Welcome to Sudan

Only 5 kilometers today, but still an adventure. The day and part of the night were consumed crossing Lake Nasser to the Sudanese port of Wadi Halfa.

The bikes and the trucks are loaded on a barge lashed to little tug with a leaking fuel pump. Three stops for repairs, landfall at sunset, smiles and signs welcoming us, bureaucratic forms in quintuplicate to get through customs and immigration. We are in Sudan, where few tourists ever go.

Then, near midnight, in the lights of one of the trucks, we get our first off-road experience, a rough half-hour ride through sand to our campsite. Less experienced riders struggle, fall, and struggle on. It is a good introduction to the days of riding ahead of us.