It's the Police

We had heard from most other cycle tourists that the Egyptian Police stop cyclists and want to escort them through the country. We were lucky enough to avoid them until outside Qena when we were finally got noticed and asked to stop. As it was late the police drove us to Qena and then insisted on driving behind us all the way to Luxor the next day. We were passed from police stop to police stop and spent lots of waiting in Egyptian time but we received welcomes as always.