After a surprisingly pleasant sleep I was up and feeling fresh at literally the crack of dawn. I was surprised at the quality of sleep because I was camped surrounded by hundreds of burrows and the last time I did that I was kept up all night by the creatures legging it up and down the network of passages directly beneath my head.
I must've been pretty tired because even though I heard a few rumblings I can't remember passing out. I woke up to a beautiful sunrise but also a very strong wind. To make things worse, it was a headwind and it didn't seem like it was going to ease up.
After a few hours I was gone. My legs were gone, my bum was killing me and the wind hadn't changed at all. Despite my early start it looked like I would be cycling all day, I was really struggling. This got me annoyed as I only had a simple plan for today and the wind was proving a real party pooper and my body was aching all over because of it.
I have a lot of time to think when cycle touring obviously and I tend to think about anything and everything. Sometimes I go into a cycling trance which means I don't think about anything and the time seems to fly (this is good). I couldn't get into that trance and found myself clock watching (this is bad, very bad) Due to this I began to get philosophical and I likened today to a bad day at work, like everybody gets in their 9 to 5 lifestyle.
You're in a bad mood, some things have gone against you that you didn't plan on and it seems the day will never end. You have two choices in my eyes, stop and give up or carry on and try and change things.
If you stop, when you start again the sun could be hotter, the wind could be stronger, your legs could ache more and the road may seem to have more comparisons with the Grand Canyon then an actual road.
If you carry on and try and work it out then things could end up going your way. I stopped, but I stopped for help in the form of 12 biscuits, a cake bar, a bottle of fanta and 2 litres of water. Stopping for help is ok but giving up is not.
You may ask the wrong person for advice or help which could put you in an even worse mood. Today this came in the shape of a man that said I still had 50km to go when I was expecting him to say 20. This doesn't mean you should give up though.
During a bad working day its easy to stay blinkered, all this does is maintain your bad day but you can find help and strength from anything. I found strength today from smiles and thumbs up and from thinking about a positive role model back home. Despite being 4820 miles away (ish) he helped reignite my light and within seconds I let my light shine through the wind and the bumpy road.
Without sounding like a "Coach Carter" quote, by being positive and letting your light shine, you unconsciously allow others to do the same and by thinking about my friend I was able to change my mood and was giving back all the smiles and thumbs up that I was receiving. By doing this I felt stronger and at the same time the wind eased and road quality improved. My body also gained strength and i stopped aching, either that or my mind just didn't think about it because it was too busy philosophising!
I asked another man how far and he gave me much better news, "17km" and with that I flew. I arrived in the hustle and bustle of the central market in Al Qadarif just before 1pm, when during my bad mood I was expecting at least a slog till 3pm.
I was buzzing and had my African market helmet well and truly on. 10% off the room (by other standards it was in poor condition but it was centrally located and I had an "en suite" and I really couldn't be bothered to find another place!)
Next on the list was find US Dollars. I could not believe that not one bank had any other currency other than Sudanese. The one and only exchange place didn't have any other currency either! They all had the board up telling me the rates but nobody had anything other than Sudanese pounds. "Well what are you exchanging then?" I asked, I was pretty annoyed to be honest, I know this is Africa but come on!!!!! The building was called Yamama Exchange and i know I shouldn't mention "yo mama" jokes but his Mama was utterly and completely useless. I was annoyed but thriving on the thought of getting stuck into the market where I knew there would be some dollars banging around.
It's not ideal to do it but I had to mix it up with the locals and I kept very streetwise and did not get myself into anything too dodgy. I managed to get some dollars and I knew I would have to pay over the odds but in the end it was only slightly and come tomorrow, Sudanese pounds are dead to me so I'd rather have some money then dead money.
I thought whilst I was in the zone I would try and find some ear phones. I know also that whatever I buy has a lifespan of no more than a week but I thought if I get them cheap then at least I can have them to drown out the kids in Ethiopia. I found a pair in a tiny little shop with 4 workers. "Beats by Dre" they were, pretty sure I had more to do with the manufacture of these bad boys then Dre did but I got them for £1.50 English. This was a steal whether they broke in a day or not as in Khartoum I almost parted ways with £8 English for some equally as cheap looking! I checked them in the shop and they were a lot louder than my current ones so I intended to start a sweepstake on how long they lasted before something went wrong. That idea went out the window as they broke the second i brought them home and put them in my iPod!
How do they make such crap things? Why go to some amount of effort to sell cheap knock offs that break instantly? Why don't they just go to a little more effort, make some that last longer then it takes to get them out the packets and sell them for, I don't know, just a pound more! Anyway technically they still work, if you push the jack a little into the iPod the sound is perfect, halfway in, you hear nothing but all the way in, you hear all the music with no vocals. I will take this as a win for me as I have mainly trance music with no vocals so it makes no difference!!!
I was happy, £1.50 for ear phones that are minimum £30 in England I think, so Boomshakalaka to that! We can just see how long they last till i hear nothing at all! I continued my dealing as I went from stall to stall having a real good laugh with the locals. 2 chicken kebabs for £1.50, mega! The meat stalls looked amazing and I'm hoping Qadarif is just a small taster of whats to come in Ethiopia!
Next, I had to play a few shops against each other and do some extra walking that most people wouldn't do because it was over the sake of 20p but i was enjoying myself. What swayed it was the shop owner offering me some Ethiopian coffee which i agreed to and I'm not at all a coffee drinker but this stuff was unreal. I don't think they can serve it in a smaller cup, it looked like he had raided Polly Pocket's kitchen and then filled half the cup up with sugar but the rich black coffee was an adrenaline rush in a thimble and with that he had my money for snacks and a bottle of coke!
I went back to my room literally glowing. When I'm in the mood I love Africa and its markets but I could sense the type of people changing and there were a few more beggars creeping in. The majority still seemed legit Sudanese but I could sense Ethiopia not far away as the Main Street was unlike what I'm used to in Sudan. It was rubble basically and there was no way cars could go down it. This being said, I still like Qadarif, but I won't be spending too much time walking around after dark.
I had a shower which was surprisingly warm and put my engineering skills to the test on my ear plugs. With a few squares of ripped cardboard I've managed to get the earplugs sticking far enough out so I can hear everything but still firmly in place so it doesn't crackle. Great success.
I went for a quick walk to grab dinner. Not the healthiest meal I've had in my life. I had falafel and two pittas filled with battered fish. Don't ask me what fish but it was cheap and another good tip when buying food is check how much the guy in front pays and order exactly the same. That way you get local prices and a bit of a surprise as to what you've ordered!
If you don't like it then at least you weren't overcharged for it and if you do like it then you're basically living like a true local!
I retired back to the room with a bit of a headache. I've had a bit of an exciting day in the end after what was at first a very tiring slog. All good overall though but hopefully tomorrow will be a bit more gentle with me.
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