We are on the queue to buy the
tickets for the boat to Wadi Halfa, it's 46 C in the shade. While we
wait, two nice Egyptian tour agents get on the queue behind us and
exclaim effusively the usual: “Welcome to Alaska!” to engage in a
conversation with us. The ask they usual things about the trip, the
bicycle, the distances and I mention to him that during the last days
before Aswan the heat began to be an issue. One of them bursts out in
laughter and very tenderly asks me: “Do you really think that today
is hot?....wait until you reach Sudan, there it will be hot, this is
nothing” - and he takes a handkerchief to wipe the sweat off his
forehead while I can feel my stomach shrinking.
