Hyundai i10 in Bahariya Oasis

Last week I've taken my i10 to the longest drive yet. The drive to Bahariya Oasis from Cairo is some 360 km (220 miles) and a bit longer when coming from east of Cairo like Nasr City as in my case.

The gas tank was not exactly full yet my i10 was able to make it all the way there till Bahariya. The tank was almost empty as I arrived for the gas station in the middle of the way to Bahariya had no gas!

I stayed two days at Bahariya Oasis then had to come back to Cairo for work but guess what, the gas stations at Bahariya had no gas! I also came to know that gas at Bahariya has an octane rating of 90 only while my i10 was only fed 92. At the end of a deep search, we managed to find someone (not a gas station, but a guy selling gas having brought it all the way from Cairo) who sold us gas. Of course he asked for a much higher price than its otherwise fixed price in Egypt.

I drove some 400 km (250 miles) back to Cairo alone and gave my i10 a 15 min break in the middle of the way (although the rest house/gas station still did not have any gas) and I too breakfasted on some dates during those 15 minutes as I had started moving from Bahariya Oasis at the crack of down.

I was driving back at a speed of 100 to 120 km/hour (62 to 75 miles/hour) with an occasional 140 km/hour (87 miles/hour). I did enjoy (most) of the ride back, specially the middle part which was after my dates breakfast and before entering Cairo at 6th of October City where I started to get lost a bit and hence the extra miles. I guess it's time to get a GPS gadget since it seems it will start to gain popularity after the Egyptian government ended its ban I guess last year or so.

I guess now I'm approaching my second maintenance mark which is the first 5000 km (3000 miles) after I've already done my first 1000 km (600 miles) maintenance.

After getting back safely, I filled my tank with some 25 liters of 92 (octane rating) gas to quench my i10's thirst for its preferred energy drink. I'm glad it made it all that way with the 90 (octane rating) gas I had bought from that guy back at Bahariya Oasis. I'm looking forward for its 5000 km maintenance now.

Ain Sokhna

Yesterday we took off with the i10 to Ain Sukhna. The round trip was 305 km. I went with a friend and his cousin.

I drove most of the time or at least a long part of the way. I reached 120 km/hour on the highway yet mostly was on 105 km/hour or below. I really enjoyed the drive. Gave me more experience too. I highway had very low traffic. We left Cairo before 6 AM and returned before noon.

On our way from Cairo, we checked the tire pressure. Was a nice experience since we did it ourselves at the gas station because the guy responsible for it at the station was not present yet at that early time in the morning.

Although we stayed just under an hour at Sukhna, yet we have managed to accomplish the main goals of the trips which were:

1. To increase the car millage towards the first 1000 km in order to make the mandatory maintenance for the first 1000 km of the new car.
2. For me to have extra practice on driving by driving on highways.
3. To enjoy, if just briefly, the atmosphere and scenery at Ain El Sokhna.

Upon arriving to Sokhna, we went to Porto Sokhna which my friend and his cousin (we lives in Canada and was on a trip to Egypt) have marveled at. I did reckon the lush hotel but I actually aimed at something more simple and local. Anyway, we found the restaurants (Chili's and the others) all closed and were told they open up at noon. We stayed for a while then moved on to some sea food restaurant not far from Porto Sokhna which again was closed and we were told it also opens up at noon. We sat for a short while in front of the beach which was really nice, though slightly hot. We then headed back to Cairo because my friend had things to do back there and so had to return early. Was quite a nice experience.