The Arbain road lies along very high land and anyone traversing it in winter months should march with the wind, i.e. from north to south. The cold is intense and shelter from it nil.
-Anglo-Egyptian Sudan: A Compendium Prepared by Officers of the Sudan Government, 1905
It’s impossible to ride the Darb al-Arba’īn from north to south when you are driving camels from Sudan to Egypt. Shelter from the cold was certainly nil for the drovers, who wrapped themselves at night as best they could in worn out saddle blankets and cotton shawls. But we Khawajas unrolled sleeping bags made of dacron fiber fill and rip stop nylon.