Location: On a ship somewhere close to the Sudan border
Miles travelled: 0 miles by car (several by boat)
Weather: 34ºC – Still Sizzling
Today we mostly listened to: Huffing and puffing of Egyptian men loading the boat
After another restful day in Aswan yesterday spent getting water and food and sorting out money for Sudan, we enjoyed our last beers for a while on the rooftop of the hotel. This morning we woke early to get down to the port to load Monty on to the barge and get our spaces on the infamous Aswan/Wadi Halfa ferry.
Despite being told by Mr Saleh that we had to be there no later than 10am, we spent pretty much the whole day waiting around for Monty to be loaded on to the barge. The formalities at customs and with the carnet were pretty straight forward – although Ric had to go back to the same office 3 times before we got the correct paperwork. Monty is joined on the barge by another dutch car and also a motorbike. The car belongs to Alex and Jhost – some lovely dutch boys – and I’m sad to report it is a Landcruiser. Much of the day was spent bantering about which car was better.
Whilst we waited off the ferry to load the cars, Pim & Git, George and co got onto the ferry to get a good spot on the deck. Fortunately Ric and I reserved a cabin in Cairo, so we didn’t have to scrabble for our square inch on the deck. The others got a good spot though and pitched up some tents and a ground sheets for some shade.
The ferry really is an experience we will never forget. The food is.. ummmm okay, the toilets are horrendous and it is really hot. Despite this we really are having a giggle. We have chatted to lots of Sudanese and Egyptians and tomorrow morning we will see Abu Simbel – as it is meant to be seen – from the Nile. It is also quite amazing how they load up the barge with goods going to Sudan – all by hand! All day we watched the men from the ferry company cart boxes and boxes of luggage on to the barge. It was chaos. Everything was just thrown on in no particular order – we spotted furniture, loads of tomato puree, olive oil, bikes, ovens and a plethora of other stuff.
Despite having a wonderful time in Egypt we are really ready to leave. It will be nice not to have to barter for our coffee in the morning. Tomorrow we cross in to Sudan – whoop whoop.
