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February 29, 2008

Ethiopia: "The mountains are spectacular"

Ethiopiamap_3 Well another section of the tour has now drawn to a close.  We are in the border town of Moyale, between Ethiopia and Kenya.  The Ethiopian section has been a very eventful one.  Lots of riders being hit by stones, one rider running into a child then fearing for her life as the locals got angry, and lots of heat! However despite these negative points, Ethiopia is a gorgeous country.  

The mountains are spectacular, the roads empty and for the most part smooth.  It will be fun to start a new section of the tour in two weeks, however, Ethiopia will be oddly missed by all. 

Some have asked about how the daily routine of the tour works, and it is pretty simple to explain.  I wake up at about 6:15 to whatever music our truck drivers decide to play, I slowly get out of my sleeping bag, and get dressed for the day of riding.  I then take down my tent and re-pack my red box, this is the box which I like out of for 6 days at a time.  It holds all my clothes, tent, sleeping gear, extra parts, drugs, toiletries, so fourth and so on. I then eat a breakfast of normally porridge and a sandwich, and prepare to head out. 

On the road I am normally with about 6 others, we roll along, stop when we want.  Usually we will stop along route for a coke or other drink, before arriving at lunch.  After lunch we finish the ride at whichever camp we are at.  Once in camp I change, set up tent, and prepare for dinner!  We have a brief summary of the following day then it's bon-appetite!

After dinner I will normally sit around chatting with fellow riders, and then head to bead.........at about 7:30.  Yup so that's a brief summary of a daily camp routine.  Rise, eat, ride, eat, ride, eat, sleep! It's a rough life we're living. 

In two days we will be back in Addis for a day.  I will then be heading to Uganda for two weeks, before returning back to Arusha Tanzania in order to begin riding again.

Keep the rubber side down

Josh

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Impala Bicycles... hey buddy sounds like a blast

see yeah at home!

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About Josh Martyn


  • He's a young man from Blackstock headed for the cycling tour of a lifetime. Josh Martyn leaves January 7, 2008, to travel across the African continent. It begins in Cairo and Josh will be providing an exclusive account of the tour on two wheels to Capetown exclusively on the durhamregion.com blogs. Join Josh for regular updates about the trek that will test even the most experienced cyclists.

    Read about the trip

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