We must have camped in the noisiest part of the desert. Being near a small bridge meant that our night was accompanied by the squealing of lorries brakes and the revving of their engines as they first slowed for and then accelerated away from the bridge. The odd driver, obviously concerned that he wasn't making enough noise, added to the din with the sounds of his less than musical air horns. Once again 5am came around far too soon!
With no road signs and a rough idea that Khartoum was about 100km away we set off with the intention of making it to the city. The traffic if anything was more horrible than it had been over the last few days. The heat seemed to turn up a notch as we headed south and a slight crosswind made the journey more difficult. The saving grace of the day was that at least there were plenty of water stops along the road, unlike the day before.
The third day straight of 100km plus was a struggle, hot sand-filled cycle shorts didn't help much. Riding along was probably very similar to sandpapering your buttocks! That and the crazy bus drivers heading straight for us lights flashing and horns blaring meant that our tempers were a little frayed. Despite the difficulties we pressed on and eventually began the long ride into Khartoum, which wasn't made any easier by an awful road surface. What we really didn't need was resurfacing taking place and a detour along the road we wanted to travel. Fortunately a policeman told us to ride the wrong way up the road until the end of the diversion. It may have been a bit treacherous but at least we didn't have to figure out our way back on to the right road.
When we finally arrived at the river Nile it was with some relief, as we knew we were very close to our home for the next few days. We could see the Blue Nile Sailing Club from the bridge all we had to do was figure out how to get there. In the end we took the slightly unsafe but more direct route of hopping off the bikes, running across four lanes of traffic and then rejoining Nile street that ran under the bridge. Two very hot, very tired cyclists rode into the site.
Having found someone to pay for our stay, we went to pitch our tent and were greeted by Andrew, Tina and their two young daughters Elena and Rebecca. The family have been living in South Africa and were heading home to Europe in their 4x4. Better still they offered us a cup of tea!
As they had pitched their tent under a canopy instead of on the gardens, we joined them and have been grateful ever since as at least it has some given us some shade and made camping bearable.
While setting up camp we were introduced to a Dutch couple Martin and his girlfriend (sorry but the name has completely escaped me but she is very nice). They have been travelling from Namibia in a VW pick-up and have met up with the others frequently during their journey. It was lovely to spend some time with some English speakers, it is quite easy to feel a little isolated when you are on the road. We joined them all for a swim in the Nile, cooling but quite difficult to get out, and for a lovely evening meal.
Unfortunately they are all planning on leaving tomorrow, as it would have been nice to be able to spend a bit more time with them. Nevertheless we wish them all a safe journey on the road ahead.
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