Big Fella had this old geezer to talk to while we stayed in Luxor...
I met Sam and Friede at breakfast, where we discussed our plans for the day… They were going to push on as far as El Faiyum, while I had decided that I would rather cut the ride to Cairo in half, and stop further south at El Minya… Riding in an air conditioned car, allows you to spend more time behind the wheel, but I knew the 460 km I had planned for today would take me at least 7 hours, and in this heat, I’d have to stop more often for water…
Sam left before I did, as a crowd of people had gathered around the bike, one guy filming away with his video camera, and the rest firing questions at me… All of those who had cameras had asked permission to photograph me, so I went with the flow and let them do their thing, while I loaded the bike and got ready to roll…
For the first time in ages, proper road signs were posted...
I passed Sam just short of Qena, where I had to fill up, while he zoomed straight through town. From Luxor, a system of canals has been built to irrigate the surrounding countryside. This has allowed Egyptians to grow every type of fresh produce imaginable along the banks of the Nile. On either side of this great river, water was being pumped from the larger canals into smaller ones, that lead away from the banks and a few kilometres east and west of the river. I wondered why Sudan and Ethiopia were not doing the same thing… The river flowed through their countries, yet all along its banks, only subsistence farming took place…
Crossing the Nile at Nag Hammadi...
I crossed the Nile at Nag Hummadi, (Lekker slaap!) bumping over a single lane concrete bridge, and then turned north again to make my way out of this busy area and onto the open road… Except there was no open road to be found… Human habitation hugs the Nile all the way from Luxor to where I am now, in El Minya, and I am sure it is the same further up… Very few stretches of open countryside can be seen… One village merges with the next, making it the longest stretch of built up area I had ridden in… Almost 460 kms of it…!! I rarely managed to get the bike up over 90 km/h, and was more often tootling along at 75 km/h…
The road passed through the centre of a few small villages, doubled back on itself often, completely confusing the Garmin Girl… We rode through El Balyana and Gerga, then into the large town of Sohag, where I took a wrong turn and had to ride down a narrow alley to find a main road… All along the Nile, people were bustling about; ploughing fields with big water buffalo, loading donkeys with freshly cut fodder, driving tractors piled high with sugar beet…
First road sign showing the way to Cairo...
I pulled over to have a drink and watched the activity going on around me for awhile, before heading off again… People here seemed to be far more pleasant than those in Aswan and Luxor. Some even stopped what they were doing and waved to me… I waved back as often as I could, shouting “Salaams†as I went…
It was great being back on the bike again, and getting into a good riding rhythm, despite the many villages with their speed bumps that I had to slow down for. Police checkpoints were at the entrance and exit of every village, but I rarely stopped at any of them, even when the police waved me down… I knew they were only interested in looking at the bike and asking the inevitable, “How much is costing dis..?†My patience with Egyptians in general and Egyptian Officialdom in particular, had worn very thin…
The road widened just before Asyut, and then cut across the southern part of it before entering into the heart of this large town… Traffic was at a standstill in places, and I got bogged down in the middle of it… While I was sitting at a crowded intersection, I felt a tap on my shoulder, and nearly fell off the bike with fright…!! It was a traffic cop, and he pointed in the direction of a patrol car, spoke briefly into his walkie-talkie, and then shouted,
“You follow…!â€
The patrol car put its siren on and with lights flashing, cleared a path over to where I sat, a little stupefied by what was happening…
A Police escort through the streets of Asyut...
“Go, go…!†shouted the officer at my shoulder…
I got behind the patrol car, and it blazed a trail through the traffic, clearing cars, donkeys and trucks out of our path, until we reached the northern end of the town, about twenty minutes later… Then it pulled over, and the three officers inside waved me past with huge grins on their faces… What a bonus…!!
There is no mention of bikes here, so no speed limit applies.... I think...!!
I passed Sam again, this time on the northern edge of Asyut, taking a photo of him as I cruised past… He gave me the thumbs up, and then his Vitara faded into my rear view mirrors, bogged down in traffic…
I was on a bit of a charge now, eager to get the last 130 km to El Minya behind me as quickly as possible… The heat from the road surface was in excess of 50 °, the upper limit of my thermometer… My feet were boiling in my boots, and the rubber around the edges of the soles was beginning to melt in the heat generated by the road surface and the engine…
I glanced down to see that the speedometer read 59 999 km, and moments later, the 60 000 km mark was reached… I took a photo for posterity’s sake, and reflected for a while on far this bike and I had come, on this, and other journeys we had made… I reminded the Big Fella about the places we had been, and the things we had seen… And then said a silent prayer that we’d make it through to the end of our journey, together…and in one piece…
Big Fella turns 60, just north of Asyut... A pat on the tank and a mumbled prayer for many more...
Mega blocks of flats have been built to alleviate the housing crisis in Egypt... These line the main street of Asyut...
The first hotel I stopped at in El Minya, wanted $100.00 a night, which I baulked at, but the security guard helpfully directed me to the Cleopatra Hotel a few blocks away, where after confirming that they had free wireless, I accepted their rate of EP 100.00 (R135.00) and made my way up to my room on the 6th floor…
The rickety old lift had a small wiring problem, so in order to get to the 6th floor; you had to press the button for the 2nd floor… To get to reception on the ground floor, the 4th floor button was the one to try… Every time I used the lift, it was a bit of a lottery as to where I would end up…!! The restaurant was on the 7th floor, and breakfast was served on the 8th floor, and trying to remember which button took you where, was a bit trying…
Feeling happier to be out of Luxor with all its touts, but being nailed by the heat...
Although I had planned to ride to Cairo the next day, the 8 hour ride to El Minya in searing heat, had taken too much out of me… I had cramps in my legs and arms, and moved around my room like an invalid… My left hand, which had pulled and released the clutch lever hundreds of times today, was especially painful, and difficult to open fully… I used two packets of “Re-Hydrate†sachets, and drank four litres of water and apple juice over the next few hours, and still didn’t feel any better…
I decided to spend another day resting up, knowing that the ride to Cairo would probably be as busy as today’s one had been, and remembering all the horror stories of Cairo’s traffic, I figured that I would be in better shape to deal with this after a days’ rest…
Out on the street, it was 46°… I walked around the block, looking for a little supermarket to stock up on biscuits and water… The glare off the concrete sidewalk, coupled with the debilitating heat, had me gasping like a fish out of water… The clean t-shirt I had put on after my shower was sopping wet in minutes, and once I had found what I was looking for, I hurried back to the air-conditioned sanctuary of my room, threw myself onto the bed, and fell asleep almost instantly…
©GBWT
Sounds like a far better place to be – hope you have a good rest before the next haul.
Hmmm…. seems like you will be needing to buy new boots soon; your’e looking well despite the heat and dehydration. Safe ride to Cairo.