Gx
Due to a slight balls up sorting out paperwork I'm still here in Cairo, All sorted now and ready to depart first thing tomorrow morning.
Gx
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The bike and have made it safely to Cairo. Was a bit concerned that the bike might not hold up to the journey. Some people spend hours wrapping and boxing their bikes before putting them in the hold. I just rolled up. Very easy and even got a behind the scenes tour of the airport as the bike didn't fit on the conveyor belts.
Cairos been pretty manic. I've been running around from embassy to embassy collecting visas for Sudan and with a bit of luck Ethopia (hopefully picking it up tomorrow morning). Visas for anywhere seem to involve sitting in long queues and filling out endless paperwork - and knowing how much the Africans bureaucrats love paperworks and stamps I wasn't lookig forward to it. The best fun is getting the Sudenese visa. They ask for a letter of recommendation from your embassy so first stop the British Embassy. A half hour wait to queue through security and another half hour queing to chat up the lady at the desk and your there. Not to bad really and the queues are very British. Everyone stands in an organised line in silence. Once you reach the lady at the desk you pay her 30 pounds sterling and in return you don't get your personal letter of recommendation fro the ambassador but instead get a standard print out (with that all important stamp) saying that the British don't issue letters of recommendation to the Sudanese but because I have a British Passport I must be a decent enough chap to be let in. Round the corner to the Sudanese Embassy you don't have to queue for security (no need its camoflauged as a squatters den) you scrum down and fight to the front. Once there you collect your forms, scrum down again ony to get sent back to have the photocopies, scrum down again handover some dollars, wait until everyone whose paid a little backshesh overtakes you handover your passport and hope for the best. No reciept no proof of who on earth you gave your passport to. I just hope its there tommorrow morning with a big, shiny visa in it. Collecting visas is always a hassle but it's gone far smoother than expected. I've heard rumours that when you apply in London they post your passport off to Khartoum for approval and your lucky to have it pack within six weeks if at all. Besides chasing round Embassies (I also got my Etheopian visa under my belt) I've done my sightseeing battled with my taxi drivers and stocked up on Pizza Hut. I've not yet taken the bike for a proper spin amongst the 18 million Cairoeans or their 3 million cars but as this is the continents biggest city the traffic can't be worse anywhere else. One of the most ridiculas things I've noticed is the number of policemen. They are just about everywhere and sit around all day looking very bored. One of their jobs (infact they have a whole branch of the police force dedicated to it) is to look after tourists. Sounds good to begin with and I'm sure its well meaning but I can forsee problems. They don't normally alow foreigners (well Westerners anyway) to travel around outside of cities without an escort. If they have to drive along at my pace they will be even more bored than usual. I just hope they don't force me onto a bus. Policemen and visas aside I'm really hopng that tomorrow afternoon I'll be lining up underneath the Spinx and heading south... 45 days and nearly 4,000 km after leaving home I've reached Athens. My final stop before I fly to Cairo - I was up for swimming but its a bit much with the bike! I've managed to get myself in half decent shape for what lies ahead, 12,000 km across Africa. Whilst I have taken a couple of ferries (across the channel, to one of the Croatian islands and the Woolwich Ferry - cock up got lost in London and missed Tower Bridge) I have cycled virtually all the way - only pushing on a handful of occassions.
The past couple of days have been spent running round Athens sorting out transport. I had hoped to catch a boat across to Egypt. Unfortunately there are no passenger ferries running this trip. I hunted around the port and did find a cargo ship that was making the journey - depite my best efforts of chatt up lines and seamanship (puddling around the inlet at Burnham Overy Staithe in a borrowed Topper when I was 10) they didn't even want me as crew. The result is that the bike and I are flying. I'm not quite sure how flying with a bike will work out but I'm sure its a damn sight quicker than the other option of cycling round through Turkey and the Middle East. When I first started plotting the trip I did consider this but its a bloody long detour and I don't really have the time or inclination to do it. My theory was that I would use the England to Greece leg to get fit and make sure everything is in order for Africa. It is the Cairo to Cape Town leg that really excites me. I've also managed to squeeze in the usual Athens tourist hotspots and sightseeing trail - pretty interesting and will keep the Mother happy. I've put some more photos up if your interested. Having travelled into the center of Athens by bike I've been reminded how little fun it is cycling in big cities. Give me the countryside any day. The traffic here is pretty manic and I seem to have real ability of getting lost in cities. The bigger the city the more lost I seem to get - God help me in Cairo. The plan from here is to kick around in Cairo for a few days sorting out my Sudanese Visa and checking out those Pyramids before heading south down the Nile. I'm not quite sure how its all going to go. From what I've read the southern part of Egypt is a restricted zone and foreigners are only allowed to travel between towns in police convoys. I suspect they will either make me jump on board a truck, assign me my own body guards (could be fun but will piss me off after a while) or leave me be to potter about on my own steam. All the best Gx The weather has kept being wet and its got pretty windy here too. The wind along the coast can at times be pretty powerful. Great for kitedurfing I'm sure but not so great for cycle touring. Once back on the road I've managed to makle some good progress. The rest of Croatia flew by.
When the Balkans was shuffled about in the 1990s Bosnia was given nine kilometers of pretty useless coastline. I don't really know very much about the country and as I cycled through in 20 minutes I'm none the wiser. It looked pretty nice and I didn't have any trouble other than some friendly banter at the border. In my earlier post I said I'd go from Croatia into Albania. It took a couple of days for me to realise I had another country, albeit a pretty new one in the way. Montengro was spectacular with mountains dropping straight down into the sea. They also seem to love tunnels so fairly easy if not particularily pleasant cycling. Go through the hills rather than over them. One tunnel was 4.2 kilometers, smoggy, dark and narrow. I maanged it without a hitch though the traffic police seemed a bit surprised to see me at the toll booth the otherside. I don't think cyclists were really supposed to go through - bit late to send me back. Onto Albania. I was a bit intrepid about this. I've heard some pretty mixed reports on the country and of course I've read the Daily Mail / Express's (fountains of knowledge) views on Albanians... Its was pretty intimidating crossing the border. The last town in Montenegro, Tuzi has a real edge to it. The 15km up to the border was completely deserted and just a few burnt out houses and the occassional battered Mercedes going the other way. The crossing itself took an hour or so but it was relitevly trouble free and none of the expected 'taxes' or 'presents' I'd expected to be asked for. The first 25km of road were terrible. They had been tarred in the past but was now more potholes than anything else meaning that all the cars and me had to swerve in and out of the the whole time. The weather was and still is pretty... autumnal. Its been either raining heavily or drizzling for the past three days and gets pretty chilly at night. The combination of a heavy thunderstorm and distant gunfire (apparently a wedding celebration!) make for a pretty stressful nights sleep. The tent and the panniers have however held firm and kept most the water out. I'm told better weather is on its way. I hope so as I'm struggling to find being damp and chilly for days on end a great deal of fun. So this morning I adopted the Albanians solution to this - have a large Grappa (local whisky) with breakfast. Proberbly not the best solution in the long term but certainly helps knock the chill off the first few kilometers! The saving grace has been the Albanian people. They have been fantastic and are so hospitable. They are only too pleased to have you camping in their garden and will bring you out coffee, bread and of course a large whisky for breakfast. Everytime you stop to escape the rain in a cafe they will be competing to buy you drinks and try and make conversation with you. Conversations are usually pretty hard work and slow going as the only words they know are Manchester Uniter, Liverpool and Chelsea. Occassionaly you will bump into someone who speaks a fair bit of English - picked up in an Italian restaurant in Surrey (proir to being caught on the train and sent packing) or the big cheese in the Range Rover who says laughingly that he exports things to England. Nice chap, bought me a beer, but suspect making enough money to buy Range Rover in Albania through legitimate means is pretty tricky... Don't beleive the newspapers. These people are marvelous and I feel very safe and welcome. On the Albanian exports notes - I've heard terrible reports of attratcive young things being picked up off the street and sent to earn a living in the UK. I've managed to avoid detection so far and shall pedal hard to make sure I evade capture! All the best gfwmxx Goodnews. Thanks to Ivan and Miro the bike is back on the road complete with a new wheel, brake pads and with the gears re-set. She should run like a dream. Only got the weather to deal with now (pretty stormy last night).
Talking to the guys they think that the side of the rim wouls have been worn out from where the brakes rub against it. This is made worse as the friction from excessive braking produces a fair bit of heat. Touch wood it won't happen again. Time to hit the road again. Gx Well it was all going so well. Croatia continues to offer great cycling. I've been sticking to the coast road so whilst there are enough hills to keep it interesting and ensure I have to work pretty hard they are nowhere near the scale of what I had to contend with in the Alps so I was making pretty good progress until I coasted into Split on Friday afternoon.
I'd been noticing a slight whirring sound coming from my rear wheel for a couple of hours. Initially I thought it might be the wheel buckling after carrying a fair bit of weight bouncing along the Croatian roads. Unfortunatelly it vwas a bit more serious. I'd somehow managed to crack my rear wheel and it was getting worse. So 2,600km in and my first breakdown. After five hours hawking my bike around town looking for a spare wheel I've found Split's bike mechanic and he's now off looking for a new wheel. Still its a pretty interesting city and a good chance to put my feet up and sleep in a bed for the first time in a month. It could be worse beer costs half the price of coke. It's also given me a chance to catch up with some other travellers. I've been surprised how easily I've found travelling by myself for the past week. Whilst I bump into the occassional person on the road by and large I don't really speak to many people apart from in shops and cafes from one day to the next and haven't really felt lonely at all. One chap I did bump into put me firmly in my place. As a pulled out of a petrol station (filling up for the stove not the bike) I was feeling pretty impressed with myself having just hit 2,500km. Anyway along cycles this German chap who must of been in his 60's toeing a trailer with his dog in it. We got chatting and he's been peddleing around the world for 14 years. I'd done four weeks. I have managed to upload a few more of my photos for you guys - not sure when I will get the next oppourtnity as it takes forever to do and unfrtunately in internet cafes time really is money. Best of luck to all you guys doing your APCs. All the best and thanks for all the comments. GFWM xxx I've hit the Adriatic. Not a bad effort me thinks.
Pizzas aside (personal best three in one day) Northern Italy didn't prove to be too exiciting. I was stuck with either hitting the hills - not tempting or dealing with the congestion as I moved from one town to the next along the flat. Having just polished off the Alps I took the lazy option and dealt with the traffic. Quick progress though and even took the bike for its second McDriveThrough. Managed to knock off a fair chunk of Italy and the whole of Slovenia in one day. Sounds impressive? Well I only really intened to whizz across the corner of Slovenia into Croatia. Trouble was I didn't have a map and didn't fancy my chances on the motorways. Rather than splashing out and getting a new map i thought it would be best to just crack on and head south. With the benefit of hindsight this was an error. The winding roads around the hills meant that it pretty damn hard to tell which direction I was heading in. Much to my surprise I even ended up gpong back into Italy again. I did try following the coast only to venture off down a peninsular. All very scenic but somewhat of a relief when I eventually stumbled across the border to Croatia. Scenic routes aside Slovenia and Croatia have so far proved to be great. The roads are pretty empty, the scenery is stunning, bush camping is easy and on the whole the people seem to be tame. Had a pretty amusing morning. Popped ito a restuarant for a ham ommlette for breakfast (sold to me a bacon and eggs - did I feel short changed or what...) and started chatting away to the waiter: George: So then - how far is it to the next town? Waiter Thinking: This smelly, bearded Englishman is stinking out my restaurant and is bad for business. How can I get rid of him ASAP...? Waiter: It is not far - one hour maximum by bicycle. Just folow this road straight all the way. Five hours later, after 45km and a cheeky mountain pass I roll into town. That waiter is either very fast on a bicycle or wanted to get me out of his restaurant. Fair play I have spent the past five days sleeping in the woods. Plan is now to head south down the Croatia coast. Pop into Bosnia (for some reason Croatia is split in two) before heading back into Croatia and onto Albania. All sounds pretty simple. My map is fairly useless but so long as the sea dosn't appear on my right hand side it should be alright. I've finally managed to upload some of my photos - scroll across the tbs at the top of the page. All the best Gx Ok - Well the Alps were found. In fact once you bumped into them they are pretty damn hard to ignore.
For three days we watched as Germans on motorbikes buzzed by, Italians in Ferraris shot past, the Swiss in their Porshes left us for dead and even the bloody French in their Motorhomes overtook the two very slow and sweaty, overloaded Englishmen on bicycles trying to cross the Alps. The fools… I suspect we made one of the slowest crossings of the Alps for quite some time. Whilst the Alps were absolutely stunning climbing for three days passing through Grimsel, Furka and St Gothard passes (Google them) whilst carrying full panniers was very hard work. To make matters worst as we approached the top of Furka (2436m \ 7990ft – nearly twice the height of Ben Nevis) even with our remarkably steady ascent (wanted to be on the safe side…) either a dickie croque monsieur or exercising at altitude was starting to take its effect and I began to feel pretty light headed. So close to the summit after two days hard graft turning round and descending just was not that tempting. We were hampered in part by the weather. Heavy fog rolled in on our first day so we had to pitch the tent and camp at half four - the party animals that we are meant bed by 6.30 and not hitting the road until gone 10 the next morning. It was also pretty chilly having risen above the tree line to the height of the few remaining glaciers. So everytime we stopped for a break our bodies would start to seize up. The wind at times was pretty nasty, Whilst I joke about our slow progress – less than 50km a day crossing the Alps was a remarkable achievement rewarded by some fantastic views, cheers when we reached the summits by the drivers who had overtaken us and a wonderful descent into Northern Italy. We’ve now hit Brescia and heading east for Croatia. So ggodbye to the wonderful Swiss cycle routes and hello to Italian driving. Rob flies home in a couple of days so back to hitting the road on my lonesome. A shall try and upload some of the photos once I find an internet café with the right attachments. All the best and thanks for all the messages of support. gfwm Ok well I managed to arrive safe and sound in Bern having only really crossed one tricky (very tricky) mountain pass. There must be more to come - I thought Switzerland once supposed to be much harder than this. Unfortunately the map lacks countour lines so I'm pretty much cycling blind - I suspect though that I will bump into the Alpes at somepoint between here and Milan and the sweat will flow but in the meanwhile I'm just tootling round, over and through some big hills.
The one mountain pass I have taken made even the locals laugh and warn me off - having pushed and dragged myself and the bike for the best part of 3km I began to understand the importance of local knowledge... The remainder of France was tremandous. I drifted through the fertile arable north, huge flat fields (loads of flash kit especially big six and seven series John Deers for you tractor boys - explained by a new green power plant) to the gentle hills and beef region through the Swiss Dairy cows complete with bells. I finally tracked down Rob who as far as I can work out was cycling around in circles looking for me - something about not finding the road.... Good to have some company. Have had to make do chatting to the locals in my finest French (I can't beleive someone issued me with a GCSE in it - it is bad). At least the German-Swisse tend to speak English otherwise it would be down to my own dialect of sign language. Plan is to head south, bump into Les Alpes, cross those and head east. Simples. 1250km down a fair few more to go... |
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June 2011
George MattsHaving long dreamt of travelling the length of Africa Overland at the age of 25 George bought a bicycle, handed in his notice and set off from Northamptonshire to Cape Town. Categories |