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Saturday 05 April 2003	The Red Sea, Police Convoys and the Start of Summer
On Wed morning I left Cairo and successfully managed to dodge the traffic and make it onto the Hurghada road, via Port Suez. The landscape was incredible. A barren wasteland adjacent to the road, with incredibly desolate looking mountains in the distance. The furthest ones I imagined as looking like JR Tolkien's Misty Mountains. The side wind was incredibly strong amd almost blew me off the road twice. It was also the first day that I experienced real heat! I spent a day in Hurghada, so I could get a bit of diving in. Unfortunately no boats were going to the Thistlegorm so I had to settle for reef dives. Some comforting news to the PE diving comunity: Our diving standards are streets ahead of these people! Yesterday, I had the pleasure of having to utilise the Egyptian Government's police convoys. What a pain in the arse! It really spoilt the crossing from the Red Sea to the Nile, as they drive at 110/120km /hour without stopping. It was very hairy too, as I had to sandwich myself in between the buses to slipstream them. By 8am, the heat was already oppressive and by midday, it was all pervading. Getting myself and 'roni' out of the heat was all I could think of....and Sudan is still to come! I am now in Aswan, attempting to sort out my visa and Carnet problems. As usual, the Egyptian beuraucracy is a pleasure to work with.....NOT!!, but with the help of Mahmoud Idries, a contact from the HUBB, I think I'm getting somewhere. If all is successful, I should catch the ferry on Monday and next time you hear from me is when I get to Khartoum. About 1000km away as the crow flies, although I hope to follow the nile into Khartoum, so it will be a bit longer. I am really looking forward to Sudan, it represents a big challenge for me and holds a lot of history, which I have often wished to see. When I was planning this trip, the Sudan was always the bit of the map I would look at first.