Day 11 Monday, January 22 Rest Day in Aswan

by Henry

Not surprising that all slept well, were much refreshed, and in better spirits this morning.

A premium buffet breakfast greeted us this morning, included with the hotel stay. Hibiscus juice to the right, not pinot noir. The hotel restaurant has a grand view overlooking the Nile.


Today, we cleaned our bikes (especially the drivetrain, which had a gritty mixture of sand and oil), and re-packed them into our original boxes, which had been flattened in Cairo and followed us here in one of our Egyptian trucks. (The authorities mandated that we rent Egyptian trucks for this segment. When we get to Rwanda, we will pick up custom-built TDA tour trucks, and have them for the rest of the expedition.) The bikes and our permanent bags will be loaded up onto a truck at 5 PM today. The truck will depart early tomorrow morning for Cairo. We all have a flight at 9 pm on Wednesday, January 24 to fly from Aswan back to Cairo. We will stay at an airport hotel overnight there and then fly to Rwanda about 24 hours later. Complicated and messy logistics, but there is no way to get directly from Aswan into Kigali because of the Sudan war and unrest in Ethiopia. 


2 Cairenes rode with us in Egypt. Ashraf and his son Omar. Ashraf is an EgyptAir long-haul lead purser and has traveled the world extensively. He has been and still is a bike racer. His 17-year-old son is the #2 Egyptian bike racer in his age group, and Ashraf is very proud of that. Ashraf has ridden this Egyptian segment with TDA 15 times. This is Omar's first time, and he had long been anticipating this ride. Unfortunately, Omar blew out his rear wheel rim two days ago, and could not ride into Aswan on the last day.


On a stroll in a neighborhood, we meandered through a seemingly endless souk. Warmest day so far in Egypt at 29° C.


Boats of all different shapes and sizes constantly ply the Nile.


A view of the grounds at the Old Cataract Hotel, where Agatha Christie took up residence for a year in 1937 to write her novel "Death on the Nile". We did not get any further than this as the hotel charges $23 admission for a closer look. Winston Churchill famously stayed here also. 


Nubian ethnicity and culture is a distinct entity in southern Egypt. We visited the Nubian museum.


Rameses II statue in the museum.


Sunset on the Nile. After loading our bike boxes and permanent bag onto trucks, we had dinner at the hotel restaurant. My seafood pasta dish was $5.

Some members of the group are taking a day trip to Abu Simbel tomorrow; at least a six hour round trip drive. We are alternatively planning to see more sites around Aswan.