APRIL 8th Day 5

1.05 am room 1606

FRANK'S STORY

Hello to all, I have now spent my first full day in Cairo. There have already been so many ups and downs, a few culture shocks and lots of fun. As Chris explained we had fun and games at the airport. Our taxi driver was certainly a character but if I was still in charge of issuing licences he would not have got one, but it appears that nobody in this crazy city owns a valid drivers licence. After our arrival and a few hours sleep it was off out to do our chores. I was not looking forward to my first Egyptian meal but Chris ensured me it would be fine and indeed it was. It is twelve hours and no need for any emergency medication yet. I found the city to be fast paced and relatively clean as far as big cities go. I was expecting a lot more beggars, traders hassling you but more of the opposite. After the uneventful walk to the British Embassy we made our way to The Tourist Police to register our trip. Upon our arrival we were met by Captain YASSER who kindly offered us our first cup of tea. Chris began to explain our reason for being there but we were pleasantly surprised that they had our records from the Embassy. After about 15 minutes we were invited to meet Major EL-HAMMAMY who kindly offered us more tea. We explained that we would like to present them with an R.C.I.P plaque on behalf of the Commissioner. A very nice picture was taken by Mr. Techno. At this point we were informed that we needed to see an a LT. Colonel from Special Branch. We made our way to his office and were kindly offered more refreshments. After the itinerary was arranged we thanked him and went on our way. I was very impressed with the service we received and they could not have been any kinder. We have arranged to return after the cycle ride and meet the General who was unavailable.

We then had to go and buy our train tickets for tomorrows 200 mile journey north to Alexandria, the start of the ride. As usual, Chris was in line for tickets and I thought he would be pretty quick so I took a seat on a nearby wall to watch the people go by, I was amazed to see about six or seven people literally push him out of the way to get to the front before he finally had enough and used his height and shoulders and pushed the pack back. He finally got our tickets and it was off to the hotel to put the bikes together, hopefully !! We returned at about 5.30 pm and began to unpack the bikes. Mine was first and at the beginning it appeared all is well but unfortunately, as most of the days so far have had, we had problems. My bike rack was bent, the front wheel slightly bent, my derailleur was bent around my rear spokes, my helmet was damaged but most painful was the destruction of my Gatorade packets. After much hammering and twisting it appears to be in working order although Dennis at Uncle Bills is probably having a heart attack at this moment. Chris's bike was in much better shape and is also ready to go. We now have a new problem, our panniers weigh a ton and Chris at this moment is still in the process of balancing his bike. I believe we will have to throw 50% of our equipment in order to be able to ride at slow speeds, it appears the bike will fall quite easily if ridden under 50 mph, hence lightening the load. As I am writing to you Chris is trying to decide what goes and what stays ?

Well, oh one more thing, a Police Officer came by the hotel and as arranged for a police escort to the train station tomorrow. It appears we have been well received and I don't think they want one of the drivers in Cairo to be responsible for any injuries we may sustain. Chris said it best, as it appeared we were playing Frogger all day in the traffic. Now I will leave you all until tomorrow, next time we speak we should be in Alexandria and cycled about 40 miles. The cycle starts here !!!

April 8th Day 5 still

Chris's Story - Al Montazah - Alexandria

We woke up this morning after going to bed at three am after preparing all our luggage and updating our journal. Breakfast consisted of a croissant and a Danish pastry from the hotel cafe. We then placed our bike boxes and spare suitcase in storage at the hotel. Check out was a fairly painless procedure and then we brought our iron steeds downstairs from their corral. A crowd soon gathered around the bikes at their first exposure to the Egyptian public. The only question they wanted to know was how much the bikes were worth (12,000 Egyptian Pounds) The price of a half decent car for the normal citizen!!! We pose for a picture at the beginning of our Trek, taken by the bell boy. The wait then began for our promised police escort. We soon realised that they must have been running on Cayman Time and that we could miss our train if we waited any longer. So, anxious to experience our first taste of Cairo traffic, we gingerly mount our bikes and start our journey. We round the relatively protected road of the hotel and join the main bridge road across the Nile into the heart of Downtown Cairo. As we wobble along the way we cross the bridge and end up confronted by our first test - Tahrir Square, a humongous roundabout which is the focus of Cairo's Downtown. There are about eight major roads branching out from the roundabout and we receive more strange looks from motorists and pedestrians alike as we make our way amongst the fumes and chaotic traffic. The motorists, however, despite the apparent disregard for any of the standard traffic rules, are very courteous towards us and leave us plenty of room to maneuver. We slowly teeter towards Ramses square, where we are faced with donkey carts, pedestrians in the middle of the roads, street hawkers and the general crowds one associates with large railway stations the world round. We enter the Railway station and head to platform 4 where our train was waiting to depart at 14:00. We find our carriage and as I look into the entrance to it I come face to face with a short, rotund, man with a bulbous nose wagging his finger at me in an authoritive manner. NO, NO he utters and once more wags his podgy finger at me. This began to annoy me and I reached for my ticket and showed him that I possessed a valid ticket for the journey and informed him that it was necessary for us to take both bikes on the train to get to Alexandria. He repeated his first reply NO, NO.... Having been out of Egypt for Ten years it took me a while to click on and after the cue from a passing passenger, I reached into my pocket and gave this mini dictator a pharonic handshake and all of a sudden his attitude changed completely and he was very attentive to the well being of our bicycles and they were immediately ushered into their storage positions in the corridor of the train. Daren the lion, however was not as lucky and along with our bags was thrown into a storage space and spent the next two hours peering out of a glass window upside down. I am sure he looked distinctly travel sick upon our arrival in Alexandria. Poor old Daren...

16:00 we arrived in Alexandria and our bags were hurriedly thrown out of the train on to the platform and before we knew it the train had gone leaving us standing there in a relative daze. We picked up the pieces and reconstructed our bikes and headed to the exit where Alexandria was awaiting our experiences. We embarked en route to the hotel and once more became better acquainted with the Egyptian driving style. Feeling more and more confident we hit the corniche road ( The Harbour drive of Alexandria) and were pleasantly surprised at the well maintained road. We arrived at our hotel an hour later to see a driveway on a fairly steep incline awaiting us. Frank went up first and made it up with out incident. I then changed down cogs in preparation for the incline and heard a gut wrenching grinding noise emanate from my rear wheel. I stopped to examine the damage and found that my chain had overshot the high cog and had wrapped around the hub, breaking my plastic free wheel guard protector !! Uttering a few choice words to myself I set to work trying to solve the latest test sent our way. About 10 minutes later I managed to bring it to some semblance of normality and began to wheel it towards the hotel. At the entrance we were greeted by a man who I am sure was the mini dictator we had just left in disguise. This time he was dressed as a security officer , the wagging finger gave him away and once more the NO, NO, resonated gently on my eardrums like a hammer hitting an anvil!!! 'It is a beeeg problem, the bicycle is a beeeg problem. It can not come in here. I bit my tongue and told him that I would leave the bicycle outside for now until I had spoken to the reception desk to clarify where they were to go. We were introduced to the manager who was extremely accommodating and told that it was no problem what so ever and that they would be brought to our rooms via the service elevator. An arrangement that we were extremely grateful for. We checked in and then headed to our room. Yet another great view. We have been extremely lucky so far. We began a closer inspection of the latest damage to our bikes. I was beginning to sweat (Why did we leave Dennis in Cayman?!!) We come to the conclusion that the bike should be roadworthy and we go for dinner at an Italian restaurant in the hotel, much to Frank's relief.

I stay up for a while processing the latest pictures and Frank 'the flicker' Brennan tries to become the first casualty of that well known illness Schizophrenia EgyptusTVus. An hour later I look behind me as the TV had stayed on one channel for more than 30 seconds and I see that he has fallen asleep !! I then decide that this is probably a clever option to take as tomorrow will be the first full day of cycling we will experience. So until then goodnight.

April 9th Day 6 - 7.50 pm in our tent about 65 miles North of Cairo

Hello Mum, Dad, Family, Friends, " C " and all that have tuned in for our latest update.

First of all I must apologise for not updating yesterday, the problem is, I don't have a wife and child so I am used to a good 10 hours sleep each night. As Chris explained yesterday was very hectic, frustrating at times but also very funny. The guard on the train looked exactly like the Police Chief off Midnight Express ( 1978 movie about an American in a Turkish Jail ), anyway as my arabic is as bad as my FRENCH I took him inside the train and gave him 50 Egyptian Pounds, he then complied as Chris said. The problem was his Chief arrived and told me I needed a ticket for my bicycle and I began to tell him his guard has just got a weeks salary from me, at this point the guard ushered his chief off the train and said it was NO PROBLEM. He then gave me my money back and said he needed it when we got to Alexandria. Chris paid his guard also. I am now in a tent inside an abandoned house off the desert road, dirty and tired but with 10 hours to kill until daylight.

This morning we got ready to set off at 9.00 am. All went well until we exited the hotel. A Police Captain and three armed officers were waiting for us in a Peugeot 405 banged up Police Car. They informed us that they were to escort us out of Alexandria. We finally set off along the beautiful Mediterranean coastline heading for the Desert Road. Our goal was ninety miles today. With 60lb of equipment on the bike it was a tall order. After about 20 miles the Police Captain stopped and stated that we missed a turn a few miles back. We turned around and followed the Police Car, they took us through the centre of town and out towards the Desert Road. They waved us off and returned to the city. That 10 mile journey took 30 miles!!

We looked ahead and it looked daunting, road as far as you can see, 90 o heat and not a cloud in the sky. We went about 5 miles more before stopping at a roadside shop. Two motorcycle cops were there and they showed great interest in our bikes. They were riding Yamaha fz 750, not bad. I gave them a patch each and used it as a photo shoot. As we moved on I realised what I had been reading about Alexandria was very true. It is a very industrialised city and after leaving the inner city it was refinery, refinery and more refineries. As we continued I suddenly realised the challenge got greater as there was one hill after another and the two lane highway was more like a racing track. After the fiasco in the morning we had skipped breakfast so we had great delight in seeing a MCDONALDS. It was pretty much the last place between us and Cairo. We both had a Big Mac combo with biggie fries before setting back off. After leaving the restaurant I rode ahead and it wasn't until I got to about 50 miles I realised Chris was nowhere to be seen. I stopped and waited and waited and waited. I got my binoculars out but no joy. After about 40 minutes I saw him in the distance, unfortunately he couldn't see me and he stopped for a drink. After an hour he arrived, and not looking pretty. I was relieved to see him after what his wife said she would do to me if he didn't return but he was suffering from a major migraine headache. I took over as the Doctor and gave him a dehydration sachet, told him to drink more and eat something. If we were not on a tight schedule we would have stopped but he plodded on as we need to reach Cairo by tomorrow. The going was painfully slow for Chris but after more protein and fluids he felt a little better. We made 72 miles, 10 of those in the dark, not bright in this traffic before calling it a day. I noticed the abandoned house and it is a perfect hideaway for the night. Chris is asleep but will have to wake up to update you - Mr Techno man. The reason I am on most of the photos is that he wont let me near the camera. !Anyway, the Desert Road is not what I imagined and I am sure things can only get better. As we enter the outskirts of Cairo tomorrow we will be cycling past the Pyramids, something I can't wait for and finally get to ride along the Nile so I can see it. This first part has been challenging but I suppose that is what I expected. No major problems with the bikes today but my helmet is falling apart around me.. I will leave you until tomorrow, our last night in a hotel for 5 days, a good shower is needed now. You take for granted so many things until you are stuck in a tent in the middle of the desert with no home comforts. I forgot to mention the huge amount of carcasses spread over the Desert Road from Rats to Cats and Dogs to Camels. Not a pretty sight or smell. Don't worry Angelique I will make sure Chris is not one of them.

I said this would be an experience and so far I am not mistaken. Until tomorrow, be safe

HELLO TO ALL MY STUDENTS AT SAVANNAH AND NORTHSIDE PRIMARY SCHOOLS.

P.S.FRANK ......

Chris's Story

I'm tired, I'm Hungry, I'm knackered.I have a Migraine, Where is my wife when I need sympathy. Will write more tomorrow!

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