The heat did indeed bugger off, but not until 1am when it did actually get quite cold. Once again we woke at first light to get an early start. Which we managed to squander by becoming directionally challenged leaving the pyramids. If we had left the way we had come in, instead of following the track that the caretaker had pointed to, we would have been much better off.
Riding along the road followed the same pattern as yesterday. Boring desert scenery and plenty of diving off the road to avoid lorries and buses. Sudan is a lovely country, but a crappy one to cycle through. That said we passed the 7000km mark today! Unfortunately I wasn't paying attention so the photo is of 7010km.
We have managed to make a bit of a mess of our food stocks. Breakfast was a cup of soup, so when we came across a road side restaurant at 9am we availed ourselves of a decent meal. It was just a shame that we suspect we were overcharged for what we had. This isn't helped by the fact that we are almost out of local currency, having not changed enough when we last had the chance. Any snacks will be strictly rationed tomorrow, but with any luck we will make it to Khartoum.
The morning became a challenge to find water, there were none of the roadside shelters that we have become used to. Eventually we stopped for a drink in a restaurant and one of the staff filled our water bag up. Our next stop for water proved to be a bit of a nightmare. We had just gone through a checkpoint and I had asked the policeman if there was any water nearby. He pointed back to an area surrounded by kids, who had tried to sell us stuff as we rode through. Not to be put off I grabbed our other water bag and started to fill it. While this was going on I was watching the kids try to pull my cycle computer off and then my pump. When the water bag was filled one of the kids tried to get me to pay for using the water and unbeknownst to me Debs had been surrounded and groped by some of the older lads. At the same time the younger ones were trying to take anything they could off her bike. Pushing them out of the way we set off up the road with Debs understandably upset. Having come to enjoy seeing the happy, smiling, friendly, Sudanese children, we are starting to wonder where they have gone. The last few that we have met, have all been demanding money, trying to steal something, or once today throwing stones. This is a pretty worrying trend in a country that has no real tourism.
Being called over to a roadside truck stop by the owner solved our escaping the heat of the afternoon problem and reaffirmed our belief in the friendliness of the Sudanese. We were given tea and told to make ourselves comfortable, which is what we did. The guys in the truck stop were all great and despite our failings in Arabic we managed to have a bit of a chat.
At just before 5pm we cycled off into the heat to find somewhere to camp. After one false start we have found a decent spot in the shade of a tree. With any luck the temperature in the tent will not get too high as we both could do with a decent nights sleep.
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