02 February 2008- Khartoum, Sudan

Heading into the heart of Sudan, we are increasingly facing a very flat desert facilitating some strong and persistent winds. At night and in the mornings, temperatures drop to as low as 3-4 degrees Celsius. Add the strong winds and you get conditions way beyond the comfort zone of most of us (save the odd hardcore Canadian). Even more, the wind carries the sand everywhere…our clothing, ears and nose, sleeping bag, food and drink. Waking up in the morning, my face is covered with sand and grinding my teeth I get that gritty feeling. Eventually, one becomes accustomed to that. Electronic equipment does not. Digital cameras are dying like flies, but mine was holding up pretty well. During our latest sandstorm I am therefore fully aware of the hostile conditions and keep my gadget nicely tucked away in its bag. That is until that one beautiful shot comes along. I quickly take aim, use the palm of my hand to shield the lens against the sand-filled wind and place the camera back into its case within seconds. Too late…sand has entered the lens and I have learned my lesson.

KHARTOUM, THE “ELEPHANT TRUNK”
Yesterday we entered Khartoum in a police convoy with people cheering and greeting left and right. Since leaving Cairo 3 weeks ago, our life has consisted mostly of desert camps and small settlements. Purchases rarely exceeded the choice of fuul (a basic but tasty Arabic dish of fava beans) or egg omelette and chai (tea) or Turkish coffee. New acquaintances were mainly humble but poor locals. Our last real showering facilities were 12 days back in Aswan, Egypt. So waking up in the desert, we found ourselves only a few hours later groomed and shaven in a large western style mall. Entering the mall, I literally had to stop for a second, trying to absorb the wealth of choice and abundance of splendour and luxury. It is also the first time since Cairo that we see any serious amount of non-African faces. These fall into one of two categories. There are Chinese engineers building roads, drilling oil wells etc. …you name it, they do it. And there are UN employees, many of them (shops even start running discount schemes for them).

HEADSCARFS, HOW TO PLAY BY THE RULES AND THE ETERNAL QUESTION: HOW MUCH IS TOO MUCH?
As a whole, Khartoum, the home of an Islamic dictatorship, seems surprisingly Western and fairly wealthy. Certainly, our girls have been told off (sometimes rudely) when showing skin up to the elbow or not covering their head. However, there are some interesting observations. In a funny incident, we turn towards some locals on our quest for food and drink. These direct us towards what later turns to be the student refectory of the Sudanese University in Khartoum. Imagine a group of tourists walking into YOUR university canteen. So far we have always attracted a fair amount of attention, but I have never had so many faces laughing out loud or heads being shaken at me in disbelief. Anyway, it seems that as long as your dress adheres to a few stringent criteria, there is a fair amount of liberty regarding appearance and behaviour. The parallels between this crowd and my own student experiences are stunning. MP3 players, western designer clothing, latest fashion fads and cliques everywhere. It should be noted that these all looked like a fairly wealthy bunch. Therefore, the point I am trying to make is that conservatism and strictness with rules may be very heterogeneous across Sudan’s various income classes.

GETTING PHYSICAL
The daily workloads on the bike slowly but surely grind away our energy reserves and most people are struggling with knee problems, sore bums, that persistent bug going around camp etc. Miraculously, I have been spared so far. Riding out of Dongola, many were relieved to find smooth tarmac (once again part of Sudanese-Chinese relations) after the strenuous off-road. Nonetheless, over half the participants have at some point so far not managed to fully complete a stage, either due to fatigue or not reaching camp before nightfall. Fatigue is a big issue for me as well and pacing myself is paramount, but I have managed to retain my EFI (i.e. riding every single stage) and am still going strong. Khartoum marks the finish of the 1900km section “Pharao’s Delight” and race results have been published. Unfortunately, there has been a mock-up with the time taking and I have received a couple of 12h penalties. Very annoying and I will definitely look into that.