I woke up in a surprisingly good mood considering I had the worst night in the worst room of the whole trip. I got into bed early as I had planned for an early start today. The second I laid on the bed it became apparent that I was going to be sharing this bed with multiple others. "Night night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite" is the most stupid saying that constantly ran through my head. Bed bugs jump around all over your body, it was impossible to stop them from biting, there were loads of them. The room was hot and clammy and I had no choice other than to lay in just shorts for fear of melting. The mosquito net made things hotter but I had to use it to stop the countless other mini beasts that flew and jumped around the room. The net was average at best as well, it certainly didn't prevent the ants from crawling under the net and joining me. These were African ants as well so imagine a few micro machines rolling over your body or an 6 nobbled Lego brick, then you get an idea of their size.
I was like Rambo as I swatted, smacked and squeezed my way to a killing spree of at least 30. One ant crunched as I squeezed him but it was no good, I couldn't get them all. I had to lay there and just take it. In this situation I don't know what I'd prefer, light on or off? All I wanted to do was sleep so the light off would've been preferable. Did I have a choice? Nope. All the lights on the block came on at 6pm and turned off at midnight and my light switch did not affect this. So I had to lay there with the light on, attracting bugs from further a field as the local ones had a party on my body.
Last night was far from enjoyable and not the best prep for today but I managed to get some sleep at least and was up and ready to leave at 7:30. The first hour was good, nice flat road, cooler morning temperature and I got the chance to soak in the surroundings. After about an hour the climbing began. I was given the knowledge yesterday that Keyafer was a little uphill but not much, I also know to never trust Ethiopian directions. After 2.5 hours of intense climbing I arrived in Keyafer. I felt like the human torch as my sweat had filled all the cracks, scrapes and cuts of my body that I didn't know existed from my crash and so I most definitely felt alive.
I passed lots of villages as I climbed through the mountains, all of them from similar tribes. The tribal people were so friendly and despite looking from a distance as they could possibly cut you up and wrap you with injera, when I cycled closer I received nothing but hellos and smiles. I got some food in Keyafer and got talking to a local boy who worked as a guide when tourists came to town but also went to school as he was only 15. Again my life was put into perspective when I asked about his family and he told me it was just him and his 11yr old sister. Here I am in a bit of a lull because I won't be seeing my niece and my family over my favourite time of the year and here he is with no role model at all, nobody to look after him and with the responsibility of caring for his sister. Another reality check for me to push me on to my next checkpoint of Turmi.
I knew it was all downhill but the major issue was the state of the road. It wasn't a road basically, boulders, sand, corrugations and dust lay waiting for me for the next 80km. I had already cycled 40km uphill and for most people that would be enough to call it day as Keyafer was a nice little town to stop. I had an incentive of meeting the Canadian family however and I had to face the rocks at some point if I actually wanted to get out of Ethiopia!
The second I took the turning for Turmi I knew I was going to have to take things slowly and carefully and I could not afford to let my concentration slip. One hit of a stone no bigger than a snooker ball was enough to kick Nigel onto a completely different course and turning was a huge no no unless I wanted to add to yesterday's injuries. As I tried to relax my body and not tense up I knew I was in for a tough ride, the road was atrocious and dangerous and I couldn't look away from the point 2 feet ahead of me for a second.
I cycled through tribal villages that waved and said hello but I couldn't even turn my head to acknowledge them through fear of crashing. I stopped a few times to take in what was quite amazing scenery but it continued for so long, it soon got boring. Not a second went past where Nigel didn't make a noise and the terrain seemed to change every 5km from hard rock to sand with varying levels of corrugations. I would constantly be changing direction to find the least dangerous route. I would move from the left side to the right to the nearby footpath and then even to a dried out river basin that ran alongside the road for the majority of the way just to find a path that I could actually "cycle" on.
It was all very surreal, the ride could've been much much better but the fact I was cycling through tribes that I had only seen previously on TV made it a very special day. The Hamer tribe seemed the most common, that's the one where the women are sporting a similar hairstyle to a young Ruud Gullit and I can tell you one thing, they're amazing at camouflage. I would hear whistles and shouts of "hello" and stop to see where it came from but there was nobody to be seen. No point playing hide and seek with them, you'll be walking around for days!
As my frustration of endless bumps and bangs continued I knew it was a matter of time before I heard a noise that I didn't want to hear. Sure enough with just 30km to go, I heard a rubbing on my back wheel. The rack that has been patched together by parachord had finally given way and slumped slightly onto the back wheel. I could wedge a rock to prop it up and it was a fix that I could sort properly with a bit more time but my focus was getting to Turmi and a cold beer with the Canadians.
The rock worked sufficiently a few minutes at a time until a big bump would dislodge it but luckily I wasn't hard pushed to find a replacement as I battered Nigel along what was no place for a bike really. A mountain bike would've been ok but it was quite frankly dangerous to take a hybrid and not only just a hybrid, one carrying myself and 40kg of luggage!
As hours rolled on my mind was really getting tested. My body was surprisingly strong but that was probably because I wasn't cycling any faster than 8mph. My mental strength however had been focussing on the saddle constantly for 9 hours. The longest day yet and with out a doubt the most tiring. I was exhausted when I arrived in Turmi and was eager to find the Canadians after I had put such an effort in from 7:30 this morning till 6:20pm. Turmi is a small touristic village with a lot of tour guides stopping there. I asked around and none of the tour guides had seen a family of Canadians so after my epic day I resorted to finding myself another small hotel room where my battered body collapsed outside the door.
Despite feeling broken, having a broken rack and not meeting the Canadians, I was still pleased with the progress I had made. I still had a slight issue of money to sort out however. I've wanted to time my exit of Ethiopia with running out of birr as close as possible and this would've been the case if it wasn't for the extra stops I've had to make due to illness or accident. This has left me with just 10USD (190birr) which I would have no way of changing other than finding a kind local as there are no banks for miles. Thankfully as I lay exhausted outside my hotel room a kind local just happened to approach me and I knew he was a tour guide so I gambled on him being able to change my money and it paid off. I have a tiny bit of money left now and I have no clue what I will do when entering Kenya as I'm sure there will be no banks for another 200miles or so the other side. This is a problem that is not worth worrying about and if I stick to my breathe and believe philosophy then as always, I will end up ok.
After a bit of a rest outside my door I finally managed to clamber inside and unpack Nigel. The rack situation was another issue I had that I really couldn't be bothered to think about and I thought I would go for a walk to see if I could find the Canadians. A lot of tourists seemed to be heading next door to another hotel so I walked around the town and ended up there. There was no sign of them so I decided to order some food and just chill. I waited ages for my spaghetti and during that time there was a power cut so I ended up sitting outside and eating in pitch darkness. I had left my torch back at my room and so whatever I ate, it tasted good and its not been the first time I've eaten in Africa with little or no light at all and I'm sure it won't be the last, its the African way I guess!
After dinner, a man with a torch approached me. His name was Andre and he noticed me from earlier on in the day and so he came over to chat. He had a tour guide and was going to Omorate tomorrow and offered me a lift. I did not take him up on his offer straight away but he left it open for me and just told me to meet him at 7am at his truck if I wanted to.
I went back to my room to weigh up my options. I had to be realistic, the road from Turmi to Omorate was 70km of much the same rocks and rubble. Unrideable for most bikes and would certainly not be an enjoyable experience for bike or body. Was there any point in endangering myself another day? I made the decision that I would get up early and join Andre and use the day to fix the rack and prepare for a 50km push through sand to the Kenyan border and then whatever else waited for me after that!
When I made that decision in my head, my gut immediately felt better. Thankfully the bed just contained myself and one or two bugs so I could sleep easily after what had been a mammoth day overall. I'm not going to lie, I was pretty disappointed not to see the Canadians again after the effort I had put in but I am a true believer of everything happening for a reason and if I hadn't of walked around looking for them then I would've never of met Andre and got a lift to Omorate!
I will take this as a wee early Christmas present. I still have a long way to go though, after all, I'm still in Ethiopia!!!
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