Iron Butts Pursuit – 6 March 2010, hospitality peaks in Cairo

 
By Danny John-Jules
and Graham Hoskins

Before we get into any of the amazing events that this day has bestowed on us, we have a theory to share on the rules of Cairo traffic. There are only three: 

Rule 1.  For any given width of road, there are a number of lanes provided for traffic between the dashed white lines. In addition, the white lines can be used as additional lanes for any vehicle which cannot make its way between them, even though they are only three inches wide.

Rule 2.  Indicators are for decoration only. 

Rule 3. Pavements are waste of money and expense, therefore pedestrians may cross any number of lanes at will, with particular attention to multi-lane junctions by large slow-moving groups of veiled women carrying small children and babies.

Our morning saw a reasonable 300-mile drive to Cairo and a surprisingly easy route straight into the Giza Pyramids. We could write a whole chapter on them alone but one story is worth a mention. We were determined not to get hustled by the camel guys and brushed them off politely. One did stop and offer to take a picture of Danny with the camel, which became sitting on the camel, which became the camel standing up and eventually we were both up there with the camel guy filming our blog!` All the time he was saying: “no money, no money, you happy, me happy”. He wasn’t too happy when we first refused to pay him though. Still, he was could sell ice to Eskimos and he did get a few EP from us.

We have been fortunate enough to be sponsored by a great hotel. Arriving at the InterContinental Citystars was like being the Ambassador only without the Ferrero Roche! We were led in by the Limo which we had followed from the Pyramids and had to wait for security to check us in, lowering the ambassadorial residence like barrier pillars into the ground before the sniffer dog checked out the Trannies for drugs or explosive materials – not sure which. The Harley Davidson Club of Egypt was invited and a barbecue laid on in our honour. We were genuinely treated like celebs and it made an unbelievable contrast to the previous night in the desert.

Garmin is supporting Red Dwarf star Danny John-Jules and team mate Graham Hoskins in their quest to ride nearly 7000 miles by motorbike for Sport Relief. Their ‘Iron Butts’ Challenge will see them circumnavigate the Mediterranean Sea, covering three continents and 14 countries in 15 days guided by a Garmin zumo 660 sat nav.