We Reach the Med…!!

From my balcony... Sunrise over New Cairo...

The Steven's humble abode in the Katemaya Golf Estate... My room and balcony was on the top floor on the far right of the picture...

A pool, bar and a gas braai... What more could a South African want...?

After a very enjoyable few days in Cairo, it was time to head north again, for Alexandria and the Mediterranean Sea… I had visited all the places in Cairo that I had planned to, and as the days ticked by, I thought it best to get to the Ferry Terminal in Alexandria to find out exactly what was required to get myself and the Big Fella aboard, in the event of my Libyan visa not being granted in time…

The ferry service to Venice had only been running for a few weeks, and left Alexandria every Monday at 8.00 pm, arriving in Venice 60 hours later… Knowing Egypt and Egyptians as I now do, there were bound to be glitches of one sort or another, so getting to Alexandria early was definitely a requirement in my book…

Anette, Kiera and Andrea gather to see me off...

Proof of Life... My tickets to the Egyptian Museum and the Pyramids at Giza...

In the mean time, I emailed Tripoli on a daily basis, trying to get some answers regarding my visa application, and although I received an occasional reply, I was not entirely sure that my visa would be issued within the next week or so… This put a spoke in the wheel of my planning…

I would have to wait until I got to Alexandria to make any further decisions…

My box of candles had melted into a solid mess.. Wax had coated much of the contents of my pannier... Yeah, 47 degrees will do that...!!

Gareth left for the airport to fly to the USA at the un-godly hour of 3.00am, and a few hours later, I was ready to get going myself. Traffic on the ring road was not as hectic as it had been on my way into Cairo, and I made good time, until I was pulled over at a road block and advised that I had exceeded the 80 km/h speed limit by a healthy margin!!  The G.G. (Gyppo Gestapo) were not in the least bit interested in my pleas for leniency, and after taking my Egyptian Drivers License and putting it in his top pocket, I realized that it was “pay, or stay”… So I paid that EP 150.00 fine, all the while heaping as many Afrikaans insults upon him and his relatives, as I could…

Still can't get used to this ! A shopping bag on the handlebars, a watermelon between his legs, no helmet or riding gear, and he's on a four lane highway...

There are two main routes to Alexandria from Cairo. One travels along the Nile and runs through many villages, and the other is the Western Desert Route… Having had more than enough of the former on the ride from El Minya, I chose the latter… About 50 km from where I had set off, the road opened onto a massive 8-laned highway, and remained that way right up to the outskirts of Alexandria… The 92 Octane that I had filled the Big Fella with made a huge difference to the bike… Gone was the “Regular 80 Octane” he had been forced to make do with since somewhere in Sudan… The bike sounded and felt better, the power was back where it ought to be, and we thundered through the desert, passing very little of any interest, arriving in the hustling, bustling streets of this port city, three hours after setting off from New Cairo…

The last few kilometres runs through the marchlands on the far western side of the Nile Delta, and the smell of rotting vegetation in this area is not the most pleasant you will ever encounter… Luckily, as we got closer to the coast, a light sea breeze was blowing down the highway, and this cleared my sinuses of that muddy smell that had permeated them. The salty air brought back memories of my ride down the coast of my home country, and I realized with a jolt that it had been almost 3 months and 17 000 kms since I last saw the ocean… This is a big continent!!

The Egyptians will probably sweep this lane of the highway sometime in 2015...

After parking on the main drag running next to the sea, I called Khalid, who was meant to have been on the road to Cairo, and happily discovered that he, Marie and Sammy were sitting at a seaside restaurant only a few kilometres from where I was parked! I rode across to where they were, and while enjoying a huge bowl of ice cream and fruit salad, we exchanged stories of our vastly differing adventures since we parted company in Luxor the previous week. They had ridden through the desert, visiting various oases along the route and at one stage had to tear along a gravel road at 125 km/h in an obligatory armed convoy!! Their visit to the Siwa Oasis had been well worth the effort of getting there, and their photos of the salt pan and descriptions of the inhabitants of this area, made it seem like a place that every Over-Lander should add to their itinerary…

Truck loads of fresh fruit and vegetables make their way to the markets of Alexandria.

It was great seeing them again, and within a short while we were laughing and joking, making the usual fun of the Egyptians we encountered. I checked into the same hotel as they were staying at, and later that evening we had a KFC dinner… Not the most traditional Egyptian meal you will ever find, but there were absolutely no complaint from me!! It had been almost four months since I last tasted the Colonel’s 11 herbs and spices… I am happy to report that Kentucky Fried Chicken tastes exactly the same in Egypt, as it does in South Africa!! Now to do the quality test at the Pizza Hut… Sadly, it will have to wait until tomorrow…

One Extreme Meal was more than enough for today…!!

The streets were crowded with local (and the odd tourist!) on our walk back to the hotel… The Summer Holidays had commenced, and Egyptians were flocking to their “Durban” in droves… Traffic on the 12 lane Corniche was at a standstill in some places, and the cacophony of hooters being blown in frustration was deafening… Egyptians LOVE their hooters, and use them at every opportunity… The Ramsis Hotel is only yards off this main drag, and I lay listening to their strident blasts long after I had turned off the lights in my room…

Needless to say, sleep did not come easily…

How's this for a "Marine Parade"... Twelves lanes of traffic !

©GBWT 2010