Bicycle distances Egypt
|
Entonces que hermano? ... Koello tamam? (/ everything ok ?/) 25.000 km, not bad!. But tell me, how was the way from Luxor to Cairo?.
Well imagine a road which itself was not bad but with these frequent laid bumps / thresholds on the pavement to avoid that all those self-proclaimed F-1 drivers drive with the same crazy speed through villages ... So you hardly can maintain the same speed but you have to all the time slow down to pass such an insane threshold and accelerate from zero again and again ...
Plus that really everyone takes this road: vehicles pulled by donkeys, mopeds-`manned` - by-little piss-adolescents, pick-ups, huge trucks ...
.. Was there no other way? You could have gone via the 'desert road' [the road through the desert, straight forward, no hassle]?.
Oh, in some way it is fun to rush through such villages. You can stop and have a tea, eat something. I needed also those villages for my supplies and I was not sure that at such a desert road it was possible to resupply.
... Were you chased by all types of children throwing stones at you just as happened in 1978 [when you [4 years old] made the same epic [bicycle] voyage in Egypt with your parents] ?.
No. That was the most surprising thing!. The world has moved on in comparison with 1978 and so has Egypt: the boys from those times now drive a Hwa Sa vehicle [I think the Chinese have split up Africa among themselves, just as the Europeans did on that infamous conference in Berlin in the 19th century: Jin Cheng gets West Africa to pollute with inferior Jin Cheng shit mopeds, Hang Zou receives Nigeria, East Africa and Hwa Sa gets North Africa ...].
Those boys play taxi driver now and spend all the time transporting people from A to B, but it was annoying that those boys often had nothing to do and drove behind me, 'sucking' on my back or driving right in front of me so I had to slow down. Plus I had to listen the whole time to their moronic `what`s your name` noise.
And how did you react? did you fire a sidewinder /Surface-to-Surface Missile [SSM] attached to the side of your bicycle frame at such a little monster?
Haha, I wished I had such a device!. No, I did something not-quite-clever: I became angry, shouted `Khalas! Emsji inte ghison! [= Enough! fuck off dick head!] and threw stones at their tuk tuk vehicle.
KLOENG! A direct hit but I could only briefly enjoy it because I saw from far that they were arming themselves: a big stone and a bottle. The boys waited quite sneaky in an alley [we were almost in the Medinah] until I drove by, came up behind me and threw from a short distance a bottle in my back after which they drove off at full speed ...
Yup, what comes around goes around! and offcourse you chased those little villains ....
Offcourse man!. Pursuit in the Medinah! Haha, a nice poster for a movie. The road became a rancid sandy and bumpy track on which I cycled with fear and trembling at the thought my rear tyre could explode any minute [proudly produced in the democratic republic of Bangladesh] a tyre that I had just changed this morning [both outer tyre and inner tube. The rear tire profile was completely gone!].
Well it was like in Ethiopia. I had a reason to enter the village [and cherished absolutely no expectations to see those asswipes ever again]. I stopped at a mosque and bought some supplies at the local grocery and a kilo Moezzz (bananas) and set on someone`s porch to smoke cigarette. Meanwhile I was again surrounded by boys [always boys, girls never annoy me!] whining `what`s your name` at me. At one point it got a bit scary, zombie- like!.
Suddenly everyone went en masse to pray in the mosque but mainly outside in the street [it was Friday] .... Damn these people are religious!.
But this `incident` happened when you cycled alone. But you have not cycled all the time alone right ?.
Right!. From Luxor on the first day without knowing I cycled already with police escort that for four days became quite compelling: almost at every roadblock [approximately every 20 km] I had to stop `khamsaa daquiqa `[5 egyptian minutes] waiting for the next team that would escort me for the next track.
It was very frustrating because at one day I had to stop 5 times [every time 30 minutes to one hour]. In the beginning I was angry, I didn`t understand why this police escort and when I asked I got the most stupid explanations like: [`yes, we must protect you from dogs`, `there's a murderous mob that wants to kill you`, `on the road between Luxor and Assiout are many deaths caused by gun fighting ', the last one said by a senior police commander!].
.. A police car filled with four homies driving all day 5 meters behind you, chasing you if you wanted to have a break [` jallah! `] or `socializing` one meter away from you when you sat down: exhausted, just wanting to eat / drink something .. An excellent opportunity to make new friends!.
Cut it out!. It was all with good intentions but done in a rather clumsy way plus that those guys hardly understand that you must give another person some space. I learned arabic sentences like: `between you and me, a distance of 50 meters`, `I must rest, fuck off`. The latter written down in Arabic by a friendly policeman.
But there was also a benefit of this police escort right?.
Yep!. I should or rather had to sleep all the time in a police station. I was assigned a room, there was often a garden and I could always take a shower. Once the officers on duty [dressed in a dzjallabya and one armed with a shotgun and another with an AK47. East and West met here, how beautiful!] shared a slimy eggplant substance with me meanwhile firing arabic sentences towards me ..
It's funny to see in what way people try to communicate if they know that the other person does not speak their language: the moron starts talking louder [shouting] in the hope that I will get it, another comes with many Arabic synonyms to clarify his argument while another [A Sinbad- the sailor-like figure] portrays with his hands or body gestures what he wants to say. This guy was actually the most intelligent one of the group!.
So if I understand correctly, you obeyed those armed morons as a `dear sweet little Gerrit` all the way to Cairo ?!.
Well, no. I was so sick of them at one point that I tried to get rid of them. The main road was all the time besides a canal but on the other side of the canal was a small [quiet] asphalt road, often hidden behind a row of trees. I had at that time of the day a relatively relaxed police escort which was often behind me but also several times about a hundred meters in front of me [I passed them while one of them still was sucking of his waterpipe in a small caffe alongside the road].
In this way I had somewhat the impression of cycling alone. At such a moment I suddenly crossed the canal and followed that small tarmac road. I saw them [tje police van] in the distance. I tried to sneak around them and I almost succeeded until I heard suddenly yelling: `HOLLENDY ... HOLLENDY and: ` ... NO .... NO .... NO ...! `.
One ran even after me and tried to stop me but I had something like: `up yours!. It is not forbidden to cycle here and I'm sick of you people! ".
Where there was some bush I immediately went off the road and hid myself in the bushes. I managed exactly two hours to remain hidden. At the time I wanted to buildup my camp and looking forward to be finally one night alone they came again, searching every square meter. Oh, everything is man made cultivated here, you can not really hide. Two of the three guys were VERY angry and could almost not be controlled by number three [one grabbed me and started pushing me].
At first they wanted to throw all my shit [bicycle + luggage] behind in the van which I firmly refused. At least they let me cycle in front of them [they were following at two meters distance] on this busy, now dark- fucking- road.On a huge police compound I got a room with a fan and was well received by a senior police commander [two stars on his shoulder!].
But I had all the time an armed figure around me, very exaggerated. Even if I wanted to do shopping- which was ok- but with a whole platoon accompanying me. I was not allowed to walk, in such a rebel van we drove to a grocery where I bought some stuff, at least I was not ripped off this time hahaha [every disadvantage has its advantage!].
Damn, It felt as if I was in Mali [although in that country an armed escort was quite useful [see also the article on Gao, Mali].
And then you reached Assiout, a pretty big Egyptian town right?.
Yes, I had to cross first a huge bridge over the river Nile, and .... suddenly that police escort was gone!.
... So you were Remi again [alone in this world] something you always wanted to be?!
Jawohl!. I hardly could not believe it!. I was so happy that I wanted to leave this damned city immediately. SO that what`s I [initially] did: I took the road to El Minya until I reached at the exit of the town AGAIN a police checkpoint where AGAIN I had to wait for the escort that would accompany me to El Minya...
They were very friendly though [I got Shay] and with one I could even speak [a very basic] English. While I waited a plan matured in my mind. Apparently a city like Assiout was considered safer than the countryside, small villages where I always had to travel with police escort. In Assiout however I could move alone [after endless whining at the checkpoint, a lot of phone calls, convincing the escort that I REALLY was allowed to move freely alone in Assiout].
Why not stay a few days in Assiout, and with google, tourist office maps find a route on secondary roads in order to avoid that moronic escort ?.
They let you finally go back?.
Yes, and that was very nice. I first tried out a kind of agrarian institute to camp but the responsibles didn`t like it so much. One offered me to show me the way to a cheap hotel. Coincidence or not, but I'm always at nice places wheater somewhere in the neighborhood or right next to a soukh [market street], a cafe, internetcaffee .... basically everything I need.
If I stroll through the `city` [a collection of huge several- level- built- barracks with in between narrow alleys where as in a cave human ants crawl around] I tell myself that also this time I'm staying at a place which is not bad at all.
... Cairo ...
In general I don`t like Egyptian cities. It is all high office buildings and something of a historic downtown is not there, wheather destroyed or completely absorbed by concrete towers. Here in Cairo it is actually the first time I see something of an attempt to maintain their cultural heritage [a bit] done in a rather clumsy way .
For me Aswan is the most beautiful city in Egypt so far: a somewhat sleepy provincial town with vast parks, on the bank of the river Nile terraces/ parks where you can have a drink, felukahs floating gently on the Nile ..
Stick to the point!. What was the sequel to get rid of that Armed Best Friend ? [The police is always your best friend, also in Egypt right?]
YES!. And to El Minya I had a nice straight secondary road which I followed alone all day!. Occasionally the road disappeared in the Medinah, I then had to find a way past stalls where all kinds of shit was sold, the asphalt had suddenly become a medieval muddy `road` full of holes filled with with carts pulled by donkeys. I always got lost in this kind of Medinah but always found my way out [by asking] and thinking logically: always keep the railway left of you.
So far from the main road the people were more intrusive. If I had a break to drink a tea people wanted to speak with me or I was surrounded by children almost Ethiopian`like situations!. Also the tarmac road disappeared often and I found myself then on a mule track at the edge of the canal or on a huge rancid dust road through which I had to push the bicycle.
Moreover I could barely having breaks in the fields: everytime I had pushy adolescents around me really mega annoying. Becoming angry/ physical upon them did not help because then I was pelted with stones. Remaining calm was the motto, explaining who I was, that I was tired and needed a break from the cycling [alone!] rarely helped though. In that respect it was a huge advantage that I had these Ethiopian experiences [that was really extreme!].
Where did you sleep? again at the police station?
No, I went to a farmer and asked if I could camp on his land with my tent [there were AGAIN four adolescents to irritate me only leaving after the owner had said to fuck off]. It was very nice to camp there between the sugar cane. I had to converse first with the farmer who observed me from a distance of one meter when I built up my camp, but I suppressed my annoyance said I was tired and needed to rest so he left and I had the night for me!.
But ultimately you still went back to the main road right?
That's right. It was progressing far too slow on such secondary roads and I just wanted to speed up if necessary for gods sake with a police escort .... that no longer appeared to be!
What? ...
Yeah, weird huh? I just could again cycle by my own!. Finally I entered Cairo carried by a huge traffic hose straight to Midan Tahrir! (Tahrir Square).
... Where you are warmly received / lynched by revolutionaries!?.
Huhuh, funny. No, no demonstrations at all. No, I went through the mega busy down town to Talat Harb [a busy shopping street] where in a [relatively] quiet side street I stay in a Lokanda.
A Lokanda? What the hell is that?.
A Lokanda is a local rancid guesthouse which are everywhere in Egypt but also in the Sudan. Mine here in Cairo is bursting with Asians (Japanese, Chinese, Taiwanese). It is a relatively quiet place right on the corner of two streets:one street is a type of fruit soukh [market place] and in the other street / alley is an insanely decorated cafeteria where you can suck the hookah [waterpipe], where homies play domino or Taula [back gammon] and even women I've seen, Allah can sometimes be great!.
In that alley is a internetcafe and the whole day you can listen to music of Om Kalthoum !.
Cool such an `Asian` Lokanda!. You then can explore your `Asian connection`!.
Amen to that!. I met two Taiwanese Peki `s whom I convinced to hike from Aswan to Cairo hahahahahah!. I wonder if they will succeed!. And a Japanese sixtie year old who cycled twenty years ago from India through Pakistan, Iran to Turkey!. Inspiring!. Maybe I'll do that too, why not. Turkey will be a crossroad for me: option one: to the 'free world', or option two: to the Far East, Asia!.
Yeah, Seeing is believing!. So if I understand correctly, you are all day in your `cave` / private urban oasis?.
Mmmm, that's not entirely true. I hate mega cities with so many people, traffic, noise but I really have seen something of the city though!. I was in `Coptic Cairo` [the Copts were in fact the first early Christians] ...
... and the islamic historic part of Cairo.
But I find it a bit awkward how Egyptians deal with their heritage: every square meter seems to be exploited for constructing huge concrete towers even in the historical part of the city.
Also am I forced through this doomed city by the necessity to find out how the hell I can get out of the same doomed city?!. No easy task!. This city is so freaking busy, avenues suddenly become one-way street or end in a raunchy neighborhood!.
But also the need for bike stuff [a good pump, new tires `proudly produced in the republic of Bangladesh`] drive me through this doomed city.
What direction are you going now? North to Alexandria, or directly to Suez and the Sinai?.
Yeah, I think I'm going to follow that route. And from Alexandria one following the Mediterranean. After following the suez canal down to Suez and into the Sinai!. I'm still not sure if I will follow the long route [following the red sea coast] or go more direct to [straight to] Eilat Israel, or taking the road which passes the St. Catherine Monastery along the mountain where faithful homies of two religions [Christians and Jews] believe that Moses received the 10 commandments of God ...
... If you take the desert road to Alex you will pass Giza [the pyramids!] ....
Jawohl!. It would be a shame to miss such an impressive sight!
... the pyramids of Giza, Cairo
`Bueno pues hermano, q. disfrutes` /ok brother, enjoy yourself/ and keep me informed!.
vale!.
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten