The sun was in-tents (excuse the pun) I had to get up as I couldn't breath and it was only 7am! Unsure of what distance I would need to cycle before finding a suitable watering hole I took a sip of water for breakfast and didn't have anything else.
A major bonus was the wind. It did force me to do another impromptu morning run, this time after my water bottle but it was heading in the right direction and it was strong!
I've always wondered how sprinters run faster when they relax their muscles. The commentators always mention how relaxed they looked etc, so I was going to try that on the bike. I got up to a good speed and then concentrated on maintaining the momentum by dodging potholes and glass and changing down gear early before the hills. It was working, I was flying! The first 2 hours I averaged 19mph and I felt amazing.
I was coming to a rest stop which was a welcome surprise, I briefly thought about pushing on through and breaking yesterday's record but then the words of Ray Mears echoed in my ears, always top up your water at every available opportunity. Ok Ray! I stopped for a couple of litres that I bought in the shop and had two cheese sandwiches from the cafe.
The shop was cheap, no rip off like yesterday. My two sandwiches consisted of 4 slices of cucumber, 2 slices of tomato and 1 slice of pita bread with a little cream cheese that had been cut in half. I went to pay, "you have two sandwiches?" He asked. "No I had one pita cut into two." "Yes, here that's two sandwiches." Well if that's the case are you going to charge me for 4 whole cucumbers and 2 whole tomatoes then? Blimey, talk about scraping the barrel.
It got worse, I went to fill up my two empty water bottles and a fat man sat outside the toilet said "£4." I said "no, it's tap, the other man said was ok to drink." He said "2 and 2," pointing to each bottle. "No it's tap, I've just paid for two bottles from your shop!" "Ok, 1 and 1" "NO" I said, "I'm not paying for muddy tap water!"
It appears I peaked way too soon when it comes to Egyptian hospitality. Charging for muddy tap water, come on, please! A major own-goal scored by the fat Egyptian man positioned annoyingly in my path to free water. The cost is nothing at the end of the day but its the principle, poor form if you ask me. Compared to yesterday i had enough water, I knew i only had 30 miles to do so I just rode off. I gave the fat man a disappointed look as I chucked one of my empty bottles in the bin next to him. I hope he thinks again next time he tries to take money from a lonely cyclist that could've been severely dehydrated but as it happened was ok.
Back on the bike and I was flying again. No fear of getting bloated after that breakfast, I've seen more food in front of me after a sneeze. I soon got to a resort called El Gouna. I wanted to have a little sunbathe there and then move on again at around 3pm to Hurghada which was only 25km down the road. A great plan, just had to find some lunch. The resort, like a lot of the resorts was under construction. It was beautiful in areas but unfortunately for me, laid out like a bloomin labyrinth and poorly signposted. I took a lot of wrong turns, I was not a member of club med and so was not really meant to be there. The really annoying thing was, if I had food on me, I found a great spot on the coast that I could've just chilled out but my belly had to be seen to first. I ended up just cycling around the resort and back out into a tiny market. I went back to the old faithful combination of bread and dairy-lea (couldn't find chocolate spread) and found some shelter at a security guards hut.
I'm not sure what he was securing, the road was blocked at both ends! He let me have a sleep under his porch which is beginning to be the desert routine. I can't wait for Sudan, Jorge told me at the rest stops they have beds for the lunchtime snooze, I'm currently putting up with cement floors and anti-fly t-shirt cocoons.
At half 2 I felt ready to move on. Still undecided how I would work Hurghada. I wasn't sure whether it was worth a look around for an hour or so and I was still wanting my intended dip in the sea. I took the coastal route which takes you past 2 shut down resorts for every 1 with tourists in. I decided that I would wander around Hurghada tomorrow morning so that meant finding a camp ASAP. Weeeell I've camped in an unbuilt house and a derelict house, why not a derelict holiday resort. I walked Nigel in between two closed down shells of rubble. I'm sure once upon a time the pools were full of happy kids, the bar was full with cocktails and the music was playing for all the beach to hear. Unfortunately, it seems I missed the party. I ended up with my private beach (a little dirty) some broken straw umbrellas and a couple of stray dogs. Absolutely no reason why anybody would be around there so I pitched up and went for a walk out into the sea which was really shallow and full kite boarders. As I walked in I saw some crabs and my first ever stingray (in the wild) so soon turned around back to the safety of dry land. I can handle jellyfish stings, Bali got me a few times. But I wasn't going to have my ride aborted because I was stung whilst paddling in the beach of a closed down hotel!
I went to the shop of the resort a couple of doors down for some pudding (they only had the same biscuits from Turkey didn't they!) and returned back to cook up my dinner. My every move was watched closely by the dogs but I didn't mind them, I had gate crashed their home after all.
Whilst my nose was running away with the chilli tuna pasta I noticed a man emerge from the hotel. I was quite shocked but calm, I said hello or "ahlan" He replied with, "no, finished" If he was talking about the hotel then I could clearly see that, it didn't have any windows! I understood what he meant but soon talked him round with a combination of the 6 Arabic words I know and a pleading look.
I think, if you're tent is already up and the sun setting in, it's very hard to justify why someone shouldn't stay in your closed down holiday resort when all the damage has been done and there are only two dogs to steal!
So with that he walked off. I think he was actually a security guard, so ironically, this could be the safest night sleep I've had in the desert!
Desert riding is amazing due to its vastness but I enjoyed bombing through it today because after you've taken it in for the first few minutes, you have rest of the day to take in on your left - sand, and on your right - more sand. I had a bit more interaction with the locals today, unfortunately I wasn't too impressed with it but you can't win them all I guess.
Tomorrow I have a couple of towns to go through and then a desert camp on my way to the much anticipated Luxor. Can't wait!
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