Last night was officially the worst night I've had so far. The coke before bedtime didn't do myself any favours but the coke did not keep the builders digging away until 3am right next to my window (maybe it did, I don't know). That wasn't the worst of it though as the noise from the JCB was added to by my ceiling fan which created constant gusts of wind that attracted every mosquito in the Eastern Sudanese area.
Despite my killing spree of 13, every time I tried to turn the light off to get some sleep I was snipered by another. They were relentless, I had 5 quite large welts on my right arm and these bites seemed to itch and throb under the skin. Not very nice at all, especially the two I got on each palm when I thought I had covered every piece of skin.
I got my net out which is like a jumper with a hooded face mask, I couldn't handle that as I began to melt inside it. I managed to drop off at around half 4 and woke up to a few extra bites on my legs and ankles. I will be needing to buy more spray me thinks as I am normally quite a tasty target for the little critters for some reason!
Waking up just after 9, its fair to say I've been in better moods and been less tired. I didn't really know how far Doka was but if I planned to stop there months ago then I was guessing it was around my average 100km. I knew I may have to get a wriggle on because of this but I was delayed some what with toilet issues. Shock! you may say but it was not my body that was the issue for once, hooray!! The flush on the hole didn't work so I was left with a mini shower head that is normally used for clean up purposes to try and get rid of it. It had as much power on the spray as a baby's dribble so I spent the first ten minutes watering my accomplishment as if it were a prize flower at the Chelsea show. I may not have been happy with my room, the price or the horrendous night's sleep but I thought it was still unfair to leave a dirty protest in the middle of the wet room!
I finally got going just after 10. As always I checked the sun and headed in my given direction of south. One major road out of town and within minutes I had left the noise, dust and "how are you's" behind me and was heading to farmland and Ethiopia!
Today was my last day in Sudan and I have to say I was not disappointed, it was absolute bliss. Everything that could've gone wrong didn't, and from the second I left the hotel to the second I am here now writing my blog, things just fell into place beautifully. I think I could've cycled with anybody today, even cycling haters, and they would've enjoyed today. The road was quiet, still a bit bumpy in some areas but not so bad to affect the day and the landscape was simply amazing. Vast wide open lands of crops and trees, if I wasn't in Sudan then I could've mistaken it for southern Africa as the long yellow grasses reminded me of the Lion King, or Gladiator. Come to think of it, most the places I've cycled through remind me of Gladiator and when the theme tune comes on in my head phones its like I'm transported to historic times, I absolutely love it!
I managed to position my head phone jack perfectly so I was getting vocals all day even over the bumpy roads (the cardboard engineering failed after 5 minutes of potholes) The music and landscape enabled me to drop into my cycling trance and despite the intense heat, I paced myself to lunch time making reasonable miles.
There were hardly any villages on the way but I stopped at one to go to toilet and while I was there I was going to have a lay down and a falafel pitta that I bought in the morning. I asked where the toilet was and the man walked off. About 3 minutes later he came back with a bicycle pump. Slight miscommunication so I then proceeded to act out a good squat with noises. The kids nearby laughed their head off and the man did also as he pointed to the bushes. Fair enough I thought, I cycled on a bit more, found a lucky bush and some trees for shade, did my thing and then had a beautiful little midday nap after lunch.
A slight breeze and not too much fly intervention made for an absolutely exquisite nap and I peeled the mat off my face as I woke for round two on Nigel. I could've stayed there for the rest of the day but I was a way off my proposed mileage and didn't really want to leave myself with lots to do tomorrow.
As my day was so straight forward I think I may add a few things that I've noticed throughout Sudan that I couldn't comment on on other days as I couldn't fit it in. Firstly, the Sudanese can produce a high pitch whistle that can travel across continents, FACT! They don't even use their fingers and its the kids as well not just the adults! You could be cycling along merrily as I was today, music blaring at some points and then hear a whistle so sharp and loud it was like the kettle was boiled right by your ear. I would look around for where it came from and see nobody on the roadside then out of the corner of my eye there would be a small boy up a tree waving at me from about 100m away!! It must be a genetic thing as they make it look effortless. When I try and whistle loudly with my fingers I can do it 3 times out of 10, the other 7 times I end up covering who/whatever is in front of me with slobber.
Like the whole of Africa, the Sudanese love an enthusiastic greeting. The standard "hello" "how are you?" "what is your name?" and "where you go?" have been answered I would say on average around 30 times a day. Even when they're driving a truck which is screaming past you in the other direction, they will still try to spark up a conversation, "what is your naaaammmmmmeeee?" they would ask. "Elviiiiiiiiissssss" is my favourite reply.
It makes me laugh but what is the point? They don't understand what you reply and for the ones that ask "where you go?" Isn't it obvious? There is only one road and I'm heading in this direction so I'm going this way. After a while I stop replying to the stupid questions and await a rare one. I've had a "what are you going?" more time in school needed for him I think. I've had a few "i love you's" I'm not getting carried away with them though especially as more than half were from blokes. My favourite though was "what is my name?" A little girl shouted it out really quickly at the top of her voice. This made me crack up, she obviously got a little excited as she saw me cycling towards her. I guessed at it but don't know if I was right as I flew past.
As time moved on farmers from all over we're herding their livestock in different directions. There were large groups of cattle and goats either sat in shade or moving towards greener fields, it was great to cycle through it all. It was also great when i reached my target by surprise and still felt fresh, this happened as I was stopped by police on my way through Doka. The town was tiny, my local Sunday car boot sale back home is bigger than Doka and I still had some go left in my legs so I decided to carry on till sunset.
Doka was around 50 miles and I carried on to 65 where I was grateful to find a little truck-stop. I had thought about stopping at 60 miles but then I wouldn't of had enough water for dinner so I was very happy with my decision to keep going and see a few smiling men and camp up just the other side of their camp beds.
An absolutely ideal day and I'm so pleased I'm saying goodbye to Sudan on a high. I have been through it all in all sorts of ways in Sudan and just like with Egypt I can safely say, I've experienced the REAL country (I've even seen the president!). From desert delights to desperation to town troubles and village friendships, Sudan has been amazing and i hope the people have shone out in this blog as the real stars that they are.
I look to Ethiopia with a bit of caution but I must stay open minded and not be too quick to blow my light out! It still feels strange saying I will be cycling through Ethiopia when only a few months ago it was still an idea! This is the real deal, the business end, and I'm ready for it.
Best get to work...
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