I'm writing from Aswan, Egypt. The next two days will be my last in Egypt (at least on this trip). Which means that I will be officially done with one country. Starting Wednesday we enter Sudan. We have been told that we will not likely get to an internet cafe for another 3 weeks, so this may be my last post for a while. If possible, I'll try to text Bonz with GPS coordinates so that he can update the map.
My body is holding up just fine. Me bum hurts, but I guess that is to be expected. The knees are very soar, but usually feel ok once I get warmed up. The ride from Luxor to Aswan was lined with children waiving and trying to give us high-fives. They yelled one of three phrases: 1) "Hello", 2) "Good Morning" (regardless of actual time of day) and 3) "Money." There were also a very limited number of kids who through rocks. They hit a couple of bikes but no body was hurt.
The riders are slowly getting to know each other (except for a few of the Dutch, who, as Barb predicted, like to hangout together). The weather is getting a little better. Last night was the warmest so far, though proably so because of rain clouds that have been forming for 1.5 days. Still no rain yet. Let's keep our fingers crossed. Most of my clothes and other belongings are covered in dust. I've managed to keep the camera clean (don't worry Pulak), but mainly because I've been very bad at taking photos. Speaking of photos . . . there are three filmakers riding on the trucks who are trying to make a documentary out of the Tour d'afrique. Also in Luxor a Dutch TV crew came to film part of our ride. According to the Dutch riders the producer was the son of the creator of the reality show Big Brother. So if you are Dutch and reading this, then keep your eyes peeled for me on your television set.
Need to get me some vittles.
overnout
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Friday, January 18, 2008
Ahhh, A Rest Day at Last
Hola Amigos, I'm in Luxor.
Well after six hard days of riding, we have earned our first rest day. We are in Luxor, Egypt, situated right on the Nile. The first day was extremely brutal because of a nasty head wind, the next five days have been quite nice. We've been riding appx 80miles a day with one day of 110miles.
The scenery has been beauiful. The first day we rode to the Pyramids. We were able to see the Pyramids at sunrise, and the Cairo smog only made them more majestic. From there we rode out of Cairo (Cairo traffic makes NYC traffic seem suburban). Out of Cairo we rode to the Red Sea. We were flanked on the left by the Red Sea, and on the right by the desert and mountains. We pretty much followed the Red Sea down to Safarga, Egypt where we headed west over a mountain pass to get back to the Nile. As tough as the riding has been, equally difficult has been the camping. We get up at 5:30 in the dark and COLD, and set up camp by 5:30 when the last bits of daylight remain. Packing up in the morning is definitely stressful. Everyone seems to have one eye on their own gear, and the other eye watching the progress of the other riders to make sure you don't fall too far behind in packing up. I could write a whole 'nother blog post just o the dynamics of crapping, but I'll spare you for now.
The temperature is very difficult to gauge. It gets down into the high 30s at night, but during the day if you are in the sun it is easily in the low-to-mid 80s.
By mid next week we will be out of Egypt and into the Sudan. Most of the riders are a bit nervous about Sudan. We will be riding in the desert and the roads (when there are roads) are in poor condition. The thought of riding in sand with 4liters of water has me a bit nervous. The Tour Guides have told us that Sudan and Ethiopia are the toughest countries to get through . . . so if I make it through the next three weeks (which should have me out of Sudan) then we will be good to go!
The body is holding up OK. It is a little shocked. I'm definitely one of the weaker riders, but the riding legs are coming back slolely but surely. Other than general soreness, my bigggest issues is that four of my fingers have gone almost completely numb (which makes typing a bit difficult). One of the cyclists is a doctor, who says that this is a common effect. Common or not it sort of sucks.
Well I don't know when I will be able to write next. It may be a while. I will try and text my friend Bonz, who along with Dain and Sara, are maintaining www.gogoswami.com. I will try and send some pics but it takes about 10 min per pic to upload. For less alak-specific updates, you can go to www.tourdafrique.com.
Finally, get your checkbooks out. As you may or may not know I'm raising money for Charity:water http://www.charitywater.org/water/charitywater_why.htm which is an organization that provides sustainable water sources in resource poor African villages.
Sara or Bonz will send an email when the donation link on gogoswami.com is up and running. Give early, Give often.
Until next time . . .
Goose
Well after six hard days of riding, we have earned our first rest day. We are in Luxor, Egypt, situated right on the Nile. The first day was extremely brutal because of a nasty head wind, the next five days have been quite nice. We've been riding appx 80miles a day with one day of 110miles.
The scenery has been beauiful. The first day we rode to the Pyramids. We were able to see the Pyramids at sunrise, and the Cairo smog only made them more majestic. From there we rode out of Cairo (Cairo traffic makes NYC traffic seem suburban). Out of Cairo we rode to the Red Sea. We were flanked on the left by the Red Sea, and on the right by the desert and mountains. We pretty much followed the Red Sea down to Safarga, Egypt where we headed west over a mountain pass to get back to the Nile. As tough as the riding has been, equally difficult has been the camping. We get up at 5:30 in the dark and COLD, and set up camp by 5:30 when the last bits of daylight remain. Packing up in the morning is definitely stressful. Everyone seems to have one eye on their own gear, and the other eye watching the progress of the other riders to make sure you don't fall too far behind in packing up. I could write a whole 'nother blog post just o the dynamics of crapping, but I'll spare you for now.
The temperature is very difficult to gauge. It gets down into the high 30s at night, but during the day if you are in the sun it is easily in the low-to-mid 80s.
By mid next week we will be out of Egypt and into the Sudan. Most of the riders are a bit nervous about Sudan. We will be riding in the desert and the roads (when there are roads) are in poor condition. The thought of riding in sand with 4liters of water has me a bit nervous. The Tour Guides have told us that Sudan and Ethiopia are the toughest countries to get through . . . so if I make it through the next three weeks (which should have me out of Sudan) then we will be good to go!
The body is holding up OK. It is a little shocked. I'm definitely one of the weaker riders, but the riding legs are coming back slolely but surely. Other than general soreness, my bigggest issues is that four of my fingers have gone almost completely numb (which makes typing a bit difficult). One of the cyclists is a doctor, who says that this is a common effect. Common or not it sort of sucks.
Well I don't know when I will be able to write next. It may be a while. I will try and text my friend Bonz, who along with Dain and Sara, are maintaining www.gogoswami.com. I will try and send some pics but it takes about 10 min per pic to upload. For less alak-specific updates, you can go to www.tourdafrique.com.
Finally, get your checkbooks out. As you may or may not know I'm raising money for Charity:water http://www.charitywater.org/water/charitywater_why.htm which is an organization that provides sustainable water sources in resource poor African villages.
Sara or Bonz will send an email when the donation link on gogoswami.com is up and running. Give early, Give often.
Until next time . . .
Goose
Friday, January 11, 2008
Last day of Civilization
Greetings from Cairo.
Today is the last day of rest. Tomorrow the Tour begins. Tomorrow's ride is 80miles. We will ride for six days straight until the next rest day. Whether here is approx 60 degrees. I'll let you all know how I hold up. There are 55 riders doing the entire tour. There are an additional 7 or 8 riders that will be riding the Egypt section. Hopefully I will be able to update this about once a week. If you go to www.tourdafrique.com, there will be a blog that the tour staff will be updating apprx once every 2 or 3 days.
Well that's all for now. I'll write as soon as I can. Thanks for all of your support.
Goose/Al/Shyam
Today is the last day of rest. Tomorrow the Tour begins. Tomorrow's ride is 80miles. We will ride for six days straight until the next rest day. Whether here is approx 60 degrees. I'll let you all know how I hold up. There are 55 riders doing the entire tour. There are an additional 7 or 8 riders that will be riding the Egypt section. Hopefully I will be able to update this about once a week. If you go to www.tourdafrique.com, there will be a blog that the tour staff will be updating apprx once every 2 or 3 days.
Well that's all for now. I'll write as soon as I can. Thanks for all of your support.
Goose/Al/Shyam
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)