Valley of the kings

 18 Jan

We were a much happier lot today. Weather was good and we all were in camp by 3 pm.

Our camp sites so far were just at the side of the road (literally). The trucks just pull off at a certain point and we pitch our tents all around it. Yesterday it was between 2 highway lanes. Today is next to a truck weighbridge with the muezzin calling every hour. Will let you know tomorrow if/when he is off duty.

By the way the reason I don't update you on the scenery here is simple - there is none.

But we are promised a Red Sea resort for tomorrow.

19 Jan

Picture book day! Morning on the bicycle and the afternoon at the beach bar.

20 Jan

Another gruelling day on the treadmill.

But we did have a change in landscape today.

For those of you who follow the route - here is what we have done so far. From Cairo we went towards the Red Sea past Sukhna, then all the way along the coast to Safaga (that's where we partied last night). Today we turned away from the coast crossing the mountain range of the eastern desert. It was very scenic. Unfortunately we did not have much time to enjoy as we had to fight those winds trying to blow us of our bikes. Heading to Luxor tomorrow where we will get a day off!

22 Jan

Great day in Luxor. Sight seeing at The Valley of the Kings and feasting on typical Egyptian food.

Our rest day is also the only opportunity to do laundry. Some did their own but most of us opted to pay the camp site staff to do it for us - expecting it to be returned nicely piece by piece. Not so, the service ended when the stuff was hung up to dry. You should have seen 50 confused cyclists wandering around trying to identify their specific pairs of black lycra shorts - not to mention socks and underwear :-).