The Ethiopian immigration officers hand is hovering, he has the stamp in his hand but for some reason he's hesitating and it’s been in mid air for the last fifthteen seconds. He’ already studied my visa so I’m unsure about the delay. Then - smack. Stamped. I'm officially out of the country. Why it took him so long I don't know. I'll put it down to the oddities of Ethiopia. I wonder over to Kenya. The Kenyan immigration officer tells me the guy that issue's visa's isn't around so I sit for a ten minutes looking around the office. It’s full [View Full Entry]

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It’s 5am and I’m standing in the forecourt of the Hilton Hotel, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It’s raining hard and it’s cold. Its not tropical rain it’s like British February rain. The bellboy goes to close the door on the airport shuttle bus, but I stop him and lean into the bus and kiss my girl for one last time. It’s very flitting, the door is slammed shut and the bus drives away. I sit on a bench in the forecourt and light a cigarette. I’m full of emotion but have no way to release it. I light another cigarette from the [View Full Entry]

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I’m standing in the police station and everyone is shouting, no that’s wrong, screaming at each other. I was quite drunk but adrenaline has kicked in and I now feel very sober. I’m trying to work out who is on my side and who is against me, it’s difficult as all I see is a bunch of drunken men screaming at each other. The police man sits behind a counter, a cigarette hangs from his mouth and a machine gun stands between his knees. He has a truncheon in his hand and occasionally a random crazy drunk will march into the [View Full Entry]

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We wonder through the mud and into the maze of people. Sudan is one of the least densely populated countries in Africa, Ethiopia the 2nd highest, it shows. The border town is full of people. We acquire a “friend” he takes us to immigration. A circular mud hut, thatched roof, no power, a short way from the road in the middle of a small village. This was immigration! I’d seen some pretty shoddy immigration offices before, often corrugated huts in the middle of nowhere, sleeping officers dismayed at having to do some work. Normally a flag guides your way and confirms [View Full Entry]

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As the heat soared and soared I tried to imagine the cool of the Ethiopian mountains, only a week away. I’d started feeling a little rundown, blamed it on the heat and decided to leave Khartoum. I awoke the following morning at 5am after sleeping in what felt like a sauna. My Throat hurt and my head was blocked. I wasn’t up to the ride but had just enough time left on my visa to leave the following day. As the day progressed I realized I was developing a cold, I decided to ignore it and still planned to depart the [View Full Entry]

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So I sit on the street and drink a coffee. Its a few degrees over 40c and the water for the coffee is being boiled on a charcoal fire, so its probably about 100C where I am sitting. I sit on an up turned Nestle powered milk can, its a good stood. The coffee pot is an old can that's had a spout welded onto it. The coffee is good, its not too sweet and has been flavored with ginger and cardamom. It has a bite and clears my sleepy head. Frankincense burns in a small pot and the air smells [View Full Entry]

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"Don't cycle in the North of Sudan, many foreigner die trying to do this", "Why do they die" I Replied, "Wild animals", the immigration officer replied. The guide book has a section on banditry, Osama bin laden used to call this home, slavery in is still a problem and even more tragically Darfur and genocide keep popping up in the news. This was Sudan. Would its live up its horrendous media image, I would have to wait and see. I was happy to be here, nervous and extremely anxious about the cycling but glad to have got so far. Another thing [View Full Entry]

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The planned overly optimistic departure time of 6am soon fell to 9pm and I cycled through the craziness that is Cairo, passed the Pyramids for one last time and headed into the desert. Three weeks in Cairo had been fun, lots of fun, but it was time to be back on the road, and back to the cycling which I seemed to be avoiding. After the difficulties of the Sinai I was finding it very hard to get the inspiration to cycle again. I'd seemed to of fallen into a trap, looking at the cycling as a chore instead of enjoyment. [View Full Entry]

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I stayed in Dahab for three weeks, drinking beer, eating dynamite sandwiches*, getting up late and going to bed even later. I was nice to do nothing for a while but the longer I stayed the less and less I felt like getting back on the bike. With 350 miles of the Sinai desert between me and Cairo with little else in-between it would be the most isolated stretch I'd done this journey. After finally getting bored of going out every night I checked the internet weather site for tailwinds and headed out of Dahab. After three weeks of constant company [View Full Entry]

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I spent a couple of days relaxing and preparing myself mentally for the hilly road to Petra. I left Amman feeling slightly rough after spending the evening with an Aussie girl with a forte for 10% strength beer and Vodka. Figuring an easy day down to the Dead Sea my will power was easily broken with the offer of a drink, although I stayed clear of the 10% stuff and stuck purely to 40% Vodka. I was worried about the Dead Sea. Travelling alone creates strange feelings when it actually comes to being alone. Although my trip is very much a [View Full Entry]

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