power of the dice

not much news here folks. mainly because we haven't been able to drink. seriously this place is not funny anymore. no booze at all. anywhere. crazy. we were told we could buy beer at the expensive, exclusive hotels. the hilton, the sheraton, etc. but all they serve is amstel zero. or grolsch extra light. or non-alcoholic bud. where's the fun in that? it's just not cricket.

we've spent much of the past 4 days in transit. ferry from aswan in egypt to wadi halfa in sudan took 2 days. and then the train from wadi halfa to khartoum took another 2 days. ferry was good. slept under the stars. read books. drank whiskey. train was bad. no lights. no aircon. no fan. loads of dust. the dustiest train in the whole world ever. felt like i swallowed a whole sandpit. we celebrated miguel's bday on the train. with a non-alcoholic beer. it sure was swell. we were feeling super sorry for ourselves on the last day. got off the train and didn't look back. super grumpy.

wadi halfa on the border was a friendly relaxed place in the middle of the desert. we had some good food there. lamb. and potato's. and beans. and some good coffee. had a kick around with the locals in abu hamed using the inflatable world on route to khartoum... where we are at the mo. camping on the side of the blue nile. centre of town reminds me of warrick triangle. it's a jungle here man!!! sudanese folks sure are friendly though. big smiles. white teeth. a walking talking toothpaste advert. it's cool.

so what of the team. you'll be happy to know that the tach's survived the travelling. they needed a bit of grooming this morning... but they escaped unscathed and are now stronger and thicker than at any time in recent living memory. we have our weekly shithead compo this evening. the loser is kitty-master for the week. big responsibility. so as you can imagine the stakes are high. and emotions get a little frayed. especially as we have no booze.

oh ja... jon "i was born on a backgammon board" frankish was born on a backgammon board. apparently. he has super human backgammon power. the power of the dice. it's unfair.

if you're going to san francisco
you should wear
some flowers in your hair