Stop pissing off the locals, Patrick

110V means 110V ... NOT 220V

Sean popped in to quickly shave my hair with his electric razor on Friday evening at about 23h30 ... just before he packed his clippers far away.

Cool - lets have one millimeter all round and we''ll see how well/far it grows. All started well for about half of my head ...

... KABOOM ... flames, smoke, ashes and a couple of hotel room circuits less ... and his clippers were no more. I'm not too sure how he imagined 110V clippers to survive in 220V supply ... ;-)

Well ... no problem I said ... we will be roughing it anyway. "No, No" said Sean, "I'll shave it quickly!" So four razors later and 02h10 in the morning we eventually finished ...!

No luck there with a good nights sleep before day one ...

Where to start ...?

I've got so many things to share with everyone ... and simply do not know where to start ... do I go day after day or do I just highlight exciting and interesting stuff?

Well day one was real exciting and COLD!! We were dragged out of bed at 05h00 and got our last stuff together. A quick breakfast ... where I noticed Sean and Andrew were absent ... I called them from the lobby at 06h35 (we were to leave at 06h30) and they were still fast asleep ... they never got their wake-up call. Poor Sean has had a real rough time from the Cataract Pyramids Resort ... and yes they are pathetic - service, etc.

We eventually left at o7h30 in convoy with police and military escort to the Pyramids ... Giza. Second time round and still amazing!! Here we had a brief address by several persons and off we went. Obviously with thousands of photographs all round.

It was cold and windy. We went a good 20km in convoy again till we left town .. and started to RACE!!

Well ... I tried to keep up with the racing bunch ... but after 15 minutes of panting and a heart rate of 186bpm. I dropped back and we formed a real nice group for the first day.

We have continuous police and military escorts - who drive up and down the whole field checking on everyone. They determine the camp sites ... a god distance from anywhere on the side of the national road.

On day one we headed out eastwards. Slightly south of the main national road to Suez. We camped on the side of the road about 20km from the Red Sea.

I'm alive in Safaga ... on the Red Sea

Hi there all. We had a quick sprint ... about 105km in 2h50 and arrived in Safaga - on the Red Sea - just before 11 o'clock. Ive booked into a little hotel and just had a great shower!!

Cairo - Egypt

What a place ... my feelings from day one till today have changed a lot! Once you find your bearings, meet locals and other tourists/tour members, experience their cuclture and see more of the town - one enjoys it much more!

The town is DIRTY! Very Dirty. But surprisingly today, on a Friday, they a cleaning big time. Not sure if this is due to it being Friday or because it is so much safer due to much less traffic and people around. The Pyramids, Bazaar and other areas though, are also very filthy and this is not due to numbers. Speaking to other travellers though - the city is apparently no worse - actually better - than other huge cities with equal populations ... a good 20 million inhabitants in Cairo alone.

The people are extremely friendly ... apparently in the city they always want a tip and money. In the country (that sounds so English and green/lush/hilly I say ... as opposed to sand, sand and more sand in this country) the people are even more helpful and friendly and do not expect money all the time.

The town is full of incomplete buildings ... endless kilometers of developments - appartment blogs - that have no window frames and completed top stories/roof ... these are still occupied, but top floors are empty or makshift coverings applied and windows routinely varied and improvised. Apparently the developers/inhabitants do not pay a final building tax until the building gets completed ... so they simply never get completed.

P.S. the keyboard I'm using is terrible ... the spell check on this site is iffy and I'm rushing to fit in stuff before my taxi arrives ... so sorry for any irregularities ...

lets try this ...

Howdee all - been having difficulties with this sight access .. so lets see how far I get.

Briefly ... I've relaxed a lot! Eventually got my Visa, found my comfort zone and met lots/most of the other participants. The local touts, beggars and irritants obviously recognise those persons that have been around for a while and their drive to sell, swindle and annoy us has dropped drastically ... our responses and attitudes have obviously become more resolute and confident over the last few days. We tend to joke and comment back as much as they do ... and we all have a lot of fun when we obviously don't understand each other.

Today is a very quiet day in Cairo - the streets are comparatively nearly empty and most shops are closed ... PROBLEM - 'cause I need a bank urgently to buy more dollars. I forgot a stack of it at home and need more for border crossing, etc.

At one o'clock we are have our tour briefing and questions - a good two hours - and this evening the Department of Tourism is taking us on a Nile River Boat Dinner Cruise ... probably not too much boozing if we are starting at about seven tomorrow morning ... yeeha/eventually!!!

Pyramids, etc

WOW!! The Pyramids are immpresive! The main ones at Giza are huge and very imposing ... 4600 years old! And the Spinx is so tiny ... I always imagined it much bigger. So many people have said not to waste you time here, especially not to go inside ... not sure what they were thinking, but I think it was well worth it - I went into the first big one (can't remember the name now) and no it was not stinking and too simple.

The camels, horses, donkeys, postcard sellers, etc are a pain in the arse ... not sure if they don;t understand english ... but "No" means "No" nthe first time and the 50th time. I'd maybe change my mind if they gave me some interesting reasons ... but "No" is "No". And I will not tempt fate two days before my epic cycle tour and fall off one of these huge dangerous beasts ... ;-)

The Bazzar at Khan al-Khalili is awesome ... little alleys and coffee shops with all sorts sold to locals and tourists. The haggling is fun and humorous and the bustling and people full of life and atmosphere. There is never a fear of pick-pockets, theft or violence ... you just have to barter hard to get an acceptable price on all goods - from coffee to silver and other crafts.

The Egyptian Museum was good ... but VERY dissapointing in that it is more like a huge (impressive building) store room with all the items laid out and little to no information and details given. The Mummies are incredible - real mummies wrapped and partially exposed with some interesting info on each one ... at an extra cost of EP100 (roughly R120). King Tut's ornaments and burial "goods" are unbelievable ... especially for a ruler who was so young, only ruled for a good nine years and apparently he had relatively little influence on the empire while he ruled.

OOps ... gotta run ... and goota find my way back to the taxi ...

Sorry no pictures yet ...

gotta problem with the computers and their ability to utilise my memory stick with pictures at the moment ... will try to find a solution soon!!

GOT IT!!

I have never ever (honestly) felt so nervous before ... but eventually got the Sudan visa!!

Went there this morning to drop it off ... supposed to open at nine ... welcome to Africa - no one at the counters till quarter-to-ten ... then drop this here, go to that window, do this, do that ... and you just pray you are doing everything correct. Everyone there has some horror story of someone who didn't get their visa for a good month or so.

I was told to come back later ... tried to converse and one person said two hours - the other said two o'clock ... maybe his English is bad and he ment two hours and not two o'clock??

Well we went to a market for some time ... sight seeing and stuck in traffic. I went back at one and the right person was off .. who knows where? Eventually someone came with all the passports ... except mine ... yeehaa-f.....-yeeha!

A while later another pile came and mine cropped out of the woodwork ... with my stamp ... imagine me with one hell of a smile now!!!

Just an interesting point ... in '93 travelling all over - including north Africa - people always exclaimed "Mandela" when I say I'm from South Africa. now everyone exclaims "Bafana Bafana!!' .. and adds that they just recently kicked our butts!

Sudan ... why art thee so difficult

Feeling a lot more settled and comfortable today. Slept well, ate well and found my bearings a little. After running around all day yesterday organising everything for my Sudan Visa - I made an assault on the Sudan Embassy early this morning ... CLOSED FOR THE DAY!

aagghh!!

We simply had a good laugh ... and I'll just have to get another taxi into town tomorrow ... again.

Just met up with Billy and Christy (mates riding by horse back thru Africa) and tagging along with Sean - also doing the Tour.

Well that is all for now ... thanks for the pictures (farewell at the airport) and comments/e-mails from friends.