So, the police here in Egypt are pretty different to in Australia.
Firstly, you see them everywhere. In Giza, they had a couple of covered pickup trucks at most intersections. Out here in the desert, they have police checkpoints every 50km or so. Sometimes they are stopping cars, sometimes the cars breeze straight through. But they are alway official looking structures with guard towers and a compound.
Secondly, they all have guns.
These guys are really concerned about us. Tourism is a big industry over here, and a bunch of layabouts with nothing to do except eat food and drink questionable Egyptian beer most be a real boon.
The upshot of this is that we have been seeing a lot of the police. Even before the tour started, the groups of us that went out riding in the morning would pick up a police escort. They'd block a lane of traffic so no-one hit us. On the first real day, we had that huge convoy that shut a lane of traffic and all the highway entrances and exits. This has all made our trip way easier so far, and it is always reassuring to see them go by on the road and wait for us to give them a thumbs up.
Even through a tiny town today, riding alone, I got escorted by police car until I went out through another huge checkpoint. A tiny part of me thinks that it is a bit like being run out of town - John Rambo style. Mostly though, they are really friendly guys, so it isn't a big deal.
Camp tonight is by a police / army checkpoint on the road through the Red Sea Mountains (I guess) from Safagha to Qena. There is the normal road blocks and cool steel rope that they can raise across the road to stop traffic. The normal guard towers and guys with rifles.
While I was out digging a hole, two of the border sentries stopped me from going to far from camp - pointing at their guns then out in the distance. I guess that they meant that other guys with guns might be out that way as well. Vague as this is, it is a bit unsettling.
So yeah, pretty different to Australia.
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