LAST RIDING DAY IN EGYPT

Last riding day in Egypt and already one country done and a 1000 km on the clock. Riding was good, 115 km, but the road was in a poor shape, so we really had to be careful for potholes and big cracks. We followed the spectular Nile all the way. We arrived early in Aswan, which gave us plenty of time to go shopping for tomorrow's 18 hours ferry ride accross lake Nasser into Sudan. We have been warned that the ferry is by all means an old African ferry and that it is more like a cattle and goods barge than the kind of ferry, we will be without food any food or even drinking water.... Apparently, the toilets are so disgusting on board that we were advised to take a pill of Imodium in advance, so we could skip that experience... The ferry only leaves at 18h00 but we need to be there many hours before due to complicated boarding procedures and the risk to have our beds sold to a higher bidder....

We will arrive in Sudan on Tuesday morning, if there are no brake down or unforseen circumstances....

                                    This morning, the organisation surprised  us for breakfast.
                              They hired some local chefs to cook us local egyptian food. Great!

                           We left Idfu by crossing the Nile in the early morning mist and polution
                          of the many factories that surround the city, making our way in between
                            Egyptian kamikaze drivers, donkey carts and motorbikes.

                                       We rode as a small peloton pulling a decent speed
                                                       around 32 to 35 km per hour.

                                      After stopping at the lunch truck, we took it a bit easier and
                                        enjoyed the magnificent views of the Nile banks with the
                                                                desert as background.

                                    As soon as you leave the cities, donkeys become the main
                                      mean of transport. All donkeys don't have a happy end....
                                       We passed a butchery today with two of them hanging...

                                 Aswan is a very pleasant city with plenty of beautiful restaurants
                                   built on barges along the banks of the Nile. This is where we
                                         have enjoyed our last beers for almost three weeks.
                                                  Alcohol is strictly forbiden in Sudan.

                              Some of our younger riders have decided to enjoy some harder stuff
                              before entering Sudan. On the blackmarket, they purchased this
                              "localy made Finelande Vodka". I thought that our Finnish friends
                              would love that one. Check the etiquette, they even have raindeers on it...