Some information for travellers

Luxor accommodation – Rezeiky Camp

These guys were really helpful and friendly – and so I recommend this spot to do your last minute bike preparations and also take a short break and eat excellent home cooked food. There is a swimming pool. Rooms are available and also possible to camp. It also has internet access on site, restaurant and cold beer.

Rezeiky Camp
Karnak Temple Street
Luxor
Tel: 095 381334 – 370376

Ferry from Aswan to Wadi Halfa

Booking the ferry from Aswan to Wadi has been a bit of a mystery for many travellers, so here is some information to help make sense of the whole thing: Ferry leaves every Monday. Arrive in Aswan on Saturday as you need to pay for tickets to confirm your space and you have paperwork to do. Vehicles go on a barge and passengers on a ferry. Going from Egypt south you have no choice but to be separated from your vehicle but I hear that the other way isn’t quite so rigid with rules and you can travel on the barge.

This is the last time to stock up on food. Be warned that Aswan was a real pain as far as getting ripped off goes. You will be quoted really stupid prices – so don’t hesitate to argue or walk away. The market is big enough to find a good price.

First class gets you a dingy cabin. Second class gets you onto the deck. Get on early and lay out your sleeping space because it will be jam-packed later on. Take plenty of water and some food with you.

Here is the name and email address for the manager of the booking office of Nile Company of Transport Sudan – Egypt:

Salah Mohamed
takourny@hotmail.com

Get in touch with Salah directly and he will be able to make a reservation for you. There is not all that much space on the barge for cars and motorbikes so a reservation will help. He also met us at the port and helped us get through the Egyptian bureaucracy. No tipping required but be polite as he is a genuine guy.

Arriving in Wadi

Be ready to be patient! It took a few hours to be allowed off the ferry and then the rest of the day waiting at the harbour to get our passports back. It’s bloody minded pain in the butt bureaucracy.

The barge arrives a day later if you are lucky. In the meantime go to the town and find a tourist office opposite the Nile Hotel. These people will help you with registration and finding an agent to help with importing the vehicle.

If you are asked where you are going to, say the Blue Nile Yacht Club. When you arrive in Khartoum, you might well go to the Yacht Club as its one of few places for foreigners to camp.

You can camp outside the town so if you don’t like sleeping under the stars take your tent on the ferry.

Road to Khartoum via Dongola

This makes me smile because it’s hardly a road at all! There isn’t a single inch of tarmac until you reach Dongola. It’s a really tough stretch of 400km through the Sahara. Be prepared for punctures and any mechanical problems as you will have to fix these yourself. Watch out for heat and sand related problems in addition to the bashing and crashing.

If at all possible, I’d suggest trying to meet up with a 4x4 vehicle so that they can help carrying your water at least. You need to carry water and food for 4 days.

You will have to register in each place you stop. It’s a tedious bore but you have to have your name and passport number written into a scrappy old book. Will help to have numerous photocopies of your passport and the Sudanese visa plus extra passport photos.

When you reach Khartoum the best place to camp is the Blue Nile Yacht Club which is on the bank of the Nile and pretty easy to find. It’s a very easy going place and you can meet other people who are either going up or down.