the Doxycylin anti-malarials. We both had burning sensations and itching on all exposed skin. This left us feeling more hot than we already were and unable to rest. We were, however, able to take a shower using the bucket and cup provided which meant we felt well enough to leave at 5pm. However, it made no difference to our appearance and all of us, especially Kate, looked a right sight. It ended up being only 22km into Dongola, of which the last 6km were, thankfully, tarmac! When we arrived in Dongola, we pulled up at a petrol station and asked for directions to the hotel 'Ola'. We ended up following a rickshaw through the dusty streets to a bed for the night. But before we could relax and settle down we had to register at the local police station, which we again managed with a short rickshaw ride. That evening we weren't particularly hungry just dehydrated so we went through stacks of oranges at the first fruit stall we came across, as well as drinking plenty of fruit juice and water. All we managed to eat was a bowl of lentil soup each, before we all went to bed, exhausted for a very sweaty night's sleep. Thursday 24th February We felt we definitely deserved a rest day or two after the last seven days and 430km of incredibly hard riding. Our main tasks were eating and drinking although fruit was still very high on our list. Kate being so tired, her Bells Palsy started to return again, so Roberto being the kind osteopath ventured to do some treatment on her back and neck thinking that this may be the source of the problems. She's not sure whether it worked but she felt so much more relaxed afterwards. After discussions with Roberto and Alvero we decided to push on the next day for several reasons. The main two being that they wanted to bring their flights forward and we were all a little disappointed with the town. We had heard Dongola was a wonderful place but after all the Nile villages it lacked any real charm, and the Internet facilities we had been promised were no longer available. Fritzi and Stephan arrived that afternoon and so the six of us together again we went out for an evening meal. It was nice to have one big family again, although it would end up being the last time we'd all be together like this. Friday 25th February It was an early start the next morning and Fritzi and Stephan kindly got up to say goodbye. Paul had a bit of a dodgy tummy but we decided it was still best to push on that day. We picked up a good tarmac road out towards the airport, which then turned south, keeping the Nile at a distance. We managed a good 50km of fast riding with a good tail wind before the tarmac abruptly ended. Along the way, we passed some men herding 50 or so camels north towards Dongola. It was a fantastic sight but the digital camera decided to run out of batteries just at that precise moment. Even though the road wasn't as good and as smooth as earlier, we still managed a good pace with the favourable wind. By lunchtime we'd done 90km and in a small village we set off in search of a restaurant. As we pushed our bikes along the sandy streets, we were called over by a young man who demanded we have tea in his shop. We weren't particularly interested for once as we were keen to settle down out of the oppressive heat but were too tired to resist. Kate, being the only female, was dragged off to be with the women. Normally chatting wouldn't have been a problem for her but due to tiredness and the heat she was quite reluctant to go. Luckily the tea offering was short lived and we were able to push on into the town. It was Friday and so not very much was open, but after visiting a shop serving cold Pepsi we found an open restaurant. They seemed reluctant to serve us any food, and when they did it was cold but it was better than nothing. We just had to wait until 4 o clock when we were allowed to have tea as the prayers would be finished by then! It was impossible to rest as it was so hot and we were still feeling the effects of the Doxycyclin. We left the restaurant at 5 o'clock and rejoined the road. The road became increasingly hard with more sand and corrugations, and as the sun started to go down, we amazingly hit tarmac again. We had been told that the tarmac started again in Debba so we were amazed at how well we had done that day. However, nobody had told us that there was an odd section of tarmac in amongst the sand, so when we stopped at a roadside cafe we were incredibly disappointed to hear that Debba was still another 50km away. Sometimes, it can just be the miscalculation of distances or the false hopes of tarmac that can destroy your morale. We bought ourselves some consolation oranges and pedalled off for another 10km before reaching a police checkpoint. It was getting dark by then and so they happily let us camp out under the stars on a sand dune and use their surprisingly clean toilet facilities. We'd already done 128km since Dongola - not bad for a first day back on the road. We all lay admiring the stars whilst listening to Alvero prattle on about the full moon. It's amazing what little bits of information you can learn whilst lying under the stars. We all fell soundly asleep, exhausted after a long day. Saturday 26th February Our next day started with 10km of tarmac to warm us up. The road just got worse and worse and worse, and every time we asked, Debba seemed to get further and further away. Finally, we reached the town in the late morning, hoping to find some food and the supposedly tarmac'd road again. To get into the town we passed a local camel market and we stopped at the first restaurant we came to. We didn't feel quite so welcome here, especially Kate since she came across many people gesturing a 'slit throat' at her. Maybe it was because she was a female and on a bike. We decided that this attitude was probably due to them being from outlying villages because once we'd eaten and moved further into the town, the atmosphere changed. After buying some drinks and some supplies, we headed off to find asphalt road. The tarmac didn't actually start in Debba and we had another two horrendous hours in sand before we finally reached a sealed road and Abu Dom. The cafe on the side of the road was to be our lunchtime rest stop. As we went into the restaurant, Paul stood in a deep puddle of fresh tar.... oops.... getting it all over his shoes then his hands and his bike (normally Kate does these things!). After such a difficult morning, this obviously didn't put Paul into too much of a good mood but Alvero saved the day by cleaning his shoes well enough that he could clip back into his pedals. At least it was asphalt when we left again, but at first we were heading east so the wind wasn't so useful. When we finally turned south, the riding got easier and we pushed on until it was dark. We quickly found an old shelter where we could lay out our beds, but it was a windy, sandy night so not much sleep was had. Paul and Kate x
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Challoner's, Fasiledes, Amersham, Buckinghamshire