Khartoum caravan halted for flat

Market

No wonder the beef is tough

Pee break

Shoe shine guy

Hey from Khartoum,

Rest day, so I thought I’d send a few photos and a brief blog.

Did You Know:

• The Canadian embassy in Khartoum is hosting all of us for dinner tonight. Aren’t those friendly Canucks great?
• There seems to be a chocolate syndicate forming in the group. Myself, Douwe, Katja, Rob, Brenda and Emma always have cravings for any type of chocolate after dinner. Once in a while we’ll let others in on our stashes, but usually we don’t have enough to go around, so as Rob says, “you look after me, I’ll look after you.”
• The Sudanese buses are a real hazard on the roads, as they flash by inches away from your bike. They must be traveling at speeds of at least 150 km/hr…..Scarry.
• Did you know that the Sudan has more pyramids than Egypt?
• So far we’ve completed about 18% of the trip. We are now about 2,135 Km, (1,324 miles), from our starting point in Cairo.
• The toughest stretch of the tour is coming up with eight straight days of riding. Six of those days is off-road, the last two climbing in Ethiopia.
• The Muslim Brotherhood is in power in Sudan and they banned the circumcision of young girls a few years ago. Despite being illegal, most girls still have it done. Otherwise their families would be ostracized from their community. It’s a horrible tradition from the time of the Pharos.
• In Arabic, Sudan means “black people.”
• The origin of the word Khartoum is uncertain., but many think that it means “elephant trunk,” in Arabic and refers to the shape of the piece of land that extends between the Blue and White Niles.
• Sudan is under USA sanctions and has been on the “terrorist country” list for 25 years. Ridiculous.

Ciao

Easy Rider