Day 14: Hurghada to Ain Sukhna
Quiz nights in ex-pat pubs involve a mish-mash of questions designed to steer around the fact that when you don’t live in your own country anymore the knowledge of subjects like sport, politics and celebrity news often go by the wayside. Music is quite safe, geography features heavily too, because it’s relevant wherever you are, but asking a Swedish diving instructor ‘who is the landlord in the BBC TV series, Eastenders?’ is a little unfair. So, the questions were a little different from what we’re used to in the UK or France. I went to a quiz night in London a couple of years ago and scored one point (it was a question about Egypt!).
Anders of Aziab.com was our host and has been living in Hurghada for over 12 years. The quiz night at the Viking Pub is a great gathering of dive staff and the weekly event was attended by over 25 instructors. Generally, they reported that things had picked up a little and that the safari boat business was leading the way. Hurghada, Safaga and Port Ghalib are safari boat departure and arrival points on the Egyptian side of the Red Sea. There are a number of operators working out of these ports including our own sponsors, Sea Queen Fleet, who run three big boats covering Northern and Southern Red Sea.
It was a welcome change to have a bit of ‘home life’ with a break from the hotels and grateful thanks to Anders and Jasmine for putting us up.
INTO THE WIND
The day before, we hit some strong wind along the way from El Quseir. Leaving Hurghada we rode into a small storm, which reduced our speed in places to just 45 km per hour and had us leaning at an angle so low we thought our handle bars would scrape the tarmac! When conditions allowed, we increased the speed to about 80 to 90 km per hour but handling was still hampered by the exceptionally strong wind. Using a lower gear to keep higher engine revolutions per minute (RPM) also helped with control, especially when overtaking high-sided trucks. Mostly, we were being overtaken as it was the normal cars and trucks that had less of a problem with the wind being more stable in design.
The result of the continuous wind resistance bearing against the motorcycles with high volume panniers, and the higher RPM, was a spectacular increase of fuel consumption by 30%. Our entire capacity was clipped by over 80 km, which left us 30 km short of our next fuel stop. We glided gracefully onto the hard shoulder (the desert!) and discussed the options. Among our collection of Bedouin-approved tool sets was a plastic bottle and some tubing designed to suck at least 6 litres of petrol from most vehicles. Perhaps two foreigners, dressed like Formula 1 pit crew standing in the middle of the desert are worth stopping for but it must be a record to flag down three vehicles with just one thumb! The pick-up truck was running on diesel fuel, which is about the only type we can’t use in our KTM 990’s. The same was true of the lorry. Ahmed was driving a normal production car, which was ideal as it had benzin 92 inside. I retrieved my one-meter long thin, plastic tube and shoved the entire length inside the fuel tank, which would surely reach the bottom, even if it was low itself. I drained my lungs and took a hefty inhalation, keeping a careful eye on the colour of the tube in case it suddenly turned green and filled my insides with petrol. The impact of high density benzin fumes hitting the lungs is like swallowing a bottle of hydrochloric acid. I was on my knees! Yann (sensibly) put out his cigarette had a go himself but not unsurprisingly suffered the same fate. It was Ahmed’s turn now. After about five minutes involving the three of us coughing, spitting, gasping for air and shoving various devices inside the fuel tank we conceded defeat. Ahmed gave me a lift to the benzin station 30km away. Five more plastic bottles in various states of decay lying on a nearby rubbish tip provided ideal (kind of!) fuel carriers and between them held seven litres of benzin 92.
Question: Would you give a lift to a bloke covered in sand and dirt, standing by a desert road carrying five bottles of petrol in a plastic bag? Of course you would! Ossama, Hossam and Mohamed pulled up in a nice air-conditioned company pickup truck. They all worked at an oil and gas company further along the Hurghada road. Thanks chaps! The lift was much appreciated and we got the bikes to the station for a proper fill. With just another 80 km to go we pressed on to Ain Sukhna.
We passed the wind farm again and this time checked the mileage. Each row of huge wind machines ran from between one or half a kilometer back into the desert. From the first row of wind machines to the last we covered exactly 20 kilometers. No wonder we had a rough ride! There’s enough wind here to power half of Egypt!
Next stop would be Stella di Mare resort in Ain Sukhna. We had heard about this unique coastal destination on the Suez-Hurghada road but the sheer size, attraction and efficiency of the place would leave us speechless.
More soon!
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