IronMac

I cycled through Jordan right after the Gulf War and Jordan was probably the only Middle Eastern country to have supported Iraq back then. Things are a bit different now. In any case, I was manhandled a bit at a security post after opining that Saddam was stupid for picking the fight and then not withdrawing. I stomped off and later on the commander came along to apologize for the incident.

All I can suggest is, do not sport British or American flags and avoid any political topics and you should be fine.

As for religion, here is something asked of me by a gathering of Syrian engineers and architects (trust me, bike touring means that you can really get around!).

Q. A Christian woman (who is married to a Muslim) has just died. Where do you bury her?

A. In the ground of course!

I guess you had to be there...

BryanKeith

BigDan,

It's a good route, though not particularly popular with long distance tourers. My wife and I left Istanbul in August 1998 and rode through Turkey, Syria, Jordan, and Egypt to Cairo. We picked up the Turkish visa from Washington DC (we're from the US with US passports), the visa for Syria in Istanbul, the visa for Jordan in Damascus, and the visa for Egypt in Aqaba. We had no problems, and hospitality in Syria was incredibly generous.

While we were in Cairo, Clinton bombed Khartoum (the pharmaciudical factory), and the Sudanese embassy in Cairo closed. We attempted unsuccessfully to find boat transport from Suez to Eritrea (ugh - fighting with Ethiopia then) or Djibouti. We ended up flying Cairo - Addis Ababa, very expensive (US$400/person, I think, in Dec 1998).

We cycled from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and flew from Cape Town back to Denver, Colorado in August 1999 (note: we took a truck the first 500 km in Kenya (two day trip) because of security concerns; trucks travelled in convey with army support). Visa for Ethiopia is expensive; we purchased in Cairo. Kenyan visa was bought in Addis Ababa. As I recall no other country required a visa ahead of time. Zim visa was expensive (available at the border then), but you'll probably want to skip Zim. We loved Tanzania and Zambia for interactions with the locals and Namibia for the scenery. Choosing again I'd spend more time in Zambia and skip Malawi and Zimbabwe. The Tete corridor was just enough of Mozambique to make me want to go back!

This was my first bicycle tour outside of the US. Previously my longest tour had been about one week, I think, and it's definitely still my longest tour. I've done 3 more month-long tours since then, I think (plus the Africa tour continued in the US for another 6 months).

Maps can be purchased locally. We also had the 1:4000000 Michelin maps (two for the whole route). Even the big red lines on those maps can turn into gravel washboard or dirt tracks or mud or not have bridges over the streams, but mostly the roads shown on the map (there aren't that many!) are decent. The roads in the Middle East are great compared to sub Saharan Africa, though you can mostly stay on good tarred roads in sub Saharan Africa as well.

We carried an MSR International stove and burned whatever fuel was available locally. I remember buying kerosene in Zimbabwe for US$0.04/litre! We had a small two person gray Walrus tent. The gray color is less conspicuous than say, blue or green, in the East African savannah and southern African desert.

We didn't have cycling shoes. I've never used them. I had one pair of walking/cycling shoes and a pair of flip-flops. Some places you'll have to plan ahead with water, but mostly you'll find water everyday. I think we went through one stretch in the Caprivi Strip with no water for 3 days (and 2 nights with no water at camp). We filled a bunch of plastic jugs and carried 15-20 litres each through there. Going through there when it's hot would be difficult.

That's enough for now. I'd be happy to answer other questions.

Bryan

IronMac

Hey Bryan, in Aqaba, when you went to the Egyptian consulate...did they look up your name in a BIG leatherbound book to make sure that you weren't on some sort of blacklist?

The mention of carrying water...I used MSR Dromeday bags for some parts of the trip when water was particularly scarce.

BryanKeith

IronMac,

I don't recall without checking my notes what they did at the consulate in Aqaba. I would think that they'd do that work at a back room where no one could see them, but you never know.

Along the way from Istanbul to Cairo, we stopped at 3 or 4 Saudi embassies or consulates and asked just for a transit visa to take a boat through Jeddah. Supposedly this visa could be issued if you showed a ticket for boat transport out of Jeddah. Supposedly one could purchase such a ticket at one time in Suez or Cairo. We attemped without success. I'd be curious to hear from anyone who managed this. I doubt, however, that you'd be allowed to leave the port at Jeddah.

Bryan

BigDan

Cycling partner needed!
You guys have managed to put Tom off. So now it's a solo trip! Still means I can go as far and as hard as I want from a day to day basis. Has anyone got any comments on the pros and cons of cycling alone/ in a pair?

Dan

Travelinguyrt

For the armchair doubters who see every bend in a road as a place behind which evil lurks, and for those hardy intrepid souls who long for the adventure of travel, I suggest reading two books, one out for some months; Dark Star Safari by Paul Theroux,his accounts of travel from Cairo to Capetown in '02. He never pulls any punches when he travels, never takes the easy way, and had a great trip
The second is Long Way Round,MacGregor and Boorman, two Brit actors who rode motorcycles from England to New York City the LOOOONG way round thru Russia, Mongolia, etc. Two very interesting comments from them, all the hi tech stuff they took with them was destroyed on the god awful roads with in a few weeks of departure, and they ditched much of the things they thought they would need, along the way as being useless or not needed
Second, in their months on the road they found,"99% of the people along the way were incredibly interested, friendly, helpful and trustworthy'
Funniest description is a rear end collision between one cycle and a honda driven by a young kid in western Canada

Granted these are NOT bike trips but obervations and experiences along the way can easily be transposed to cyclists

halfbiked

I think you can be forgiven, as the info these guys (the guy) will need for the proposed trip has more to do with general travel than bicycle tour specific stuff. Of course, I haven't done a bicycle tour in 20 years (Loire valley), so take that opinion with a grain of salt.

tourbike

Contrary to being a naysayer, I think that would be such a cool ride. When people think "via the Middle East" they think you are going on a grand tour of every despotic hellhole there, rather than the likely route, Turkey to Lebanon to Syria to Israel (possibly by way of Jordan) to Egypt. I can assure you it is totally do-able, in fact I have heard reports from Israel lately of UK cyclists traveling to the West Bank via Jordan/Syria. And I have been to Egypt, through the Taba border crossing several times, you should be fine as long as you don't stay in a hotel there...
Cairo is absolutely phenomenal. You might have a difficult time with the Horn or Africa though, with travel to the South of Sudan extremely restricted, and bandit-types in the outer areas of Somalia and Ethiopia. But again, I would still do it. Kenya and Tanzania are incredible, worth the trip in itself. Then it gets a little rocky again till S. Africa. Crap. I am jealous you're doing it before me.

baghera

Hi Dan!

Was nice meeting ya in the Frog &Rosbiff in Toulouse last week , hope yr knee is doing a bit better.

Am reading up on your story here and find it very, very interesting... Makes me think about joyning you... woulde be a hell of a thing to accomplish after a brain hemmorrage (or however you wirte it) in April '04 The only pro I have is that I am dutch... In my life I've spent more kms on the pedals then a lot on this world... against wind and rain, all seasons! (You gotta love those dikes here in holland )

Will think about it for a bit, and let you know... Have always dreamed of putting something like that behind my name.

Talk later mate, say hi to the cute swedish girl you work with... (would love to see her pass me by on a bike )

Take care!

Chris

Guest

I would find out where all the embassies are for each country and city you cycle through, and register with all of them as you travel. I used to do that stuff, but I kind of slacked once I started travelling through countries like Sweden, Switzerland and Italy, where they're less inclined to kick my ass because I'm from the USA. (notice I didn't say, not inclined... I just said less inclined). If you plan on registering with each embassy, just make sure you have a planned route with your days pretty planned out so that if something does go wrong, they know where to find you based off the information you gave them.

Good luck.

Koffee

BigDan

Mate-get on board, would be good to have some company even if it was just through western Europe. The knee is coming along nicely and I'm back on the bike now and picking up the mileage! Keep me informed.

Dan

Brains

Big Dan

Sorry for the late reply, and I'm guessing you may have already figured out this by now.

The Bike - You have two UK companies to look at
Orbit
https://www.orbit-cycles.co.uk/
or Thorn
https://www.sjscycles.com/

Use the Thorn Nomad as your benchmark bike and then see if you can improve on it, having said which if your budget is tight a 2nd hand Dawes Galaxey can be got for as little as £250

Tents - The benchmark tent is the Terra Nova Ultra Quasar https://www.ultimateoutdoors.co.uk/sh...k.php?plu=1079

The Stove will need to be multifuel, so best option is to go with a Trangia (which gives you all your pots and pans and a meths burner)
https://www.trangia.se/
and then get a Trangia compatable multifuel stove as well such as the primus omnifuel (there are several others to chose from, just make sure they are trangia compatable)
https://www.primus.se/EN/products/product_328984.html

Then start reading the Thorn tree site
https://thorntree.lonelyplanet.com/ca...s.cfm?catid=32

As for the route, a wet Monday afternoon spent with the helpful guys in Stanfords would not go amiss, they have all the maps.
https://www.stanfords.co.uk/

Personally I'd suggest the Greece to Egypt by ferry route, but little personal experience

Whoodie

You will have problems in the Eastern Part of Africa only in specific regions or countries. Most probable routes from Egypt are:-
1) Egypt, Sudan*, Uganda or Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, South Africa
2) Egypt, Sudan*, Ethiopia*, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, South Africa
3) Egypt, Sudan*, Ethiopia*, Eriteria, Somalia*, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, South Africa.
4) Egypt, Sudan*, Ethiopia*, Somalia*, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, South Africa.

The * indicate countries/region you have to consider avoiding. Please take great consideration to the *.

There are passenger road transports from Kenya to Tanzania, Malawi and even South Africa. Most roads pass through game reserves but the game is not necessary next to the road.

Whoodie

About the Weather. Between Mid-October to end of December, the Eastern Africa has what they call short rains, dry/sunny between January and Mid-March, when the heavy rains starts and takes to the end of may. June/July are cold but not wet (may be some drizzles). August to October are mostly sunny.

BigDan

Hi,

Thanks to everyone for all you advice and comments, I've bought a Thorn Nomad, and everything seems to be falling into place for a september departure. I've decided to climb Mt Blanc and Kilamanjaro on route. Has anyone any tips on a decent route through the Alps to Chamonix? Also does anyone know what the cycling is like (and whether I'll need a permit to cycle) in Kilamanjaro National Park?

If any of you are on my route between it would be good to hear from you.

Dan

amaferanga

By cycling in Kilimanjaro NP if you mean on the slopes of the mountain itself, not sure if that'll be possible. No problem on the roads that go round the mountain and Meru also. I rather suspect that the days you're not cycling on route you'll want to take it easy anyway and not cycle up a bloody big mountain!

As for some of the advice above, I hope you didn't listen to it!

In particular, why would you need a trangia and a primus stove? The primus or an MSR whisperlite international is all you need.

Also, Sudan does not need to be avoided for transit from Egypt to Ethiopia, but it's a little hit or miss getting a visa.

Ethiopia definitely doesn't need to be avoided. I cycled there the end of last year and it's a fascinating place. Tough though.

Also, you'll be wasting your time registering with embassies (and that of the embassies - imagine if every tourist did the same!?). Just email friends/family when you can and tell them when you expect (+/- few days) to be in touch again.

Whoodie

Not trying to cause any panic or anything. But living in Kenya I think I am familiar with what goes around the country. Especially when you need military escort for Red Cross into Sudan or Ethiopia from Kenya. There are 100s of thousand of refugees from this said countries, Ethiopia, Sudan and Somali living in Kenya.

Whoodie

You can also read these independent stories of Ethiopia - Kenya journey.

https://www.bootsnall.com/travelogues/rtwbike/16.shtml

https://dreamers1.com/africa/Africa-10.htm

Of course in one of the sites you see pictures of the situation of road. Vast desert like terrain. Expect bandits too.

amaferanga

I agree that from Kenya to Sudan is not a viable route. If you note the words I used I actually said that Sudan does not represent a problem for transit from Egypt to ETHIOPIA (as long as you can secure a visa).

I was in Ethiopia the end of last year and met people who had come from Kenya (not by bike though). I met some folks who had cycled from London and were on their way south through Kenya. They are currently in Namibia so they obviously made it through Kenya, though I don't think they cycled the northern part. Even if it isn't possible to cycle through the north of kenya it's no reason to abandon the whole trip and it's still the easiest route.

Why are you recommending this guy avoids Ethiopia?

Whoodie

Sorry if I misunderstood you. Yes its true that you can't cycle through the northern kenya considering that you need police escort even when you are in vehicles.

Just like Ameferanga suggested, you don't have to abandon the journey, you can use motor transport at this section about 800km.

Wish you the best in the journey.

axolotl

Well, where would you be coming from? England? As I recall, there are basically 3 roads which lead to Chamonix, one being the Mont Blanc Tunnel from Italy which is a no-no for cyclists. The main road is a fairly unpleasant motorway which leads to Chamonix from Geneva. It's been years since I've been on it, but I'm virtually certain there are some parallel roads most or all of the way. No mountains to cross, as Chamonix is at the end of a valley, and the road mostly follows the valley up from Geneva. By far the most pleasant, though certainly not easiest route, is to come up from Martigny, Switzerland. There's a pretty, little road and mountain pass. I don't have my map in front of me, but it might be the Col de la Forclaz. BTW, Chamonix is NOT some quaint, little mountain town. But, if you want to climb Mt. Blanc, I guess you need to go there.

A much more involved question would be what route to take when you leave Chamonix.

mooncricket

Go for it. Fortune favors the courageous.

When I was about to head off for my open-ended solo bicycle tour (didn't know how long I would be gone, how many months/years, how many countries, or how long my tiny budget would take me), I was filled with terror and angst and doubt. A friend asked me what would be the worse thing that could happen to me on this trip? I replied, death. She said, Well, is that so bad? At first, I wanted to smack some sense into her, and then the more I thought about it, the more I realized that such an end wouldn't be so tragic after all. But, abandonning a dream because of doubts (or nay-sayers) would be a real tragedy, one that would cast a shadow over the remainder of my life.

So, I went and my life has been a blast ever since

To any ****** preaching gloom and doom and death around every corner, just ask him what has he done lately.

becnal

Don't worry about the alleged lack of you experience Dan. Just by the time you get from London to Bavaria, you will have gained enough experience to see you through most all you difficulties.

Whoodie

Agreed, though do avoid taking risks that are not justified. If you are not sure of your safety just hike into a vehicle, the couple of kilometres you will have hiked will not affect your overall desired goal.

BigDan

Hi,

I'm pretty much all set now. Check me out at www.londontocapetown.co.uk the main headache I seem to be having is getting a visa for Sudan, there seems to be no problem getting a 7day visa but this would mean cycling roughly 1000miles in 7days through roads of unknown quality in Sudanese heat.

Any tips would be greatly recieved.

Dan