Rest Day in Dongola

Ah the joy of sleeping in a bed and waking up at 8am to a warm day. The first thing I did was to take in the laundry which I had done the day before and had hung out to dry on my balcony. The smell of clean clothes is something to be treasured. I then had a breakfast of pita bread with fig jam and an energy bar. I will join others later for a better meal. The next thing I did was to walk into town to change money. Visa is not accepted in Sudan due to the American embargo that has been applied to Sudan. It took only a few mimutes as I was wisked to the front of the line to be served. It made me see yet once again how foreigners are treated in this country. The time we spent on the ferry from Wadia Hafia made it clear that we are serviced before locals which none of us really want but it seems to be the way here.

Following the money exchange I went back to the camp site and cleaned my bike in preparation for our departure in the morning at 7:15 am. I also repacked my permanent bag which will go back on top of one of the trucks not to be seen until our next rest day. You need to be sure that you have all you need for the red box or you are out of luck and will have to beg for a bike part or toliet paper.

The other day one of the bikers broke a spoke and they were unable to fix the wheel. It turned out that the extra rim that I had brought was the right size so I let it be used and it will be replaced by one that will meet me somewhere on the route. The woman who needed the rim gave me a piece of cheese that lasted me for about two days. It was energy that I needed. It is this type of community that I am a part of and I am so grateful for that. I am sure there will be many times when we will need to be there for each other.

One of the riders that I have made friends with has decided to take a bus to Khartoum and meet us there. This will give her about 5-6 days in the city.Her partner and I will meet her in the city with her booking hotel rooms for us. What a blessing to look forward to. We only have one day off in Khartoum not two as I had thought. Oh well a rest day is a rest day.

There is always a line up at the internet cafe when we hit town. Everybody needs to connect with somebody somewhere. It is amazing that we can be here and I can let you know what is happening.

Tyler my son...your messages are so wonderful to read. I would email you but I am not able to get into Crescents web site as often as I would like to. Please send me you email address to jamiem_@hotmail.com...and of course anybody else can also contact me through that address. And yes Tyler Peanut Butter is in a food class by itself...and we have a choice of smooth or crunchy...topped with golden syrup or honey or jam...sugar sugar sugar...

Anyway I am off to take my permanent bag back to the camp so I only have a small bag to carry with me in the morning. The camp is only ten minutes away but my bag weighs about 27kilo so I will take one of the 2-stroke taxis to do it. I will update next in Khartoum...until then live life and enjoy all the creature comforts you have...many in this part of the world have few.