Of course the news of Bruce put a dark cloud over things for the evening. We were staying that night in Marsa Alam on the Red Sea.
We were staying in tents on the beach it was very nice
My tent was a very lonely. I left the lamp on all evening in case if Simon, Bruces son, came back he would be able to find the tent.
It was decided before we went to bed that we would continue with the tour and try to finish. As the night wore on it started raining and continued most the night.
The rain swept off the mountains toward the sea making the roads virtually impassable during the storm.
Simon came back about 4:30 in the morning as I was waking up
By the time the sun came up things had more or less dried up and we pressed on.
Everyone was rather cautious after the accident the day before. The roads were still a bit damp but nothing to bad
You can see the mountains in the distance there where the water was funneled from.
We stopped at a place for lunch. Then it started to rain again and rain hard. We waited and as soon as it stopped we took off like snail powered rockets! Trying to beat the rain to our next destination. The roads we encountered were good and flooded though
I thought it was kinda fun!
We were pulling into the city of El Gouna just as the sun was setting. It was crazy! Not all the oncoming traffic had their headlights on and we had to do a u-turn. As I was coming around the turn a big truck almost side swiped me. I was able to avoid him but it was much closer than I wanted.
We finally pulled into the hotel and fueled up and called it a night.
It rained all night. The next morning we woke up and were told the roads were closed due to sections being washed out from the rains.
We were scheduled to drive 275 km. I done the basic math and figured we needed to leave by about 12:00 pm at the latest. It should take about 4 hours to drive that far, on good roads. The sun was setting around 5:00 pm so to take into consideration the bad roads I figured 12:00 was the absolute latest we should leave.
Well we kept being told to wait and wait and wait. Then about 12:30 or so we were told to load up we are heading out! I have to admit I was not to excited at the prospect of driving at night but thought well 4 hours if the roads are not to bad we will still make it just as the sun goes down.
Immediately we were stopped by police officers saying the road was closed
Things were not looking good.
We were driving through mud, washed out roads and standing water.
I saw the guy in front of me go down, thankfully we were at walking speed, and I know of one other scooter that went down.
I dont have any pics of this because I was so focused on not going down in the mud I didnt have time.
Just as the sun was going down were were still probably 100km from our destination and we got stuck in traffic
Just after that last picture we were able to make some headway. We stopped and had to get fuel. It was now dark... I have to admit I was pretty frustrated at this point. I know the organizers were in between a rock and a hard place.
If we would of stayed in the hotel we were that morning we would of had a very long day the next day trying to make it to Cairo.
Pushing on like we did though I thought was a horrible idea, especially considering the incident we just had 2 days before.
In the end we ended up driving about 1.5 hours in the dark. Was it a smart decision or the right decision is debatable. Luckily nobody was hurt and we made it to the hotel.
The next morning scooters looked like this
The morning was bright and sunny! It was a short day just into Cairo for the finish.
It was uneventful when we arrived in Cairo the police had the street completely cleared for us. If you ever been to Cairo you understand how big of a feat that in itself was!
The ending of the trip was pretty cool. We got to drive right up to the pyramids!
We finished just shy of 3000km
After our closing ceremony we all kind of went our separate ways.
First thing I wanted was my victory dinner of KUSHARI
The hotel I had reserved looked out over the Sphinx
I cleaned up and that evening Olga and I went into Cairo for one final dinner with a few of the people from the trip.
Here we are 11 different nations all around one table with only smiles and laughter!
The next day I made it back to Kiev and it was all over.
My final thoughts on the trip.
I have done longer trips and more physically demanding trips but I am not sure I have done a trip that was more psychologically demanding than this. To stay in a formation for 3000 km always thinking about the guy in front of or behind you. Trying not to choke the guy screaming in a bullhorn at every stop wanting you to hurry up. Not really understanding whats going on but being herded through a check point. For me it was hard mentally because I am used to being on my own. To be with 50 people was different for me.
It was much more difficult than I thought it would be. The scooter was about as comfortable as riding riding a saw horse.
It was astonishing how well organized the trip was. To get 50 riders and all the logistics needed to pull off a tour like this is impressive to say the least.
The people on the trip were AMAZING and I couldn't of wished to spend the time with better folks!
I do wish we had more time in the evenings to see things and maybe a rest day in the middle would of been nice to.
Would I do it again... Maybe but not on a scooter I would upgrade to a motorcycle. :) Like I said above the people are great the country is well worth the visit.
If anyone was thinking about doing it I would say go for it.
Just understand your getting into something that wont be 100% enjoyable all the time but in the end you will look back on it and be glad you accomplished it.