There is only one entry point from Sudan to Egypt.
It took us a week to cross it.
Even though it may seem like fiction, everything here is true….
Day 1 – Monday
9:00 : We are in Khartoum. We go to Egyptian embassy to get our visas.
The line is around the corner. It is going to take all day.
We decide to leave and get visas at the border, 1000 km up north.
13:00 : We stop to see the Pyramids in Sudan. There is no one around.
Stunning.
20:00 : We have driven 600 km so far. The pavement ends. We get lost.
23:30 : We finally find the road to Wadi Halfa. It’s a desert track for 350km.
It’s too late to keep driving tonight.
We turn around and sleep in the closest village as we need to buy supplies tomorrow before we leave.
Day 2 – Tuesday
5:00 : Wake up in a beautiful surrounding.
We buy some more waters and cookies and start driving.
7:00 : We reach the desert track that runs along the railroad.
9:00 : There is a guy running toward us in the desert. His truck is stuck about 400 meters away.
They have spent the night there. We try to push him out. No luck. We get the shovel and tow strap and we tow him out.
10:00 : More and more sand. Sun is get higher. Outside temperature is over 40C.
We have covered about 100 km so far.
10:30 : Sand is getting deeper and deeper. Engine temperature is also getting higher and higher. Not good.
11:00 : It is getting hot. Too hot. We have to slow down.
We need to find another solution.
We decide to follow other tracks and drive on the railroad.
We will have to suffer the vibration for 200 km.
Eventually Marc decides to walk…
14:00 : We get stuck a couple times but we finally reach Wadi Halfa.
We drive straight to the port to start the ferry arrangement.
Some local guy take us to the Mr. Fixit (Mr. Magdir) to get the paperwork sorted.
He also tells us that there is a new paved road that goes all the way to Wadi Halfa.
We have missed the junction last night – it wasn’t on our GPS. Great.
14:30 : We get to Mr. Magdir house. Our friends we had met in Nairobi are there! A couple (Brian/Diana) from South Africa and 4 bikers (Alex/Axel/Owen/Hans). Great time! Tomorrow we will all board the ferry together.
Day 3 – Wednesday
9:00 : Mr. Magdir is running all over town with our passport and carnet. We are chilling at his house.
He is charging us $30 including accommodation. We found that the price for the car barge has now dropped from $600US to $200US. Awesome news.
12:30 : Time to drive the vehicles to the port. We go through Customs.
We have to leave our vehicles (and keys) to Mr. Magdir. The cars are going on a different barge.
Mr. Magdir has convinced the captain to put the motorcycles on the passenger ferry so the guys can get their bikes right away after we arrive in Egypt.
We load the bikes on the boat, by the entry way, in a little corridor. Tight fit for 4 big BMW motorcycles.
Everything is smooth and easy so far.
17:00 : The boat is leaving Wadi Halfa. Officially we are done with Sudan.
Day 4 – Thursday
8:00 : First sign of Aswan, Egypt.
9:00 : The boat arrives. We are stopping in the bay. Not sure what’s going on.
10:00 : The doctors are on board. They are checking every passenger for H1N1 virus. There are about 300 people on the boat.
12:00 : The custom officers are on board. They are checking every passport. It is taking forever.
14:00 : They start letting the passengers out, one by one, after calling their name from a list.
If they don’t find the person, the process stops. This is going to take the rest of the day.
14:15 : There are about 15 workers from the cleaning crew who want to get inside the boat.
They are arguing with the customs outside.
14:30 : The custom officer who is calling name is getting angry. He can’t walk around the motorcycles.
14:45 : He orders us to take the motorcycle out. This is our chance. We grab our bags too.
15:00 : We get the first motorcycle out. The custom guys are pushing people back inside the boat.
15:15 : We get the second motorcycle out. The cleaning crew is pushing the custom officers back inside the boat which is then pushing passengers back against the bikes (and us).
15:30 : We are trying to get the third motorcycle out. The cleaning crew is rushing inside, the Sudanese are trying to get out the boat, the custom officers are yelling and we are holding the bike. All Hell breaks loose.
15:35 : Everyone is pushing each other. It’s pure chaos. The cleaning guys are getting into a fight with the bikers.
15:40 : We finally got a third bike out. Someone stole Alex’s wallet.
The captain will find it later – with no more money in it.
15:45 : The last bike is in a corner. We make a plan. We get the bike out.
The custom guys now want us to go back inside the boat as he hasn’t reached our names yet on the list. No way.
We are not getting back in there. We argue and he finally let 4 of us go. The other ones have to go back to get their luggage. We won’t see them again that day…
16:00 : We met Mr. Amman, the custom officer who is in charge of stamping our carnet. My carnet is technically not legal for Egypt. I really need to be friend with him or else I am in big trouble and my car will end up like this one we saw in the parking lot.
We also met Kamal, the taxi driver who will help us with the paperwork. So far so good. He let us out.
16:30 : We are officially in Egypt – but without my truck. It is on the barge that should arrive tomorrow.
Day 5 : Friday
9:00 : Friday is a weekend day in Egypt. Everything is close. We relaxed and checked out the town.
Day 6: Saturday
8:30 : Kamal arrived at our hotel to pick us up. We all crammed in his 1956 Peugeot Station Wagon.
There are 9 of us (Brian and his wife, Marc and I, the 4 bikers and the driver).
It’s hot in there.
9:00 : We all go to the police station with Kamal. There are various fees and windows to get to. It is the big building in the background.
Eventually after spending about 50 pounds each we get a stack of papers all written in Arabic.
10:00 : Kamal needs to pick up Mr. Amman, the custom guy. He needs to get another taxi.
Even though there are hundreds of taxi in town, we have to wait for his friend to arrive.
Mr. Amman is not answering his phone. It seems like he is still sleeping.
Kamal seems like is high on something.
It’s most likely the diesel fume from his car. We have to convince him to turn the engine off.
10:30 : Kamal’s friend arrives. Half of us goes with him to the port while the other half is still waiting for Mr. Amman.
11:00 : We get to the port. We are waiting for Kamal and Mr. Amman to arrive.
11:30 : They arrive. We get into the custom.
We tried to see if our barge has arrived but no sign of it.
Marc and Diana go back to the hotel.
12:00 : Mr. Amman starts the paperwork for the bikers. He can’t see very well. He puts his face about 2 inches away from the carnet. That’s good news for me. He won’t be able to see that my carnet is not valid.
13:00 : They are finished with the carnet for the 4 bikers. Apparently our cars will arrive at either 14:00 today or tomorrow. Inch’Allah. They can’t do anything more for us as they need the car to be there to check the chassis number before proceeding further. Brian and I go back to the hotel.
18:00 : The bikers come back. They were not able to get their bikes today. Mr. Amman put an incorrect date somewhere so they had to go back to the customs to fix it. They are pissed.
Day 7 : Sunday.
9:00 : Kamal comes back to pick us up. He is totally loaded on something again.
He is in a very good mood. The barge has arrived overnight.
We all crammed in his Peugeot again and drove over to inspect the cars.
10:00 : We get to the custom building with Mr. Amman. He will be stamping my carnet now. And Brian’s with his Land Rover.
That’s it. I got the stamp! Only 525 Egyptian pounds ($100USD).
The bikers are waiting outside the office.
11:00 : Mr. Amman is finally done with our carnet. It took a bit longer as it was hard for his secretary to understand what he says when he speaks with his mouth full of bread.
Bikers are still waiting.
11:30 : Kamal has been authorized to read the chassis and engine number by the police. Apparently the police engineer who came yesterday to check the motorcycle VIN number was slightly incompetent. Another good news as my engine number is impossible to find.
12:00 : Kamal and Brian are now going back in town to get insurance for the cars and license plate for the bikers. Insurance is another 518 pounds ($100USD). Nice.
13:00 : Kamal and Brian came back. With the 70 years old engineer. Since Kamal only checked the VIN number on the chassis and not the engine number, the engineer has to come back to get the engine number. Great. They both spent 30 minutes under the car and never found it. They are arguing in Arabic. Finally the engineer goes back seating in the car.
Bikers are still waiting in the hall. Apparently there is a problem with the computer (!!!) and Kamal could not get their plates yet.
14:00 : Kamal and I are going back to town. We also bring Mr. Amman, the secretary and another guy. We stopped to get the plates for the bikers which is in a different location than the plates for the cars. Go figure. Then we go back to the police station for more paperwork. Kamal comes back 30 minutes later with the plates. He is extasic. I think he smoked something with the cops. Now he is driving back like he is doing a rally – with a 1956 Peugeot. There is so much smoke coming out the engine that my eyes are burning.
15:00 : We arrived at the custom. The bikers are half dead.
We have one hour left to put the plates on and drive to the police station for the final technical inspection.
15:30 : We are good to go. We just need to pass through the gate with the 8 custom guys who saw us passing by for the last 3 days. Everyone wants a backsheesh. Hans is getting furious. He starts racing around with his bike. Dropped his bike. Ouch.
16:00 : Brian and I and our trucks are out. The bikers are still in. Everyone is arguing. Finally they are out. Alex is flipping them off as he passes the gate.
16:05 : We must rush to the police station. We can’t go back the same way as they have covered the road with fresh bitumen this morning. Ridiculous. We go over the dam. The bikers are riding in front of us, following the taxi at high speed. There is a gate on the dam. No one stops. By the time Brian and I arrived, the officers have thrown a gate on the road in front of us. We must stop. They have guns. Great. A few apologies and 120 pounds later, we are free. Kamal is waiting on the other side of the dam. Thanks.
16:30 : We drive around town. Kamal took us back to our hotel. The whole technical inspection thing was a joke. Great.
17:00 : Time to pay Kamal. He wants more money because it took longer than he thought. Right. One last argument.
18:00 : We are free. We are in Egypt with our cars, new license plates, new driver licenses and insurances. And about $500US poorer.
Finally.