Sandscrewing
11.1.2004 | Western desert, Egypt
News for January 9th and 10th (together with presentation of Peter) have been added. Photos are attached also. Today, January 12th, we arrived to Asyut safe and sound, although we actually didn't want at all to come here. Police is waiting for us outside to take us to the their headquarters, so the news about the day of today and about everything that was happening comes to the web tomorrow. Insha'allah.
Who is Peter
10.1.2004 | Western desert Egypt
I met Peter Bastjančič, my friend who has joined me for the Egyptian-Libyan part of this expedition, for the first time at university during the study of Spanish.
Flame in the eyes, sulphur in the nose, water in the ears, sand in the undies
10.1.2004 | Western desert, Egypt
We woke up under the eucalyptus tree with an empty battery! Yesterday we gave 20 litres of diesel fuel to a truck driver that stopped on the road with a damaged and empty fuel-tank so he could reach the Bahariya oasis. So today we enjoyed a local's help who gave us a bit of his unknown model Chevy pick-up. And everything was ready for the start of a new great day. But wait a moment! Peter woke up with a new health problem – he faced an eye infection, caused by yesterday's wind and sand. The local doctor, when he finally appeared in the village hospital after 10 o'clock, gave an expert diagnosis: "Conjuctivitis, yes, yes, a small allergy problem," gave half a bottle of eye-drops to Peter and made some publicity for his private clinic, "just in case…"
Paris - Dakar? No, Cairo - Bahariya!
9.1.2004 | Bahariya oasis, Egypt
Peter and I woke up a few hundreds of meters off the road to Bahariya oasis and the first thing we did (well, one of the first things actually) was to correct the mistake we did last evening – to dig the car out of the soft desert sand. It was actually a routine rescuing of a slightly dug-in Partner, but still, Peter thought it would be easier to get it out. Then around 40 kilometres of off-road driving in semi-soft sand followed and Fulda tyres did a good job – we dropped the pressure from the official 2,6 to 1,3 bar. They didn't slip off the rims and they also didn't overheat despite slight damages on tyre sides, caused by sharp stones.
Back to the sand again
8.1.2004 | Cairo, Egypt
Today it was finally "for sure" and not just "insha'allah," so that Partner is lifted for 5 centimetres everywhere and ready for new desert challenges. At last I will be able to leave the car repairing stuff behind me and concentrate to nicer aspects of Egypt. It's 3 p.m. here and when I place the final dot in this sentence, Peter and I will leave for Western Desert, but we'll be back with news in a few days.