Destination: The Middle East.

In 1991, I spent my birthday at the Camel Auction in Cairo.  

There were bleeding lambs at my feet, thick blood slowly oozing away from the animal's throats, and men laughing by my reaction. 

There were tied-up camels being whacked incessantly on their snouts, their growls echoing though the market.  Their hoofs clomping and kicking up so much dust, we had to breath into our sleeves. Chaotic, and I turned 21.

Cairo, 1991

Shearing a Lamb at the Camel Auction, Cairo 1991

Camel Auction, Cairo 1991

My Guide, Cairo 1991

I spent three weeks in Egypt on that trip, traveling with my best friend Jesse Sweeney.  

We took a first class train to Aswan, sailed up the Nile with our skipper, Abu Nile.  

Jesse Sweeney, Giza 1991

We hitch-hiked to Luxor, rode bicycles in the Valley of the kings, snorkeled in the Red Sea at Hurghada, and found some funny cigarettes in the then undeveloped village of Sharm el Sheikh. 

Camel Auction, Cairo 1991

Camel Auction, Cairo 1991

Joshua Paul, Giza 1991

Abu Nile (Father of the Nile), Near Aswan, Egypt 1991

Nile River, Egypt 1991

Giza 1991

Pyramid of Cheops, Giza 1991

We were in Africa, with one foot in the Middle East.  We could see Jordan and Saudi Arabia, as we crossed the Sinai Peninsula, but we were a bit tepid, and had the wrong stamps in our passports.  

Twenty years later, we'll pick up where we left off, flying into Amman, and heading East.

Damon Hill's Formula One Arrows/Cosworth A-18

My Ears are ringing from the 650 horsepower -15,000rpm Cosworth-powered Arrows Formula One Car.

Yesterday morning I found myself sitting in Damon Hill's Arrows A-18, the one I watched him race during the 1997 season. It was at an event for non-professional drivers having their first go in a Formula One car.

They rolled out the very modified 1997 Arrows A-18 Grand Prix Charger around noon. The mechanics immediately and perpetually worked on the car. They adjusted the downforce, the suspension, the brake's cooling ducts and the tire pressure.

Then they plugged in a laptop, for minor engine adjustments. Most likely limiting the maximum revs (rpm's), and top speed. At one point, while the car was on track, the "gas peddle" disappeared from underneath the driver's right foot, at speed!  They had to replace the throttle cable.

Although Damon may have only raced this chassis once in Hungary, he won the world championship the year before, giving this car a bit of prestige and racing history. It's value probable $250K.

The A-18 was a Dud on the track, and originally powered by a Yamaha V-10 engine. This car cost millions to develop, but money is no object in Formula One.  A top team today spends upward of $500 million per season.

More valuable yesterday, were the three French mechanics, who with great finesse and patience, kept this car running and more or less, intact.

They had to jam an external "starter motor" into the gearbox just to fire it up. Time and time again, after every stall or failure to get it rolling, they had to grab their gear, let the engine cool, and start again.  It was 95 degrees and humid. They were wearing black. Tre chic!

Although I wasn't invited to drive, I did damage my ears, got a few shots, enhanced my farmer's tan, inhaled the fumes of a burning clutch and breathed in the Essence de Fumes, Ferrari/Shell's top secret F1 fuel.

http://www.f1technical.net/f1db/cars/794
http://www.formula1.com/teams_and_drivers/hall_of_fame/71/
http://www.f1technical.net/features/2267