The Pyramids of Meroe…

Three months have passed since I rode out of Midrand, Gauteng on the 1^st of March… I have traveled over 18 000 km, used almost 1000 litres of fuel, and visited 18 countries so far… My trip has stalled somewhat here in Sudan, while I wait for the Ferry which leaves for Aswan in Egypt next Wednesday… In the mean time I have been royally entertained by George and Paula, and despite the fact that they work a six day week here in Sudan, we have managed to get out and about much more than I expected we would…

This local lad just wanted a photo with the bike and I...

I decided to take a day trip to the north east of Khartoum, to visit the site of the ancient capital of Kush, Meroe. It was here that the Kushites settled around 750 BC and began burying their dead in much the same way that the Egyptians did, in Pyramids. Sudan has far more pyramids than Egypt does, over 4500 at last count, and while they might not be as impressive as any of those at Giza, near Cairo, they are just as interesting, and far more accessible to the general public…

I left Khartoum as early as I could, and made my way through light traffic, over the concrete bridge spanning the Blue Nile and headed out through the industrial sites on its northern banks… After a brief disagreement with the Garmin Girl, I was on the highway leading north east to Atbara and Port Sudan on the Red Sea… I stopped to refuel at Jebel Qerri… It was 8.00 am, and the sun was preparing to scorch the desert again… It was already 38° Celsius, and in the next two hours it climbed even higher and settled at 44° Celsius… I had packed a few bottles of frozen water, and by the time I passed through Shendi, 180 kms north of the capital, they had already melted…

With the Big Fella purring under me like a contented cat, and with only the occasional truck and trailer to worry about, we zoomed north, eating up the final 65 kms to Meroe in just under half an hour… We passed a few small herds of goats and sheep, as well as thousands of used tyre casing and strips of retreads that had come adrift from the trucks that plies this route to Port Sudan, through which most of Sudan imports arrive… It is obvious that the heat of this area, and the road temperature (which I was later told climbed to over 60° Celsius!!) took their toll on tyres… I began worrying that mine would explode in the heat…!!

I was traveling light, with only my top-box containing my various tool kits and the water, and my tank bag with my cameras and tripod… The bulk of the pyramids are on the eastern side of the road, and it is a short 3 km ride down a reasonably hard packed gravel road to where a sun blasted, mud walled building stands waiting to welcome tourists… The Pyramids of Meroe rear up on a ridge behind the entrance gate, and are clearly visible, even from the road, which lay glistening in the distance like a steel ribbon…

The Pyramids of Meroe are scattered over a large area...

Stuck...and that's where he stayed while I visited the pyramids...

I tried riding the Big Fella up into the shade of a lean-to closer to the little office, but the sand was too thick here, and as I had not brought my compressor with me, I was loathe to let the tyres down to suit the conditions… The result was rather predictable… The front wheel dug in and the bike came to a very sudden stop… I decided to leave the Big Fella right where it was, baking in the sun, as I could not move it an inch on my own… Anyway, that’ll teach him…!! (I had not forgotten about the incident with the cat in Ethiopia…)

Out with the new (temporarily, of course!) and in with the old...

While I stood looking up at the pyramids on the sand covered ridge above, a couple of camels with their jockeys came galloping across the plains from a little settlement in the distance. These guys make money from the tourists who visit this site, by offering rides to the foot of the ridge and back to the little ticket office.

I was quoted SDP 20.00 to visit the site and after much negotiation was able to convince the lady in charge that I could only afford half that…

“Ok, but you must be quick!” she said in exasperation…

I paid her and dashed out to where the camels were waiting…. More negotiations followed and minutes later I was bobbing across the desert on a snow white camel… The ride was over in just a few minutes and just as I dismounted from the loudly braying camel, a small fleet of Land Cruisers arrived at the ticket office, disgorging a film crew and other assorted hangers-on… The camels galloped back to collect these guys and I had the pyramids to myself…

My transport to and from the pyramids...

They are spread over a large area, in three distinct groups. The shifting sands of the desert have begun to cover the bases of many of them. I was in full biking gear, except for my jacket and helmet, and the walk up and over the dunes was exhausting…

I snapped away at as many of the tombs as I could, stopping in the scant shade of some of the larger ones to take a breather… Most of the pyramids have had their tops blasted off by a dynamite happy Italian, who believed that they contained gold and other treasures. There are no guides available at this site to assist tourists with detailed information about their origins, so visitors are left to wander around on their own…

The two pyramids in the foreground have been rebuilt to show what they once would have looked like...

The sands of the Sahara are slowly enveloping the site, and before long, what remains will be covered...

The heat was like a hammer blow on my shoulders, and after about an hour I had used up the water that I had brought with me and headed back to where my camel was waiting… A short while later, I was back at the bike, and wondering how I was going to get it turned around and heading back across the desert to the tar road… Luckily, a young lad realized my plight and came over to help dig around the back wheel, so we could pull it backwards for a few yards…

The rubble from damaged tombs litter the area...

The entrance to the tomb is through a portal, always facing the rising sun, from whence life was believe to have flowed...

Sweating bullets in the midday sun...

I kitted up and headed away from the site, eager to find a place to stop and get out of the sun… My water was all but finished, and I was panting inside my helmet… It is difficult to describe what riding in this intense heat is like… It is like being suffocated with a boiling hot towel… Sweat runs down through your eyebrows and into your eyes, you feel it running down your back and into your pants, your limbs feel heavier than you are used to…

And the heat never lets up…it’s unrelenting… A mistake out here will more than likely kill you, if help does not arrive quickly enough…

This one had me remembering better days...

I see nothing in front of me... The desert stretches out before me...

This motel had just opened on the road to Atbara... It charges about SDP 100.00 for a room, and has a restaurant and supermarket on the property. It also has fuel...

It was almost noon when I saw a service station in the distance… I had ridden the last 140 km at high speed, and could feel the energy draining from me, as I pulled into the brand new filling station and small motel that had just opened, but whose parking area was still being paved. I bought a few packets of biscuits and three bottles of water from the tiny “supermarket” attached to the motel and sat down in the shade to spend the next hour cooling off… The waiters from the restaurant twice came over to urge me to come and sit in the air conditioned room, but I declined their kind offer by explaining that I would rather get used to the heat, as I still had over 100 kms to ride to Khartoum…

I arrived back in the capital at 2.00pm, probably the hottest time of the day… I barely greeted Nick, as I tore my helmet and jacket off and headed for a warm shower… I still haven’t worked out why the taps here are labeled hot and cold… The cold tap delivers water warm enough to pass for a hot bath in other countries!

Crossing the old bridge back into Khartoum...

The long hot ride out to the Pyramids of Meroe, a round trip of almost 460 kms, had sapped my energy and made me realize that when riding in this part of the world you had to take far more than just the traffic and domestic animals into consideration…

Without the correct preparation and planning, the heat could be your biggest enemy…

©GBWT 2010