Egypt motorcycle rally ends at pyramids

Participants of a cross country motorcycle rally in Egypt crossed the finish line against the spectacular background of the Great Pyramids of Giza.

Egypt’s tourism industry has seriously suffered since the clampdown on the 2011 uprising caused political turmoil.

The rally’s organiser, Ahmed al-Zoghby said the race’s aim was to show tourists that Egypt was still a safe spot for visitors.

“The idea of the race, or the rally, began because we wanted to tell people that Egypt is safe and it’s not as the international media portrays it, and here are people from all around the world riding across Egypt which is a beautiful country,” he said.

The organisers said participants met heavy rains on the east coast from Marsa Allam to Ain al-Sokhna, but managed to safely make it through and finish their race on time.

The rally takes a different route every year to explore as many parts of Egypt as possible.

A participant from the United States,Jonnie Stark said she hoped she had spent more time enjoying touristic spots.

“It was great. It was hard at times, but it was fun and we saw a lot of scenery. It would’ve been nice to play tourist a little more, but you know, it was great,” she added.

“I come from a country that’s very green and this is very dry, but we did get rain in the desert – I wasn’t expecting that and someone said it won’t rain until next month, but we’ve been through puddles, I didn’t expect that in Egypt,” said Tarek Safwat, another participant.

Mark Robertson from New Zealand said he did not expect to see rain in Egypt.

“I come from a country that’s very green, and this is very dry, but we did get rain in the desert – I wasn’t expecting that and someone said it won’t rain until next month, but we’ve been through puddles, I didn’t expect that in Egypt,” he said.

He added that the food and sites were his favourite part of the journey and insisted that he would be back to Egypt.

Fifty-one people from 12 different countries participated in this year’s rally