The infamous ferry and the incredible Sudan…

The ferry (and only entry point) from Aswan in Egypt to Wadi Halfa in Sudan across Lake Nasser has a reputation that stands before it. This is the second draft of this blog as the first one for those not interested in bureaucratic processes was really not all that interesting! It is basically a border crossing that takes five days in real time and a five year supply of patience! The process to leave Egypt includes obtaining various pieces of paper that prove you had not committed any driving offences whilst in Egypt – without a computer system it can only be through mental telepathy that this process has any truth to it, we are sure it is fool proof.

The ferry itself is rather old and not exactly what you would call seaworthy, the amount of luggage or produce that the locals each carry means that space is extremely limited and the ‘airline seats’ that we had paid clearly never existed! On getting the bike on a sad looking barge, we boarded the boat and once dark find a nice spot on the roof of the captains’ cabin and with our mats and sleeping bags had a pretty good night sleep under some amazing stars. Before departing the ferry (which is in itself a 4 hour process) we had to have our temperature taken by some grotty thermometer before being told we had ‘a healthy ear’ get passports stamped and get a piece of paper that permits you to travel. After clearing customs (which included getting a sticker on your bag and then a tick on the sticker without anyone actually looking in the bag) we got into a taxi of sorts and headed into Wadi Halfa where the fight for the least flea ridden bed began – grateful for bringing out tent we slept outside.

The next morning we must ‘register’ as tourists in Sudan, I am aware that this is getting a bit long so will try to shorten this: Give copies of important documents to the first man, get them stapled and receive the instructions – computer, captain, cashier, me… We find the only man with a computer and get another stamp, then to the captain for thumb prints and some more stamping, then to the cashier, then back to the first man who puts everything in a nice blue folder and a sticker in your passport, then back to the captain who stamps a bit more and then back to the first man who takes the blue folder back and returns the passport. Sounds simple but this is about a 3 hour process!

Thanks to a fellow traveller who had a tracking device in this car on the barge (which comes slower than the ferry as it cannot travel at night, no lights apparently) we receive notice that it is about to arrive. Tille headed back down to the port for another few hours of stamping, chassis number checking and general confusion before arriving happily back into town with an undamaged bike. One last meeting to get the carnet back and we were done, it is now Wednesday evening!!!

Now once in Sudan – the great stuff really begins. We drove through the Nubian Mountains and Desert from Wadi Halfa to Dongola, then on to Karima, Atbara and south to Khartoum. This route took us through some of the most amazing desert we have seen and after about 6 weeks of riding through countries that are mainly desert this is really saying something! The roads thanks to the Chinese are the newest and best bitumen we have had since Europe, creating an easy way through the desert and crossing with the green banks of the Nile that are dotted with mud hut villages and local people. The Nubian people are so warm and friendly and can appear from nowhere with the offer of tea. We camped next to 7000 year old pyramids in Karima and again outside of Atbara. They are just sitting there, nestled in lovely red dunes and with a full moon were an incredible sight to see.

We will now head towards the border and cross into Ethiopia some time near Christmas. After hearing so many negative stories about the political and safety situation in Sudan we have had nothing but purely positive experiences.

We would like to wish everyone a very, merry Christmas!!!