Cross Egypt Challenge 2013 - I'm so freakin' glad I did this!

Long story short, back in May of 2013 I heard about the CEC (Cross Egypt Challenge) through a fellow RTI (Rider Training Institute) instructor, (I'm the Field Operations Manager and a Senior Instructor there), and after checking it out online, decided it was too good to pass up and filled in the application form the following day. My name is Barb Piatkowski and this is my brief story of the-trip-of-a-lifetime.

Now normally I'm a sport bike aficionado and you can find me astride my 2006 Honda CBR1000RR zipping around town, the province or the continent, but after having completed the (Ontario) Mad Bastard Scooter Rally a few years back and having had access to a few Vespas over the years (thanks to a well-placed importer pal), I'm no stranger to the "turns-you-into-a-brat" appeal of the smaller cc scooter as well. The thought of riding a 150cc scooter 2400kms around Egypt sounded like a crazy, fun and memorable thing to do. One small problem though...according to every news source and personal opinion I came across, Egypt was in the middle of a political crisis that was on the brink of civil war. There was literally no one that I spoke to about this that thought it was even remotely a good idea - and when the 2 Canadian fellas got themselves arrested over there, well, that didn't help things sit too well with friends and family either.

As my partner Maxine Featherstonhaugh and I continued (with trepidation) through the registration process after we were accepted, we received frequent updates on the political situation from the (Egyptian) CEC organizers via Facebook. Many of the other international registrants were also concerned about the reportedly unstable climate, especially for foreigners. In the end after months of watching, we all decided to trust our organizers and go for it. Despite what was going on in some areas, 85 million people went on with life as normal we were told, so this was what sold it for us…and am I EVER glad I decided to go!

Fast forward to last week and an e-mail from ESR's Marina requesting a pictorial essay on my trip. Easy enough I thought, as I have over 2000 photos, but when it came to choosing the right 20 or so to tell my story, it wasn't easy at all to narrow it down. Hopefully I've done all right and can give you a fair sense of what my adventure was all about.

Ugh, not even in Alexandria, Egypt can you escape those nasty streetcar tracks. Often referred to as a third world country, the Egypt I saw can't be easily compartmentalized. Sure, the major urban areas were a bit beat up, but there was pretty much nothing you couldn't readily get - apart from alcohol, pork, and a decent cup of coffee. No Timmies! 😞

All 30 of the foreigners were outfitted with brand new SYM 150cc scooters, the Jet 4 or Fiddle II, which for the most part performed admirably. Many of the 15 Egyptian riders had their own various-sized scooters, Vespas, Burgmans or the quite popular, SYMs.

Not a lot of Japanese bikes in Egypt, mostly Chinese brands such as Haojiang and Dayun, which look like they were plucked from 1984. The locals make good use of them, riding with street tires over any surface and carrying up to 4 passengers in one case we saw. (Many women sit side-saddle in dresses as passengers and rest their feet on a plate attached over the mufflers.) There are no helmet laws, no rider training and the traffic in Alexandria and Cairo is easily the craziest chaos you can ever imagine...but it works! (The men here are waiting at a government depot for subsidized cooking fuel…this is third-world Egypt.)

The locals were unbelievably warm, friendly and sincere about seeing foreign tourists (that's me with a couple of new friends - they stared at my blond hair and I at their burqas). With an economy that is reliant on tourism, (it's their 2nd biggest industry) and has seen over a 50% decline since 2010, the CEC participants were treated like an endangered species. Everyone wanted their pictures taken with us and there were festivities planned for us wherever we went, as in this bon voyage ceremony at the Alexandria City Centre.

How do you ride a 150cc scooter through the Sahara Desert for 2400kms where gas stops are few and far between…by having your own fuel tanker in your convoy, that's how. We (necessarily) stopped every 100kms to fuel up, most times on the side of the road.

How do you keep from getting thirsty as you ride through the Sahara…by travelling with your very own Coke truck, that's how. Yup, we enjoyed all sorts of cold Coke products every time we stopped, courtesy of our 2 Coke reps (the awesome guys with the red shirts).

What is with everyone taking pictures of their food? This is kosharee and it is not only a staple in Egypt, but it's also absolutely delicious! Lentils, chickpeas, rice, pasta and fried onions with spicy tomato sauce…YUM! Just one of the lunches that we had during a stop in the middle of the desert, as well as a shot of the mobile CEC kitchen in the White Desert. Food and accommodations on this trip were really quite good…4 to 5-star and very unique.

Not only were there 45 riders and over 15 support staff, there was also an ambulance that travelled with us and a band of soldiers, which would change per the different districts. As the days went on I realized what a big deal the CEC was…45 participants from 12 different countries (4 Canadians)…there was no way anyone was letting anything happen to us.

A pit stop at the lava rock covered Black Desert and a longer break at the amazing White Desert. The latter being where I believe the 1969 moon landing was actually filmed. 🙂

Among some of the amazing scenes we were witness to was this sunset over a salt lake at the Bahareya Oasis and this sunrise over the Sahara outside of Baris (Kharga) where we camped under the stars for one chilly night. Prior to this trip I thought an oasis was 2 palm trees and a pond in the middle of the desert, you know, Bugs Bunny style, but they're actually thriving communities of Bedouins (Arabian desert dwellers) sometimes thousands strong, living in age-old communities focused around a sizeable fertile area in the desert.

We were entertained by traditional dancers in the Farafra Oasis on the 3rd night, and toured the archeological city of El-Quassr on the 4th night - just outside our eco-lodge in the Dakhla Oasis. With only 1” of annual rainfall, mud-based buildings can survive centuries.

Here's a shot during the El-Quassr tour of about half of the group that we travelled with (the kids were locals), as well as a picture of the 6 female participants, (us 2, 3 Americans and an Aussie), along with the female mayor of Baris (in the purple hijab - head scarf).

When in Rome, right? Riding a camel and smoking the shisha. Egyptians smoke…a LOT, especially the men. The shisha water-pipe is filled with (fruit) flavoured tobacco and smoked for hours as a pastime. As a non-smoker I lasted about 5 puffs. Cough, cough.

A stop at the famous Karnak Temple (3500 years old or so) in Luxor, pictured from the outside and inside. One question…where are all the tourists?! Seriously where are they?

Our final night was spent at the Cancun Beach Resort in Sokhna. This is first- world Egypt.

Our last day…a warm reception by the Cairo Scooters Club and a final goodbye to our organizers. I must commend all of them - they truly did a great job. BTW, the man that started it all is 2nd from the right, back row, Ahmad Elzoghby.

Fortunately almost everyone on our tour spoke English, otherwise it would have been a challenge to navigate and communicate. For those of you that are ATGATT like me and Max (all-the-gear-all-the-time) we wore Leatt body protectors under the obligatory CEC jerseys (that's why I look a bit lumpy…it has nothing to do with my love of pie), Alpinestar Fastlane boots, brand new LS2 FF351 helmets (ECE 22.05 certified) we rented from the CEC and Fox Dirtpaw (or similar) gloves provided by the CEC. The trip (excluding airfare - approx $1000, and tours - approx $300) was $1800, which included 9 nights of accommodations, food, scooter rental, fuel, maintenance and many jerseys and shirts. FYI, the riding pace barely broke 100km/h and the roads were mostly well paved and pretty straight. 45 riders rode in tight staggered formation in 2 groups, with a lead and tail rider per group. Apart from the big cities, we saw little traffic.

Being able to speak to Egyptians that went through the last few years of political upheaval and get the real story of how things are and what Islam is all about was both educational and eye-opening. I still can't believe I rode a scooter through Egypt. I think this opportunity gave me access to places that tourists don't get to and definitely people I would never get to meet. It was truly the trip-of-a-lifetime. So much so that I'm seriously thinking of doing the 2014 CEC.

LINKS

CEC - http://www.crossegyptchallenge.com/

RTI - http://www.ridertraining.ca/