the heat. ooh the heat. one litre of water per thought process. temperature in the fifties and us in bike leathers and helmets. ideal.

the plan was to leave the sleepy town of wadi halfa and to take on the nubian desert with as much water and spare fuel as our suspension could handle. attempt one was made riding along the railway track so as not to get lost (sand fills the gap between the sleepers making it a reasonable path). we knew the train would be coming at some point but we just planned to leave the tracks to let it pass. about 20km out of town we tried a sand dummy run and promptly got ourselves completely stuck. no amount of heaving could shift our bikes. they are heavy at the best of times, but impossible in this heat and deep sand. we were extremely fortunate that a 4x4 passed and the extra hands got us out. after that reality check we turned around and headed back for town.

the heat was indescribable so attempt two was a night time mission along the road to the west. the mother of corrugated roads, we didnt get far. corrugations require a reasonable speed to skim over their surface or face being shaken apart. as they were interdispersed with invisible patches of front-wheel-swallowing-deep-soft-sand, our lack of vision at night made it suicidal. after we both stacked our bikes once, we turned back to town again.

sadly the only remaining option was to heave the bikes onto the weekly train and accept defeat. we picked up the trail 24 hours later in atbara, and headed off into the first of many dust storms. penetrating everything we owned in an orange layer, sudan at this time of year is strictly for those who love sand. despite amazingly hospitable people and stunning desert vistas in between storms, after only seven days we had had all we could handle. in search of cooler climates, we turned east for ethiopia.