We left Martha Matruth on Friday 27th May to ride the 240k's to Alexandria  >>as we had made contact with a BMW biker guy in Alex through a global  >>bikers website called Horizons-Unlimited. (worth a look). Omar offered to  >>put us up at his guest house in a suburb of Alex called Agamy Al Bitach.  >>We pitched up at his place and immediately went for a very welcoming  >>customary cup of tea at his familys house. Having off loaded our luggage  >>in the guest house which turned out to be a great 3 bed/2 bathroom  >>apartment we headed straight for the beach. Our non existent tans badly  >>needed working on and this was the place to start. >> >>Our first night in Alex was a tame affair and Omar and his friend Sherif  >>took us bowling. Martin and i had not bowled for years so thought we  >>would get pasted by the locals. I, however got my eye in early and  >>whipped the lot of them with a top score of 172 ( I think) a process that  >>i was to repeat the next night and Martin was convinced i was a ringer  >>especially as the loser pays. >> >>The next day we were hoping to get some maintenance done on our bikes by  >>the only BMW mechanic in Egypt. He didn't show and was uncontactable but  >>may come tomorrow No suprise in Egypt!! We chose to make use of our time  >>and do some sight seeing in Alex. Omar arranged for his brother Tamir to  >>drive us to the city and showed us around the Alex library which is a  >>stunning modern building. We also took a look inside the largest mosque  >>in Alex. (Can't believe they let Martin in when he took his shoes off) and  >>a view of a great castle right next to the port. We dined for lunch at  >>the Hilton (Bit out of budget) Then went on a quest to find suitable water  >>containers for our bikes. Tamir was great at assisting us but we just  >>could not find the right containers for transporting water on our bikes.  >>We would have to re think our water logistics strategy!! >> >>Again, The BMW guy did not show so we decided to use this time to arrange  >>for the tyres that we had shipped to Libya and were still in Tripoli to be  >>sent to Alex or Cairo. Easy we thought.... Not a chance!! DHL wanted  >>$2000 USD to drive them by road and getting them through Libyan customs  >>would be a real headache. We used our shipping contact in the UK to look  >>at flying them to Cairo. This would cost about 120 sterling (no pound  >>sign on my keyboard). Great we thought, but sadly to later discover that  >>getting them flown out of Tripoli and back to the UK then onto Cairo would >>take forever. We followed up on all sorts of leads in Egypt for BMW off  >>road tyres and it was becoming very apparent that they do not exist. Our  >>bikes have unusual size wheels. Our only option now was to get our man  >>graham in the UK to get a complete new set and send them directly to  >>Cairo. The secret is to make them look a bit second hand and put a total  >>value of only 50 pounds sterling for both sets. Customs duty and import  >>taxes in Egypt are some of the highest in the world and not to be taken  >>lightly. Tyres sorted (we hoped) we decided to use the afternoon  >>servicing the bikes ourselves and doing the valve clearences. This would  >>be a straight forward job until i broke my HT lead as it was stuck fast to  >>the spark plug. This could really be a problem as we had no spare, the  >>BMW mechanic was not playing ball and the lead was unique to the BMW which  >>as we now know does not exist in Egypt. After some swearing and cursing  >>and completion of the other work i had to do, we manged to fashion a lead  >>out of the broken one and consumate amounts of insulating tape. Having  >>removed the fuel tank and fuel lines we were sorted and out of our  >>predicament. >> >>That night we went to Omars fathers bar and met up with an expat guy Alan  >>Gibbs who proved great entertainment as we swapped stories. He gave us  >>the heads up on where to go in Agamy as we would be around for a few days  >>trying to finalise the tyre situation. >> >>The next day (Monday 30th) we headed off to Waggi's bar. An ex pats haunt  >>that was great fun and hooked up with a few other ex pats who were  >>interested to hear about our trip. Got another lead that evening on tyres  >>so phoned Tamir and he drove us the 30k's to downtown Alex to check it  >>out. Sadly the lead was duff (We have come to expect this now) so were  >>still relying on the tyres being sent from the UK. We would have taken  >>local tyres if we could find them as we were getting badly behind schedule  >>but new that we could note enter Sudan without proper off road tyres. Why  >>oh why didn't we just buy them in Italy or wait in Tripoli?? Still this  >>is what it is all about so no point in getting bent out of shape about the  >>situation. >> >> >> >>The next day we decided that tomorrow we would head South for Cairo and  >>hook up with another guy we had met through Horizonx called James, a  >>school teacher from the UK. This would be a pivotal moment in our trip as  >>we had been going mostly east along the mediterranian coast since entering  >>Tunisia. We spent the day sorting our kit and purchasing a few provisions.  >> We addressed our water container situation and Martin managed to make  >>his from an old pair of track suit bottoms that have been folded at the  >>knee and sewn with dental floss so that two 1.5 litre bottles will fit  >>into each leg. I however, took a different approach and purchased a long  >>length of 4inch drainange pipe and cut it into 4 lengths joining 2 lengths  >>together with cable ties. I then used the shoulder strap from my pannier  >>bag to connect the tubes by laying across the tank so the bottle holders  >>sit snugglly either side. They look like rocket launchers... We now have  >>6 litres of water each laid snuggly across our tanks (You will get  >>pictures of this eventually) Water problem sorted so bring on the desert.  >>We are both on a misson to design a cruise control system for our bikes.  >>Martin has already done this by using a peg to wedge down the side of the  >>throttle grip and hold it in place. He is confident it will work though i  >>have my doubts. My design consists of a jubilee clip around the throttle  >>grip that has attached a measured piece of fishing wire that can hook over  >>my foot and hold the throttle open. Lets just hope i don't hit the back  >>brake in a hurry. I should say at this point that i have not actually  >>made mine yet so Martin is winning that one but he still needs to prove it  >>works. >> >>That evening was our last night in Aghamy so we met up with the various  >>peole who had helped us out. A big thanks to Omar, Tamir all the ex pats  >>and the bar staff at Paradise Bar who were all so friendly and helpful. >> >>We headed South on the Alex Desert road to Cairo. Bikes running well and  >>fuel here is as cheap as Libya. A full tank (about 31 litres) cost less  >>than 4 pounds sterling. We entered Cairo via Geeza where the pyramids are.  >> Great sight as you come down the highway. We were somewhat cautious as  >>people had warned us about Cairo traffic and driving. It is mental but we  >>stayed away from downtown Cairo where it is at it's worst. We met up with  >>James at TGI Fridays although here the weekend starts on a Thursday night  >>so it should be called TAIT (Thank Allah it's Thursdays). >>We headed of to James place and off loaded our gear then out for a meal  >>with some of his ex pat mates, Leigh, Steve and Nadia followed by a few  >>beers at Leighs place. >> >>The next morning we were on the trail of tyres in Cairo and needed to  >>contact Graham in the UK to see how the shipment was going. We made a big  >>mistake of buying one of the internet phone cards that Martin tried to get  >>to work but it just wouldn't. We decided to ask for our money back. The  >>guy in the internet shop was not having it so i decided to get a bit  >>punchy with him and after a heated exchange of words and explaining how he  >>had failed to deliver the service he promised we were off with a full  >>refund. Eventually got confirmation that tyres would be shipped tonight  >>with Egypt Air and would be in Cairo tomorrow night. Hoorah!! >> >>James and his friends had organised a boat trip down the nile that evening  >>so we took a very relaxing cruise watching the sun set before heading back  >>to TGI's to meet with loads of other school teachers and ex pats. They  >>invited us to a private party where we consumed vast quantities of Sakara  >>beer (The local brew which is pretty good) We got home about 3pm and  >>crashed out totally knackered. >> >>James rides a KTM 640 Adventure bike (great for deserts and dunes) and  >>took us for an off road ride to the Sakhara pyramids. It was compacted  >>sand for most of the way but in areas the sand got soft and we were still  >>on standard road tyres as i found out to my detrament and lost the front  >>end before landing face down in the sand. It was great to be off road  >>briefly and get a chance to crawl inside the pyramids for a whistle stop  >>tour. >> >>That afternoon we went to a BBQ at a guy called Johan house who is a  >>diplomat at the South African embassy in Cairo and were introduced to a  >>load of other KTM guys, Sammy (Finland), Darryl (Canada) Bianca (Germany)  >>Johan (South African Diplomat), Dave (Canada). These guys were to be our  >>saviours. Sammy and Darryl who have expert knowledge on bikes offered us  >>the use of their small but fantastically equiped bike workshop. These  >>guys go and do some spectacular desert trips on amazing bikes. They are  >>totally self sufficient in bike maintenance and if they don't have the  >>part they need, they know somebody who can either get it or make it.  >>Sammy took my BM for a spin and i think he loved it. The last i heard was  >>him tyring to convince his girlfriend Bianca, that he should buy one and  >>do a trip on it. Bianca really helped us out as she works for Pickfords  >>Egypt and we used them as our clearing agent for the tyres. She set up  >>the whole process for us to get them through customs which without inside  >>knowledge can be a process from hell. We spent the afternoon lazing by  >>Johans pool and stayed into the evening swapping bike tales and drinking  >>beer with our new friends. >> >>The next morning was a very important one as the British Lions were  >>playing the Bay of Plenty so we headed off to Maadi (suburb of Cairo)  >>rugby club where they showed the game. Full english breakfast and a great  >>result, we were sorted! Sammy had invited us round to use his workshop so  >>we could do an oil change on the gearboxes and final drive units. We  >>drained out the oil on both bikes and as i removed the magnetic sump plug  >>on my final drive unit to my horror there was a piece of bearing housing  >>attached to it. This did not look at all good and after consulting with  >>Sammy, Darryl and Martin it was agreed that it would be best to get it  >>investigated properly as we don't want this to be a problem in somewhere  >>like Sudan. Another KTM guy called Sobhi contacted the elusive BMW  >>mechanic(yes the one that never turned up in Alex) and insisted he came to  >>Sammys workshop for a diagnosis. Eventually he showed and said he new the  >>problem, had a new bearing and would be back tomorrow to fix it. We had  >>to head off in the morning to collect our tyres so he would come back at  >>1pm the next day. >> >>The collection of tyres was pretty smooth due to Biancas assistance. She  >>even arranged our taxi to Cairo customs clearance. Having collected our  >>tyres that cost us all in all 500LE (Egyptian Pounds) we went in search of  >>our taxi driver who we were promptly informed had been arrested by the  >>police. It appears to be something to do with an incident in the past  >>where he was involved in the death of someone. We felt quite sorry for  >>the guy to be honest but paid him off and hightailed it out with another  >>taxi back to Maadi. >> >>The tyres were fitted to the bikes whilst we hung around for our elusive  >>BMW mechanic. Sobhi had flown to Hurghada the previous night but was  >>monitoring the situation of our BMW man via his mobile due to his  >>reputation for being unreliable and the fact he spoke no english. True to  >>form he never showed so Sammy said lets just strip the bike down ourselves  >>which we did. All of us did a thorough investigation of the components  >>and were releived to see that nothing was wrong and the broken housing  >>part must have been from a previous repair. Relieved, we re-assembled my  >>bike late into the evening and went off for a few beers. >> >>We can not thank enough the KTM guys who were so helpful in providing us  >>with a place to stay and a place to work on the bikes They were truly  >>brilliant....alll of them! >> >>Tomorrow we are finally leaving Cairo and heading south for Luxor and  >>Aswan via the Oasis route. We will be spending a night in the White  >>desert with a guy called Badry who is a bedouin friend of the KTM guys...  >>We can't wait!