Home » Egypt » Cycle to the Summit Part 10 - Aswan to Dongola

Waiting for the departure of our ferry. First contaact with the Sudanese buracracy. A three day crossing of the desert. Becoming well practised in the art of punture repair. Spending many nights at the greatest campsites along the Nile. Finally arriving in Dongola to stock up on supplies.

Cycle to the Summit Part 10 - Aswan to Dongola

Toby Hammond
2006-06-25 19:19:11

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source: http://www.cycletothesummit.org.uk

Monday 4th February - Aswan to Lake Nasser 20km from the train station to the High Dam

Riding out to the ferry south of Aswan, Ruth and Owy went ahead to ensure we had a place on the boat whilst Toby and Paul did some last minute emails. We made our way across the infamous Aswan dam before reaching the mayhem of the loading docks. We were joined by another cyclist, Al who we had been in contact with over the internet which made five of us...until we went on deck. Another three cyclists, one German and two Japanese along with another 8 backpackers made quite a party onboard. At this point all illusions we had that this expedition was a first and rarely attempted feat were thrown overboard - along with any rubbish the Sudanese felt was no longer worthy of a place on the ferry. It was absolute mayhem as the boat was loaded by hand, the importers/exporters bringing in their array of plastic furniture, rugs, chocolate "Nitty" biscuits and stainless steel kitchenware. We placed bets on the time of departure, all bets were out by at least 5 hours as the boat left well after dark and probably only after they couldn't fit anymore onboard. WELCOME TO THE SUDANESE VERSION OF 'ON TIME'. We had guarded our place well on deck giving us enough room to sleep in comfort as the boat made its way South to Sudan.

Tuesday 5th February - Lake Nasser to Wadi Halfa by boat

The only point of interest on the way down the lake was Abu Simbel, the massive Egyptian temple that had to be disassembled, moved to a higher position and reassembled due to the construction of the dam. Meanwhile, the state of the toilets on board became far too disgusting to mention. We arrived on Sudanese soil in the afternoon, and after unloading our kit over the side of the boat, wobbled into town across the sands in the evening sun. "Kentucky Fried Fish" (KFF) ...