Home » Egypt » Cycle to the Summit Part 7- Egyptian border, Suez and Cairo

We had a barren introduction to Africa, starting with a three-day trip over the Sinai dessert to be contrasted by the hustle and bustle of Cairo - the biggest city in Africa. A few sharp culture shocks are experienced by the team.

Cycle to the Summit Part 7- Egyptian border, Suez and Cairo

Toby Hammond
2006-06-25 18:59:44

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and then at the other end of the village found an excellent bakery with delicious fig rolls, so ate some more. As we prepared ourselves for the saddle again our police escort turned up to see us out of the town and presumably of their patch. We had been assured there was a police checkpoint in about 30km where we would be able to camp. About 45km later a passing pickup truck driver told us it was another 5km. After being bothered by the police all morning, police assistance in the form of a place to camp was proving very illusive. Where's a policeman when you need him? However, when we did find the checkpoint just after dark, there was no shortage of manpower at the checkpoint. There were police, army and some others in plain clothes most of whom were standing around rather casually doing very little, but all greeted us warmly. An argument broke out between the police and army about where we could pitch our tent. We were told to wait for ten minutes whilst some telephone calls would be made. After about 40 minutes later five of the men (whose role was unknown) beckoned us over to a patch of ground where they were having quite a heated discussion about its suitability for our tent. As we attempted to get the first peg into the stony ground another very angry policeman piled in and showed his obvious disapproval. We did not know were to put ourselves and were torn between amusement and guilt of being the apparent course of the argument. During the next 30 seconds of authority bashing it was agreed we should move our tent 3 metres away to a seemingly identical spot. A similarly spectacular argument later erupted over whether they should keep our passports overnight. We ate dinner quickly, climbed into our tent and zipped up the flysheet before anyone else could come to bother us. What a complete shambles!

Monday 14th January - checkpoint to Suez 93km

We were glad to see the back of the checkpoint and after a short climb we had a really ...