stuck

three of us set out for help.

you know those idiots who get themselves stuck somewhere completely unprepared? it usually happens on the side of some frozen mountain or in the middle of some boiling desert?

i'm one of them.

a week or so ago, i joined a group of volunteers on a desert expedition to go see some of the ruins scattered throughout northern sudan. allegedly, you should be able to hit up two sets of temples and a group of pyramids all within a day. allegedly.

we set out at about 8 a.m. -- 11 of us -- in a van without four-wheel drive. by 1 p.m. or so, we were off-roading in the desert, only a few huts in sight. by about 2 p.m. we were stuck in a patch of particularly powder-fine sand. some of us set out for help, while the rest of us went about sticking rocks under the tire, pushing the back of the van and sweating.

it took about an hour or two before a group of foreigners also heading to the temples spotted us, took pictures of us and pulled our van out of the sand. it took us about 30 minutes after that to get suck again. seriously. this time we were able to get the van unstuck ourselves and -- miraculously -- we actually found the site we were looking for.

great. except that on the way back -- just as the sun had set -- our driver decided he had got turned around, reversed course, and got the van stuck again. yeah, that's three times. just in case you're counting. i know i was.

so, while the other volunteers went about climbing on top of the van to call the police, setting dry bushes on fire and tracking down random dogs, i listened to some seabear while curled up inside the van.

at about 2 a.m., the police actually managed the find us. how, i'm not really sure. but they brought us a nice tank of water, which was great because, true to form, we didn't bring nearly enough water. right.

on the upside, we did get a shout out in one of the arabic dailies.

apparently the police had to respond to some group of foreigners stuck in the northern sudanese desert. they were found dirty, sick and thirsty. or so the story goes.

idiots.

this is us stuck. exciting, huh?

this is the desert we spent a good 12 hours getting to know.


the lion temple. finally.