a high-ranking army official on one
occasion. All was handled profes-
sionally, and I never felt threatened
in any way.
It was a thrill riding the bike under
the Suez Canal into Cairo. I had
booked a hotel right at the Giza pyra-
mids and the Sphinx, not too far from
the Egyptian Museum. Cairo also
gave me the first glimpse of the Nile.
Tourism in Egypt is a far cry from
the highs of former years, and every-
one involved is desperate for busi-
ness, resulting in constant attention
and harassment from all sides. It was
a relief to get back on the bike again.
Leaving Cairo, a couple of days lat-
er, heading south along the Nile Riv-
er, I was stopped at a roadblock and
after questioning, was only allowed to
continue under police escort! When
questioning this, I was told that there
were no problems, and that they only
wanted me to enjoy Egypt and feel
safe. For the next two days, all the
way to Luxor, I rode behind a police
vehicle with four officers carrying
automatic rifles sitting in the back of
the van. They would drive for about
50 kilometres and then a new crew,
in another van, would continue the
journey with me following.
Although I told them where I want-
ed to go, it did limit my route selec-
TRAVERSE 41
tion somewhat. Visiting the Karnak
Temple Complex and Luxor Temple
on the banks of the Nile was impres-
sive to say the least. Leaving Luxor
early morning, I was happy to find
that the police escort had left me, and
as it turned out, for good.
Aswan, Southern Egypt, was where
I received the all-important visa for
Sudan. It took three days.
A couple of years back, you would
have had to take the long ferry ride
from Aswan to Wadi Halfa, today a
300km ride takes you through the
desert, it brought me to the village of
Abu Simbel, and with it the famous
temples.